-Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
June 21, 2010
"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen."
June 19, 2010
Romans 12:2
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- His good, pleasing, and perfect will."
Romans 12:2
June 18, 2010
1 Peter 4:8-11
"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen."
For 5 years now, the convictions and truths held in this verse have echoed in my soul and stirred in my heart. It is my greatest desire that I live my life in this way- in a way that God is the center, the focus, and His glory and the furthering of His kingdom are my goals!
1 Peter 4:8-11
For 5 years now, the convictions and truths held in this verse have echoed in my soul and stirred in my heart. It is my greatest desire that I live my life in this way- in a way that God is the center, the focus, and His glory and the furthering of His kingdom are my goals!
June 17, 2010
John 16:33
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
John 16:33
Titus 3:3-5
"At One time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy."
Titus 3:3-5
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
"Therefore we do not lose heart, though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Ecclesiastes 3:14
"I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it."
Ecclesiastes 3:14
2 Corinthians 7:4b
"I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds."
2 Corinthians 7:4b
Ecclesiastes 8:17
"Then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it."
Ecclesiastes 8:17
Ephesians 3:17b-21
"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wise and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Ephesians 3:17b-21
Ephesians 4:9-10
"What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe."
Ephesians 4:9-10
Ephesians 4:32-5:2b
"Be kind and compassionate to one another,
forgiving each other,
just as in Christ God forgave you.
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children
and live a life of love,
just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us…"
forgiving each other,
just as in Christ God forgave you.
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children
and live a life of love,
just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us…"
Ephesians 4:32-5:2b
Philippians 3:8-11
"I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."
Philippians 3:8-11
My Soul Purpose (Ch. 2)
Quotes from "My Soul Purpose" by Richard Leslie Parrott.
"When you have time with the one you love, how tempting and disappointing it is to focus attention and energy on "what we will do today." The more significant purpose and value is simply being together. How many honeymoons have been marred or family vacations ruined because attention was focused on the itinerary instead of intimacy. The same is true of your soul's life. Some people concentrate on getting things done for themselves, for others, or even for God, to the neglect of answering the invitation to live in God."
"Often, prayer changes things because you are changed in prayer."
"When you enter the soul, you remain in darkness as long as you clutch the weapons of the outer life in your hands. It is an inner act of trust; turn loose of all you have. Turn loose of your achievements and failures. Turn a deaf ear to the praise and rebuke of others. Let it go and you will find what you need. You will discover the light, the truth."
"To escape dealing with hatred and fear, you set up defenses. Defenses serve as emotional and relational drugs that we believe we need in order to survive. The defensive posture serves two purposes, to be rewarded and protected. In one moment, you want both: to get on the radar, yet remain hidden under it. You want to be notices and invisible. The motivating factors are to maintain control and protect your security. You feel impelled to control the sources of potential pain and rewards while insulating yourself from your worst fears and deepest resentments. Defenses attempt to create a life that is comfortable and filled with happy assurances."
"When God's story touches your story, your story is changed."
"Pray that God's kingdom will be the core of your being, the fountain of true value. Your eternal worth is not in your accomplishments or acknowledgements, but in the single fact that God's kingdom of love is advancing in your life and in the world."
"Our Spiritual life is His affair; because, whatever we may think to the contrary, it is really produced by His steady attraction, and our humble and self-forgetful response to it. It consists in being drawn, at his pace and in his way, to the place where he wants us to be; not the place we fancied for ourselves."
-Evelyn Underhill
"Our Father, give us the faith to believe that it is possible to live victoriously even in the midst of dangerous opportunity that we call crisis.
Help us to see that there is something better that patient endurance or keeping a stiff upper lip, and that whistling in the dark is not really bravery.
Bless us with the greatness of humility that we may feel no shame in expressing our need of a living God.
Forgive the pride that causes us to strut about like knights in shining armor when we know full well we are but beggars in tattered rags.
Plant a seed of faith in us today and nurture it that it may grow. Then, trusting in thee may we have the faith that goes singing in the rain, knowing that all things work together for good to them that love thee."
Help us to see that there is something better that patient endurance or keeping a stiff upper lip, and that whistling in the dark is not really bravery.
Bless us with the greatness of humility that we may feel no shame in expressing our need of a living God.
Forgive the pride that causes us to strut about like knights in shining armor when we know full well we are but beggars in tattered rags.
Plant a seed of faith in us today and nurture it that it may grow. Then, trusting in thee may we have the faith that goes singing in the rain, knowing that all things work together for good to them that love thee."
-Carlo Carretto
"There are people who try to raise their souls like a man continually taking standing jumps in the hopes that , if he jumps higher every day, a time may come when he will no longer fall back but will go right up the sky. Thus occupied he cannot look at the sky. He cannot take a single step toward heaven. It is not our power to travel in a vertical direction. If, however, we look heavenward for a long time, God comes and takes us up. He raises us easily.
-Simone Weil
My Soul Purpose (Ch. 1)
I am reading "My Soul Purpose" by Richard Leslie Parrott.
My hair dresser actually gave it to me to read.
So far, I'm loving it. It's speaking truth into many areas in my life that I have been praying about.
I just want to share some of my favorite parts of what I read as I go along.
It will also be nice for me to use as a quick reference to go back and re-read in the future.
"Beneath my Educated, professional, competent, and genuine concern for others, the facts, failures, and falsehood if my own life rose up to face me."
"The only way to humanly relate to God is through you: your fears, your failures, and your falsehood, as well as your trust, your commitment, and your potential."
"Energized by the presence of God, the soul's purpose is to bring your true and best in Christ to life every day."
"A deep, rich soul life births and matures authentic living."
"The soul's strength of authentic vitality is characterized by inner compassion, commitment, confidence, and courage."
"When the soul's vitality is drained, the inner compassion that supports healthy relationships gives way to apathy and cynicism. Life withers in the soul and concern for the good of others and the greater good of all dissolves into selfish ambition, toxic interactions, and dangerous, personal isolation.
When the soul loses vitality, the strength of inner commitment which births and matures good character, gives way to pervasive emptiness. The needle on the inner compass spins, unable to find true north. Ethical breakdowns litter the highways that connect home, commerce, and government.
When the vitality of the soul recedes, inner confidence, the spring that feeds personal and meaningful purpose in life, gives way to a feeling of powerlessness. It leaves you feeling like a victim waiting for rescue. It turns the holy calling of life into a quite, desperate search for the next means of escape from the pain and fear.
When soul vitality wanes, the inner courage that strengthens mature wisdom gives way to low-level anxiety that permeates life. The fear is masked in a multitude of defenses. Appearing incognito, anxiety puts life under its cold hand of control. Inner wisdom is silenced, and the need to control the pain is made master."
"Receive God into your fears. Recognize Him and welcome Him. The life of the soul is not about appearing strong, but facing weakness, especially fear. The Scripture promises "...perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment" (1 John 4:18). God's love can drive out fear if you confess the fear in your soul and receive God's love."
"Your soul is bound in eternal allegiance to God. God loves you and longs to take residence in your soul. God, the creator, has chosen to work in you to create your life. You have the privilege of cooperating with God."
My hair dresser actually gave it to me to read.
So far, I'm loving it. It's speaking truth into many areas in my life that I have been praying about.
I just want to share some of my favorite parts of what I read as I go along.
It will also be nice for me to use as a quick reference to go back and re-read in the future.
"Beneath my Educated, professional, competent, and genuine concern for others, the facts, failures, and falsehood if my own life rose up to face me."
"The only way to humanly relate to God is through you: your fears, your failures, and your falsehood, as well as your trust, your commitment, and your potential."
"Energized by the presence of God, the soul's purpose is to bring your true and best in Christ to life every day."
"A deep, rich soul life births and matures authentic living."
"The soul's strength of authentic vitality is characterized by inner compassion, commitment, confidence, and courage."
"When the soul's vitality is drained, the inner compassion that supports healthy relationships gives way to apathy and cynicism. Life withers in the soul and concern for the good of others and the greater good of all dissolves into selfish ambition, toxic interactions, and dangerous, personal isolation.
When the soul loses vitality, the strength of inner commitment which births and matures good character, gives way to pervasive emptiness. The needle on the inner compass spins, unable to find true north. Ethical breakdowns litter the highways that connect home, commerce, and government.
When the vitality of the soul recedes, inner confidence, the spring that feeds personal and meaningful purpose in life, gives way to a feeling of powerlessness. It leaves you feeling like a victim waiting for rescue. It turns the holy calling of life into a quite, desperate search for the next means of escape from the pain and fear.
When soul vitality wanes, the inner courage that strengthens mature wisdom gives way to low-level anxiety that permeates life. The fear is masked in a multitude of defenses. Appearing incognito, anxiety puts life under its cold hand of control. Inner wisdom is silenced, and the need to control the pain is made master."
"Receive God into your fears. Recognize Him and welcome Him. The life of the soul is not about appearing strong, but facing weakness, especially fear. The Scripture promises "...perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment" (1 John 4:18). God's love can drive out fear if you confess the fear in your soul and receive God's love."
"Your soul is bound in eternal allegiance to God. God loves you and longs to take residence in your soul. God, the creator, has chosen to work in you to create your life. You have the privilege of cooperating with God."
June 15, 2010
Dayna
This is going to be my summer job:
I get to hang out with this sweet girl 7 hours a day, 5 days a week!
:)
The Center
I'm really trying to allow God to use me because I truly do feel different when I allow him to be the center of my thoughts. I feel like it incites a different attitude and mentality in me and I love it when he is the one seen and I am just in the background. When I feel distant from him, I get frustrated and wonder why and how I let myself get so "off". But he keeps proving to me that he will use me, even when I don't fully feel it or have any confidence in myself and my relationship with him.
I think that's the key though, isn't it?
It's not about me.
It's about Him.
It's not about my confidence or lack thereof.
It's about his strength and his willingness to use me.
It's not about my doubt, confusion or limited vision.
It's about his power, his control, his omniscience.
It's not about my failure, missed opportunities or sin.
It's about his victories, his unconditional love and his grace.
I too often forget that.
Such is the way of humanity I suppose.
But I also suspect that any attempt I make, however small, to allow my mind to think of him as the leader and essence of all I do, and to allow my heart to crave his presence in all things, will be fully worthwhile. Even if it creates an almost insignificant change or barely noticeable difference, it is so worth the effort. Because, from what I've learned about how God works, the seemingly insignificant changes are significant in our hindsight but fully known and planned by him. And the barely noticeable differences may be so to us, but may be immeasurable differences to others. Ha, once again, me, myself and I, are not the subjects of God's workings.
It reminds me of Jer. 29:13, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." But I think it's also true that sometimes it doesn't feel wholehearted, but even a half-hearted and ingenuine attempt to seek him is better than letting him remain hidden. Because I don't know about you, but I want God to be visible in my life. And if he chooses to use me as a means of making himself seen in the world, I can see no greater purpose for my life! I really don't mind being in the background of things when it comes to Him.
I think that's the key though, isn't it?
It's not about me.
It's about Him.
It's not about my confidence or lack thereof.
It's about his strength and his willingness to use me.
It's not about my doubt, confusion or limited vision.
It's about his power, his control, his omniscience.
It's not about my failure, missed opportunities or sin.
It's about his victories, his unconditional love and his grace.
I too often forget that.
Such is the way of humanity I suppose.
But I also suspect that any attempt I make, however small, to allow my mind to think of him as the leader and essence of all I do, and to allow my heart to crave his presence in all things, will be fully worthwhile. Even if it creates an almost insignificant change or barely noticeable difference, it is so worth the effort. Because, from what I've learned about how God works, the seemingly insignificant changes are significant in our hindsight but fully known and planned by him. And the barely noticeable differences may be so to us, but may be immeasurable differences to others. Ha, once again, me, myself and I, are not the subjects of God's workings.
It reminds me of Jer. 29:13, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." But I think it's also true that sometimes it doesn't feel wholehearted, but even a half-hearted and ingenuine attempt to seek him is better than letting him remain hidden. Because I don't know about you, but I want God to be visible in my life. And if he chooses to use me as a means of making himself seen in the world, I can see no greater purpose for my life! I really don't mind being in the background of things when it comes to Him.
June 14, 2010
Guitar
There's something about acoustic guitar that just gets me.
Perhaps it's the versatility of the instrument.
Or the multitude of sounds and styles.
Maybe it's all the memories associated with it.
Whatever it is, I'm a sucker for this music.
Weight of Glory
"And that is enough to raise your thoughts to what may happen when the redeemed soul, beyond all hope and nearly beyond belief, learns at last that she has pleased Him whom she was created to please. There will be no room for vanity then. She will be free from the miserable illusion that it is her doing. With no taint of what we should now call self-approval she will most innocently rejoice in the thing that God has made her to be, and the moment which heals her old inferiority complex forever will also drown her pride… Perfect humility dispenses with modesty."
-C.S. Lewis (Weight of Glory)
Searching for God Knows What
"I think Jesus is saying, Look, you guys are running around like monkeys trying to get people to clap, but people are fallen, they are separated from God, so they have no idea what is good or bad, worthy to be judged or set free, beautiful or ugly to begin with. Why not get your glory from God? Why not accept your feelings of redemption because of His pleasure in you, not the fickle and empty favor of man? And only then will you know who you are, and only then will you have true, uninhibited relationships with others."
-Donald Miller (Searching for God Knows What)
Searching For God Knows What
"And I go back to Eden, in my mind, to imagine what it is going to be like for you and me in heaven. I suppose it will be a new and marvelous paradise, where love will exist in its purest form, where the beauty of diversity will be understood for the first time, where self-hatred will fade into an agreement with with God about the splendor of His creation, where physical beauty will no longer be used as a commodity, where you and I will feel free in our sincere love for others, ourselves, and God. And I suppose it will be in heaven that you and I actually understand each other, all the drama of the lifeboat a distant memory, all the arguments we had seeming so inconsequential, and the glory of God before us in all His majesty, shining like sunlight through our souls."
-Donald Miller (Searching for God Knows What)
Weight of Glory
"To please God… to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness… to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son- it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is."
-C.S. Lewis (Weight of Glory)
Takes my Breath Away
I absolutely love the Oregon Coast!
Sure, there’s rarely any warmth, and yeah, it does rain a lot and generally there’s a generous windchill…
…but how can there be anything more beautiful than a place where the forest plummets into the sea? It’s as if heaven for a moment touches earth, breaking through the clouds to put on a majestic spectacle over the powerful ocean.
How can there not be a God??
Left Unspoken
"One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can’t utter."
-James Earl Jones"… the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."
-Romans 8:26
June 13, 2010
"This is our dilemma - as thinkers we are cut off from what we think about; as tasting, touching, willing, loving, hating, we do not clearly understand. The more lucidly we think, the more we are cut off: the more deeply we enter into reality, the less we can think. You cannot study Pleasure in the moment of the nuptial embrace, nor repentance while repenting, nor analyze the nature of humor while roaring with laughter. But when else can you really know these things?
You cannot hope and also think about hoping at the same moment; for in hope we look to hope’s object and we interrupt this by (so to speak) turning around to look at the hope itself… . Introspection is in one respect misleading. In introspection we try to look inside ourselves and see what is going on. But nearly everything that was going on a moment before is stopped by the very act of our turning to look at it. Unfortunately this does not mean that introspection finds nothing. On the contrary, it finds precisely what is left behind by the suspension of all our normal activities; and what is left behind is mainly mental images and physical sensations. The great error is to mistake this mere sediment or track or by product for the activities themselves."
You cannot hope and also think about hoping at the same moment; for in hope we look to hope’s object and we interrupt this by (so to speak) turning around to look at the hope itself… . Introspection is in one respect misleading. In introspection we try to look inside ourselves and see what is going on. But nearly everything that was going on a moment before is stopped by the very act of our turning to look at it. Unfortunately this does not mean that introspection finds nothing. On the contrary, it finds precisely what is left behind by the suspension of all our normal activities; and what is left behind is mainly mental images and physical sensations. The great error is to mistake this mere sediment or track or by product for the activities themselves."
C.S. Lewis
The Simple Things
I love the simple pleasures in life.
Sand in my toes, the foam of the tide, fun nail polish...
Scripture & Discernment
"What is it, really, that we could lose if we handed ourselves over to the discernment of faith? Would we really lose anything except the illusion of control? This question suggests that there may be an idolatrous project underlying resistance to spiritual discernment: the desire for a decision-making process that we can predict and control.
But the obedience of faith offers no certainties, not even that of being certain of our our fidelity. We cannot know if the decision we make here and now are correct. We only know that they are the best we are able to make, and that in the future we might both regret them and need to change them. The reason has nothing to do with our sinfulness and everything to do with the fact that faith has to do with the Living God, who always moves ahead of us in surprising and sometimes shocking ways. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31)."
But the obedience of faith offers no certainties, not even that of being certain of our our fidelity. We cannot know if the decision we make here and now are correct. We only know that they are the best we are able to make, and that in the future we might both regret them and need to change them. The reason has nothing to do with our sinfulness and everything to do with the fact that faith has to do with the Living God, who always moves ahead of us in surprising and sometimes shocking ways. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31)."
Luke Timothy Johnson (Scripture & Discernment)
June 12, 2010
Confrontation
...has never been one of my strengths.
But I'm learning more and more how important it truly is.
And God even provides ways that allow it to flow seamlessly with conversation...
which, I must say, is quite a blessing!
But I'm learning more and more how important it truly is.
And God even provides ways that allow it to flow seamlessly with conversation...
which, I must say, is quite a blessing!
June 6, 2010
Sometimes, God just lets me be profound
God completely opened my eyes through some intensive prayer a month or two ago.
It isn’t until now that I decided to share it.
“My life testimony is my theology. Theology is faith seeking understanding. This is in the sense of seeking to understand the One who in fact brings understanding. Therefore, my life testimony is not about me, it is about God. He is the subject in the narrative of my life. It is His working within me and through me that allows me to even incorporate myself into the story at all.
God works on a richer and deeper realm, far beyond anything we can comprehend. The world we live in is as a pencil sketch of the Reality beyond things temporal. The Divine Reality, the Kingdom of God, is so much more than we can even attempt to see. Things of this temporal world are only insufficient glimpses of the bigger, Real picture. How then, can we try to be so in control of our lives, when in fact all that we know accounts for little to nothing in the vast scheme of all Reality?
God created our bodies as pure and glorious gifts, as physical manifestations of human life. Our physicality is a comprehendible and tangible expression of the life God bestows us. Without the physical, how can humanity, in all its limited understanding, even begin to conceive things beyond the tangible? If we have no concrete, how can we look for the abstract? Without corporeal, there could not be a desire for the greater, deeper, more Spiritual realm of existence. Without the ability to see and touch and perceive physical creation and the bodily representation of life, how can the imprudent and inferior human mind be able to comprehend a Spiritual life such as the Divine Reality of the Kingdom of God!?
My Flesh is not an excuse or a scapegoat for my sin. It is a part of me- a part of my humanness. It is my sin. Sin is a part of me. Sin is birthed where there is an absence of God. It is tragic. It is inexcusable. Yet, praise to God, not unforgivable.
Flesh has a connotation of tangibility and physicality. It is earthly and temporal. It will be eradicated in the spectrum of Eternity. Why do I invest so much into the worry about my physical body? My worry about my body, feeds the sin of my Flesh. I have physical and tangible flesh, but I also have my sinning Flesh. Both will perish. Yet they are different. My physical flesh was created as a glorious gift, but it is only a physical manifestation of human life. It is of no significance beyond the temporal realm where our life exists as spirit. From the moment Eve took the fruit from the Serpent, deception was birthed into creation. Life became defined by the world’s critical eye. Sin became present. This is where Sinful Flesh differs from our once glorious physical flesh. Sinful Flesh is of upmost importance in the Divine realm. It is this sinfulness that separates me from God. I should be invested in eradicating my Flesh, not feeding it by worrying about my completely transient physical body (flesh).
If my Flesh is sinful, tragic, and completely temporal, then why do I allow it to overpower the Spirit within me? For in fact, where the Flesh is, the Spirit cannot be. How many parts within me are occupied by the desires of my Flesh and not the Power of the Spirit!? The only way to relinquish these pieces to the Spirit is complete and utter humility, disgust for my tragic Flesh, and the Power of God to overcome and occupy every ounce of my Being. To allow the Flesh to be my focus is not only against the entirety of God, but it is completely in vain- the Power of God is immeasurably stronger in true Reality!
What I love about myself is God within me. My human Flesh is utterly atrocious. It is vile and appalling. But because of God’s grace, I have His Spirit within me as well, and it is the Spirit that I adore and desire. It is my sinful Flesh that I hate. There is no way I can love myself if I allow my Flesh to win; There is no way I can love God if I allow sin to encapsulate my actions. I learn to love God because of His Spirit working in, through, and around me. As I fall more and more in love with Him, I will learn to love myself more and more because of His Spirit within me.
If my life narrative, if my testimony, is truly about God, and He is the Real, Only, and Ultimate Victor, then how can I be so selfish, sinful, and deceived as to allow my corrupt Flesh to infest parts of my Being!? I cannot eradicate it fully in this temporal earth, for being human is to sin, but I can seek with all the strength in me, through the Power and Grace of God, to defeat it’s grasp. As long as the Spirit is at the center work within me, the Flesh cannot get a full grasp.
Then, when I arrive at Eternity’s shore, how glorious and indescribable will it be when I am completely emptied of all sin, my Flesh is destroyed, and God can fully and completely swarm into my Being and fill me to overflowing! How much love will be given, received, and radiated! To stand in the Presence of the One who is my life and fully engulfs my spirit in union with His- will I be able to comprehend such inexorable love!? Will I even be able to stand at the sheer weight of Glory that will be bestowed upon me? I do not think I could even live through the immensity of such a climactic event! And yet we are granted to live for Eternity. This climax will be the culmination of all that is my life and it will never cease! The God who is the subject, center, and truly everything, will finally bring my Being to be as One with Him! We will be completely overcome in everlasting unity with the God of all Truth, all love, all things eternal, and all things beyond human comprehension!”
It isn’t until now that I decided to share it.
“My life testimony is my theology. Theology is faith seeking understanding. This is in the sense of seeking to understand the One who in fact brings understanding. Therefore, my life testimony is not about me, it is about God. He is the subject in the narrative of my life. It is His working within me and through me that allows me to even incorporate myself into the story at all.
God works on a richer and deeper realm, far beyond anything we can comprehend. The world we live in is as a pencil sketch of the Reality beyond things temporal. The Divine Reality, the Kingdom of God, is so much more than we can even attempt to see. Things of this temporal world are only insufficient glimpses of the bigger, Real picture. How then, can we try to be so in control of our lives, when in fact all that we know accounts for little to nothing in the vast scheme of all Reality?
God created our bodies as pure and glorious gifts, as physical manifestations of human life. Our physicality is a comprehendible and tangible expression of the life God bestows us. Without the physical, how can humanity, in all its limited understanding, even begin to conceive things beyond the tangible? If we have no concrete, how can we look for the abstract? Without corporeal, there could not be a desire for the greater, deeper, more Spiritual realm of existence. Without the ability to see and touch and perceive physical creation and the bodily representation of life, how can the imprudent and inferior human mind be able to comprehend a Spiritual life such as the Divine Reality of the Kingdom of God!?
My Flesh is not an excuse or a scapegoat for my sin. It is a part of me- a part of my humanness. It is my sin. Sin is a part of me. Sin is birthed where there is an absence of God. It is tragic. It is inexcusable. Yet, praise to God, not unforgivable.
Flesh has a connotation of tangibility and physicality. It is earthly and temporal. It will be eradicated in the spectrum of Eternity. Why do I invest so much into the worry about my physical body? My worry about my body, feeds the sin of my Flesh. I have physical and tangible flesh, but I also have my sinning Flesh. Both will perish. Yet they are different. My physical flesh was created as a glorious gift, but it is only a physical manifestation of human life. It is of no significance beyond the temporal realm where our life exists as spirit. From the moment Eve took the fruit from the Serpent, deception was birthed into creation. Life became defined by the world’s critical eye. Sin became present. This is where Sinful Flesh differs from our once glorious physical flesh. Sinful Flesh is of upmost importance in the Divine realm. It is this sinfulness that separates me from God. I should be invested in eradicating my Flesh, not feeding it by worrying about my completely transient physical body (flesh).
If my Flesh is sinful, tragic, and completely temporal, then why do I allow it to overpower the Spirit within me? For in fact, where the Flesh is, the Spirit cannot be. How many parts within me are occupied by the desires of my Flesh and not the Power of the Spirit!? The only way to relinquish these pieces to the Spirit is complete and utter humility, disgust for my tragic Flesh, and the Power of God to overcome and occupy every ounce of my Being. To allow the Flesh to be my focus is not only against the entirety of God, but it is completely in vain- the Power of God is immeasurably stronger in true Reality!
What I love about myself is God within me. My human Flesh is utterly atrocious. It is vile and appalling. But because of God’s grace, I have His Spirit within me as well, and it is the Spirit that I adore and desire. It is my sinful Flesh that I hate. There is no way I can love myself if I allow my Flesh to win; There is no way I can love God if I allow sin to encapsulate my actions. I learn to love God because of His Spirit working in, through, and around me. As I fall more and more in love with Him, I will learn to love myself more and more because of His Spirit within me.
If my life narrative, if my testimony, is truly about God, and He is the Real, Only, and Ultimate Victor, then how can I be so selfish, sinful, and deceived as to allow my corrupt Flesh to infest parts of my Being!? I cannot eradicate it fully in this temporal earth, for being human is to sin, but I can seek with all the strength in me, through the Power and Grace of God, to defeat it’s grasp. As long as the Spirit is at the center work within me, the Flesh cannot get a full grasp.
Then, when I arrive at Eternity’s shore, how glorious and indescribable will it be when I am completely emptied of all sin, my Flesh is destroyed, and God can fully and completely swarm into my Being and fill me to overflowing! How much love will be given, received, and radiated! To stand in the Presence of the One who is my life and fully engulfs my spirit in union with His- will I be able to comprehend such inexorable love!? Will I even be able to stand at the sheer weight of Glory that will be bestowed upon me? I do not think I could even live through the immensity of such a climactic event! And yet we are granted to live for Eternity. This climax will be the culmination of all that is my life and it will never cease! The God who is the subject, center, and truly everything, will finally bring my Being to be as One with Him! We will be completely overcome in everlasting unity with the God of all Truth, all love, all things eternal, and all things beyond human comprehension!”
Aching Joy
Posted on my Tumblr in February:
I find it so overwhelming and so strange that joy and heartache can be joined together.
And blessings can carry with them a curse.
But I think it’s the heartaches that make us appreciate more the joys.
And it’s the power of God that allows us to see the blessings as weightier than the curses.
For it’s in the heartaches that we might find what truly brings us our joy.
And within the curses, we come to understand the with more clarity, our blessings.
I find it so overwhelming and so strange that joy and heartache can be joined together.
And blessings can carry with them a curse.
But I think it’s the heartaches that make us appreciate more the joys.
And it’s the power of God that allows us to see the blessings as weightier than the curses.
For it’s in the heartaches that we might find what truly brings us our joy.
And within the curses, we come to understand the with more clarity, our blessings.
Weaknesses
Posted on my Tumblr in February:
Weaknesses are so hard to discover about yourself. Sometimes they are such blatantly obvious habits that we overlook them as even being problems.
I’ve recognized some of my biggest weaknesses over the past week.
But harder than the discovery of weakness is the acceptance and the application.
I’m reaching the point where I know that I have to accept that I am a person who strives for perfection, in all that I do and in all that I am. I also cannot stand to fail. Small failures make me frustrated with myself, and larger failures eat at my core. I realize I have high standards for myself, even unattainable ones, and I know I need to change that. I just am currently opposed to and even fearful of the idea of lowering my expectations of myself.
I just need to pray persistently that God will work in me, however painful the process may be. I need to reach the place in my life where I can fully accept this about myself and apply new habit, new thought, and new perspective to the way I live.
God, renew my view of perfectionism and help me to humbly accept my failures.
Weaknesses are so hard to discover about yourself. Sometimes they are such blatantly obvious habits that we overlook them as even being problems.
I’ve recognized some of my biggest weaknesses over the past week.
But harder than the discovery of weakness is the acceptance and the application.
I’m reaching the point where I know that I have to accept that I am a person who strives for perfection, in all that I do and in all that I am. I also cannot stand to fail. Small failures make me frustrated with myself, and larger failures eat at my core. I realize I have high standards for myself, even unattainable ones, and I know I need to change that. I just am currently opposed to and even fearful of the idea of lowering my expectations of myself.
I just need to pray persistently that God will work in me, however painful the process may be. I need to reach the place in my life where I can fully accept this about myself and apply new habit, new thought, and new perspective to the way I live.
God, renew my view of perfectionism and help me to humbly accept my failures.
Living in Time
This was posted on my Tumblr in February:
So God just hit me with a ton of bricks last night. Well, actually, last week I prayed that God would speak to me, guide me, give me direction. I just didn’t actually expect him to strike me with such hard things to contemplate and mull over. At Kaleo last night, it was like I was holding a giant basket over my head and He dropped a brick in, then another, and another, until I was completely overwhelmed by His presence, reality and realizations.
I have so many things running through my mind. But for now, I’m just going to touch on one.
Time.
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, and I was constantly reminded about how short this temporal life is. From dust we have come, and to dust we shall return. Death is a part of life itself. But what do we do with the living portion? How do we live our lives with the time we have?
Two different thoughts on this came to my mind.
Should we live making every moment count, in the here-and-now, for today and not tomorrow, not putting off anything, now now now; “Live like you’re dying” so to speak?
or
Should we live in patient prayer, waiting for God to give us the green light, faithfully listening for Him to direct in His timing?
This is so hard for me to wrap my mind around. I’ve always thought that the best way to live life is to live for the moment- tomorrow is in no way guaranteed. In fact, people take life so much for granted and take the reality of death so lightly. What if I were to die tomorrow?! How would I want to live today? What would I do? What would I say? How would I live?
But there’s another reality- one that says to wait patiently in prayer. God has a different timing than our own. And His clock is the only one that is on time. What if God doesn’t want me to do that now? What if He doesn’t want me to say that now? Does He want this for me ever? Or just not at this time?
What if I am to die before I accomplish/succeed/finish/do whatever it is that I feel called to do? Is this because I misheard God? Or is this a harsh and bold way of Him saying “no”? But on the other side of the coin, what if I do something today that God did not want me to do at this time? What if He wanted me to wait but instead I was so immersed in living in the now?
I’ve felt called to go to Uganda to work with kids in an orphanage for about five years now. I had an opportunity to go this summer. But with prayer, I felt as though God was saying “no”, at least not at this time. But what if I am wrong? What if this summer is the time and the opportunity God has prepared for me and I just passed it by? What if my life comes to an end before my next opportunity a few years into the future? Does that mean that I just misunderstood my calling? Or does it mean that I was supposed to not wait?
I am not saying that I am going to die in the near future. At least I’m not planning on it. But the reality is that we don’t know how long or short our lives are going to be. No one lives forever in this world. The only conclusion, or at least semi-conclusion, I have reached is that we should live every moment seeking God, furthering His kingdom, and asking how to best fulfill our purpose in His plan. Then maybe we will know with certainty to do/say/accomplish something now, or later, in this temporary life.
So which way is right? Which way is most Biblical? How are we to best live our earthly lives in a way that furthers the kingdom of God for the eternal life that lies beyond death? Does time even matter? Or is it the intentionality of seeking God, for however long or short, that matters more?
So God just hit me with a ton of bricks last night. Well, actually, last week I prayed that God would speak to me, guide me, give me direction. I just didn’t actually expect him to strike me with such hard things to contemplate and mull over. At Kaleo last night, it was like I was holding a giant basket over my head and He dropped a brick in, then another, and another, until I was completely overwhelmed by His presence, reality and realizations.
I have so many things running through my mind. But for now, I’m just going to touch on one.
Time.
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, and I was constantly reminded about how short this temporal life is. From dust we have come, and to dust we shall return. Death is a part of life itself. But what do we do with the living portion? How do we live our lives with the time we have?
Two different thoughts on this came to my mind.
Should we live making every moment count, in the here-and-now, for today and not tomorrow, not putting off anything, now now now; “Live like you’re dying” so to speak?
or
Should we live in patient prayer, waiting for God to give us the green light, faithfully listening for Him to direct in His timing?
This is so hard for me to wrap my mind around. I’ve always thought that the best way to live life is to live for the moment- tomorrow is in no way guaranteed. In fact, people take life so much for granted and take the reality of death so lightly. What if I were to die tomorrow?! How would I want to live today? What would I do? What would I say? How would I live?
But there’s another reality- one that says to wait patiently in prayer. God has a different timing than our own. And His clock is the only one that is on time. What if God doesn’t want me to do that now? What if He doesn’t want me to say that now? Does He want this for me ever? Or just not at this time?
What if I am to die before I accomplish/succeed/finish/do whatever it is that I feel called to do? Is this because I misheard God? Or is this a harsh and bold way of Him saying “no”? But on the other side of the coin, what if I do something today that God did not want me to do at this time? What if He wanted me to wait but instead I was so immersed in living in the now?
I’ve felt called to go to Uganda to work with kids in an orphanage for about five years now. I had an opportunity to go this summer. But with prayer, I felt as though God was saying “no”, at least not at this time. But what if I am wrong? What if this summer is the time and the opportunity God has prepared for me and I just passed it by? What if my life comes to an end before my next opportunity a few years into the future? Does that mean that I just misunderstood my calling? Or does it mean that I was supposed to not wait?
I am not saying that I am going to die in the near future. At least I’m not planning on it. But the reality is that we don’t know how long or short our lives are going to be. No one lives forever in this world. The only conclusion, or at least semi-conclusion, I have reached is that we should live every moment seeking God, furthering His kingdom, and asking how to best fulfill our purpose in His plan. Then maybe we will know with certainty to do/say/accomplish something now, or later, in this temporary life.
So which way is right? Which way is most Biblical? How are we to best live our earthly lives in a way that furthers the kingdom of God for the eternal life that lies beyond death? Does time even matter? Or is it the intentionality of seeking God, for however long or short, that matters more?
You Know
Once again,
This failed attempt to say what I want to say.
In the end,
It doesn’t really matter anyway.
You already know, You’ve read my mind.
It’s like my face is a projector screen
Of the thoughts inside.
You know me better
Than the rain knows to fall,
Than the stars know to shine;
You know me; you know it all.
You know my heart
Like a treasure in a trove,
Like a present wrapped in paper;
You know me, you know.
Here I am,
Chasing after nothing like I’m going somewhere.
I need a hand,
To bring me into places I wouldn’t dare.
You already have, you’ve taken me.
It’s like the ride can’t even begin
Unless you turn the Key.
You know me better
Than the rain knows to fall,
Than the stars know to shine;
You know me; you know it all.
You know my heart
Like a treasure in a trove,
Like a present wrapped in paper;
You know me, you know.
Help me quit this petty game.
I don’t even know the goal.
You’ve been longing to reclaim,
This broken heart-
Help me quit this petty game.
I don’t even know the goal.
You’ve been longing to reclaim,
This broken heart that now is whole.
You know me better
Than the rain knows to fall,
Than the stars know to shine;
You know me; you know it all.
You know my heart
Like a treasure in a trove,
Like a present wrapped in paper;
You know me, you know.
I want to know you
Like the rain knows to fall,
Like the stars know to shine;
You are You, but I am small.
I feel your love
Like a bottomless ocean
Like an endless embrace
You love me, this I know.
This failed attempt to say what I want to say.
In the end,
It doesn’t really matter anyway.
You already know, You’ve read my mind.
It’s like my face is a projector screen
Of the thoughts inside.
You know me better
Than the rain knows to fall,
Than the stars know to shine;
You know me; you know it all.
You know my heart
Like a treasure in a trove,
Like a present wrapped in paper;
You know me, you know.
Here I am,
Chasing after nothing like I’m going somewhere.
I need a hand,
To bring me into places I wouldn’t dare.
You already have, you’ve taken me.
It’s like the ride can’t even begin
Unless you turn the Key.
You know me better
Than the rain knows to fall,
Than the stars know to shine;
You know me; you know it all.
You know my heart
Like a treasure in a trove,
Like a present wrapped in paper;
You know me, you know.
Help me quit this petty game.
I don’t even know the goal.
You’ve been longing to reclaim,
This broken heart-
Help me quit this petty game.
I don’t even know the goal.
You’ve been longing to reclaim,
This broken heart that now is whole.
You know me better
Than the rain knows to fall,
Than the stars know to shine;
You know me; you know it all.
You know my heart
Like a treasure in a trove,
Like a present wrapped in paper;
You know me, you know.
I want to know you
Like the rain knows to fall,
Like the stars know to shine;
You are You, but I am small.
I feel your love
Like a bottomless ocean
Like an endless embrace
You love me, this I know.
"I Trust in You"
One of my favorite worship songs of the moment goes like this:
You hold my every moment,
You calm my raging sea.
You walk with my through fire,
And heal all my disease
I trust in you.
I trust in you.
I believe, you’re my healer.
I believe, you are all I need.
I believe, you’re my portion.
I believe, you’re more than enough for me.
Jesus you’re all I need.
Not only are the lyrics completely pertinent to my life right now, but I’ve been mulling of the concept behind them for weeks now.
God is shouting loud and clear that I need to trust him. Trust.
I so easily try to take matters into my own hands- my own hands that have no idea how to shape my life, directed by a mind that has no idea or understanding of anything beyond the trivial. How is that a way to live?! How will there ever be peace in a life led by a fallible human being?!
I’m reaching the point where God has been throwing things into my life that I need to trust him for. The only way to learn this lesson is to be forced to experience it. But I am so excited! I can’t wait to see how God is going to challenge me, break me down, rebuild me, and establish my life with a new center where I am able to fully trust him for every single thing in my life.
I’m not at this point yet. I can’t rightly say “I trust in you”. But my prayer is:
“God, help me to trust you! Give me the courage to let go of all I’m clinging to in vain! Help me to fully believe with every ounce of my soul that “you are all I need” and that you are in fact “more than enough for me”. Put truth to the phrase, “I trust in you”, so that when those words flow over my lips, I will believe wholeheartedly in my very being that you are in control. Lord, let me learn to trust!
Amen.”
You hold my every moment,
You calm my raging sea.
You walk with my through fire,
And heal all my disease
I trust in you.
I trust in you.
I believe, you’re my healer.
I believe, you are all I need.
I believe, you’re my portion.
I believe, you’re more than enough for me.
Jesus you’re all I need.
Not only are the lyrics completely pertinent to my life right now, but I’ve been mulling of the concept behind them for weeks now.
God is shouting loud and clear that I need to trust him. Trust.
I so easily try to take matters into my own hands- my own hands that have no idea how to shape my life, directed by a mind that has no idea or understanding of anything beyond the trivial. How is that a way to live?! How will there ever be peace in a life led by a fallible human being?!
I’m reaching the point where God has been throwing things into my life that I need to trust him for. The only way to learn this lesson is to be forced to experience it. But I am so excited! I can’t wait to see how God is going to challenge me, break me down, rebuild me, and establish my life with a new center where I am able to fully trust him for every single thing in my life.
I’m not at this point yet. I can’t rightly say “I trust in you”. But my prayer is:
“God, help me to trust you! Give me the courage to let go of all I’m clinging to in vain! Help me to fully believe with every ounce of my soul that “you are all I need” and that you are in fact “more than enough for me”. Put truth to the phrase, “I trust in you”, so that when those words flow over my lips, I will believe wholeheartedly in my very being that you are in control. Lord, let me learn to trust!
Amen.”
Heaven?!
Posted on my Tumblr in February:
Have you ever taken time to contemplate the beauties of heaven?
It blows my mind.
Do you think the natural beauty of this world is even comparable to that of divine, heavenly, beauty? What I mean is- do you think luminous sunsets, might waterfalls, racing clouds, even a simple flower growing in the crack of a brick- do you think these things are a little taste of heaven?
Or do you think heaven is something so much greater, far beyond any human comprehension?
If so, then… I don’t even know what to think! How do we, feeble and incompetent human beings, prepare ourselves for the glories of heaven?- For the divine creation of God, not the earthly, and the majestic and utterly indescribable glory and majesty and sheer presence of the omnipotent God of all beauty?!
Just some things to think about…
Have you ever taken time to contemplate the beauties of heaven?
It blows my mind.
Do you think the natural beauty of this world is even comparable to that of divine, heavenly, beauty? What I mean is- do you think luminous sunsets, might waterfalls, racing clouds, even a simple flower growing in the crack of a brick- do you think these things are a little taste of heaven?
Or do you think heaven is something so much greater, far beyond any human comprehension?
If so, then… I don’t even know what to think! How do we, feeble and incompetent human beings, prepare ourselves for the glories of heaven?- For the divine creation of God, not the earthly, and the majestic and utterly indescribable glory and majesty and sheer presence of the omnipotent God of all beauty?!
Just some things to think about…
Omnipresence
This was posted on my Tumblr in January:
I am surrounded by such incredible people that love God.
I see God’s love through them.
How in the world do I deserve this?
Oh wait…
…I don’t.
But God thinks I’m fully worth it.
Thank you Lord for your character.
You give me strength when I am weak.
You fill me with joy when I am hurting.
You instill hope in my soul.
You grant me peace.
You never fail.
You never stop loving me.
I don’t deserve any of it.
I don’t deserve You.
And yet you never let go of me.
Never.
You are always present.
Always.
I’ll just let my words be few.
Thank you.
Amen.
I am surrounded by such incredible people that love God.
I see God’s love through them.
How in the world do I deserve this?
Oh wait…
…I don’t.
But God thinks I’m fully worth it.
Thank you Lord for your character.
You give me strength when I am weak.
You fill me with joy when I am hurting.
You instill hope in my soul.
You grant me peace.
You never fail.
You never stop loving me.
I don’t deserve any of it.
I don’t deserve You.
And yet you never let go of me.
Never.
You are always present.
Always.
I’ll just let my words be few.
Thank you.
Amen.
Experiencing God
This was posted on my Tumblr in January:
D-group was really good today. We talked about a lot of great, deep things. But here is something that I am free and willing to share that I think is fully applicable to anyone at any point in their walk with the Lord:
You were designed to always be in God’s presence- to always be with Jesus. In Christ, we discover that Heaven is more than a place as we understand geographic places. Heaven is not just a spacial reality, it is a life; Heaven is the fact that Jesus dwells there. Heaven is being with Jesus. Wherever He is, there is Heaven.
You were created to always be in His presence in undisturbed communion. Jesus came to restore humanity to that level of communion and to show us that there is a place that exists in the spirit where we can live from Heaven before we die: a place set aside for lovers of God where the Christ-life exemplifies the bare minimum of what our experience can and should be as humans fully redeemed by Jesus’ sacrifice- an experience based on His performance, not ours.
John 14 and 15 paint a vivid picture of how our lives as Christ followers are prioritized. He loves us, and we love Him back with the love He has poured out on us. John grasped something about the nature and character of God that few other new testament writers got a hold of: our preciousness in the sight of God- perhaps this is what gave him the boldness to call himself “the disciple Jesus loved”. He understood the bigness of God’s heart and His ability to deluge a favor that allows us to live as if we were His favorite.
In any event, the purpose of this favor is to draw us up into a place of abiding. Abiding is our permission, our challenge, our battle, and our inheritance. Most people’s spiritual life is riddled with a tug-of-war between what the grace of God might mean for us and the overwhelming weight of inadequacy, failed performance, guilt, shame and insecurity that the enemy tries to keep in front of our vision. We know that Christ’s work on the cross was sufficient to get us out of hell, but most of us fail to take full advantage of the privileges of “Sonship” or “Daughtership”. Ephesians 1 tells us that the unbelievable power of the Spirit not only raised Jesus from the dead, but also lifted Him up to the highest place of power, authority, and glory. Most of us get on the bus of “salvation” but hop off at the first stop in the village of “redeemed”. The lies of the enemy and our unwillingness to succumb to the Love of God keep us from staying on the journey into the town of “deliverance”, the city of “freedom”, the downtown of “authority”, and the metropolis of “more than overwhelmingly victorious by His love and seated with Him in heavenly places”. We have access to not only visit this place, we have permission to abide in this place where we already have every spiritual blessing and everything we need for life and Godliness. What might your life look like if you chose to live in and from this place, instead. What if you actually grasped that you do not live in your circumstances, but rather, you live in Christ?
Our entrance and access to these places are not affected at all be our performance; our performance influences our abiding, not our access at any given moment. In Jesus, the door is never shut, and an moment you can run to this place. You can get into this place in any circumstance through the gates of thanksgiving of through the courts with praise. You abide there because of intimacy. Praying without ceasing is how we abide there; but praying without ceasing is not a religious discipline- it is being passionately caught up in a never-ending conversation throughout the whole day with our lover. Abiding with the Father is about learning relational Joy.
The focus of prayer life that is rightly lived is about crying out for His presence, to literally see His face, to behold His glory in tangible ways. It is the cry for more of Him! This life is about waiting in stillness for Him; it’s about listening. It is about hearing a certain sound and tuning out the other ones. There are many voices that are misleading in our transformation into the image of Christ.
The cry of intimacy is, “Jesus, I want to be with You. Holy Spirit, make me more like Jesus. Papa, deluge me in Your delight, in Your joy, in Your peace, in Your righteousness and in Your love.”
If you want to discover the limitless possibilities of who God is for you, then you need to choose to make fostering intimacy with Him the number one priority in your life.
Through scripture, permission has been granted for us to experience ALL of who He is. The key is to let the truth soak into your spirit, not your mind. Find ways to apply the truths to your circumstances. Let the revelation that is coming to you through the passage impact the way you choose to live, think and interact with others; let it SHAPE the way you live and experience life. Reading the Bible will do you very little. Reading large quantities is even more unhelpful. The only way it becomes meaningful is when we allow a truth to soak in and change us over time.
The whole Bible is a set of invitations into an experience that God wants you to have with Him!- An experience of intimacy with an Almighty and Loving God, filled with overwhelming joy, peace, truth and hope that leads us to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything!
D-group was really good today. We talked about a lot of great, deep things. But here is something that I am free and willing to share that I think is fully applicable to anyone at any point in their walk with the Lord:
You were designed to always be in God’s presence- to always be with Jesus. In Christ, we discover that Heaven is more than a place as we understand geographic places. Heaven is not just a spacial reality, it is a life; Heaven is the fact that Jesus dwells there. Heaven is being with Jesus. Wherever He is, there is Heaven.
You were created to always be in His presence in undisturbed communion. Jesus came to restore humanity to that level of communion and to show us that there is a place that exists in the spirit where we can live from Heaven before we die: a place set aside for lovers of God where the Christ-life exemplifies the bare minimum of what our experience can and should be as humans fully redeemed by Jesus’ sacrifice- an experience based on His performance, not ours.
John 14 and 15 paint a vivid picture of how our lives as Christ followers are prioritized. He loves us, and we love Him back with the love He has poured out on us. John grasped something about the nature and character of God that few other new testament writers got a hold of: our preciousness in the sight of God- perhaps this is what gave him the boldness to call himself “the disciple Jesus loved”. He understood the bigness of God’s heart and His ability to deluge a favor that allows us to live as if we were His favorite.
In any event, the purpose of this favor is to draw us up into a place of abiding. Abiding is our permission, our challenge, our battle, and our inheritance. Most people’s spiritual life is riddled with a tug-of-war between what the grace of God might mean for us and the overwhelming weight of inadequacy, failed performance, guilt, shame and insecurity that the enemy tries to keep in front of our vision. We know that Christ’s work on the cross was sufficient to get us out of hell, but most of us fail to take full advantage of the privileges of “Sonship” or “Daughtership”. Ephesians 1 tells us that the unbelievable power of the Spirit not only raised Jesus from the dead, but also lifted Him up to the highest place of power, authority, and glory. Most of us get on the bus of “salvation” but hop off at the first stop in the village of “redeemed”. The lies of the enemy and our unwillingness to succumb to the Love of God keep us from staying on the journey into the town of “deliverance”, the city of “freedom”, the downtown of “authority”, and the metropolis of “more than overwhelmingly victorious by His love and seated with Him in heavenly places”. We have access to not only visit this place, we have permission to abide in this place where we already have every spiritual blessing and everything we need for life and Godliness. What might your life look like if you chose to live in and from this place, instead. What if you actually grasped that you do not live in your circumstances, but rather, you live in Christ?
Our entrance and access to these places are not affected at all be our performance; our performance influences our abiding, not our access at any given moment. In Jesus, the door is never shut, and an moment you can run to this place. You can get into this place in any circumstance through the gates of thanksgiving of through the courts with praise. You abide there because of intimacy. Praying without ceasing is how we abide there; but praying without ceasing is not a religious discipline- it is being passionately caught up in a never-ending conversation throughout the whole day with our lover. Abiding with the Father is about learning relational Joy.
The focus of prayer life that is rightly lived is about crying out for His presence, to literally see His face, to behold His glory in tangible ways. It is the cry for more of Him! This life is about waiting in stillness for Him; it’s about listening. It is about hearing a certain sound and tuning out the other ones. There are many voices that are misleading in our transformation into the image of Christ.
The cry of intimacy is, “Jesus, I want to be with You. Holy Spirit, make me more like Jesus. Papa, deluge me in Your delight, in Your joy, in Your peace, in Your righteousness and in Your love.”
If you want to discover the limitless possibilities of who God is for you, then you need to choose to make fostering intimacy with Him the number one priority in your life.
Through scripture, permission has been granted for us to experience ALL of who He is. The key is to let the truth soak into your spirit, not your mind. Find ways to apply the truths to your circumstances. Let the revelation that is coming to you through the passage impact the way you choose to live, think and interact with others; let it SHAPE the way you live and experience life. Reading the Bible will do you very little. Reading large quantities is even more unhelpful. The only way it becomes meaningful is when we allow a truth to soak in and change us over time.
The whole Bible is a set of invitations into an experience that God wants you to have with Him!- An experience of intimacy with an Almighty and Loving God, filled with overwhelming joy, peace, truth and hope that leads us to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything!
Oh, How He Loves Us
This was posted on my Tumblr in December:
There are no words to describe it. There is no humanly possible way to express it. It is completely inconceivable for the human mind. It is unable to be defined, only experienced.
God’s love.
It truly is “vast beyond all measure”, to quote some honest lyrics. It wasn’t until about 3 weeks ago that God revealed to me his love in a way so much more evident than I ever have experienced in my life.
In the middle of November, I was reading a chapter out of Blue Like Jazz. It was here that Donald Miller says that loving yourself is simply allowing God to love you. Further, you cannot truly express the love of God to others if you don’t love yourself.
At first, I was completely shattered by this. To sum it up, I have battled with a lack of self-confidence for a solid seven years or so. I can honestly say that I haven’t fully and truly loved myself for that length of time. So, to recognize that I have not been fully experiencing or sharing God’s love for this long left me in stunned silence.
From there, I proceeded to do a study of what the Bible defines as love according to 1 Corinthians 13. I would meditate over one part of the verses every day, praying about it, and asking God to show me what is meant by “love is patient” and “love is kind”. Throughout these 2 weeks, God kept persisting in sharing this message to me- in chapels, in classes, in conversation. That in and of itself was sheer evidence of his pursuing love. Then, the final day of this study was Nov. 25- the day I left for Mexico Outreach.
In Mexico, God so visibly and obviously displayed his love. (Details are in my post, “Mexico Outreach”.) God used me to love others. But more than that, the people there that I had gone to minister to and to bless, ended up blessing me and showing God’s love to me. I felt as though I received more than I gave.
Over the next few days after I had returned from Mexico, I did a lot of contemplation over everything that had occurred in the last few weeks. One day, I was deep in prayer, and I was suddenly overwhelmed by something- I realized that I love who I am becoming in Christ. That is the key- in Christ. Nothing else matters. I am allowing God to penetrate my heart; I’m allowing him to love me; I am loving myself; I am radiating his love. For the first time in seven years, I love who I am and who I am becoming. All I can do is give all the praise to God who formed my heart and love him in return!
There are no words to describe it. There is no humanly possible way to express it. It is completely inconceivable for the human mind. It is unable to be defined, only experienced.
God’s love.
It truly is “vast beyond all measure”, to quote some honest lyrics. It wasn’t until about 3 weeks ago that God revealed to me his love in a way so much more evident than I ever have experienced in my life.
In the middle of November, I was reading a chapter out of Blue Like Jazz. It was here that Donald Miller says that loving yourself is simply allowing God to love you. Further, you cannot truly express the love of God to others if you don’t love yourself.
At first, I was completely shattered by this. To sum it up, I have battled with a lack of self-confidence for a solid seven years or so. I can honestly say that I haven’t fully and truly loved myself for that length of time. So, to recognize that I have not been fully experiencing or sharing God’s love for this long left me in stunned silence.
From there, I proceeded to do a study of what the Bible defines as love according to 1 Corinthians 13. I would meditate over one part of the verses every day, praying about it, and asking God to show me what is meant by “love is patient” and “love is kind”. Throughout these 2 weeks, God kept persisting in sharing this message to me- in chapels, in classes, in conversation. That in and of itself was sheer evidence of his pursuing love. Then, the final day of this study was Nov. 25- the day I left for Mexico Outreach.
In Mexico, God so visibly and obviously displayed his love. (Details are in my post, “Mexico Outreach”.) God used me to love others. But more than that, the people there that I had gone to minister to and to bless, ended up blessing me and showing God’s love to me. I felt as though I received more than I gave.
Over the next few days after I had returned from Mexico, I did a lot of contemplation over everything that had occurred in the last few weeks. One day, I was deep in prayer, and I was suddenly overwhelmed by something- I realized that I love who I am becoming in Christ. That is the key- in Christ. Nothing else matters. I am allowing God to penetrate my heart; I’m allowing him to love me; I am loving myself; I am radiating his love. For the first time in seven years, I love who I am and who I am becoming. All I can do is give all the praise to God who formed my heart and love him in return!
Fellowship of the Unashamed
"I’m a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of His and I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secured. I’m done and finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, chintzy giving, cheap living, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, or first, or tops, or recognized, or praised, or regarded, or rewarded. I live by faith, lean on His presence, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven. My road may be narrow, my way rough, my companions few, but my guide is reliable and my mission is clear. I will not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice or hesitate in the presence of the adversary. I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won’t give up, shut up, let up, or burn up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus! I must give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He stops. When He comes for His own, He’ll have no problems recognizing me. My colors will be clear!"
Dr. Bob Moorehead
Dr. Bob Moorehead
Tumblr
In December I stopped using Blogspot for Tumblr. Now I wish I had kept up with both.
I'm going to link them together, but first, I'm going to post some of my favorite Tumblr posts from the last 6 months.
So here goes nothin...
I'm going to link them together, but first, I'm going to post some of my favorite Tumblr posts from the last 6 months.
So here goes nothin...
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