To Live Again.
To live again is what? To restart? Perhaps I should restart, or should I start anew? Start from the beginning? What beginning and to what end? What defines the seasons of our lives if not the starts and the stops. I've stopped this blog before. It's been years, but it feels like moments. It feels that way because what I've done is pause my life. I don't know all of the reasons why, but I do know that I was scared to live a full life. Scared to fail and scared to succeed. I was God's in the time paused, but I guess I let my own fears creep over the foundation of my life. I knew that I was saved by the blood; but I forgot that blood is not static, it's a pulsing dynamic thing existing in who I am, and lately... lately I've been willing to let that out. There is much that I do not know, and I'm finally old enough to admit that, so here once more are my thoughts, my ramblings, my heart. I will not restart, I will not start anew, I will renew - I love my journey, I love what has weaved together to make my life what it is at this exact moment, because I couldn't have done it. He is the beginning and the end. He is my beginning and my end.The 'bits and pieces' and the inbetween they're me, but they're me with Him. So hello again. Hello to not just being anymore, but to trying also.
"Because the Sovereign Lord hooks me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint and I know I will not be put to shame" - Isaiah 50:7
Saturday, 23 February 2019
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
3000.
So - it may seem as though I decided to drop off the face of the planet... still here :D Lots of things, but for another time. I was thinking about my walk this morning - well many mornings - but today, today I specifically got stuck on time. See, I looked at a phone app I have - and I looked at the day I gave my heart to the Lord and found out that this is my 3000th day of walking with Him. I just kind of liked knowing that - seeing the whole picture. Looking back to my time of struggling against knowing Him - to the day I finally admitted I was His. I can't even describe my thankfulness - it's my whole being; I know exactly who I'd be without Him - who I never want to be ever again... but now... now I don't know - my future is firmly in His hands. See - I have a clear picture of who I'm to be in Him and I've been learning lately how to live fully in that... the 'more' I yearn for can only come from walking every step with faith and in obedience to Him. I mess up everyday... He knows it... but everyday brings new opportunities to put Him first. God has placed so many dreams in me - so many in the people perfectly placed and positioned around me - and they all intersect into His purposes - it seems as though they're coming to the surface everywhere. That's a cool thing... a complete God thing.
I just wanted to share the joy I found today - see, the Christian walk isn't easy - it's the toughest thing you can do - you die to your flesh everyday - every single day you put yourself aside and instead live for Jesus. It's amazing. It's worth all. For Him we give up us; then - He hands us so much more - His plan for these crazy Christians that were thought up, created, sinned, sacrificed for and saved - all to know and live for Him. I've had difficult days in those 3000 saved... through genuine situations, but mostly through the fault of my own - through the wants and desires I didn't put aside, through disobedience, and through lack of faith. I've had amazing days too - I've felt joy, felt Him work and change in me, I've seen amazing things happen to those around me, met people that are amazing through Him, seen miracles, but mostly - I've lived. I've lived those days with Him beside me - better than anything ever. I can't describe what giving my heart to Him was like. I was suddenly embraced by this God that created me. I knew I was doing exactly what I'd been created to do. In that moment I just wanted to always be His. The rest of my walk - the walk in Him - is about protecting that - protecting the fact that I need to be His... and that I need to put my flesh aside to do so. It's about seeking Him. Reading Him in the Word. Dwelling in His Presence. Letting the Holy Spirit that was in Christ Jesus also be in us. But mostly - it's like the Bible says - it's about loving Him out. Being mature enough to walk out all we know of Him. I want to be for Him always. I want to be for Him in me. I want to be for Him in everyone around me. I more than want it - I desire it - I need it - need to live Him out! That is something joyful - and that's something that's for you too!
John 3:16
"For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world, but that the world might be saved through Him."
Saturday, 15 September 2012
The yo-yo affect
Its been quite awhile since I've written. I hate when that happens because then I just lose focus - I lose mapping out what God has done, is doing, and will do. I lose part of my walk with Him - part of how I dwell in Him. Part of studying; of seeing His order through fractals. Fall changes that though - I know it's a season of things dying, but it breathes life into to me. It's like the 20 odd years of adjusting to the school system kick back in - bringing me into 'teach and change me' mode. I love it. The definition of Christian to me is dying daily, so I won't play catch-up in the neverending changes that've happened - I'll be them instead and talk about what is happening.
I've been dealing with junk again. The dross that comes to the surface when it's time to deal with it. Its a continual thing, part of His plan, but there are seasons when its more evident. When it's a deeper rooting out. The past few weeks have been like that. The phrase 'I'm at the end of my rope' kept looping in my head yesterday. I had gotten to the end of many ropes in this changing season. Now my questions had narrowed to one: where do I go from here?
I pictured it as a yo-yo. All these ropes were strings and chains and just plain bondages - and were attached to me... I was the puppet on a string. Option unhelpful: roll back up. See that surfacely looks best - it looks like you bounced back... like you're where you always were. You're not though because you've willingly - lets use stronger words - willfully chosen to be bound. You've rolled yourself over and over right up into a trap.
You know about the issue - you can step into control - you can keep it under wraps - you can swallow it down. It's still there though. There are always cracks in the surface - glimpses of what's really happening - of the pain and the troubles. Things we don't want to acknowledge - the junk that is a virus that spreads out when we don't deal.
I don't want that uncontainable junk in me - I want an uncontainable God flow instead. Choosing to not deal is throwing aside your second choice: God. It denies His role in our lives. It dishonours Him. God brings up issues in us in the right time - when they're supposed to be dealt with. When you get to the end of a rope it's about letting go - asking Him to cut us off from the junk that holds us back from being all that we are called to be in Him.
Living for God is messy, but it's our mess - its our junk coming to the surface and giving way to His order. We have to determine to live in Him - by His word and His will. I want faith - I want my actions to be for Him - to be alive in Him, not dead. Dead to myself and to my junk, but alive in this my God who's my all. I don't want a yo-yo to define my life; I want His plumbline to. I want His Word to be a level in my life - I want Him to be the weight in the decisions I make, so that they'll be His.
Amos 7:7-8
'Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord,
Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel:
I will not again pass by them any more'
Galatians 2:20-21
'My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.'
--> I can't keep myself in check without Christ. Every plan or dream that I could live out would be nothing if it was separate from His purposes. They would be dust... I would be dust. He's my living God and I thrist for Him.
Galatians 3:3
'Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?'
--> The control in 'bouncing back' - definitely worth avoiding - I don't want to live outside of the Holy Spirit. I don't want to try, and ultimately fail, to meet my own expectations when I'm to be living His.
Still learning, but for now I'll leave you... so that I'll be refreshed for services tomorrow.
I've been dealing with junk again. The dross that comes to the surface when it's time to deal with it. Its a continual thing, part of His plan, but there are seasons when its more evident. When it's a deeper rooting out. The past few weeks have been like that. The phrase 'I'm at the end of my rope' kept looping in my head yesterday. I had gotten to the end of many ropes in this changing season. Now my questions had narrowed to one: where do I go from here?
I pictured it as a yo-yo. All these ropes were strings and chains and just plain bondages - and were attached to me... I was the puppet on a string. Option unhelpful: roll back up. See that surfacely looks best - it looks like you bounced back... like you're where you always were. You're not though because you've willingly - lets use stronger words - willfully chosen to be bound. You've rolled yourself over and over right up into a trap.
You know about the issue - you can step into control - you can keep it under wraps - you can swallow it down. It's still there though. There are always cracks in the surface - glimpses of what's really happening - of the pain and the troubles. Things we don't want to acknowledge - the junk that is a virus that spreads out when we don't deal.
I don't want that uncontainable junk in me - I want an uncontainable God flow instead. Choosing to not deal is throwing aside your second choice: God. It denies His role in our lives. It dishonours Him. God brings up issues in us in the right time - when they're supposed to be dealt with. When you get to the end of a rope it's about letting go - asking Him to cut us off from the junk that holds us back from being all that we are called to be in Him.
Living for God is messy, but it's our mess - its our junk coming to the surface and giving way to His order. We have to determine to live in Him - by His word and His will. I want faith - I want my actions to be for Him - to be alive in Him, not dead. Dead to myself and to my junk, but alive in this my God who's my all. I don't want a yo-yo to define my life; I want His plumbline to. I want His Word to be a level in my life - I want Him to be the weight in the decisions I make, so that they'll be His.
Amos 7:7-8
'Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord,
Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel:
I will not again pass by them any more'
Galatians 2:20-21
'My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.'
--> I can't keep myself in check without Christ. Every plan or dream that I could live out would be nothing if it was separate from His purposes. They would be dust... I would be dust. He's my living God and I thrist for Him.
Galatians 3:3
'Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?'
--> The control in 'bouncing back' - definitely worth avoiding - I don't want to live outside of the Holy Spirit. I don't want to try, and ultimately fail, to meet my own expectations when I'm to be living His.
Still learning, but for now I'll leave you... so that I'll be refreshed for services tomorrow.
Monday, 4 June 2012
Life-giving.
Psalm 56:12-13
"I will fulfill my vows to you, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help. For you have rescued me from death; You have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light."
"I will fulfill my vows to you, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help. For you have rescued me from death; You have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light."
Thursday, 17 May 2012
8th Niece or Nephew
On March 1st of this year I was told an amazing thing - my sister Sarah and my now new brother Jeff were going to have a baby!!! I've been counting down ever since - today's t-145 - I'm so excited for them... and to meet their little. Yesterday she had her ultrasound and found out that it's a baby boy! I already love him muchly. I love that she could text the picture to us. I love that I can get a glimpse of him whenever I pick up my phone. I love that he'll be my fourth nephew. I love when Sarah sends me updates! I can't wait to meet him!!! Until I can though - I'll just check on his cute status by looking at these:
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
This Year.
238 days left. Sunday services left me hit pretty hard. See - God gave me two things. The first was a remembrance of this year - that it was a call to walk in Kingdom Authority. I spent time in prayer on the 31st - I blogged about it and it was confirmed in the service. I knew it. I didn't protect it though. Within days I started getting hurt - letting that call get undermined. Months. So many things. See - I felt so lost - like I couldn't get ground in any area. Truthfully I couldn't - I can't get anywhere without God. So I stayed stuck. Service was about hope. I've been walking out of some different things lately and I went into Sunday better than I've been in awhile. Steadier in Him. During praise and worship God told me some things... cemented them really. He told me that we were a third of the way through the year - that things could change - that I could refocus onto Him... that I hadn't lost all. I pulled out my calculator right away (total dork moment - at least it was on my phone :P) - and I looked at my countdown. I countdown a lot. It makes things feel closer to me, but this time it made things farther... it gave me time as it is... a moment of knowing His order. This year of mine - it will still be His.
The other thing that pretty much floored me were the words 'base' and 'zero'; I was trying to figure out what that meant and I got stuck - He said the connections in my life would go to that. I'm only familiar with it being a 'Hunger Games' reference - when people to made to look like they would with no imperfections and also no enhancements. That it's a type of balance. I looked it up too - it came out as a budgeting issue [www.merriam-webster.com/.../zero-based
Definition of ZERO-BASED: having each item justified on the basis of cost or need] - it's about balance too. The thing is I have pictures of people in my head. Pictures of the people in my life - of where they're to be in God; but it's difficult because I know them - and emotionally I just want them there now. It becomes hard to see the history in people and see them struggle in the present... to feel it. Instead, He wants me to drop my ties, so to speak, and yearn for His will. That's a tough one. It feels like giving up, even when it's really about lifting up and giving to God. My hands are not His and I want the best... I want them in His hands. That was such a release on and in me. I can't even describe it.
The other thing I've really faced lately is an unwillingness to deal with where I'm at and with where I want to be. I've woken up at 6:30 almost every single day - to do some thinking that I didn't let get done. The past week I've also been kept up by the fact that I should be writing and processing and growing. God has really been chasing me down - having to sneak in to meet me, instead having free reign. I've not let myself spend time thinking on Him. I've been praying and reading His Word, but doing those things without thinking isn't doing those things at all, because it's not a determined giving to God. I had basically struggled myself into an unworthy mess of a person - simply because that's where I go without Him... a complete idiotic scheme that takes you further from God and into more pain and then into even more unworthiness. These are the cycles that the services spoke about. I think it was the day before that got me first though - see, on Saturday I remembered; I got down to the big question I always get to (the one that everyone has - however different it may be). Saturday I chose His truth. There is much of this year left. There is much of me left for it. There is hope. But most importantly there is God... always. I don't know how to end so many words (especially because I'm so not putting the time into editing); With Him and His plans I guess... that's something I always need and want to always want... it's the cycle that I was made for - that we were all made for - Him.
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
The other thing that pretty much floored me were the words 'base' and 'zero'; I was trying to figure out what that meant and I got stuck - He said the connections in my life would go to that. I'm only familiar with it being a 'Hunger Games' reference - when people to made to look like they would with no imperfections and also no enhancements. That it's a type of balance. I looked it up too - it came out as a budgeting issue [www.merriam-webster.com/.../zero-based
Definition of ZERO-BASED: having each item justified on the basis of cost or need] - it's about balance too. The thing is I have pictures of people in my head. Pictures of the people in my life - of where they're to be in God; but it's difficult because I know them - and emotionally I just want them there now. It becomes hard to see the history in people and see them struggle in the present... to feel it. Instead, He wants me to drop my ties, so to speak, and yearn for His will. That's a tough one. It feels like giving up, even when it's really about lifting up and giving to God. My hands are not His and I want the best... I want them in His hands. That was such a release on and in me. I can't even describe it.
The other thing I've really faced lately is an unwillingness to deal with where I'm at and with where I want to be. I've woken up at 6:30 almost every single day - to do some thinking that I didn't let get done. The past week I've also been kept up by the fact that I should be writing and processing and growing. God has really been chasing me down - having to sneak in to meet me, instead having free reign. I've not let myself spend time thinking on Him. I've been praying and reading His Word, but doing those things without thinking isn't doing those things at all, because it's not a determined giving to God. I had basically struggled myself into an unworthy mess of a person - simply because that's where I go without Him... a complete idiotic scheme that takes you further from God and into more pain and then into even more unworthiness. These are the cycles that the services spoke about. I think it was the day before that got me first though - see, on Saturday I remembered; I got down to the big question I always get to (the one that everyone has - however different it may be). Saturday I chose His truth. There is much of this year left. There is much of me left for it. There is hope. But most importantly there is God... always. I don't know how to end so many words (especially because I'm so not putting the time into editing); With Him and His plans I guess... that's something I always need and want to always want... it's the cycle that I was made for - that we were all made for - Him.
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Bombs away... soon.
This weekend we've had visiting Pastors John and Caroline Wilkinson at our Church. It was neat to see how God's plans just line up - this morning's service was about what we've been receiving and seeking. It was about the tombstones we put up in our lives - how we create monuments to pain and how that holds us back from the freedom God wants us to walk in. That's what's been hitting hard at Third Day for quite awhile - moving past that pain. It's also what Katie Souza teaches on - soul wounds and just pains. We've been taught to bring them to God and to soak them in His Light. In that way - we've been turning them over to God. That was what was so awesome about this morning - Pastor Wilkinson was talking about focusing on God landmarks instead of painful tombstones. Same approach - looking at God's work in our lives, instead of dwelling on the works (or pains) found in the world. Healing. I really liked his analogy - one about people being so willing to bring flowers to the tombstones in our lives - about dwelling in pain, instead of honoring His works and the times we've given to Him. It's such a choice - and it's so easy to stay in pain - to be trapped by it and get used to it. But for God. I love hearing people's testimonies - to hear about how them came to God and what He brought them out of - to see the change in them - the God gap between then and now. I love listening to people being themselves - being exactly who God has made them to be. I know that God's love and power is demonstrated in the words we tell of Him... they change everything. Telling the truth of God and sharing how the Bible has come alive in our hearts and in our lives is living our faith. Share pain, but share that you've moved past in through Him. Can you even describe how God glorious it is to share a landmark moment from a place where a tombstone used to be? Isn't that every salvation story ever? The pain of a life without Him rooted out and filled instead by His love encounter! Now we just have to be on guard and root out the weeds and tombstones that are revealed by the Holy Spirit in us. Proverbs 4:23. Root things out and protect what He puts in. Then what are we? Healed. Whole. I don't want to be walled away from Him... to have a hardened heart that won't repent or change. I want those landmark places of Him everywhere. They are an encouragement - they push for evergrowth - which is the Christian life we're called to live.
Tonight's service was great also. I had a vision during praise and worship. It was of a bomb inside of me - not a bad one, but a deposit of promises and just of God's works in me. Then it exploded. I can't really describe it - it wasn't violent, but it was full of fire and of ice. Light went everywhere and I fell to pieces - like in a fairytale - puzzle pieces everywhere. Then the light put the pieces back together. Almost instantaneously. It took like a millisecond for the whole thing to occur. Then, the put back together me looked down - there were so many pieces left - ones I didn't need and ones I wasn't supposed to have. It was like a restoration of promises and gifts - ones that I could move forward in - free from the trappings and snares that stopped me in the past. There were two words in the vision: activate and explode. Pastor Francis and Pastor Wilkinson mentioned them both within the 10 minute period following. I almost fell down... and was crying like a baby.
It felt so painful - I think because its timing wasn't now. The past two visions I've had are for a time that is coming and that's just not here... yet. I'm believing. I've been praying about it -making sure that I'm not holding back from God. I have a tendency to pause longer than I should, being just as disobedient as those who jump ahead of God's plans. I was distraught - I don't want to hold back that way. As we got further in the service though I was able to release that - felt it physically lifting off of me. I always forget that God knows me; He has often prepared me for the changes in my life. He knows I freeze up or shut down - but when He lets me know the little bits, I move in Him and for Him quicker. It means a big hit is coming. Soon. A necessary one - a season changing one. I'm excited and terrified. Equally. That now command from earlier and the bomb hit from tonight will happen and I'll know why... because it has to for the sake of change in Him. Growing in Him is tough - but knowing that I'm growing in Him helps... knowing that I'm going to be released into a future that He has created me for more than helps... knowing that He purposefully created me and knows me and still loves me saves me - daily. I'm just excited to be pushed further into who I'm meant to be in God.
The rest of the service was a push. They prayed for everybody in both of today's services - that's so much effort - - so much of a God push - one that I've so often seen in our own Pastors. Prayer time: Pushing for changes in ourselves by pulling on and giving to God. Pushing for others. Pushing for the Pastors and the leaders that are pushing for us. Pushing for the nation. Pushing for the lost. Working in God. Church. Th-th-that's it, folks ;)
Tonight's service was great also. I had a vision during praise and worship. It was of a bomb inside of me - not a bad one, but a deposit of promises and just of God's works in me. Then it exploded. I can't really describe it - it wasn't violent, but it was full of fire and of ice. Light went everywhere and I fell to pieces - like in a fairytale - puzzle pieces everywhere. Then the light put the pieces back together. Almost instantaneously. It took like a millisecond for the whole thing to occur. Then, the put back together me looked down - there were so many pieces left - ones I didn't need and ones I wasn't supposed to have. It was like a restoration of promises and gifts - ones that I could move forward in - free from the trappings and snares that stopped me in the past. There were two words in the vision: activate and explode. Pastor Francis and Pastor Wilkinson mentioned them both within the 10 minute period following. I almost fell down... and was crying like a baby.
It felt so painful - I think because its timing wasn't now. The past two visions I've had are for a time that is coming and that's just not here... yet. I'm believing. I've been praying about it -making sure that I'm not holding back from God. I have a tendency to pause longer than I should, being just as disobedient as those who jump ahead of God's plans. I was distraught - I don't want to hold back that way. As we got further in the service though I was able to release that - felt it physically lifting off of me. I always forget that God knows me; He has often prepared me for the changes in my life. He knows I freeze up or shut down - but when He lets me know the little bits, I move in Him and for Him quicker. It means a big hit is coming. Soon. A necessary one - a season changing one. I'm excited and terrified. Equally. That now command from earlier and the bomb hit from tonight will happen and I'll know why... because it has to for the sake of change in Him. Growing in Him is tough - but knowing that I'm growing in Him helps... knowing that I'm going to be released into a future that He has created me for more than helps... knowing that He purposefully created me and knows me and still loves me saves me - daily. I'm just excited to be pushed further into who I'm meant to be in God.
The rest of the service was a push. They prayed for everybody in both of today's services - that's so much effort - - so much of a God push - one that I've so often seen in our own Pastors. Prayer time: Pushing for changes in ourselves by pulling on and giving to God. Pushing for others. Pushing for the Pastors and the leaders that are pushing for us. Pushing for the nation. Pushing for the lost. Working in God. Church. Th-th-that's it, folks ;)
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Now
Service was cool tonight. We're in nightly services leading into Resurrection Sunday. On the way there I got a picture in my head, and in the middle of it God said 'Now.' - it was like a command I was waiting for. That was what the service was about. Now being the time. To step out and to step forth. I'm sure it hit everybody in the service in a different way - I'm so excited to see that played out. And to be done. Done. I usually avoid that word at all costs... but really what that needs to be changed are we to avoid? Nada. It's time to prove my natural self wrong and be absolutely done in for God. To stop fighting against Him and just let Him be - let Him be Who He really is in me. Glad learning is a lifelong process. Ready to move forth in God - letting go of those breaks I've been so desperately clinging to - time to mature. About time :P
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Dross.
Well, hello my friends. Its been such a long long time... hahaha... song stuck in your head. I thought it was about time to write a post, especially after the somewhat dramatic nature of my last one. It's tough saying what you need to say sometimes, oftentimes really. I needed to acknowledge where I had been, am now, and where I'm to be going in Him (where I've failed to go in the past).
It's been a tough season - I think the more you let God strip away, the tighter you hold on to what you have left. Also, if you're like me - then you may try to either protect or torpedo what you care about - so that it doesn't also get lost... as if He somehow can't differentiate the good from the bad... silly... stupid really. Another form of the 'protecting oneself' battle I have.
I've been a sleepless one the past few nights - been getting sick from a combo of things - it hit me pretty hard last night. My throat swelled up enough so that I didn't really feel like I could breathe (I obviously could, I'm not that sick - I even have a voice right now). I had a choice in it. I could've panicked - almost did - but I stopped - recognized that it would make things so much worse. I focused on breathing instead. On relaxing my throat and at getting past my dreaded hatred of all things blood. A moment of calm and a moment of clarity. Then this morning I started applying that to my God walk.
I'm in a different kind of a season - one that I don't really want to be in - one that I needed to be in and one that I need to be able to get out of. I'm a sticker, you see; A 'just stick it out'-er. I stay longer than I need to and longer than I should merely because I can survive things. It's not that I should do so; It's that moving forward requires risk and I am no risk taker. I'm a rule follower and a worrier.
Am I so obedient to myself and my worries that I can live a disobedient life before God? How can I pretend that worrying will add to my life when He says in His Word that it will not? I know the time to step up is coming. I can feel its timing rolling in. Will I let worry and fear take that timing, His timing, away? Or will I dwell in these verses that have comforted me today?
Isaiah 1:24-26
"Therefore the Lord says, The Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, 'Ah, I will rid myself of My adversaries, And take vengeance on My enemies. I will turn My hand against you, And thoroughly purge away your dross, And take away all your alloy. I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning. Afterwards you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city."
--> His hand against me. Not in that scary I'm going to die right now way that I first read it. In the way that turns a situation around. In the fact that God is ridding us of what He hates. He will 'thoroughly purge away our dross'. Our dross. The dross that we hold onto and the alloy that we could build more upon. Dross. Junk. The world in us. The love God is a love that surpasses our junk -
He created us and sees us as we were meant to be. He loves us enough to require change - to push us into our destiny. He loves us enough to hate what He cannot be. He can't be anything but good, so that is what He desires of us. That we would choose Him over what may seem easy. To choose Him over that which would trap us and destroy us - to choose Him over everything else. We can become trapped in so many different things and situations; We can also be trapped in the way that I've been struggling - trapped in our very selves.
Those traps are the dross that need to be pulled from us. Those situations are tied to us - they're part of us that shouldn't be part of us. They can't co-exist with God. That's why this section of Isaiah hit me hard today - because it says 'thoroughly' and not partially. I know that the places in me that have wounds such as these do not have God in them... they couldn't exist in the same space as Him. He would burn them away - He will burn them away. They're coming up to the surface - dross always does - I looked it up - I get that - the only questions in the matter is how quickly will I bring the dross to Him. How quickly will I choose life and wholeness? Will I willingly go through death of self? Isn't that what a Christian does - chooses to live for Him as He died for us? How quickly will I reach for Him? How often? I hope always and forever. That's a long time to learn and a long time to get better at it; Sufficient in going to God. Sufficient just means adequate and enough. Just - I wrote it and it's how we say it. We use words so wrong today. Sufficient isn't settling... it isn't about being a 'stick it out'er - its about being whole. That's what this blog is all about - being whole in Him. So, here's to saying goodbye to more bits and pieces and giving way to Him instead.
It's been a tough season - I think the more you let God strip away, the tighter you hold on to what you have left. Also, if you're like me - then you may try to either protect or torpedo what you care about - so that it doesn't also get lost... as if He somehow can't differentiate the good from the bad... silly... stupid really. Another form of the 'protecting oneself' battle I have.
I've been a sleepless one the past few nights - been getting sick from a combo of things - it hit me pretty hard last night. My throat swelled up enough so that I didn't really feel like I could breathe (I obviously could, I'm not that sick - I even have a voice right now). I had a choice in it. I could've panicked - almost did - but I stopped - recognized that it would make things so much worse. I focused on breathing instead. On relaxing my throat and at getting past my dreaded hatred of all things blood. A moment of calm and a moment of clarity. Then this morning I started applying that to my God walk.
I'm in a different kind of a season - one that I don't really want to be in - one that I needed to be in and one that I need to be able to get out of. I'm a sticker, you see; A 'just stick it out'-er. I stay longer than I need to and longer than I should merely because I can survive things. It's not that I should do so; It's that moving forward requires risk and I am no risk taker. I'm a rule follower and a worrier.
Am I so obedient to myself and my worries that I can live a disobedient life before God? How can I pretend that worrying will add to my life when He says in His Word that it will not? I know the time to step up is coming. I can feel its timing rolling in. Will I let worry and fear take that timing, His timing, away? Or will I dwell in these verses that have comforted me today?
Isaiah 1:24-26
"Therefore the Lord says, The Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, 'Ah, I will rid myself of My adversaries, And take vengeance on My enemies. I will turn My hand against you, And thoroughly purge away your dross, And take away all your alloy. I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning. Afterwards you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city."
--> His hand against me. Not in that scary I'm going to die right now way that I first read it. In the way that turns a situation around. In the fact that God is ridding us of what He hates. He will 'thoroughly purge away our dross'. Our dross. The dross that we hold onto and the alloy that we could build more upon. Dross. Junk. The world in us. The love God is a love that surpasses our junk -
He created us and sees us as we were meant to be. He loves us enough to require change - to push us into our destiny. He loves us enough to hate what He cannot be. He can't be anything but good, so that is what He desires of us. That we would choose Him over what may seem easy. To choose Him over that which would trap us and destroy us - to choose Him over everything else. We can become trapped in so many different things and situations; We can also be trapped in the way that I've been struggling - trapped in our very selves.
Those traps are the dross that need to be pulled from us. Those situations are tied to us - they're part of us that shouldn't be part of us. They can't co-exist with God. That's why this section of Isaiah hit me hard today - because it says 'thoroughly' and not partially. I know that the places in me that have wounds such as these do not have God in them... they couldn't exist in the same space as Him. He would burn them away - He will burn them away. They're coming up to the surface - dross always does - I looked it up - I get that - the only questions in the matter is how quickly will I bring the dross to Him. How quickly will I choose life and wholeness? Will I willingly go through death of self? Isn't that what a Christian does - chooses to live for Him as He died for us? How quickly will I reach for Him? How often? I hope always and forever. That's a long time to learn and a long time to get better at it; Sufficient in going to God. Sufficient just means adequate and enough. Just - I wrote it and it's how we say it. We use words so wrong today. Sufficient isn't settling... it isn't about being a 'stick it out'er - its about being whole. That's what this blog is all about - being whole in Him. So, here's to saying goodbye to more bits and pieces and giving way to Him instead.
Monday, 5 March 2012
Streams
I've been struggling more than a bit lately. I've been losing my place, myself really. It hit the hardest last week. I'm losing control. That really really bothers me. I've been so easily frustrated at work. I hate that. Wednesday was the worst for me. God woke me up at 6:38. I was wide awake. Wider than I've woken up in a long time. Then He said 'sometimes the dehydration in your story worries Me'. It worries me too. It hit hard. Really hard. I got angry. I went to work angry. I almost quit I was so frustrated. I went to Church angry. I came home angry. I lashed out about stupid things. I failed. Innumerable times. But what He said was so true. I'll always come back to the truth, it's too important for me, for who I've become in Him. I was dry drowning. There's no other way to describe it. I've been there before. It's not a place to stay. My sister was right though - every word that God has ever given me, every picture I see in my non-visual head, has been about hope. I know that they all overlay each other. That everything is fractal-like even in the smallest parts. Streams in the desert. That's what my sister brought up. Looking at those verses brought up so much more than that verse. I've dwelt in the Bible. I've read those verses. I've heard them. I've picked out ones around them. I've written about different singular verses. I've never seen them altogether though. I've never pulled back enough in Isaiah 38 to see the whole - never fractally viewed it - even though that's really how we're to read the Bible. I like the alignment found there. I like the breadth of the Word. I like the hope. I like the promises.
Yesterday's services were emotionally packed - mostly because it was about the push to get past emotions - to get to a Holy Spirit led place. In praise and worship God gave me a picture. It was a Chessboard, but not at all a Chessboard. It was a strategic map of my life, but there were only two pieces on it. Then He said 'all of the other players are gone' - I knew the freedom in that. I will not be controlled by anything else, anyone else - it was a confirmation of what I've felt the past few days - the responsibilities of my choices is mine. That's what I was losing myself in, the weight of that truth. That's why I was removed from even myself. I wasn't worth that level of interaction. I wasn't worth Him. That's so often what I hear for myself, but never for others. I've so often pushed myself in faith for others - its really the only time I've been able to step forth. That it was down to me and Him terrified me, but now I know why. I always forget that He's already in me. He's even given me tools to change myself - the Holy Spirit and the Word. The Church and the people around me. Foundations. Influences. Roots. It's not me against the world. It's Him and me. But only if I let Him win. That's a daily thing. That's a 'same old story' for me - it's about going from stubborn to steadfast, but somehow it's less scary now. I am His alone now, and I can place my trust in Him. I can love Him freely, perhaps more freely than I could have imagined. There is such a security in that. It is only in Him that such different views can combine, in truth. In a truth that confuses the world - confuses the worldly parts left in ourselves. In His truth that clears out what is really confusion. With His clarity. With His honesty. With His love.
The entirety of Isaiah 35:
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them;
and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice
even with joy and singing:
the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it,
the excellency of Carmel and Sharon,
they shall see the glory of the Lord,
and the excellency of our God.
Strengthen ye the weak hands,
and confirm the feeble knees.
Say to them that are of a fearful heart,
Be strong, fear not:
behold, your God will come with vengeance,
even God with a recompence;
he will come and save you.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart,
and the tongue of the dumb sing:
for in the wilderness shall waters break out,
and streams in the desert.
And the parched ground shall become a pool,
and the thirsty land springs of water:
in the habitation of dragons, where each lay,
shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
And an highway shall be there, and a way,
and it shall be called The way of holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those:
the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
No lion shall be there,
nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon,
it shall not be found there;
but the redeemed shall walk there:
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and come to Zion with songs
and everlasting joy upon their heads:
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."
This helped me too. In seeing my season clearly, and in wanting to be led into a new one in this manner
Psalms 25:4-5
"Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you."
Yesterday's services were emotionally packed - mostly because it was about the push to get past emotions - to get to a Holy Spirit led place. In praise and worship God gave me a picture. It was a Chessboard, but not at all a Chessboard. It was a strategic map of my life, but there were only two pieces on it. Then He said 'all of the other players are gone' - I knew the freedom in that. I will not be controlled by anything else, anyone else - it was a confirmation of what I've felt the past few days - the responsibilities of my choices is mine. That's what I was losing myself in, the weight of that truth. That's why I was removed from even myself. I wasn't worth that level of interaction. I wasn't worth Him. That's so often what I hear for myself, but never for others. I've so often pushed myself in faith for others - its really the only time I've been able to step forth. That it was down to me and Him terrified me, but now I know why. I always forget that He's already in me. He's even given me tools to change myself - the Holy Spirit and the Word. The Church and the people around me. Foundations. Influences. Roots. It's not me against the world. It's Him and me. But only if I let Him win. That's a daily thing. That's a 'same old story' for me - it's about going from stubborn to steadfast, but somehow it's less scary now. I am His alone now, and I can place my trust in Him. I can love Him freely, perhaps more freely than I could have imagined. There is such a security in that. It is only in Him that such different views can combine, in truth. In a truth that confuses the world - confuses the worldly parts left in ourselves. In His truth that clears out what is really confusion. With His clarity. With His honesty. With His love.
The entirety of Isaiah 35:
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them;
and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice
even with joy and singing:
the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it,
the excellency of Carmel and Sharon,
they shall see the glory of the Lord,
and the excellency of our God.
Strengthen ye the weak hands,
and confirm the feeble knees.
Say to them that are of a fearful heart,
Be strong, fear not:
behold, your God will come with vengeance,
even God with a recompence;
he will come and save you.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart,
and the tongue of the dumb sing:
for in the wilderness shall waters break out,
and streams in the desert.
And the parched ground shall become a pool,
and the thirsty land springs of water:
in the habitation of dragons, where each lay,
shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
And an highway shall be there, and a way,
and it shall be called The way of holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those:
the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
No lion shall be there,
nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon,
it shall not be found there;
but the redeemed shall walk there:
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and come to Zion with songs
and everlasting joy upon their heads:
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."
This helped me too. In seeing my season clearly, and in wanting to be led into a new one in this manner
Psalms 25:4-5
"Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you."
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Instruments of...
Writing. I love writing. One of my biggest pet peeves happens to be horrible pens.... I hate them. Especially when you get them in a row - this one doesn't work... try another... no go. I hit my limit at 4 in a row just the other day. Today I went on a pen hunt. The classic old fashioned all blue Papermate is my go to favourite. I got them... but I also decided to venture into the unknown... I saw the Sharpie brand... I love Sharpie's... then I saw the magnificent new Sharpie blue pen! It writes perfectly! It doesn't go through the paper! It doesn't smudge easily (which is good because I'm such a messy writer... I get pen everywhere)! It's the best colour ever! I like. Actually I love, so while this post may seem a little crazy - I write it because a blog's about writing too... and sometimes writing in the actual world wins... today this new pen assured that. It comes in 10 colours... I want them all... well... maybe I don't... maybe I just want to stay in the blue zone... classically awesome...
 |
| This one is quite obviously black... but the blue one looks the same excepting a tiny blue loop. |
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Sunday, 15 January 2012
En Route
Okay - so remember how I cut it pretty close with the train yesterday? Well, it freaked me out to be so close to the time, so I had Nenners not even try to make it after the halfway point - because even if I'd have made it I knew that I'd still be stressed.
My mom texted me early this morning - that train broke down en route. 6 hours. Standstill. No bathrooms (an Armstrong-side nightmare that affects us all). They were finally bussed into Ottawa. I would have gotten in relatively close to midnight. This morning the trains got combined (that almost always happens) and I got onto like the nicest train ever. I was so excited. Like a kid - that kind of excited. Just about God's favour.
Then I had a moment of pure terror. Of 'what bad thing is going to happen to make up for this' and 'what is He preparing me for'. Isn't that stupid? It's how I've always thought, or rather, how I've always lived. Always on the lookout for that cliff. Always protecting myself from so much that I've let myself box out even the good. Always closed. That's how I had to live without Him. It's how I survived through the trappings of my own mind.
It's how I lived without Him... before.
Before Him. He's calling me out of that. I still protect myself in so many ways. I don't acknowledge that He protects me, or at least I didn't. I will now. I'm currently praying against my mindsets. Logically I'm thinking that since it took me 24 years to get this boxed in, it will take the same amount of time for me to get out of it. That's my plan not His. Who am I to determine His timing? Especially because His timing is so evident in my story, in all of our stories. Intricately weaved together with those around us. Fractally purposed.
If this year is about walking in Kingdom Authority then shouldn't I step closer to that? Shouldn't I trust Him and trust in the works He is trying to do in me? Shouldn't I protect those more than I should myself? I want to be more like that. I want a faith that is not afraid of change. I want one that is forever growing. Like when I wrote about evergrowth... I love that the things He gives me make sense altogether, but only when He reminds or reveals them to me.
Maybe accepting small things is easy for you. Maybe accepting the good things is like breathing for you, just there for the action... but maybe you're like me instead. Maybe you can't see a gift as something simple. Maybe you can't accept anything. It is a struggle to be there, but I'm glad I'm coming through it - that I'll know what it means to accept. That I'll be thankful, that I'll be changed, because I want to be far from where I was when I couldn't even accept God. I couldn't accept Him simply because He was willing to accept me. Maybe you've been there or are there now. That was my struggle in salvation. I wasn't worth it. I grasped it feeling that way, but I took it. That grab, that lifeline, changed everything. All at once, but I didn't know that it was all at once. That's stubbornness. I thought salvation took time. That I could earn it. The things that changed are still being revealed to me on a daily basis. And He's adding to them. You know why it took so long? The scope of all He did is unfathomable. He did so much in me that one moment that I am only now realizing. That I am only now accepting.
That's true of what He is doing in me today too. I may not know how important today is until tomorrow. Or even until many tomorrows have come and gone. But it'll come. We are programmed to learn. We can try to refuse it, but there's no lasting way to stop the truth. We all know God is real. We do. Every person knows that, whether they'll admit it or not. Why else would living 'my way' terrify us. Why else would people deaden themselves through drugs and addictions or even simply distract themselves? It's to distract themselves from pain with pain. Its the pain of separation we feel from being far from God. That's why Christians can feel that pain too - because one step away from God hurts us more than anything. We know Him, know His Son, and know the Holy Spirit through our daily relationship, through our faith. We know. The key is letting that knowing affect our steps. With that Kingdom Authority represented by the key of the house of David. The verse of this year.
Isaiah 22:22
"And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open."
--> This is the year for that. I'm believing in it. Setting myself upon the Word.
It may seem silly that a nice train affected me in such a way. That it spurned me into neverending prose, but my prose is my praise. It's how I glorify the works of God in my life. It's how I fractally
Psalms 3:3-4
"But thou, O Jehovah, art a shield about me; My glory and the lifter up of my head. I cry unto Jehovah with my voice, And he answereth me out of his holy hill."
--> I am not my shield. He is my shield. This year I will focus on remembering that daily. I will declare it. I have many responsibilities in God. I am one of them, but not in that way. I am His. It's time to trust. To grow in that. To walk in that.
My mom texted me early this morning - that train broke down en route. 6 hours. Standstill. No bathrooms (an Armstrong-side nightmare that affects us all). They were finally bussed into Ottawa. I would have gotten in relatively close to midnight. This morning the trains got combined (that almost always happens) and I got onto like the nicest train ever. I was so excited. Like a kid - that kind of excited. Just about God's favour.
Then I had a moment of pure terror. Of 'what bad thing is going to happen to make up for this' and 'what is He preparing me for'. Isn't that stupid? It's how I've always thought, or rather, how I've always lived. Always on the lookout for that cliff. Always protecting myself from so much that I've let myself box out even the good. Always closed. That's how I had to live without Him. It's how I survived through the trappings of my own mind.
It's how I lived without Him... before.
Before Him. He's calling me out of that. I still protect myself in so many ways. I don't acknowledge that He protects me, or at least I didn't. I will now. I'm currently praying against my mindsets. Logically I'm thinking that since it took me 24 years to get this boxed in, it will take the same amount of time for me to get out of it. That's my plan not His. Who am I to determine His timing? Especially because His timing is so evident in my story, in all of our stories. Intricately weaved together with those around us. Fractally purposed.
If this year is about walking in Kingdom Authority then shouldn't I step closer to that? Shouldn't I trust Him and trust in the works He is trying to do in me? Shouldn't I protect those more than I should myself? I want to be more like that. I want a faith that is not afraid of change. I want one that is forever growing. Like when I wrote about evergrowth... I love that the things He gives me make sense altogether, but only when He reminds or reveals them to me.
Maybe accepting small things is easy for you. Maybe accepting the good things is like breathing for you, just there for the action... but maybe you're like me instead. Maybe you can't see a gift as something simple. Maybe you can't accept anything. It is a struggle to be there, but I'm glad I'm coming through it - that I'll know what it means to accept. That I'll be thankful, that I'll be changed, because I want to be far from where I was when I couldn't even accept God. I couldn't accept Him simply because He was willing to accept me. Maybe you've been there or are there now. That was my struggle in salvation. I wasn't worth it. I grasped it feeling that way, but I took it. That grab, that lifeline, changed everything. All at once, but I didn't know that it was all at once. That's stubbornness. I thought salvation took time. That I could earn it. The things that changed are still being revealed to me on a daily basis. And He's adding to them. You know why it took so long? The scope of all He did is unfathomable. He did so much in me that one moment that I am only now realizing. That I am only now accepting.
That's true of what He is doing in me today too. I may not know how important today is until tomorrow. Or even until many tomorrows have come and gone. But it'll come. We are programmed to learn. We can try to refuse it, but there's no lasting way to stop the truth. We all know God is real. We do. Every person knows that, whether they'll admit it or not. Why else would living 'my way' terrify us. Why else would people deaden themselves through drugs and addictions or even simply distract themselves? It's to distract themselves from pain with pain. Its the pain of separation we feel from being far from God. That's why Christians can feel that pain too - because one step away from God hurts us more than anything. We know Him, know His Son, and know the Holy Spirit through our daily relationship, through our faith. We know. The key is letting that knowing affect our steps. With that Kingdom Authority represented by the key of the house of David. The verse of this year.
Isaiah 22:22
"And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open."
--> This is the year for that. I'm believing in it. Setting myself upon the Word.
It may seem silly that a nice train affected me in such a way. That it spurned me into neverending prose, but my prose is my praise. It's how I glorify the works of God in my life. It's how I fractally
Psalms 3:3-4
"But thou, O Jehovah, art a shield about me; My glory and the lifter up of my head. I cry unto Jehovah with my voice, And he answereth me out of his holy hill."
--> I am not my shield. He is my shield. This year I will focus on remembering that daily. I will declare it. I have many responsibilities in God. I am one of them, but not in that way. I am His. It's time to trust. To grow in that. To walk in that.
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Razzles
Realized that it's been awhile since my last post ;) Heading to Ottawa tomorrow for visiting, but tonight I'm settled in and watching '13 going on 30' - love that movie. My sister Nenners bought me a package of Razzles quite awhile ago and I loved them! Took a picture of the package immediately, but I forgot to post it... now is the time. Off to enjoy the rest of the flick!
Saturday, 31 December 2011
New Year's coming! Grasping hold with authority.
So, today I've spent some time in the Word, not just with it, as it so often happens. I've just been thinking over the past year and finding holes, missed opportunities and the like, and I've been asking God about what's to be needed of me, of us believers, in 2012. I asked for a word and God kept me circling around authority. Authority is a scary word to most people, and to me in particular, because true authority comes with such a responsibility, a weightiness; It is a service to others and unless we're both properly and fully prepared for it it can be a stumbling block. Prepared means that we are prepared to act in the authority He has given to us and, in that way, to act under the covering of His authority. We can have none of our own - none of ourselves and none of the world's. It is only when we work in tandem with God and have daily dealings and growings in Him that we can walk in it all.
As previously mentioned, the idea of operating under authority, and more recently His authority, has often overwhelmed me. I've so often tried to live an undercover life. The value and strength found in words has been starkly apparent in my life, and since becoming a Christian that has been reinforced in a desire to speak life and not death into people and situations, knowing and being responsible to the truth found in:
Proverbs 18:21
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit."
The responsibility we're going to be feeling in this coming year revolves around the desire for truth. I don't want to operate in a false authority, I want to ensure I'm walking in His giftings. The whys of the importance of authority over the next year elude me, as I can't see His plans but for some fractal imprints, so I've been praying instead for the hows; For the words and patterns and strengths that I'll need to walk it out. For the verses to carry. I keep landing on the whole of Hebrews 2. At this very moment, I'm stuck like glue to the first verse:
Hebrews 2:1
"For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it."
It's a simple verse. A beginning. A start. I know that growing in God is not a horizontal growth. He continually builds upon what He has already placed in us. His lessons are foundational. They are reinforced every day simply because they are so obviously true. They are steady because He is our Rock. Our truth. Our love. We become steady in Him, in His Word and in living that Word out. The idea of having to pay 'much closer attention' is wonderous and frightening and monumental to me. We can always learn more about Him, but more so in Him. We can always change, grow, and give more of ourselves away to be filled by Him. Every word finds meaning in Him, every action too. Every verse strengthens our understanding and prepares us for more. Recognizing His work in our lives only makes us yearn for Him more. So, with this verse, with bringing His Words and Works to the surface, to the forefront of our entire beings, we bring Him glory. We hold onto Him alone. We share Him freely. We exhibit the gift of authority He has given to us by salvation - and has opened in us through the maturation of faith - and become more in Him.
Authority is by no means an easy task, but if this is the word He has for life next year (and beyond - a 'Buzz Lightyear' reminder that everything is foundational), then I'll walk it out. In truth, it's already begun, and though it hurts to stretch in a new way (and that won't stop), I'd rather grow in God than get stuck in a standstill, because standstills always happen over quicksand, and I'll not put myself in a position where I'd grow distant from the Lord. That's why my encouragement is found in holding Him tight by: paying 'much closer attention', praying, reading His Word, putting on His armour, and just by simply (and complexly and fully) loving like He does. I think that the biggest change to be brought in 2012 is that I'll be more open about living that out - in living Him out.
More on the fullness of Hebrews 2 later... because I'm stuck on it all. Until then, I'll be writing next in the New Year. 2012: bring it.
As previously mentioned, the idea of operating under authority, and more recently His authority, has often overwhelmed me. I've so often tried to live an undercover life. The value and strength found in words has been starkly apparent in my life, and since becoming a Christian that has been reinforced in a desire to speak life and not death into people and situations, knowing and being responsible to the truth found in:
Proverbs 18:21
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit."
The responsibility we're going to be feeling in this coming year revolves around the desire for truth. I don't want to operate in a false authority, I want to ensure I'm walking in His giftings. The whys of the importance of authority over the next year elude me, as I can't see His plans but for some fractal imprints, so I've been praying instead for the hows; For the words and patterns and strengths that I'll need to walk it out. For the verses to carry. I keep landing on the whole of Hebrews 2. At this very moment, I'm stuck like glue to the first verse:
Hebrews 2:1
"For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it."
It's a simple verse. A beginning. A start. I know that growing in God is not a horizontal growth. He continually builds upon what He has already placed in us. His lessons are foundational. They are reinforced every day simply because they are so obviously true. They are steady because He is our Rock. Our truth. Our love. We become steady in Him, in His Word and in living that Word out. The idea of having to pay 'much closer attention' is wonderous and frightening and monumental to me. We can always learn more about Him, but more so in Him. We can always change, grow, and give more of ourselves away to be filled by Him. Every word finds meaning in Him, every action too. Every verse strengthens our understanding and prepares us for more. Recognizing His work in our lives only makes us yearn for Him more. So, with this verse, with bringing His Words and Works to the surface, to the forefront of our entire beings, we bring Him glory. We hold onto Him alone. We share Him freely. We exhibit the gift of authority He has given to us by salvation - and has opened in us through the maturation of faith - and become more in Him.
Authority is by no means an easy task, but if this is the word He has for life next year (and beyond - a 'Buzz Lightyear' reminder that everything is foundational), then I'll walk it out. In truth, it's already begun, and though it hurts to stretch in a new way (and that won't stop), I'd rather grow in God than get stuck in a standstill, because standstills always happen over quicksand, and I'll not put myself in a position where I'd grow distant from the Lord. That's why my encouragement is found in holding Him tight by: paying 'much closer attention', praying, reading His Word, putting on His armour, and just by simply (and complexly and fully) loving like He does. I think that the biggest change to be brought in 2012 is that I'll be more open about living that out - in living Him out.
More on the fullness of Hebrews 2 later... because I'm stuck on it all. Until then, I'll be writing next in the New Year. 2012: bring it.
Friday, 9 December 2011
Picture Cruising
I was looking through some of the blogs I follow and found this picture:
I really like it. I like that it says semblance. I like that the whole reason for this blog is to not live that. To not be broken up and patched together, but instead to be mended and made whole in God. Guess I liked the reminder of what this really little internet space means to me - just what I'm working in and through and towards.
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| From http://designismine.blogspot.com from someone else. |
I really like it. I like that it says semblance. I like that the whole reason for this blog is to not live that. To not be broken up and patched together, but instead to be mended and made whole in God. Guess I liked the reminder of what this really little internet space means to me - just what I'm working in and through and towards.
The world has broken people in it - so many people - and it likes it - in so many ways it makes it easier to attack and 'understand' and ignore them - us - it's complex, but we call it simple - so that we don't have to deal. It's much harder to attack and 'understand' and ignore those who are saved and healed and mended and whole - people try - but it's so not of this world. I guess that's the point, or rather, it's how we become the arrows that point towards the God who saves. It's impossible to do that alone, or by our strength, instead it has to be His...
1 Peter 5:10-11
"After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen."
Wow - Amen it is. This verse is what it means to be whole to me. To struggle, most assuredly, but to be set apart and to be changed in God. To follow clear directions - because God's voice is always clear and firm and unshakable when we are willing to listen - and then to be like an arrow for others just because we know that all that love, well, it's for all and also all for Him.
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Surely... not a "don't call me Shirley" airplane reference (that movie's not cool enough to make it further than right here)... longest title of one of my posts EVER... I could go on... it's longer than what I had to say... I added this later... because mobile Blogger tried to kill my ""'s... EPIC fail... I showed them...
Blessed. By God. Surely. His first words to us, in Genesis 1: 28, as well as in so many other places in the Bible, such as this:
His forever promise. His words stay the same. He is steady. He is our Rock. Forever promises are the very best - especially because God is outside of time and in this promise he swears it to us by Himself - He actually backs this promise - doubly ours! Wow. The service tonight: The Fullness of His Blessing
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Pressed in to Pressing on. Out of the box and on with the walk.
Sunday's service was about healing. Basically about living the full life that God has given to us. It's been awhile since I've been fully in service. See, as I've mentioned before I've been taking the membership course at Third Day on Wednesdays. This coming Wednesday is the last class. It's been great, but this next step, as with all steps closer to living fully for God, has brought up different attacks from the enemy. I've just been pressed in. That's what I pulled out of the services. Pastor was talking about being oppressed and even depressed. It made me think on the picture I had of that box in August.
I started sketching out the different pressures that keep us, or at least me, in that box. Mostly it was me and the enemy attacking my many weaknesses - through doubts, fears, pains, expectations others have for me, my own expectations, and my own plans. How quickly I forget to put on the full armour of God and see the world fractally through Him. I'll be really honest with you - I don't often struggle in situations - my life works, and I haven't suffered through different problems - it's just been surfacely good. That's guilt inducing, because when I do struggle, it's internally and I always feel horrible about struggling against nothing, even though it is much to me. Growing in God is painful and I'll never say that the Christian walk is easy, but it's always worth it. It's painful in the moment - there's no denying that, but always we can look back and see the growth in our walks. I look back at my life before God and am astounded. Every time. I don't know how I survived, but for His hand in my life and in the moments I grasped for Him without even knowing Him. But again, since I've been saved not much has changed surfacely. I have changed - can't even tell you or express how much, but still, I want to be more in Him. Isn't that what living for God is all about? In all times and all seasons I will live for God. By putting on the armour daily we protect that choice. I need to pray all the time - all through my day, so that it's His instead. I don't want to forget these things, so as this year comes to a close, I'm going to press onward - out of the box - and put an increased effort into putting on God's armour. I'm going to declare it daily, because He heals all of us fully - and I need to remind myself to let Him and to protect the works He has done, is doing, and will do in me. I am His.
Ephesians 6:10-18
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints"
--> Such encompassing verses. To live like this is to move forward, such as the verse of this year. Taking it up more determinedly:
Philippians 3:13-14
"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
--> That's the only kind of pressing I want to do.
I started sketching out the different pressures that keep us, or at least me, in that box. Mostly it was me and the enemy attacking my many weaknesses - through doubts, fears, pains, expectations others have for me, my own expectations, and my own plans. How quickly I forget to put on the full armour of God and see the world fractally through Him. I'll be really honest with you - I don't often struggle in situations - my life works, and I haven't suffered through different problems - it's just been surfacely good. That's guilt inducing, because when I do struggle, it's internally and I always feel horrible about struggling against nothing, even though it is much to me. Growing in God is painful and I'll never say that the Christian walk is easy, but it's always worth it. It's painful in the moment - there's no denying that, but always we can look back and see the growth in our walks. I look back at my life before God and am astounded. Every time. I don't know how I survived, but for His hand in my life and in the moments I grasped for Him without even knowing Him. But again, since I've been saved not much has changed surfacely. I have changed - can't even tell you or express how much, but still, I want to be more in Him. Isn't that what living for God is all about? In all times and all seasons I will live for God. By putting on the armour daily we protect that choice. I need to pray all the time - all through my day, so that it's His instead. I don't want to forget these things, so as this year comes to a close, I'm going to press onward - out of the box - and put an increased effort into putting on God's armour. I'm going to declare it daily, because He heals all of us fully - and I need to remind myself to let Him and to protect the works He has done, is doing, and will do in me. I am His.
Ephesians 6:10-18
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints"
--> Such encompassing verses. To live like this is to move forward, such as the verse of this year. Taking it up more determinedly:
Philippians 3:13-14
"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
--> That's the only kind of pressing I want to do.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Position.
It's been awhile. Quite awhile... well... quite awhile for a writer to not write. I've always thought of myself as a writer, a reader, a word person, a storyteller. I've always been protective of those titles though. Never wanted to say them out loud. Never have. I always deemed it as 'too risky' to share... too close to the vest... always needed to protect my identity... who I am inside the bubble of what I appear to be. I do that with pretty much everything... it's one of the things that makes living for Christ so difficult. See, He loves the real me... He made the real me... then I stepped in. I protected, changed, and lost. He whittles us down though - He's not really a fan of fluff and stuff. He gets us down to a child of His - that's when we can really live and love like Jesus. I never really connected that with the whole hopes and dreams bandwagon, but it's a total God tandem... as with everything in this fractal world. There are things that have been put aside, others that have been put down, and still more that have been railroaded for my protection. I'm getting ahead of myself... too far.
Tonight I wanted to write something small, but something big too. See, I've been struggling with some stuff lately - stuff that is small that I've let get big. It's important, but actually not. This has all been my preface (sorry about that). Lately I think I've just let them hit hard - and refused to deal. Tonight though, I had too. In the membership course at the Church. Not that I had too, don't get the wrong idea about that (:0), but that it was time I started to deal. I did. I still am. It'll take some time. Anyways, in confronting some things, God gave me a picture in my head, actually it was a reel. It was me in a house, lying on the ground, looking up through this telescopic window (?). I was looking at the stars, or at least I was trying too, but the light pollution was too bad. The lens just kept zooming closer, until I finally (like after a reaaaaallllllly long time) got a clear picture of those stars. At first I tried to analyze the scene... I failed... I always do that way, because there's no way I could know. Then, God just told me. I was where I put myself and the zoomed close-up version... that was where He wanted me. He's working on that... mostly because I'm finally letting Him. One step at a time.
I really didn't want to write this. I really didn't want to think. I really distracted myself from Church until now so that I wouldn't have to write this... so that I could pull a 'I have to sleep' excuse out. He really wouldn't let me. So, all I can tell you is that God's working and all I can really share are the three verses that hit me hardest today:
2 Corinthians 11:14
"And it is no wonder, for satan himself masquerades as an angel of the light"
--> I've been praying about this - about the light pollution that I saw. See, light pollution is man-made, and it only masks. It reminded me of the follies of the world - of the things we attempt to do without Him and of the things we try to let take God's place... none of which will produce anything capable of even withstanding His presence, or any fruit of any kind. This I know - satan cannot create, at most, he can deceive, but getting close to God, means shedding those lies, because:
Words out. I am getting some shut eye this early early morning.
Oh... and here's that 'God and light and warmth' triumph video I love... just because... I'll post this again and again...
Tonight I wanted to write something small, but something big too. See, I've been struggling with some stuff lately - stuff that is small that I've let get big. It's important, but actually not. This has all been my preface (sorry about that). Lately I think I've just let them hit hard - and refused to deal. Tonight though, I had too. In the membership course at the Church. Not that I had too, don't get the wrong idea about that (:0), but that it was time I started to deal. I did. I still am. It'll take some time. Anyways, in confronting some things, God gave me a picture in my head, actually it was a reel. It was me in a house, lying on the ground, looking up through this telescopic window (?). I was looking at the stars, or at least I was trying too, but the light pollution was too bad. The lens just kept zooming closer, until I finally (like after a reaaaaallllllly long time) got a clear picture of those stars. At first I tried to analyze the scene... I failed... I always do that way, because there's no way I could know. Then, God just told me. I was where I put myself and the zoomed close-up version... that was where He wanted me. He's working on that... mostly because I'm finally letting Him. One step at a time.
I really didn't want to write this. I really didn't want to think. I really distracted myself from Church until now so that I wouldn't have to write this... so that I could pull a 'I have to sleep' excuse out. He really wouldn't let me. So, all I can tell you is that God's working and all I can really share are the three verses that hit me hardest today:
2 Corinthians 11:14
"And it is no wonder, for satan himself masquerades as an angel of the light"
--> I've been praying about this - about the light pollution that I saw. See, light pollution is man-made, and it only masks. It reminded me of the follies of the world - of the things we attempt to do without Him and of the things we try to let take God's place... none of which will produce anything capable of even withstanding His presence, or any fruit of any kind. This I know - satan cannot create, at most, he can deceive, but getting close to God, means shedding those lies, because:
John 1:4-5
"In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. And the Light shines on in the darkness, for darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it]."
--> Just wow.
As for the last one - Pastor Edith gave us these sheets with verses about God's Glory Light, and this was the first on the list:
Genesis 1:16
"And God made the two great lights- the greater light (the sun) to rule the day and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night. He also made the stars.
--> I didn't read that verse until after. Stars have always been important to me. I always thought of God when I looked at them. As early as I can remember, I remember that. I love them. They've been promises to me. This verse reminded me of that. I can see the sun and the moon so clearly, whenever I wish, but not so with the stars... there's a timing about them... a lining up... a fractalness. To me, this verse holds the wonders of what He'll show us... if we let Him.
Words out. I am getting some shut eye this early early morning.
Oh... and here's that 'God and light and warmth' triumph video I love... just because... I'll post this again and again...
Sunday, 16 October 2011
More Versedness.
I want this as a mural on a wall one day...
Colossians 2:6-7
"And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him. Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness."
--> Love this, yet another set of letters from the Word. Amazing how much they mean. All.
Colossians 2:6-7
"And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him. Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness."
--> Love this, yet another set of letters from the Word. Amazing how much they mean. All.
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