He has a plan

This morning I spent some time in Daniel chapter 9, deepening my ever growing ubderstanding of my needcpd, my gratitude for what the Lord has done for me.  in this chapter, Daniel cries out to the Lord, calling upon His tender mercies and His faithfulness to bring forth the salvation, the redemption and restoration that the Lord has promised.  He does so acknowledging his, and Israel's, helpless state apart from God - their sin had brought the calamity and destruction experienced.  Only God is able to save, ours is to humble ourselves and return to the Lord, our only hope.  My case is none the better!  And thankfully nine the worse, all thanks to what Christ has done for me.  I love what is promised and offered in verse 24!  I have a hope because He has a plan to save and He is Migthy and Faithful to do it!  Iwas reminded of Jeremiah 29:11 - He has a plan for my good, not for my destruction.  It is out of my sin, my foolishness that I stray from the goodness offered to me, but He has provided even for that.  I know He will even be able to use my sin to bring me closer to Him, and may my humble heart be open to sharing my weakness, my foolishness to warn and lead others to Him as well . . . all for His Glory!  And may His Grace work in me to keep me walking in the light, being lead in the path of righteousness.  Father keep my eyes and ears open to You and Your Word, be my strength and shield.

Forever Faithful

Over the past couple of days I have had some interesting conversations about the purpose of life, the condition of man's heart and God, His existence and His heart.  I'd say they were random and by chance, but I know better.  Or at least I hope I should.

For sometimes the thought still pops into my head - gee, that was neat, I just happened into that opportunity to have that discussion.  My desire is to continue to grow in knowledge and awareness that each moment, each breath I breath, every opportunity that comes before me, every blessing, every struggle, is a moment ordained by God and given out of His faithfulness.  He has given us a gift - the ability to choose to honor Him with our choices and actions, our obedience to Him and the way we will love our neighbors.  Unfortunately, we, let me say I, have let Him down, time and time again.  And that has brought a lot of pain and sadness - to myself and to loved ones, the latter is the most hurtful, especially knowing I have let my Father down.  Yet He is quick to restore, to hold me and encourage me to press on because He still loves me, He disciplines in perfect love, He is willing to work in and for me to refine me, to purify me and that brings the revelation that I am highly valued by Him.

I have had more than my share of second chances.  I still catch myself at times wondering why.  But I am moving past that and accepting that there is more than that.  He is at work and won't stop until He has completed what He has promised He would do - that will be when I see Him face to face.  Until then, I am just going to keep on in the moments, living in awe and wonder being abandoned to Him, asking Him to continue searching my heart, having the Holy Spirit reveal to me what is left of me and trusting Him enough to ask Him to take it from me.

And He will, and indeed He already has.  For as His Word says in Isaiah 59:1 - His arm is not to to short to save nor His ear to dull to hear and then further on in the chapter, verse 16 - He saw there was none to save so His own arm achieved salvation, His rightesouness sustained.  And I know from 1 Peter 1:3-4 that my inheritence awaits me, for He is keeping it for me until He has completed His perfect work in restorining what He has redeemed - that is me, I am the Lord's redeemed, He is my Forever Faithful Redeemer!

Raining Blessings

For some reason yesterday's afternoon heat seemed to be bringing more complaints than usual.  Yes, it was hot, but not unbearable.  But for some reason almost everyone I spent time with mentioned how hot it was and they longed for relief from a cool day.  Well, last night and powerfule thunderstorm rolled in and with it a cooling and cleansing rain poured down.  The rain made small streams down the sides of roads that washed the streets.  It also brought a coolness to this morning - I wonder how many people will today complain of how cool it was?????

Not me, I am enjoying the refreshing cool morning.  And as I read the Word this morning, I was reminded that the rain, and the snow, comes from Heaven - so thank you Father.  The Word, in Isaiah 55:10-11, states that the rain has its purposes to sustain life and it also states the Word is poured forth likewise and will accomplish what God wants it to.  What a blessing!

My desire for today is that the Word, which I treasure in my heart, will be on my lips, being poured out by the leading of the Holy Spirit and I would know that the Lord is actively accomplishing His purposes and that He has blessed me with the opportunity to participate with Him.  May the Lord lead me to bring a refreshing, renewing, encouraging, hope filled Word to those He has already planned to hear it from me.  I pray that they would recieve it as we received the refreshing rain, may they recieve the Truth of His reign!  May His Word continue to build me up and I pray You too are being touched by it now and throughout the day as well.

May You, Lord of all creation, receive all the Glory Lord and ever be praised!  I thank You for Your promises and that You are able and will do what You say!  

 

Truly Treasured - Faultless in my Father's eyes

 I love mornings like today - when I am reminded of who I am in my Father's eyes, I am reminded that nothing will ever be able to stand against the work that Christ has completed in and for me and for His Glory, for His Joy.

This morning I read Jude 1:24 as part of my daily devotional time with the Lord.  It speaks of the power of God to keep me from falling and that is pretty awesome!  It also affirms that Christ will one day present me to the Father as perfect, faultless, basking in His Glory and with exceeding joy over me.  That day will come, regardless of what may come today.  This verse speaks of a promised future, but also my present position - I am highly valued, truly treasured and without fault before my God.


The enemy of my soul may try to tell me othewise.  My own flesh and memory of my shortcomings may rise up against who I am, but it doesn't change who I am - a child of God, redeemed, cleansed and made spotless.  It doesn't mean that I still don't have quite a bit of refining to go thru - I am not perfect and am daily in a very real spiritual battle, but the day is coming when I will see my Savior face to face and He will take me and present me as I am, without fault, clothed in His royal righteousness.  It is mine today - grasping this truth is part of the work of my daily sanctfication.  I need to lay hold of this and press on, moving toward the prize that awaits me, held securely for me.

I am reminded of Hebrews 12:2 - to set or fix my eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of my faith as He fixed His eyes not on the Cross, but on the Joy set before Him .... that day that will come when His joy will be fulfilled (along with mine) when He will present me as one without fault.  And when temptation comes, when I am pressed in, when I see my self rising up, I will stand not in my strength, but in Him, who is able to keep me.

And for this truth I am filled with joy today, I delight in confidence I have in my God, I am strengthened and my spirit renewed - I am overflowing with His Praise!  To Him alone be all the Glory, now and evermore.  I hope and pray that you may find His love for you, His exceedingly great love for you, to be all you will ever need to grasp who He created you to be and that you would know He is indeed the Author and Perfecter, for His Glory, of your faith and you too will be strenghtened and renewed in your spirit.

The Valley

I read a very familiar Psalm 23 this morning and as typical if I am listening, the Lord spoke to me as was needed for the this moment.  Sometimes He is repeating Himself, going over what He has said to me many times before, sometimes to remind me, but more often because I hadn't quite learned the precept or truth He was sharing with me.  But other times He speaks a new word as was the case this morning.  Yea though I walk thru the valley of the shadow of death.

I've read over this Psalm many a times, been comforted and encouraged greatly by the fact that I have a loving, good and capable Shepherd watching over me, leading me, protecting and providing for me.  The Psalm affirms the great hope and future I have in Christ.  And so this morning, as I read, I wondered in my spiriit what the Holy Spirit wanted to say to me.  I found myself being lead to the valley, more specifically the valley of the shadow of death .... I thought about the shadow covering the valley.

Shadows can be quite comforting on a really hot day.  At other times though they can be dark and filled with gloom, both physical and metaphorical shadows as is the case of the shadow referenced in this Psalm.  I never really got that there was a shadow of death being walked thru, and the valley or lowest point of that shadow.  I kinda always just focussed on the valley part.  But I heard this morning that what I needed to focus on was embracing the shadow - casting emotions of gloom, sorrow and loss - either past or impending.  A loss typically does cast a dark shadow over what can be a beautiful valley experience.  As Solomon wrote, there is a time or season for all things and that includes mourning.  But we can walk thru those times with comfort and hope, with great expectations.

I love mountaintops - the vistas, the exhilaration felt when one reaches the summit and all that the journey has entailed.  But I also love the valleys and the richness of life that is experienced in them.  When you are on the top of the mountain, what are you focussing on when you look out?  You are either gazing down or off in the distance at the vista before you.  You are looking at where life is.  Though there are times they are difficult - more so than climbing to the top of a mountain, the valley, yes even the valley of the shadow of death, is where life is experienced.  They can be, if we let them, monotamous, a draining trudgery of the day to day, what could be seen as ordinary or low.  And even more so if there is a shadow being cast over - a heavy shadow of loss.  Yet I have come to find that in these moments there are lessons to be learned, joy to be experinced, bonds to be strengthened, hope and faith gets built up.  Embrace this moment, these times, knowing the God of all comfort is walking along with you.

A Perfect Peace

This morning, like the beginning of every new day, I woke with a choice to make as I stepped into another 24 hours of unkown.  Yes, I have have my plans and expectations for the day, but I don't know what may come of those and that is oft where I can get into trouble.  So I decided to offer up this day to the One who ordained it, planned it long ago, before time and I sought Him through His Word and some prayer, acknowledging who He is and who I ain't.

The first verse I came across was 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.  Yes God, the God of all compassion and comfort, is to be praised.  And I am to be available to comfort others as I am comforted. I can trust God to comfort me in all my troubles.  

The next verse I came across that really spoke to me was found in Isaiah 46: 3-4 (no I didn't plan to just look at verses 3-4).  God has cared for me since I was born, in fact before I was born and He promises to be my God for my entire life, He will carry me along and save me.  Though at times I felt far off from Him, felt, and indeed of my own works, unworthy of being in His presence, let alone calling on Him for help, He has always been there for me.  He has always been watching over me, calling out to me, ready to comfort me and to save me.  Such a marvelous mystery is the depth of His love and compassion towards me.  And for you too!

Sidenote from a little further down in chapter 46 - verses 12 and 13.  If things aren't right, God is offering to deal with things right now, take Him up on His offer!  You will find His tender mercy and amazing grace to be truly indescribable.

As I continued my reading I came to Psalms 68 - starts off with another call to prasie God - for He is our savior, each day He carries us in His arms.  Each day He is waiting, looking on with love and compassion, ready to save, ready to strengthen, ready to make His loved ones feel loved and uniquely specials, for indeed, as His creation, we are.  But again, each day, a choice is ours - to turn to Him, abandoned self or to try and go it on our own, or only half way.  I think the latter is the worst as the longing for the expected is so close, but yet so far away ... the unfilled hope that could be.  This day I choose to prasie Him and run to Him and find that He is right by my side already.  Lead on my Lord, lead me into Your will this day, for my good and for Your Glory!

Just What He Always Wanted

I've never been to big on wanting things, not there is anything wrong with wanting good things.  I think for me, it was partly I had plenty and partly somehting inside me that was telling me I was undeserving of more.  But one thing I have wanted was to get a handle on this letting go thing and living my life in the freedom that the Bible speaks of.   To be dead to myself yet fully alive!

For me it has been a painful process.  I guess dying can be that way.  I don't know that it has to be, but for most it will be.  I had to get to point of complete and total brokeness before God and myself.  I am sure that as painful as it was for me, it was equally so for God having to to watch his child go thru such a long winding and at times utterly heartbreaking journey (for me, for others that I love and for God.)  I liken it to how He must have felt sending His children off into the wilderness for 40 years of wandering after He brought them out of Egypt and so many other times that are detailed in the Bible.  But God sees the end, He is weaving a beautiful tapestry in the story of my life and intertwining it with the beautiful tapestres He is weaving into the lives of others.  Even the small glimpses I get to see are just amazingly awe inspiring .... just a glimpse of how great our God is .... I really can't wait to get to see it when it is all done, but I will take what I can get now, it is more than enough to draw a big smile across my face and warm my heart as the bright rays of sun warm my skin.

The thing is, I only get to see this beauty when I am abandoned to myself.  When I am focussed on self, my imagined worries, my needs, my busyness, I tune God out.  I am not still enough to hear the brids singing their sweet songs, let alone God's often still quiet voice ... quiet, I believe to cause me to quiet myself to hear Him.  To call out to Him crying out ABBA Father and to yield myself to His will for this day in my life, whatever it may bring, trusting His heart for me above and over everything else.  In my brokeness there is completeness for that is really all He desires.  He pours out His blessings anew each day, mine is the task of receiving and if my hands are already full of the junk I make up I find I am not able to lay hold of the true treasures that are already mine .... for my good and His Glory.  

I am so ever grateful that He has led me thus far, to complete brokeness ... truly bankrupt and poor in spirit, for now I am rich in Him.  I hope and pray as I continue along this journey, my experiences, words of encouragement and more importantly the Words of the Living God will draw you closer to Him.  

A New Day

The fresh paint idea didn't work, but in the process I found the freedom and freshness that I wanted to walk in each day, I found what God had intended for me and wants from and for me each day.

The Bible is full of examples where God clearly lays out His heart for all mankind and how we turn from Him in our own foolishness and pride ... maybe it is because when we see God for who He is we like our ever present enemy, often with his prompting, think of ourselves as more than we ought or maybe better said as something we were not - as if we were equal with God.  Many would turn away and in reality just turn to serve another, but for the Christian who would not so blatantly turn from God, there would be a clinging to self and  what we felt was due to us or an injustice done to us.  Seeing it in the lives of others, like when reading about others lives in the Bible is painful .... it's like I want to scream out and tell them to stop being so foolish, to warn them, to encourage them to persevere in doing what is right and trusting God .... how can they be so short of memory, don't they remember what God has already done for them?  Don't they believe that He is for them and none can stand against Him?  Are they really so prideful to think they can go their own way, are they really so shortsighted to think they can't rely on their loving Father who has shown His great love for them over and over?  Then it hits me hard - I am just like them!  And God is the same too ... an ever present help in times of trouble, full of loving compassion, Holy and Righteous and alone worthy of being worshipped and my obeidience, which is for His Glory and my good.  But I fall, I put a borders up for how much I will trust God, some areas are wide open, others are limited, I couldn't see the end of the path, the outcome or maybe it didn't look like I wanted it to, so I wouldn't venture down it.  I realised that was what God desires .... it wasn't walking by faith, it was trusting Him at His Word, if it was 90%, it wasn't what God wanted .... He wanted all of me, completely  His.  It meant letting go of myself completely ... dying to myself, submitting completely to my Father in Heaven and crucifying self that I may be raised to live again, not I but Christ living in me.

A Fresh Coat of Paint

For some a nice fresh coat of paint may sound pretty good ... adding a vibrant color to a dark stained wall, or maybe just a change of appearance to spice things up.  And for some it may be just what is needed.  Though for some it may be another action to cover up what they don't want to see or believe - a way to deny what they know deep down, but don't want to admit is a problem.  Hey if it looks good, all must be ok.

I guess that is sort of where I was at.  All was good on the outside, but a coat of paint or two below there still existed some major renovation work that was needed.  The outside looked good and because I had placed my faith not in my works, but in the work of Jesus Christ, His death on the Cross, as the only acceptable payment for my sin, which I knew I had in me, I knew His righteousness was what God sees when He sees me.  But I would continue to struggle - struggle with my battles against my sinful nature, struggle with my faith, struggle with my freedom and peace in Christ.  

The good news, in addition to the Good News, was that I was not in the battle alone.  God knew my heart - after all He formed it along with the rest of me.  And He was for me the moment He chose me to be His and called me by name to be adopted into His family forever.  And He hasn't left me and never will.  Because of that, the battle intensified.  I eventually realized the battle was and is for my brokeness - learning and accepting what it really means to be utterly broken, bankrupt, poor in spirit and needing Christ for more than my salvation, but for my very existence - what it means to lose ones life to live.   I believe I have had a grateful heart for what Christ did for me and that Grace has been the driving force of the good I have done - the works that were done out of love, but I was still in the picture and that was a problem.  Even if it is just a little bit of me, the part of me that relies on my own strength and ability - without recognizing it is God who gave me the ability and strengthens me, I am distancing myself from Him.  

I am not expecting to walk perfectly without sin cropping up in my life, I am not expecting to live a life without any struggles or pain.  These are the realities of the fallen world we live in.  But I have come to a place in my walk with my Savior and am daily renewing my desire to have it grow deeper still, where I am acknowledging my brokeness, my emptiness, my full reliance upon Him and His Grace to fill me - for my life to be lost in Him and found in Him, all for His Glory and for the joy and peace He desires me to have this day as I am abandoned to His will for me.  

Lost and Found

I don't know if anyone will read this post, but if you do anytime soon it will likely be because you were lost and found your way here.  Well for that I am glad for in a sense you are now found.   You aren't lost anymore because you are here!  That is my story and I am sticking to it!  

Seriously, it is my story in a sense, but that will come over time ... not too much time, but not tonight - it's late, I'm tired and that isn't a good combination for me telling my story.  Trust me.  

I hope you come back and see what will come .... I know, no big teaser to pull you back, but that is part of the deal.  It will be worth it - I stake my claim on it.