Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Redeemer in Red


I am being entertained by two male cardinals engaged in a game of tag taking place over the pinnacles of my backyard pines. Over and over again they circle the forest firmament and return to the same branch.
Always the male that catches the eye.
Vivid red.
Captivated by Calvary.
Incarnate blood.
I am moved to pray;

Father,
I have sacrificed my blessings on the altar of selfish pursuits.
I am base, weak, broken. Fill me again with passion for prayer, longing for your presence and hunger for truth at any cost.
Forgive my hidden faults and willful disobedience and make me new. You make all things new.

His Reply?
A female cardinal swoops in, perches before me, and I get it. I get it!
He is the Redeemer in red, the male cardinal in all its perfection and beauty.
I am the daughter, image of The Father, a muted shade of red. For now.
But then, when the wings of my soul fly into eternity, I'll shall be as white as snow,
yet covered in the red blood of Christ.

Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; 
then we shall see face to face.
1 Corinthians 13:12

 Behold
I make all things new.
Revelation 21:5

                                                                         
                                                                   


Psalm 19:12-13
Isaiah 1:18-20


Thursday, February 21, 2013

Worthy of Worship

(Thoughts from my morning meditation in Deuteronomy 11)



"Because isn't my internal circuitry wired to seek out something worthy of worship? Every moment I live, I live bowed to something. And if I don't see God, I'll bow down  before something else."  *

He has set eternity in the hearts of men.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
***

                                   
vs :13  If you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today.
         In context, God is speaking to the nation of Israel and referring to the Law of Moses.
But the revelation hit me with hallowed heaviness--God still gives commands. TODAY!  In the 21st century!  This February of 2013!
Will I chose to hear, and listen? Better yet, will I obey?  WILL I?

vs: 16  Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.
     I see an alarming progression of events here. The fact is, if I am not actively listening, and obeying any commands given me today, then I am by default disobeying.  Do you see the equation?
Not careful>enticed>turn away from God>worship other gods=BOW down to those gods.
The knees of my spirit have collapsed under me with the impact of what I am capable of doing. The choice I make, by virtue of non-obedience, could be a willful submissive slam of prostration to the feet of Satan himself.
Oh God have mercy. Oh God, let it not be so. Let me not BOW to the sinful nature and the choices that would subjugate me. Let me hear and obey ONLY You.


Lord, you are the same yesterday, today and forever. You still speak to your people. Let the words of my mouth, the meditations of my heart, the submission of my will and obedience of my spirit be pleasing in thy sight and profitable for your glory.
Selah

                                                                       


*AnnVoskamp, One thousand gifts.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Hear, O Israel

HEAR, O Israel:   The LORD our God,  the LORD,  is one.


The Lord our God.

The Lord you worship is the same Lord I worship.

The Messiah you seek is the one I found.



THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE!
Deueteronomy 6:4

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
Psalm 122:6a



Friday, February 15, 2013

My Ishi--My husband



For the Lord will call you back, 
like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
as a wife of youth when you were rejected.
For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
I hid my face from you for a moment,
But with everlasting lovingkindness 
 I will have compassion on you
Isaiah 54:6-8


In that day, declares the LORD,
you will call me 'my husband'
you will no longer call me
my master.
Hosea 2:16



Monday, February 11, 2013

Eve and Me


Eve and me, sisters of sin.
The fruit was just too tempting, and we fell. Plain and simple. We fell.
I can still feel the power of his question heavy on my spirit, What have you DONE?*
We polished each excuse and rationale as if they were apples of gold and offered them up to the lord. We even tried to blame others for our demise. When that failed to appease our guilt ,we pointed our fingers heavenward and audaciously accused our bent for the desire on the creator. But God wasn't fooled. He saw it coming. He wasn't surprised by our choice, nor was he limited in response and rescue by the division of time or temporal juxtapositions. He knew Eve and Me. He knows you, too.


 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
 Romans 3:23

But God demonstrated His own love toward us, 
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 

Forgiveness, Grace, Mercy, Eternal Life
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.
2 Corinthians 9:15



*Genesis 3:13

Thursday, February 7, 2013

What do you worship?

"In the day to day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for many choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive.
If you worship money and things...then you will never have enough. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need  ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, you will end up feeling like a fraud, always on the verge of being found out."




David Foster Wallace, 2005, This is Water

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Morning Prayer


Father,

Prepare "The Way" of this day you have made for us. Let us hear your voice from heaven saying: This is the way, walk in it.
Grant us those rare, but holy moments of exhilaration and inspiration when we know we have been in your presence and felt you speak to our spirit.
Turn our hearts and heads from everything  that distracts, divides and opposes our attention on you.
When our sinful nature surfaces today, when we are waylaid by the wants of this world, help us remember what we are; a Treasured Possession with a holy calling.
In the great name of Jesus,
Amen and Selah

                                                                             

Thought for today--
Whatever WAY  you choose will lead to the life of that way. If your life looks like junk, you have missed the WAY! *
Jesus is THE way, the truth and the life, not 'part' of the way, truth or life.





Deuteronomy 4:35,   7:6
Isaiah 30:21
John 1:23, 14:6

*John Ryan, Pastor, Summit Community Church

Sunday, February 3, 2013

This Thing

Jesus answered,

"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is--
                                                       born again."
John 3:5-7
***

This THING 
that bewilders the intellect 
and utterly quiets the heart.
G. K. Chesterton


Friday, February 1, 2013

Flight of Faith

                 

                                                                               

Have you ever held on to something (or someone) you know you should let go of, yet the wings of your desire just couldn't cut loose from the current? You know, that certain goose--sin--in your life that wants to take its place at the front of the V- pulling the thermal of your course errantly south?
In spite of an inner unction to cease flight and re-route, you fly on.

So what do you do when your faith, challenged by temptation, takes flight in a direction that will clearly result in a migratory mishap?
Change your compass, of course!

Look up ;  Set your affections on things above-heavenly things-not on things below. In other words, surround yourself with God, and Godly influences ; friends, reading material-especially scripture, music and activities.

Look in ; Examine yourself to be sure you are in the faith.  Pray for the Lord to give you a discerning heart to distinguish right from wrong.
As you pray, beware of falling victim to the "strive" mindset. While obedience to scriptural commands is definitely a theological axiom, ultimately, it is-- Not by might, not by power, but my spirit, says the Lord, that victory is found.
In other words, relying fully on human effort to extract oneself from a stronghold of sin will always fail.
Striving fails--Spirit prevails.

Look East ; Look to the eastern horizon where The sun of righteousness rises with healing in his wings.   
Confess your sin, change your course by pulling out of formation, and then hold to the promise--He will remove your sin from you as far as the east is from the west.

And whatever you do?   DON'T LOOK DOWN!



Can you do it?  Yes!
Can you let that thing go?  yes!
Will it seem like your dying?  Probably.
Will the reward be greater than imagined? Absolutely!


For I am the lord, your very great reward. 
Genesis 15:1




Colossians 3:2,   2 Corinthians 13:5,  1 Kings 3:9,  Zechariah 4:6 Malachi 4:2, Psalm 103