12 - 31 - 11
*** Reading/posting this now three days after the fact, it's helping me so much as today I woke up in seemingly a very different reality.. what I write below I know still holds true. Read on.. ***
You keep moving me lord. Like the wind.
The tree lot, like a swift yet quiet gust it arrived, came through, and was gone with providence guiding... in the same way I imagine the winds on the horizon - which are now only a scent - will as well.
Lord, what are you meant to teach me these next weeks floating round this lump of lava. I’ve already met so many great people who call it home...
It’s one thing to wonder at the future with the question ‘what’s in store..’.. while it’s a completely different thing to demand clarity and vision into its occasions. I’m not sure we’re meant to know what lies ahead... but enjoy the journey. I guess it would make sense if the things which we’ve allowed to become the authors of our existence cause empty pain, and fearful anticipation of it’s angry words which in a scribble tell a story not pleasing to the reader... of course, in the midst of this pain, knowledge of the future is longed for.
Asking God - Him, the higher power, yahweh, Lord, Father, the great ‘I AM’ - to take control of the pen, and write the story of our existence, it’s words of peace, joy, and sacrifice we read of... with the ink of Love these words are written with the most beautiful - yet unique - cadences ever heard, in a form of cursive not yet discovered, but which draws the eye into a stare with it’s fluidity and beauty.
This is a story not promised to be free from pain, loneliness, sufferings the like... the best poems draw the heart through a journey of relative agony, balancing painful circumstances with enduring goodness. In fact, these things are promised... but it’s in the joy of knowing our author that allows us to exist in peace, among the question marks...
Who wouldn’t wish to submit to this author?? the metaphor I paint is one painted all throughout scripture. In fact it’s an especially vivid image in my spirit as I’m being led through Exodus & Colossians.. In Colossians 2 where I’m at, Paul paints this beautiful image of things to come, a realm of existence outside this teeny tiny microscopic little earth where those who reside are ones who bring the traits of that higher existence, to this rock floating among the cosmos.
Jesus - having come down as a prior resident of that existence - is our example... “the image of the invisible God”
The spirit - the gift of God given to us upon Jesus’ death sent to give us strength and hope through the destructive ways of the earth - is now our guide... “giving life to your mortal bodies through His spirit, which lives in you.”
I’m searching for a verse to quote from this section of scripture, but too many pop out as ‘the best’. Read it (chapters 2-3) and see the journey paul takes us through in sharing his hope for ALL people to know the ‘treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ that come with knowing christ. He continues and warns of those who try and ‘take you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy’.. i was warned. ‘For in christ all the fulness of the Diety lives in bodily form’... the search ends with Him :) He then reminds us of how in Christ we were made alive in our sins, and that now having a different residence in a much larger existence with Christ, ‘do not let anyone judge you...’ but ... ‘set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God...’ and ‘as god’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on LOVE, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the PEACE of christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be THANKFUL (for his penmanship and all that is incluede). Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’
Whew...
Of all stories written throughout history, those written with such beauty will endure and one day float in and out of time... the place where in our deepest moments we feel connected to, and long for... it’s our joy to struggle in connecting the two realities, flickering light in this dark world...
A world with more light... imagine.
A world with blinding light... our promise..!..
Imagine!
Be well friends
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Drawn out of water
12 . 19 . 11
Exodus 1-4
Because what I wrote about yesterday - sunsets & purity - is still today sticking to the sides of my spirit, I decided to begin reading the book of moses. Glad I did...
I read the first four chapters this morning. I read of his birth, his mother faithfully following the order of the Pharaoh to “throw every infant boy into the nile” so the growth of the hebrew nation would subside. It didn’t (surprised?). She - a young hebrew mother - followed this order and the Lord brought her son out of it... Glory. He was born into and out of obedience, and the lord used him...
I read of Moses’ upbringing by Pharaoh’s daughter, his defense of a fellow hebrew in killing a fellow egyptian, his shame in what he had done, and his fleeing to a foreign land.
Wandering in this foreign land, he was taken into the house of the priest of the land of Midian, and would eventually marry one of his seven daughters, Zipporah.
Stay with me...
A shepherd now, Moses was in the fields tending the flock of his father in law, and saw the burning bush. Imagine... the “bush was on fire, but did not burn up.” crazy.. hmm..
“this bush will be the sign to you (moses) that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
The lord promises to deliver him to a “land flowing with milk and honey, the home of the canaanites, hittites, amorites, perizzites, hivites and jebusites.”
Wait a sec... who are these which already reside in this great land? The israelites are God’s people, but is he wanting to bring them to a new land already occupied? A metaphor? Could god have more people, people who might already be experiencing this ‘land of milk and honey’ who are different from us? I digress.. but think about it.
God then builds Moses’ confidence by commanding him to do miraculous things on this mountain... things that if you saw them, you would believe the deliverer.. things like turning his staff into a snake, or making his hand leprous and healing it again instantly, then there was the final act of pouring out water which upon meeting the soil immediately turned into blood.
A foreshadow of the first three plagues maybe? What was to eventually come before Pharoah... locusts? plagues? the nile’s water turned to blood?
He builds his confidence, but he continued to doubt... for Moses himself - even after doing these things - said “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” I can’t lead these people!!?!?!!
This is the man God chose to use to free his people. A soft spoken stuttering orphan with another mans blood on his hands.
Of course he doubts... right?
The lord promises him and assures his place in saying, “who gave man his mouth? who makes him deaf or mute? who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak, and will teach you what to say.”
Love this.
Remember, we can call on this same power.!!. by the power of the spirit. The gift of Christ’s death...
But Moses still doubts (!!), and pleads for the Lord to send someone else... so the lord gives him a companion, his well spoken brother, Aaron... “he will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.” Beautiful. The way this relationship evolves is beautiful...
So moses, having now spent a significant amount of time in this ‘foreign land, would soon leave with his “wife and his sons”, going now to meet his well-spoken little bro and turn over the rule of Pharaoh and with the power of the Lord, free his people.
That is where I stopped...
But I can’t wait to read on...
I love it... early in the text it says Pharaoh’s daughter “named him Moses, saying, ‘I drew him out of the water.’”
What a beautiful name.
Moses. Drawn out of water.
I chose to dive into this story yesterday after pondering the timely process with which the earth filters it’s water, and how the same can go for our lives and things of the spirit... requiring time. Time, whisping away that which hinders as the intensity and focus of our gaze towards our maker increases.
I like the story of moses. Already he has been brought through a series of experiences which have and will, with time, bring him to realizing the Lord’s purpose for his life.
Excited to read on. But for now, be well friends :)
Exodus 1-4
Because what I wrote about yesterday - sunsets & purity - is still today sticking to the sides of my spirit, I decided to begin reading the book of moses. Glad I did...
I read the first four chapters this morning. I read of his birth, his mother faithfully following the order of the Pharaoh to “throw every infant boy into the nile” so the growth of the hebrew nation would subside. It didn’t (surprised?). She - a young hebrew mother - followed this order and the Lord brought her son out of it... Glory. He was born into and out of obedience, and the lord used him...
I read of Moses’ upbringing by Pharaoh’s daughter, his defense of a fellow hebrew in killing a fellow egyptian, his shame in what he had done, and his fleeing to a foreign land.
Wandering in this foreign land, he was taken into the house of the priest of the land of Midian, and would eventually marry one of his seven daughters, Zipporah.
Stay with me...
A shepherd now, Moses was in the fields tending the flock of his father in law, and saw the burning bush. Imagine... the “bush was on fire, but did not burn up.” crazy.. hmm..
“this bush will be the sign to you (moses) that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
The lord promises to deliver him to a “land flowing with milk and honey, the home of the canaanites, hittites, amorites, perizzites, hivites and jebusites.”
Wait a sec... who are these which already reside in this great land? The israelites are God’s people, but is he wanting to bring them to a new land already occupied? A metaphor? Could god have more people, people who might already be experiencing this ‘land of milk and honey’ who are different from us? I digress.. but think about it.
God then builds Moses’ confidence by commanding him to do miraculous things on this mountain... things that if you saw them, you would believe the deliverer.. things like turning his staff into a snake, or making his hand leprous and healing it again instantly, then there was the final act of pouring out water which upon meeting the soil immediately turned into blood.
A foreshadow of the first three plagues maybe? What was to eventually come before Pharoah... locusts? plagues? the nile’s water turned to blood?
He builds his confidence, but he continued to doubt... for Moses himself - even after doing these things - said “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” I can’t lead these people!!?!?!!
This is the man God chose to use to free his people. A soft spoken stuttering orphan with another mans blood on his hands.
Of course he doubts... right?
The lord promises him and assures his place in saying, “who gave man his mouth? who makes him deaf or mute? who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak, and will teach you what to say.”
Love this.
Remember, we can call on this same power.!!. by the power of the spirit. The gift of Christ’s death...
But Moses still doubts (!!), and pleads for the Lord to send someone else... so the lord gives him a companion, his well spoken brother, Aaron... “he will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.” Beautiful. The way this relationship evolves is beautiful...
So moses, having now spent a significant amount of time in this ‘foreign land, would soon leave with his “wife and his sons”, going now to meet his well-spoken little bro and turn over the rule of Pharaoh and with the power of the Lord, free his people.
That is where I stopped...
But I can’t wait to read on...
I love it... early in the text it says Pharaoh’s daughter “named him Moses, saying, ‘I drew him out of the water.’”
What a beautiful name.
Moses. Drawn out of water.
I chose to dive into this story yesterday after pondering the timely process with which the earth filters it’s water, and how the same can go for our lives and things of the spirit... requiring time. Time, whisping away that which hinders as the intensity and focus of our gaze towards our maker increases.
I like the story of moses. Already he has been brought through a series of experiences which have and will, with time, bring him to realizing the Lord’s purpose for his life.
Excited to read on. But for now, be well friends :)
Monday, December 19, 2011
Sunsets & Purity
12 . 18 . 11
I found myself this evening on the beach, the crisp air that arrives just after the sun has set growing dense as I strolled the shore. It was just after sunset, and I was a bit disappointed I’d arrived tardy to what I was sure had been a warm departing of the sun, dripping with the colors of the spirit. I found consolation in knowing the sun was setting for someone else, as well as rising, bringing light to other beautiful places in the world...
My mind wandered to the idea of purity, and my impressions of how it is begot. Purity, healing, growth, strength in overcoming, etc really...
The classic image I get is the one of being purified through fire, like gold... remember the song ‘refiner’s fire’? maybe the verse in Malachi..“he will sit as a refiner [of gold] and purifier of silver...”
Purified, refined in the fire...
This is good, this is true, the purification of the spirit comes upon inviting it within to do it’s work. I just can’t help but think of the other ways in which things on earth are purified... first one that comes to mind is water.
Countries have used bio-san filtration as a form of bio-mimicry for centuries, imitating the layers of our earth with different layers and types of soil, sending the unclean water through a series of filters, eventually making it pure. The first layers extract any particulates in the water, moving down through the different stages of soil getting filtered to the point of eventually dripping out safe.
This is how our Maker has chosen to purify water...
... and sometimes it feels like this is how he has chosen to purify me...
The bio san we’ve created can filter water in a matter of hours... water filtered by the earth, making it’s way through the changing layers eventually dripping pristine into underground water storage, this can take years... lots of them.
Moving through life, certain things seem to just stick around, right? Am I alone in this? I wouldn’t jump to call these things sin, but maybe just things that inhibit, bind, drag down... things maybe that bring about emotions of fear, loneliness, anxiety.. so many things. But things none-the-less which no matter how many times it may seem we ask to be ‘freed’ of their burden, they remain...
This is where I like imagining my life's journey through the varying stages of God’s plan, each new layer stripping me from remaining contaminants, each new layer being deeper and denser than the last, each with the ability to strip that which was maybe able to slip through the last...
Time. This process requires it.
The willingness to dive deeper. Also required.
With little introspection, and at an age where reflection has become more significant as the timeline has stretched, I can see areas of my life where journeying deeper has with time brought purification...
This is a struggle for me... this is why this was on my heart, because there are things in my life which I am realizing maybe aren’t to be purified as the song describes... but filtered with time, experience, and a deepening understanding of what it is that requires ‘filtering’, and then being filtered...
Worries. Filtered with time.
Hopes. Filtered with time.
Loves. Filtered with time.
At each new layer, a new environment, maybe a new culture, a new appreciation and a new joy... a new thanksgiving, a new hope, a new love.. freedom.
~ with time ~
I’m reminded by what I wrote about at the beginning, that while we can’t always be experiencing the beauty of the sun’s rising or setting, we have hope in it’s faithful existence and joy in imagining where in this world the glory of that display is being shown... knowing full well it will be here to greet us again soon. It’s moments like this where in my spirit I feel the beauty of a new truth, a new understanding of what grows this heart of mine. And while in the morning it may seem less inspired, it remains and will be faithful in returning...
I found myself this evening on the beach, the crisp air that arrives just after the sun has set growing dense as I strolled the shore. It was just after sunset, and I was a bit disappointed I’d arrived tardy to what I was sure had been a warm departing of the sun, dripping with the colors of the spirit. I found consolation in knowing the sun was setting for someone else, as well as rising, bringing light to other beautiful places in the world...
My mind wandered to the idea of purity, and my impressions of how it is begot. Purity, healing, growth, strength in overcoming, etc really...
The classic image I get is the one of being purified through fire, like gold... remember the song ‘refiner’s fire’? maybe the verse in Malachi..“he will sit as a refiner [of gold] and purifier of silver...”
Purified, refined in the fire...
This is good, this is true, the purification of the spirit comes upon inviting it within to do it’s work. I just can’t help but think of the other ways in which things on earth are purified... first one that comes to mind is water.
Countries have used bio-san filtration as a form of bio-mimicry for centuries, imitating the layers of our earth with different layers and types of soil, sending the unclean water through a series of filters, eventually making it pure. The first layers extract any particulates in the water, moving down through the different stages of soil getting filtered to the point of eventually dripping out safe.
This is how our Maker has chosen to purify water...
... and sometimes it feels like this is how he has chosen to purify me...
The bio san we’ve created can filter water in a matter of hours... water filtered by the earth, making it’s way through the changing layers eventually dripping pristine into underground water storage, this can take years... lots of them.
Moving through life, certain things seem to just stick around, right? Am I alone in this? I wouldn’t jump to call these things sin, but maybe just things that inhibit, bind, drag down... things maybe that bring about emotions of fear, loneliness, anxiety.. so many things. But things none-the-less which no matter how many times it may seem we ask to be ‘freed’ of their burden, they remain...
This is where I like imagining my life's journey through the varying stages of God’s plan, each new layer stripping me from remaining contaminants, each new layer being deeper and denser than the last, each with the ability to strip that which was maybe able to slip through the last...
Time. This process requires it.
The willingness to dive deeper. Also required.
With little introspection, and at an age where reflection has become more significant as the timeline has stretched, I can see areas of my life where journeying deeper has with time brought purification...
This is a struggle for me... this is why this was on my heart, because there are things in my life which I am realizing maybe aren’t to be purified as the song describes... but filtered with time, experience, and a deepening understanding of what it is that requires ‘filtering’, and then being filtered...
Worries. Filtered with time.
Hopes. Filtered with time.
Loves. Filtered with time.
At each new layer, a new environment, maybe a new culture, a new appreciation and a new joy... a new thanksgiving, a new hope, a new love.. freedom.
~ with time ~
I’m reminded by what I wrote about at the beginning, that while we can’t always be experiencing the beauty of the sun’s rising or setting, we have hope in it’s faithful existence and joy in imagining where in this world the glory of that display is being shown... knowing full well it will be here to greet us again soon. It’s moments like this where in my spirit I feel the beauty of a new truth, a new understanding of what grows this heart of mine. And while in the morning it may seem less inspired, it remains and will be faithful in returning...
Monday, December 12, 2011
Kissed by Grace.
12 . 12 . 11
My drive to work is majestic... winding through dense woods, never exceeding fourth gear, soaked in the moist glory of the northwest. Forty minutes there, forty minutes back, gives a guy some time to think ya know?
Grace.
I confronted my idea of the concept recently when on this drive, I was asking the lord to forgive me in some area of my life, maybe for some thing I had done, who know... it’s not really important except for that I felt trapped. I felt trapped by my idea of grace, by the thought that for every action, there has to be an equal or opposite re-action in seeking forgiveness to be saved.
This is not the God I’ve come to know, this way of seeking grace doesn’t bring healing. I felt the shallowness, the hopelessness in the construction of my elementary understanding of this beautiful gift...
With this thought came another...a glimpse of the grace offered... a grace we live into, that soaks us, heals us, makes us strong, gives us freedom. I felt God awaiting an invitation from me... an invitation for him to come and live in my struggles, to be there in the failures.
God living in us.. sure, that is nothing new. If you read my blog often you know my thoughts on the Spirit living within. I rely on it...
When it concerns grace however, this is a new perspective for me... I guess I realized on my drive home the other night how I sometimes worried about my salvation because i maybe hadn’t asked for forgiveness for this that or the other thing.. ways I had turned my heart from God. What a silly system if this were the case...
It’s not that asking forgiveness is any less important, but realizing the gift of God’s grace is I believe of far greater importance. Accepting this gift, He will - if we invite Him to - live among the pain, the failures, and bring healing, salvation, freedom through His spirit... the great messenger of our maker.
Sin does not determine a persons salvation. The condition and content of their heart, by this they will either be accused or excused on the day the creator of all things good returns (rom2)...
Forgiveness is important. ‘ask the lord to forgive, and you will be forgiven... ask those you have wronged for forgiveness, and you will be healed.’ james 5:16?
so much good comes from forgiveness.... but first, learn grace.
A heart living to love God and love others will experience life, and seek forgiveness where the spirit makes plain it’s need. Sin has no power...
“therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through christ the law of the spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the spirit.”
Whew...
A crazy verse from paul in romans 8, immediately after just ranting on about his inability to conquer the desires of the flesh... his conclusion about himself? “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death...”
Enter grace..!.. “therefore, there is now no condemnation...”
Sin will exist. He wants to live among it, bring us through it, and make us stronger in acknowledging the struggle and confronting it with the power of the Spirit... accept this grace, freedom, healing, strength.
Be well friends.
My drive to work is majestic... winding through dense woods, never exceeding fourth gear, soaked in the moist glory of the northwest. Forty minutes there, forty minutes back, gives a guy some time to think ya know?
Grace.
I confronted my idea of the concept recently when on this drive, I was asking the lord to forgive me in some area of my life, maybe for some thing I had done, who know... it’s not really important except for that I felt trapped. I felt trapped by my idea of grace, by the thought that for every action, there has to be an equal or opposite re-action in seeking forgiveness to be saved.
This is not the God I’ve come to know, this way of seeking grace doesn’t bring healing. I felt the shallowness, the hopelessness in the construction of my elementary understanding of this beautiful gift...
With this thought came another...a glimpse of the grace offered... a grace we live into, that soaks us, heals us, makes us strong, gives us freedom. I felt God awaiting an invitation from me... an invitation for him to come and live in my struggles, to be there in the failures.
God living in us.. sure, that is nothing new. If you read my blog often you know my thoughts on the Spirit living within. I rely on it...
When it concerns grace however, this is a new perspective for me... I guess I realized on my drive home the other night how I sometimes worried about my salvation because i maybe hadn’t asked for forgiveness for this that or the other thing.. ways I had turned my heart from God. What a silly system if this were the case...
It’s not that asking forgiveness is any less important, but realizing the gift of God’s grace is I believe of far greater importance. Accepting this gift, He will - if we invite Him to - live among the pain, the failures, and bring healing, salvation, freedom through His spirit... the great messenger of our maker.
Sin does not determine a persons salvation. The condition and content of their heart, by this they will either be accused or excused on the day the creator of all things good returns (rom2)...
Forgiveness is important. ‘ask the lord to forgive, and you will be forgiven... ask those you have wronged for forgiveness, and you will be healed.’ james 5:16?
so much good comes from forgiveness.... but first, learn grace.
A heart living to love God and love others will experience life, and seek forgiveness where the spirit makes plain it’s need. Sin has no power...
“therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through christ the law of the spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the spirit.”
Whew...
A crazy verse from paul in romans 8, immediately after just ranting on about his inability to conquer the desires of the flesh... his conclusion about himself? “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death...”
Enter grace..!.. “therefore, there is now no condemnation...”
Sin will exist. He wants to live among it, bring us through it, and make us stronger in acknowledging the struggle and confronting it with the power of the Spirit... accept this grace, freedom, healing, strength.
Be well friends.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Colossians 2:6-3:17
12 . 5 . 11
Colossians 2:6-3:17
What a perfect section of scripture, one that makes sense of a passage i’ve memorized in the past. So typical to pick a verse to memorize because it’s maybe a powerful one-liner, without first having a deep understanding of the surrounding verses. Blah..
Paul encourages followers of Christ to continue lives “rooted and built up in him (jesus)”, and to be wary of “hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world”. Be strong, know him, sink roots...
“In him you were circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature... having been buried with him in baptism, and raised with him through your faith in the power of God”
Whenever circumcision is mentioned in the Word, I kindof hurry past it, it just makes me a bit squeemish.. this time however, I saw the beauty in it and what it represents... the cutting off of the foreskin in our lives, the sinful nature, the unclean, the suffocating, the starting fresh... what a blessing -- both the actual circumcision as well as the spiritual. And then being baptized, sunk in water representing our being buried, then being raised up and out representing our faith in the power of God to raise us from the powers of this world which bring death... a faith in our place in eternity... a faith ‘which is being renewed in the knowledge in the image of it’s creator’. A descending of the Spirit in the form of a dove to guide our lives...
Baptism. Funny how little i understood of it and it’s significance when I was first dunked... how old was I even, 12 maybe? I’ve no clue...
Jesus brings life to ALL, thats what we read... by dying on the cross he ‘disarmed the powers and authorities of the world’
“therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to religious festival, a new moon celebration or a sabbath day.”
aka -- there is no judgement... through his death, the filthy foreskin has been cut, death is no more, we are raised out of the water by faith and given the gift of the Spirit.
Learn this. Accept this. Daily. Hourly.
Next, we’re warned again about those ‘who delight in false humility... such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.”
Amen.
Crazy verse. I am reminded again and again in scripture that it’s not the appearance of goodness that brings one to glory (duh), but the condition of one’s heart.
I’ve met many people in and out of the church who could be described with the above verse... and putting words to their description is always difficult... gosh, there are periods of my life where I could have been described by it as well, losing connection, losing faith in the ligaments and sinews which hold my spiritual life together... thus falling apart.
We then are told that for those of us who in our lives are given a taste of the Spirit (comes in maany forms), our hope is in Christ. When dipped in death, and raised in faith, the growth of the spirit spreading throughout our being will guide us ‘to put to death whatever belongs to our earthly nature’ ... ‘riding ourselves of all such things... anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language’
... they cannot fully exist, one with the other...
... one must dwell in us with authority; spirit, or world...
The next section (3:12-17) is one i’ve worked to memorize in the past.. i suck at memorizing.. i hate that i suck at this.
I had typed it out, the verse, but now I kindof wanna put it in my own words.. the verse is beautiful, please read it.. i’ll just share here what I read weaving between and through the lines of this passage..
“You are God’s, holy and dearly loved... always. Your eyes now are freed, the foreskin cut, you are a new creation. Your fresh, naked spirit... clothe it with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Forgive others... free yourself, free them, as He has freed you. You will find joy in doing these things... Over all these virtues, coat yourself with Love, God’s love and promises which can bring warmth to even the coldest, darkest, hopeless soul. Love binds all.. love is the deliverer of this fruit.. what good is the fruit if it is not delivered with love? I’ve tasted this fruit before.. with & w/out love. I’ve delivered this fruit before.. with & without love. In all things, let the gifts of the spirit reign, bringing peace. And be thankful. Always. In all things. Through all things. Be thankful. For you know what awaits you... you learn of it in god’s word... let it dwell in you richly, sinking to the deepest levels where it will grow life. With it, let the spirit guide you in teaching and admonishing one another in wisdom, discernment, humility. Worship! Look around you, pause, and look around you... worship the creator of the heavens, the earth and all that calls it home. Worship. You’ve been given this gift, now go and do... let the spirit be your guide, the dove of peace leading the way. Give credit where credit is due, the one who cut the foreskin and pulled the blinders off our eyes that we might see the gift, as well as the promise. Share this fruit... in love.”
If you want to read another translation... like, an actual translation of this verse... click here :)
I’m going to go now. It’s my day off, and I have big plans. Rest.
Be well friends.
Colossians 2:6-3:17
What a perfect section of scripture, one that makes sense of a passage i’ve memorized in the past. So typical to pick a verse to memorize because it’s maybe a powerful one-liner, without first having a deep understanding of the surrounding verses. Blah..
Paul encourages followers of Christ to continue lives “rooted and built up in him (jesus)”, and to be wary of “hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world”. Be strong, know him, sink roots...
“In him you were circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature... having been buried with him in baptism, and raised with him through your faith in the power of God”
Whenever circumcision is mentioned in the Word, I kindof hurry past it, it just makes me a bit squeemish.. this time however, I saw the beauty in it and what it represents... the cutting off of the foreskin in our lives, the sinful nature, the unclean, the suffocating, the starting fresh... what a blessing -- both the actual circumcision as well as the spiritual. And then being baptized, sunk in water representing our being buried, then being raised up and out representing our faith in the power of God to raise us from the powers of this world which bring death... a faith in our place in eternity... a faith ‘which is being renewed in the knowledge in the image of it’s creator’. A descending of the Spirit in the form of a dove to guide our lives...
Baptism. Funny how little i understood of it and it’s significance when I was first dunked... how old was I even, 12 maybe? I’ve no clue...
Jesus brings life to ALL, thats what we read... by dying on the cross he ‘disarmed the powers and authorities of the world’
“therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to religious festival, a new moon celebration or a sabbath day.”
aka -- there is no judgement... through his death, the filthy foreskin has been cut, death is no more, we are raised out of the water by faith and given the gift of the Spirit.
Learn this. Accept this. Daily. Hourly.
Next, we’re warned again about those ‘who delight in false humility... such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.”
Amen.
Crazy verse. I am reminded again and again in scripture that it’s not the appearance of goodness that brings one to glory (duh), but the condition of one’s heart.
I’ve met many people in and out of the church who could be described with the above verse... and putting words to their description is always difficult... gosh, there are periods of my life where I could have been described by it as well, losing connection, losing faith in the ligaments and sinews which hold my spiritual life together... thus falling apart.
We then are told that for those of us who in our lives are given a taste of the Spirit (comes in maany forms), our hope is in Christ. When dipped in death, and raised in faith, the growth of the spirit spreading throughout our being will guide us ‘to put to death whatever belongs to our earthly nature’ ... ‘riding ourselves of all such things... anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language’
... they cannot fully exist, one with the other...
... one must dwell in us with authority; spirit, or world...
The next section (3:12-17) is one i’ve worked to memorize in the past.. i suck at memorizing.. i hate that i suck at this.
I had typed it out, the verse, but now I kindof wanna put it in my own words.. the verse is beautiful, please read it.. i’ll just share here what I read weaving between and through the lines of this passage..
“You are God’s, holy and dearly loved... always. Your eyes now are freed, the foreskin cut, you are a new creation. Your fresh, naked spirit... clothe it with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Forgive others... free yourself, free them, as He has freed you. You will find joy in doing these things... Over all these virtues, coat yourself with Love, God’s love and promises which can bring warmth to even the coldest, darkest, hopeless soul. Love binds all.. love is the deliverer of this fruit.. what good is the fruit if it is not delivered with love? I’ve tasted this fruit before.. with & w/out love. I’ve delivered this fruit before.. with & without love. In all things, let the gifts of the spirit reign, bringing peace. And be thankful. Always. In all things. Through all things. Be thankful. For you know what awaits you... you learn of it in god’s word... let it dwell in you richly, sinking to the deepest levels where it will grow life. With it, let the spirit guide you in teaching and admonishing one another in wisdom, discernment, humility. Worship! Look around you, pause, and look around you... worship the creator of the heavens, the earth and all that calls it home. Worship. You’ve been given this gift, now go and do... let the spirit be your guide, the dove of peace leading the way. Give credit where credit is due, the one who cut the foreskin and pulled the blinders off our eyes that we might see the gift, as well as the promise. Share this fruit... in love.”
If you want to read another translation... like, an actual translation of this verse... click here :)
I’m going to go now. It’s my day off, and I have big plans. Rest.
Be well friends.
Friday, December 2, 2011
The Tree Lot
12 . 2 . 11
I’m back now, enjoying a nice fire under a starlit sky... and after a nice meal I am free to relax and reflect on the days... the weeks blessings.
I am now going on my fourth day in a row working at a tree farm... literally, imagine a corn field, but instead of corn, trees... Thousands upon thousands of christmas trees. It’s nuts.
So me and about ten other craaaazy dudes strap up each day for ten hours plus of the most tiresome work I’ve ever done... right up there with shoveling bark all day. We drag, bail, throw, swamp, sort and load trees all day... nobles, firs, douglas, grand, all sorts and sizes.. It’s amazing. I think I probably threw somewhere around 500 trees myself today... thats just throwing. This company ships trees all over.. they even sent a container to Alaska!!?? Nuts. Working 10+ hr days I leave in the dark, come home in the dark, but work all day outside in the fresh northwest air which soaks the lungs like only it can. I drive home forty minutes on windy, wood laden roads for twenty miles journeying through the forest. Today as I bobbed up and down some roads I caught peeking glimpses of mt rainier adorned in purple, whisped with pink... beautiful. I can work as many hours as I want, and am making good money.. what a blessing.
See, for weeks I had been tirelessly looking for a job on a tree lot where trees are sold... one lot in particular had led me on and let me down time and time again until I just didn’t have a job with them.. and at the last minute - as a recommendation of my grandfather who was a frat boy with the owner of this farm and worked on a lot himself for 10+ yrs - I got this job. Faaaaar more difficult than what I had imagined doing, but with a handful of people who I know I am meant to spend time with. I’m not sure what will come of these relationships, but it is clear to me the providence of this work and I can each day look forward to getting my ass whooped and back wrenched if it means spending time with some grungy dudes who are good, broken people... and need good, broken people in their lives. I am blessed...
I can’t believe some of the characters I’m meeting here, true lumberjacks who seem to have been raised as orphans among the groves. Afflictions have soaked the soil of their lives, and the pain in their roots bears witness... mostly unspoken. some of the crazy things I’ve seen and heard have been hard at times, things I don’t really feel comfortable sharing, but things which have shown me a new fragment of the sorts of people we’re called to be near.. I felt it on the river, I felt it in Haiti, I felt it in Vail, and I feel it here... People who have very different stories from my own, but who share harmonious ingredients which blend to make for a tasty interaction, rising into a fruitful relationship.
Why spend so much time with people who are just like us?! And sure, within different social groups there are different breeds, but at the core with most groups i’ve felt a part of there are many basic similarities which make a person feel comfortable... right? I guess I’m realizing that even in the glaring light of these previously mentioned - out of box - life experiences, I don’t very often reach out to groups where I would be uncomfortable... and I guess I’m realizing how that’s exactly what Jesus came to preach... and the promise is that the Holy Spirit is there to comfort, to warm, to give strength, to lift up, and to pour out. What a beautiful promise.
I will say, my time in the word has been seriously cut because of this job, so if you find yourself with some unspent prayer energy, send it my way, my spirit could use it... I do take moments throughout the day to breathe deep and gather my spirit, because sometimes it can tend to slip away as I allow. Little moments like this I’m learning are very important...
Thank you all... and be blessed!
I’m back now, enjoying a nice fire under a starlit sky... and after a nice meal I am free to relax and reflect on the days... the weeks blessings.
I am now going on my fourth day in a row working at a tree farm... literally, imagine a corn field, but instead of corn, trees... Thousands upon thousands of christmas trees. It’s nuts.
So me and about ten other craaaazy dudes strap up each day for ten hours plus of the most tiresome work I’ve ever done... right up there with shoveling bark all day. We drag, bail, throw, swamp, sort and load trees all day... nobles, firs, douglas, grand, all sorts and sizes.. It’s amazing. I think I probably threw somewhere around 500 trees myself today... thats just throwing. This company ships trees all over.. they even sent a container to Alaska!!?? Nuts. Working 10+ hr days I leave in the dark, come home in the dark, but work all day outside in the fresh northwest air which soaks the lungs like only it can. I drive home forty minutes on windy, wood laden roads for twenty miles journeying through the forest. Today as I bobbed up and down some roads I caught peeking glimpses of mt rainier adorned in purple, whisped with pink... beautiful. I can work as many hours as I want, and am making good money.. what a blessing.
See, for weeks I had been tirelessly looking for a job on a tree lot where trees are sold... one lot in particular had led me on and let me down time and time again until I just didn’t have a job with them.. and at the last minute - as a recommendation of my grandfather who was a frat boy with the owner of this farm and worked on a lot himself for 10+ yrs - I got this job. Faaaaar more difficult than what I had imagined doing, but with a handful of people who I know I am meant to spend time with. I’m not sure what will come of these relationships, but it is clear to me the providence of this work and I can each day look forward to getting my ass whooped and back wrenched if it means spending time with some grungy dudes who are good, broken people... and need good, broken people in their lives. I am blessed...
I can’t believe some of the characters I’m meeting here, true lumberjacks who seem to have been raised as orphans among the groves. Afflictions have soaked the soil of their lives, and the pain in their roots bears witness... mostly unspoken. some of the crazy things I’ve seen and heard have been hard at times, things I don’t really feel comfortable sharing, but things which have shown me a new fragment of the sorts of people we’re called to be near.. I felt it on the river, I felt it in Haiti, I felt it in Vail, and I feel it here... People who have very different stories from my own, but who share harmonious ingredients which blend to make for a tasty interaction, rising into a fruitful relationship.
Why spend so much time with people who are just like us?! And sure, within different social groups there are different breeds, but at the core with most groups i’ve felt a part of there are many basic similarities which make a person feel comfortable... right? I guess I’m realizing that even in the glaring light of these previously mentioned - out of box - life experiences, I don’t very often reach out to groups where I would be uncomfortable... and I guess I’m realizing how that’s exactly what Jesus came to preach... and the promise is that the Holy Spirit is there to comfort, to warm, to give strength, to lift up, and to pour out. What a beautiful promise.
I will say, my time in the word has been seriously cut because of this job, so if you find yourself with some unspent prayer energy, send it my way, my spirit could use it... I do take moments throughout the day to breathe deep and gather my spirit, because sometimes it can tend to slip away as I allow. Little moments like this I’m learning are very important...
Thank you all... and be blessed!
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Even the rocks cry out.
11 . 26 . 11
I took a beach walk today... It’s been a while since the last (relatively speaking i guess, maybe a week or so.. ha).
I found as I walked my eyes were stuck in a trance as though I was hovering above observing in great detail the uniqueness of the patterns on each and every rock.
There’s a verse - I have since the end of my walk found out - in Luke 19 where jesus tells us that even the rocks cry out in worship to their creator. A handful of other places in the psalms too... :)
Although at the time I didn’t know the exact verse, somewhere buried were the words of Jesus, and as I walked I sunk into my own form of worship in the recognition of their worship. My spirit and heart repeating 'even the rocks cry out' as I walked...
I took some pics of these eye stares and posted em below... :)
When I got back, I wanted to find the exact verse so I jumped on my computer and typed ‘even the rocks cry out’ in the searchbar... Anyway, a girls blog popped up where she had written of a similar experience she had.. very different too though.
She had recently read an article that shared a new finding in the studies of our sun which said that it was found to be vibrating, making noise which is unrecognizable to the human ear, but it’s there... ‘crying out’ she says in worship. Nuts...
Well... we know that all matter vibrates - has a fundamental frequency - and we know this as “sound”. Planck’s constant shows us the relation between energy and frequency and explains, rather makes sense of this phenomena... check it out if interested. These vibrations are in all things gas, liquid, solid... everything. Just because we can’t hear it’s frequency, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, in fact it’s crazy to imagine different layers of frequency communicated and received all across the globe.. the universe. Watch the planet earth on jungles sometime, you’ll learn that everything that calls the jungle home, they all communicate on different frequency levels, essentially dismissing or not being capable of understanding other surrounding communication. We all worship...
She was taken by the frequency... the sound they make.
On my walk today I was taken by their beauty and uniqueness of each rock, all telling a very different story... designs my mind couldn’t possibly come up with on it’s own, are there in droves at my feet to enjoy and stare at, soaking in worship at their creation, their creator... glory.
All encompassing, thinking of all creation as a whole (galaxies, suns, moons, trees, water fresh and salt, life on land, in air, and in water... all unique.. rocks, flowers, bees, leaves... photons, dna, corneas, electrons, stem cells... EVERYTHING), I can see how a person - with no faith - might be driven to insanity having no outlet for worship. My spirit and heart repeating 'even the rocks cry out' as I walked...
Encouragement today is this... find time to worship in the little things... dip your heart in the word of truth so that little nuggets of goodness might drip on the path of the mundane, bringing worship.
Even the rocks cry out...
*** PS... After writing, I found this and was grateful... pleeease take 10 minutes and watch this beautiful video.. you won't regret it ***
I took a beach walk today... It’s been a while since the last (relatively speaking i guess, maybe a week or so.. ha).
I found as I walked my eyes were stuck in a trance as though I was hovering above observing in great detail the uniqueness of the patterns on each and every rock.
There’s a verse - I have since the end of my walk found out - in Luke 19 where jesus tells us that even the rocks cry out in worship to their creator. A handful of other places in the psalms too... :)
Although at the time I didn’t know the exact verse, somewhere buried were the words of Jesus, and as I walked I sunk into my own form of worship in the recognition of their worship. My spirit and heart repeating 'even the rocks cry out' as I walked...
I took some pics of these eye stares and posted em below... :)
When I got back, I wanted to find the exact verse so I jumped on my computer and typed ‘even the rocks cry out’ in the searchbar... Anyway, a girls blog popped up where she had written of a similar experience she had.. very different too though.
She had recently read an article that shared a new finding in the studies of our sun which said that it was found to be vibrating, making noise which is unrecognizable to the human ear, but it’s there... ‘crying out’ she says in worship. Nuts...
Well... we know that all matter vibrates - has a fundamental frequency - and we know this as “sound”. Planck’s constant shows us the relation between energy and frequency and explains, rather makes sense of this phenomena... check it out if interested. These vibrations are in all things gas, liquid, solid... everything. Just because we can’t hear it’s frequency, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, in fact it’s crazy to imagine different layers of frequency communicated and received all across the globe.. the universe. Watch the planet earth on jungles sometime, you’ll learn that everything that calls the jungle home, they all communicate on different frequency levels, essentially dismissing or not being capable of understanding other surrounding communication. We all worship...
She was taken by the frequency... the sound they make.
On my walk today I was taken by their beauty and uniqueness of each rock, all telling a very different story... designs my mind couldn’t possibly come up with on it’s own, are there in droves at my feet to enjoy and stare at, soaking in worship at their creation, their creator... glory.
All encompassing, thinking of all creation as a whole (galaxies, suns, moons, trees, water fresh and salt, life on land, in air, and in water... all unique.. rocks, flowers, bees, leaves... photons, dna, corneas, electrons, stem cells... EVERYTHING), I can see how a person - with no faith - might be driven to insanity having no outlet for worship. My spirit and heart repeating 'even the rocks cry out' as I walked...
Encouragement today is this... find time to worship in the little things... dip your heart in the word of truth so that little nuggets of goodness might drip on the path of the mundane, bringing worship.
Even the rocks cry out...
*** PS... After writing, I found this and was grateful... pleeease take 10 minutes and watch this beautiful video.. you won't regret it ***
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Farewell, for now.
11 . 20 . 11
I won't be posting any more blog updates on facebook... if you want to receive them via email, just type it in the box to the right :)
I went out again this morning for sunrise... you can see from the picture that the earth has tilted just slightly on it’s axis since my last visit... fascinating thinking of that tilting process in space...
While floating for moments like these, my fingers and spirit always seem eager to find their way into the psalms, it’s as if they feel in their environment a spirit of praise that can be appropriately matched by the words of David.
I started with psalm 142, and journeyed through to the end of 145. Verses jump out from each psalm and speak to me where I am currently at...
“when my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way.”
“Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul... Teach me to do your will, for you are my God, may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”
“Lord, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him?”
“One generation will commend your works to another, they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works.”
“You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”
These are warm words to my spirit as I witnessed the waking of earth this morning.
I’ve realized lately after refreshing my brain and watching several mind blowing TED talks on certain subjects (animation of a cell, the power and neglect of the right brain, the universe etc...) - mostly dealing with things created - that I fail in properly recognizing my place in creation. Somewhere in between the trillions of micro machines working in my body for a purpose of which they will never understand the overall picture, and the billions of galaxies floating around - each with billions of stars - in an uncomprehensible amount of space... all beautiful beyond our minds ability to imagine, all possibly working towards something of which they cannot understand wholly. I would like the theory of relativity to one day apply to the size and purpose of all the different groups of relative life. Click here and check out this picture that places side by side an image of a brain cell, and then a picture of what our brightest scientists theorize the known universe to look like (although it is ever expanding according to science, as well as scripture)... sink in it.
We humans don’t seem (in my opinion) to fit well into this picture... I heard recently that if all insects were to die, in three years all life on earth would be no more... if all humans were to die, in three years all other life on earth would flourish.
In my kayak this morning, I realized in a new way the immense amounts of salt water I was only allowed in my construction to float above, water spread out all across the globe, and the life that teems below reveals a whole new world we can only study, and give worship... Resting atop the weight of all this water, I got hopeful for one day there being a de-salination process that could bring fresh water to the just under one billion people who simply don’t have access... over half of the worlds hospital beds occupied by someone with a waterborne disease... ya, the same stuff we have coming out of our shower heads, sinks, spigots, toilets even... how are we to understand this condition in our culture?
Then I thought... oh wait... we do. The most incredible de-salination process is going on right in front of our eyes, all throughout the day, especially in the pnw! Evaporating salt water brought up in the clouds, energized and purified, then sent over creation on land, and poured down fresh quenching the thirst of all kinds of life...
So like David, amidst the confusion and tangles of muck I sometimes find myself in... I say Lord, “you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” All living things - great as the vastness of the universe, and small as the electrons firing all throughout our bodies... Lord, you are my refuge, in this crazy brilliant land where perfect harmony can be found and life flourishes, great and small... you are my refuge.
I pick through Walden on occasion, and just read this yesterday. This whole chapter on Solitude reads of Thoreau's connection with the earth, and his core belief that "shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous..."
“Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains... I know not the first letter of the alphabet. I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born. The intellect is a cleaver; it discerns and rifts it’s way into the secret of things.” - thoreau
I won't be posting any more blog updates on facebook... if you want to receive them via email, just type it in the box to the right :)
While floating for moments like these, my fingers and spirit always seem eager to find their way into the psalms, it’s as if they feel in their environment a spirit of praise that can be appropriately matched by the words of David.
I started with psalm 142, and journeyed through to the end of 145. Verses jump out from each psalm and speak to me where I am currently at...
“when my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way.”
“Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul... Teach me to do your will, for you are my God, may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”
“Lord, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him?”
“One generation will commend your works to another, they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works.”
“You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”
These are warm words to my spirit as I witnessed the waking of earth this morning.
I’ve realized lately after refreshing my brain and watching several mind blowing TED talks on certain subjects (animation of a cell, the power and neglect of the right brain, the universe etc...) - mostly dealing with things created - that I fail in properly recognizing my place in creation. Somewhere in between the trillions of micro machines working in my body for a purpose of which they will never understand the overall picture, and the billions of galaxies floating around - each with billions of stars - in an uncomprehensible amount of space... all beautiful beyond our minds ability to imagine, all possibly working towards something of which they cannot understand wholly. I would like the theory of relativity to one day apply to the size and purpose of all the different groups of relative life. Click here and check out this picture that places side by side an image of a brain cell, and then a picture of what our brightest scientists theorize the known universe to look like (although it is ever expanding according to science, as well as scripture)... sink in it.
We humans don’t seem (in my opinion) to fit well into this picture... I heard recently that if all insects were to die, in three years all life on earth would be no more... if all humans were to die, in three years all other life on earth would flourish.
In my kayak this morning, I realized in a new way the immense amounts of salt water I was only allowed in my construction to float above, water spread out all across the globe, and the life that teems below reveals a whole new world we can only study, and give worship... Resting atop the weight of all this water, I got hopeful for one day there being a de-salination process that could bring fresh water to the just under one billion people who simply don’t have access... over half of the worlds hospital beds occupied by someone with a waterborne disease... ya, the same stuff we have coming out of our shower heads, sinks, spigots, toilets even... how are we to understand this condition in our culture?
Then I thought... oh wait... we do. The most incredible de-salination process is going on right in front of our eyes, all throughout the day, especially in the pnw! Evaporating salt water brought up in the clouds, energized and purified, then sent over creation on land, and poured down fresh quenching the thirst of all kinds of life...
So like David, amidst the confusion and tangles of muck I sometimes find myself in... I say Lord, “you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” All living things - great as the vastness of the universe, and small as the electrons firing all throughout our bodies... Lord, you are my refuge, in this crazy brilliant land where perfect harmony can be found and life flourishes, great and small... you are my refuge.
I pick through Walden on occasion, and just read this yesterday. This whole chapter on Solitude reads of Thoreau's connection with the earth, and his core belief that "shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous..."
“Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains... I know not the first letter of the alphabet. I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born. The intellect is a cleaver; it discerns and rifts it’s way into the secret of things.” - thoreau
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The rich, young, ruler.
11 . 16 . 11
The rich young ruler.
Mark 10:17-31
“I tell you the truth... all things are possible with God.” 10:27-29
This young man... running to Jesus... falling on his knees before him... this young man, met Jesus. What a lucky man...
He failed to recognize the source of Jesus’ strength. Upon calling Jesus “good”, jesus responds “why do you call me good? no one is good - except God alone.”
This is important to not skip over. It wouldn’t be the first time Jesus deflected admiration to that of his Father in Heaven... Jesus was His son, the one that was prophesied to die, and upon his death giving us the gift of the spirit.
Jesus says “no one is good - except God alone.”
... I’ll be marinating on this one for a few days ...
The interaction between these two - Jesus and the young man - is brief and dense in message...
It leads to this young man finding that for him to gain ‘treasure in heaven’, he must go and sell all of his posessions, for they were blocking his access to wholy experiencing his maker.
At the beginning of the story we find out that the man was a pretty upstanding guy... he was a man that held true and followed his whole life the ‘commandments’. Please read this short section if you haven’t... mk10:18-21
Under the ‘scope’ of the requirements of the ‘commandments’, this man appeared righteous... under the scope of Jesus and the spirit that resided in him, this mans heart does not appear to be for God.
He is told by Jesus to “sell everuthing you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
So, how might the spirit reveal in us things which clog our spiritual pipeline.
It says the ‘man went away sad because he had great wealth.’ I believe i’ve always been lead to believe that because this man experienced some degree of remourse, that he was never to have acted upon the requirements of Jesus.
I, today, choose to imagine the contrary... Suppose this man did sell all, suppose this man did realize the freedom in being stripped of posessions and experiencing the drenching of the spirit... suppose this man did later grow a faith that could believe what others might find difficult...
... that a camel actually can pass through the eye of a needle...
... that “with man, this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God...” -jesus
I think today I enjoy this ending to the story a bit better... Harder to grasp maybe just because he ‘went away sad’, it is easier for my spirit to understand and find hope in.
I can’t imagine what kind of smoke screen must be inside the man who can look in the eyes of Jesus, being a witness of his great acts (although not recognizing as Jesus did that the power in those acts came from God), hear his instruction, and go away unchanged.
I’m realizing right now the vitality behind the open ending of this story...
In it’s open ending, the spirit (if invited in) will catch us where we are at, and guide us in what we are meant to hear.
What I take away from this story - with pages between these lines - is this...
... the importance of recognizing God’s goodness, and giving thanks for his Son.
... the importance of looking to the life of Jesus for guidance on how to one day be in eternity.
... how an encounter with Jesus, hearing his words, while they might hurt at first and leave us ‘sad’... the ending is open and up to us with what we do with that.
... i learn that a camel actually pass through the eye of a needle... and that a rich man can get into heaven... nothing is impossible for God... duh
~~ ‘some things have to be believed to be seen’ ~~
... i learn that with the giving up of things that to this world appear valuable, that to that man will be given a “hundred times as much in this present age and in the age to come... eternal life.”
I can’t not believe ALL of this today... Find god in creation, and get lost in wonder...
Find sometime to watch this and wonder at the Designer behind this grand design. If it’s not a fetus, stare at a snail, a leaf, a cloud, a rising sun... an ebbing tide... a waning moon... a floating log... a bird suspended, in air? Comeon... thats nuts.
Wonderlust... get lost in it.
So today...
... give your worship to God... give thanks for His son... give heed to His spirit... & give life to His people... that you might experience life.
Be well frieeeends :)
The rich young ruler.
Mark 10:17-31
“I tell you the truth... all things are possible with God.” 10:27-29
This young man... running to Jesus... falling on his knees before him... this young man, met Jesus. What a lucky man...
He failed to recognize the source of Jesus’ strength. Upon calling Jesus “good”, jesus responds “why do you call me good? no one is good - except God alone.”
This is important to not skip over. It wouldn’t be the first time Jesus deflected admiration to that of his Father in Heaven... Jesus was His son, the one that was prophesied to die, and upon his death giving us the gift of the spirit.
Jesus says “no one is good - except God alone.”
... I’ll be marinating on this one for a few days ...
The interaction between these two - Jesus and the young man - is brief and dense in message...
It leads to this young man finding that for him to gain ‘treasure in heaven’, he must go and sell all of his posessions, for they were blocking his access to wholy experiencing his maker.
At the beginning of the story we find out that the man was a pretty upstanding guy... he was a man that held true and followed his whole life the ‘commandments’. Please read this short section if you haven’t... mk10:18-21
Under the ‘scope’ of the requirements of the ‘commandments’, this man appeared righteous... under the scope of Jesus and the spirit that resided in him, this mans heart does not appear to be for God.
He is told by Jesus to “sell everuthing you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
So, how might the spirit reveal in us things which clog our spiritual pipeline.
It says the ‘man went away sad because he had great wealth.’ I believe i’ve always been lead to believe that because this man experienced some degree of remourse, that he was never to have acted upon the requirements of Jesus.
I, today, choose to imagine the contrary... Suppose this man did sell all, suppose this man did realize the freedom in being stripped of posessions and experiencing the drenching of the spirit... suppose this man did later grow a faith that could believe what others might find difficult...
... that a camel actually can pass through the eye of a needle...
... that “with man, this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God...” -jesus
I think today I enjoy this ending to the story a bit better... Harder to grasp maybe just because he ‘went away sad’, it is easier for my spirit to understand and find hope in.
I can’t imagine what kind of smoke screen must be inside the man who can look in the eyes of Jesus, being a witness of his great acts (although not recognizing as Jesus did that the power in those acts came from God), hear his instruction, and go away unchanged.
I’m realizing right now the vitality behind the open ending of this story...
In it’s open ending, the spirit (if invited in) will catch us where we are at, and guide us in what we are meant to hear.
What I take away from this story - with pages between these lines - is this...
... the importance of recognizing God’s goodness, and giving thanks for his Son.
... the importance of looking to the life of Jesus for guidance on how to one day be in eternity.
... how an encounter with Jesus, hearing his words, while they might hurt at first and leave us ‘sad’... the ending is open and up to us with what we do with that.
... i learn that a camel actually pass through the eye of a needle... and that a rich man can get into heaven... nothing is impossible for God... duh
~~ ‘some things have to be believed to be seen’ ~~
... i learn that with the giving up of things that to this world appear valuable, that to that man will be given a “hundred times as much in this present age and in the age to come... eternal life.”
I can’t not believe ALL of this today... Find god in creation, and get lost in wonder...
Find sometime to watch this and wonder at the Designer behind this grand design. If it’s not a fetus, stare at a snail, a leaf, a cloud, a rising sun... an ebbing tide... a waning moon... a floating log... a bird suspended, in air? Comeon... thats nuts.
Wonderlust... get lost in it.
So today...
... give your worship to God... give thanks for His son... give heed to His spirit... & give life to His people... that you might experience life.
Be well frieeeends :)
Friday, November 11, 2011
A broken & contrite heart... You will not despise.
11 . 11 . 11
Today, I read psalm 51.
I was in a coffee shop, and approached a group of men with bibles out and asked them what they were studying. They told me jeremiah 29, and psalm 126.. I went and read 22-30, and then came back over to them and talked a bit about it with them. Turns out, one of them was the pastor of the church, and boy did we both enjoy our maybe hour long discussion... The beauty in this section of scripture, the beauty of the imagery we’re shown giving us a view into the spiritual realms awaiting us, ‘a city’, where we experience 100% of god’s presence.
Beautiful.
Somewhere in the conversation, the pastor led me to re-read psalm 51 in a new light.
This new light was to make me feel the environment in which it was written... David wrote it after he was given the news of the certainty of his son’s death. It was because of his sin, his adulturous relationship, that the son was to die...
It is because of our sin... that the Son had to die... In this psalm we learn a bit about david's heart, our heart maybe too?
Read this psalm and feel the heart of a man "after God’s own heart", a man seeking the cleansing of his God. “do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”
Repenting, he says “o lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” Whatever your will may be... my lips, whenever opened, will drip a spirit of praise.
Our words, and the spirit in which they are said, are of the greatest impact we can have on a person, a group... so let them be said alongside a request that you would not be deprived of the presence of the Holy Spirit... like David.. so important.
David knew, even as a very powerful king, the condition of his being, and his need for the Spirit. “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
Sink into this... fresh, in a new way today.
A broken and contrite spirit, gives you hope of being in God’s temple one day... check this out.
“Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love. Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; your right hand is filled with righteousness. Mount Zion rejoices, the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgements. Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers, consider well her ramparts, view her citadels, that you may tell of them to the next generation. For this God is our God for ever and EVER; he will be our guide even to the end.”
A broken, contrite, worshipful spirit... and as I read in Jeremiah today... It was the man who “did what was right and just... the man who defended the cause of the poor and needy.. all went well for that man” (jer22:16)
“Is that not what it means to know me?” - yhwh (jer22:16)
Soak in that today...
Going now to kayak some whitewater, FINALLY! might get some pics...
Today, I read psalm 51.
I was in a coffee shop, and approached a group of men with bibles out and asked them what they were studying. They told me jeremiah 29, and psalm 126.. I went and read 22-30, and then came back over to them and talked a bit about it with them. Turns out, one of them was the pastor of the church, and boy did we both enjoy our maybe hour long discussion... The beauty in this section of scripture, the beauty of the imagery we’re shown giving us a view into the spiritual realms awaiting us, ‘a city’, where we experience 100% of god’s presence.
Beautiful.
Somewhere in the conversation, the pastor led me to re-read psalm 51 in a new light.
This new light was to make me feel the environment in which it was written... David wrote it after he was given the news of the certainty of his son’s death. It was because of his sin, his adulturous relationship, that the son was to die...
It is because of our sin... that the Son had to die... In this psalm we learn a bit about david's heart, our heart maybe too?
Read this psalm and feel the heart of a man "after God’s own heart", a man seeking the cleansing of his God. “do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”
Repenting, he says “o lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” Whatever your will may be... my lips, whenever opened, will drip a spirit of praise.
Our words, and the spirit in which they are said, are of the greatest impact we can have on a person, a group... so let them be said alongside a request that you would not be deprived of the presence of the Holy Spirit... like David.. so important.
David knew, even as a very powerful king, the condition of his being, and his need for the Spirit. “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
Sink into this... fresh, in a new way today.
A broken and contrite spirit, gives you hope of being in God’s temple one day... check this out.
“Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love. Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; your right hand is filled with righteousness. Mount Zion rejoices, the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgements. Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers, consider well her ramparts, view her citadels, that you may tell of them to the next generation. For this God is our God for ever and EVER; he will be our guide even to the end.”
A broken, contrite, worshipful spirit... and as I read in Jeremiah today... It was the man who “did what was right and just... the man who defended the cause of the poor and needy.. all went well for that man” (jer22:16)
“Is that not what it means to know me?” - yhwh (jer22:16)
Soak in that today...
Going now to kayak some whitewater, FINALLY! might get some pics...
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Weightless... we carry our cross.
11 . 09 . 11
Mark 8:31
In this section I can feel a great deal percolating in my spirit...
This section, it starts out with Jesus telling his apostles the story of his near future. He “spoke plainly” about what needed to happen, that he would be beaten and persecuted by the “teachers, elders, chief priests and teachers of the law”.
Hold it...
Think about this. These are the people Jesus said he “must suffer under”, so that he could then die, and rise again in three days. Giving us the Spirit upon his death...
What does this tell you about the wisdom of those ‘teachers, priests, elders...’ when it came to knowing Jesus. I’m not saying these people can’t be wise, but I read this and I see a message that ‘following jesus’ is of utmost importance... and that leaning on the power of the SPIRIT which gave Jesus his strength and wisdom, this is where I look to for guidance at my core, and in the scriptures is where we learn the dialect of the spirit, with time becoming more fluent to hear it’s voice throughout creation screaming glory to Him on the highest, guiding us with greater clarity as we learn to speak with greater afluence... Lets learn us some scripture!
Peter hears Jesus say these things, and rebukes him!
... bold peter ...
Jesus replies with “Get behind me Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
This will be more important in a minute...
Jesus calls a crowd, he says “if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it... it continues”
I’ve always read this, and been taught this verse to be seen as a parrallel to the physical difficulties of carrying a cross...
“gosh.. can you imagine carrying a cross.. that must be terrible.. that must be what following christ is like..”
blahdadee blah blah..
If that’s how you read it, let's go a level deeper...
Read it in the context of my last two blogs... If you’ve read them, you know i dove deep into the life of Hezekiah, and his longing to be with his lord in Heaven.. and his goodness on earth. He wanted to be there, and (my interpretation) at the news of his staying on earth, he wept bitterly...
Jesus says that whoever wants to save his life here on earth, will lose it... But if we live to “lose” our life for Him and the gospel...
... we will save it. We will join Hezekiah, David and the saints, in a state of being we can’t possibly imagine on earth.. only in glimpses.
Jesus ends his words to this group by saying “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.”
With Jesus’ death, the Spirit was released to man... (i say it again.. so important to knooow) the same spirit Jesus was given upon his being baptized, the spirit that descended on him from heaven. The spirit that immediately sent him into the desert for forty days to experience (& overcome) every temptation and evil that would ever encounter man... that spirit, because of that experience in the desert, was ready to go out to the world, and through Jesus’ touch would heal many, and do craaaazy things like walk on water and feed thousands with just a few loaves... the spirit that would give jesus eyes to ‘see the kingdom of God coming with power”, before he tasted death.
This same spirit... we are given access to through his death.
The gift of Jesus...
The spirit that overcame all evil with Jesus, will come alongside you... in power, and in peace.
Because we’re given this spirit, we are too given eyes to ‘see the kingdom of God coming in power’... and with this knowledge, live our stay on earth mindful - like we read Hezekiah was - of the hope we have in heaven.
My grandmother and I were just talking last night about how we both felt that from just looking into a person’s eyes you can truly see the warmth they either are experiencing, or maybe longing for. They truly are the windows to the soul... If that is true, then it is pretty neat imagining that the conditions of our souls are being viewed by onlookers through the warmth in our looks.
I love walking along a street and making warm eye contact with complete strangers and giving them a little smile... it makes me feel joy to know that it’s possible i’ve warmed their day a little by lending a simple gesture.
Wow... tangent...
Okay, wrapping it up, lets go back to Peter. This guy - like i’ve often found myself - didn’t have in mind the things of God, but the things of men...
He identified Jesus as the Christ, and then right after he was called “satan” by jesus... interesting reading this and seeing it as another lovely verse which reminds us that even Satan, acknowledges the Christ...
But peter didn’t have in mind the things of God...
... so what are those things?
This is where we are gifted the scriptures to learn the spirits dialect, which in reading scripture soaked in the guidance of the spirit, we learn the “things of God..” we learn of the greats and their greatness, we learn about the not-so greats, and their mistakes... wisdom is in these pages.
So, picking up our cross? To me is identifying with Jesus, in his hope, his suffering too, but his hope in eternity and his reliance on the spirit.. the spirit which gives eyes to “see the kingdom of God” before tasting death, the spirit which overcomes every fleshly pain, temptation etc... and then to one day be raised with this spirit into eternity. It makes our earthly existence seemingly weightless... the cross a joy to bear in exchange for this gift.
Lovely...
*** check this song out... the song I looped writing today ***
Be well friends...
Mark 8:31
In this section I can feel a great deal percolating in my spirit...
This section, it starts out with Jesus telling his apostles the story of his near future. He “spoke plainly” about what needed to happen, that he would be beaten and persecuted by the “teachers, elders, chief priests and teachers of the law”.
Hold it...
Think about this. These are the people Jesus said he “must suffer under”, so that he could then die, and rise again in three days. Giving us the Spirit upon his death...
What does this tell you about the wisdom of those ‘teachers, priests, elders...’ when it came to knowing Jesus. I’m not saying these people can’t be wise, but I read this and I see a message that ‘following jesus’ is of utmost importance... and that leaning on the power of the SPIRIT which gave Jesus his strength and wisdom, this is where I look to for guidance at my core, and in the scriptures is where we learn the dialect of the spirit, with time becoming more fluent to hear it’s voice throughout creation screaming glory to Him on the highest, guiding us with greater clarity as we learn to speak with greater afluence... Lets learn us some scripture!
Peter hears Jesus say these things, and rebukes him!
... bold peter ...
Jesus replies with “Get behind me Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
This will be more important in a minute...
Jesus calls a crowd, he says “if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it... it continues”
I’ve always read this, and been taught this verse to be seen as a parrallel to the physical difficulties of carrying a cross...
“gosh.. can you imagine carrying a cross.. that must be terrible.. that must be what following christ is like..”
blahdadee blah blah..
If that’s how you read it, let's go a level deeper...
Read it in the context of my last two blogs... If you’ve read them, you know i dove deep into the life of Hezekiah, and his longing to be with his lord in Heaven.. and his goodness on earth. He wanted to be there, and (my interpretation) at the news of his staying on earth, he wept bitterly...
Jesus says that whoever wants to save his life here on earth, will lose it... But if we live to “lose” our life for Him and the gospel...
... we will save it. We will join Hezekiah, David and the saints, in a state of being we can’t possibly imagine on earth.. only in glimpses.
Jesus ends his words to this group by saying “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.”
With Jesus’ death, the Spirit was released to man... (i say it again.. so important to knooow) the same spirit Jesus was given upon his being baptized, the spirit that descended on him from heaven. The spirit that immediately sent him into the desert for forty days to experience (& overcome) every temptation and evil that would ever encounter man... that spirit, because of that experience in the desert, was ready to go out to the world, and through Jesus’ touch would heal many, and do craaaazy things like walk on water and feed thousands with just a few loaves... the spirit that would give jesus eyes to ‘see the kingdom of God coming with power”, before he tasted death.
This same spirit... we are given access to through his death.
The gift of Jesus...
The spirit that overcame all evil with Jesus, will come alongside you... in power, and in peace.
Because we’re given this spirit, we are too given eyes to ‘see the kingdom of God coming in power’... and with this knowledge, live our stay on earth mindful - like we read Hezekiah was - of the hope we have in heaven.
My grandmother and I were just talking last night about how we both felt that from just looking into a person’s eyes you can truly see the warmth they either are experiencing, or maybe longing for. They truly are the windows to the soul... If that is true, then it is pretty neat imagining that the conditions of our souls are being viewed by onlookers through the warmth in our looks.
I love walking along a street and making warm eye contact with complete strangers and giving them a little smile... it makes me feel joy to know that it’s possible i’ve warmed their day a little by lending a simple gesture.
Wow... tangent...
Okay, wrapping it up, lets go back to Peter. This guy - like i’ve often found myself - didn’t have in mind the things of God, but the things of men...
He identified Jesus as the Christ, and then right after he was called “satan” by jesus... interesting reading this and seeing it as another lovely verse which reminds us that even Satan, acknowledges the Christ...
But peter didn’t have in mind the things of God...
... so what are those things?
This is where we are gifted the scriptures to learn the spirits dialect, which in reading scripture soaked in the guidance of the spirit, we learn the “things of God..” we learn of the greats and their greatness, we learn about the not-so greats, and their mistakes... wisdom is in these pages.
So, picking up our cross? To me is identifying with Jesus, in his hope, his suffering too, but his hope in eternity and his reliance on the spirit.. the spirit which gives eyes to “see the kingdom of God” before tasting death, the spirit which overcomes every fleshly pain, temptation etc... and then to one day be raised with this spirit into eternity. It makes our earthly existence seemingly weightless... the cross a joy to bear in exchange for this gift.
Lovely...
*** check this song out... the song I looped writing today ***
Be well friends...
What possesses us?
11 . 06 . 11
2 kngs 20 ~very short.. read it sometime :) ~
** if nothing else, at least check out the pics at the bottom, wait though if you plan to read.. glory!**
Continuing from last blog, we just read in kings the story of Hezekiah, his heart for the lord, his newly added 15 years of life as a result of the Lord hearing his prayers, and seeing his tears.
Reading today, we’re gifted with one more story of Hezekiah, after which - so far as scriptural history is concerned - he went to heaven and “rested with his fathers”.
He was home.
This story, the last story of his life gives us a picture into this mans heart, what he - a man of God - held as being valuable.
Lets ask for ears to hear...
As the story goes, Hezekiah is sent a letter and gifts from the king of babylon lamenting his sickness. Hezekiah takes these messengers delivering this gift, and shows them around his palace... “there was nothing in his palace of in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.”
In his palace, under his reign he had accumulated ‘storehouses of silver, gold, spices, fine oil, all his armory and many other treasures’ Lots of stinkin wealth...
How he handled that wealth, we read next...
After giving these guys the ‘tour’ of his riches.. Isaiah came to him and asked him where they came from and what they wanted... Hezekiah answered him, and Isaiah’s response was of the Lord:
“hear the word of the Lord: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off...” 2kngs20:17
All this wealth. Gone.
Now remember from my last blog how Hezekiah was told a few years back that he would die.. without tears he asked the lord to “remember” his goodness... read it. Then after sharing his words with the Lord, he wept bitterly... I talked about how I’m not too convinced he didn’t weep because he was meant to stay on earth, maybe he felt the lord tell him before hearing the words from Isaiah that he would not die just yet... and wept bitterly.
So, with his heart for the Lord and steadfast hope in his place in heaven, how do you think he reacted to the news of all his posessions being taken?
“‘The word of the Lord you have spoken is good’ Hezekiah replied. For he thought, ‘will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?’”
He clearly didn’t see ‘his’ posessions, as ‘his’, but ‘His’! :) “will there not be peace in my lifetime?”
He had peace. He knew that whatever the lord said, wherever He might direct, that he would follow , because of his place in eternity. He had peace. And he felt secure... in His Lord.
Do posessions get in the way for us? How would we react to this news? (not rhetorical... answer it for yourself :))
How this section ends is especially warm for me because after sharing this story, it then goes on to say “as for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the books of the annals of the kings of Judah?”
He brought water to his people. :0
h2o. life.
If you know even a little about my last few years, you might know that water has in many ways been my life, become my life, and in more ways is revealing itself in my future. Growing up near water, working on water at malibu, guiding rafts down the arkansas... all warming me to now my favorite water activity, bringing to people without... clean, safe water... this you could describe as my passion, and the Lord has guided me through and to His good work with water, all the while punctuating my hope in eternity :)
Hezekiah is the man in my book.
He spent that 15 years, and gave it back to Him, brought life to His people, and with this last story we learn that posessions had no hold on him.
Give your things back to Him... your heart to Him. Soak in this verse.
“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this’ says the lord almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” malachi3:10
The only place where the Lord says "test me"... Are you willing? Do you belieeeeve?? Do I? Who resides in this "house" god is saying to bring food to... "His" house... a house for all humans, broken, poor, hungry.. in need. Bring your tithes to these... Test Him.
This morning, I woke up reeeeally early (like 5.. come to find out it was daylight savings)... and the spirit led me to go kayak.
Glad I did. Look at the blessing he poured out, starting with just a dribble of goodness, eventually opening up the 'floodgates of heaven' leading me to worship... I can't remember a more beautiful sunrise :)
2 kngs 20 ~very short.. read it sometime :) ~
** if nothing else, at least check out the pics at the bottom, wait though if you plan to read.. glory!**
Continuing from last blog, we just read in kings the story of Hezekiah, his heart for the lord, his newly added 15 years of life as a result of the Lord hearing his prayers, and seeing his tears.
Reading today, we’re gifted with one more story of Hezekiah, after which - so far as scriptural history is concerned - he went to heaven and “rested with his fathers”.
He was home.
This story, the last story of his life gives us a picture into this mans heart, what he - a man of God - held as being valuable.
Lets ask for ears to hear...
As the story goes, Hezekiah is sent a letter and gifts from the king of babylon lamenting his sickness. Hezekiah takes these messengers delivering this gift, and shows them around his palace... “there was nothing in his palace of in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.”
In his palace, under his reign he had accumulated ‘storehouses of silver, gold, spices, fine oil, all his armory and many other treasures’ Lots of stinkin wealth...
How he handled that wealth, we read next...
After giving these guys the ‘tour’ of his riches.. Isaiah came to him and asked him where they came from and what they wanted... Hezekiah answered him, and Isaiah’s response was of the Lord:
“hear the word of the Lord: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off...” 2kngs20:17
All this wealth. Gone.
Now remember from my last blog how Hezekiah was told a few years back that he would die.. without tears he asked the lord to “remember” his goodness... read it. Then after sharing his words with the Lord, he wept bitterly... I talked about how I’m not too convinced he didn’t weep because he was meant to stay on earth, maybe he felt the lord tell him before hearing the words from Isaiah that he would not die just yet... and wept bitterly.
So, with his heart for the Lord and steadfast hope in his place in heaven, how do you think he reacted to the news of all his posessions being taken?
“‘The word of the Lord you have spoken is good’ Hezekiah replied. For he thought, ‘will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?’”
He clearly didn’t see ‘his’ posessions, as ‘his’, but ‘His’! :) “will there not be peace in my lifetime?”
He had peace. He knew that whatever the lord said, wherever He might direct, that he would follow , because of his place in eternity. He had peace. And he felt secure... in His Lord.
Do posessions get in the way for us? How would we react to this news? (not rhetorical... answer it for yourself :))
How this section ends is especially warm for me because after sharing this story, it then goes on to say “as for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the books of the annals of the kings of Judah?”
He brought water to his people. :0
h2o. life.
If you know even a little about my last few years, you might know that water has in many ways been my life, become my life, and in more ways is revealing itself in my future. Growing up near water, working on water at malibu, guiding rafts down the arkansas... all warming me to now my favorite water activity, bringing to people without... clean, safe water... this you could describe as my passion, and the Lord has guided me through and to His good work with water, all the while punctuating my hope in eternity :)
Hezekiah is the man in my book.
He spent that 15 years, and gave it back to Him, brought life to His people, and with this last story we learn that posessions had no hold on him.
Give your things back to Him... your heart to Him. Soak in this verse.
“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this’ says the lord almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” malachi3:10
The only place where the Lord says "test me"... Are you willing? Do you belieeeeve?? Do I? Who resides in this "house" god is saying to bring food to... "His" house... a house for all humans, broken, poor, hungry.. in need. Bring your tithes to these... Test Him.
This morning, I woke up reeeeally early (like 5.. come to find out it was daylight savings)... and the spirit led me to go kayak.
Glad I did. Look at the blessing he poured out, starting with just a dribble of goodness, eventually opening up the 'floodgates of heaven' leading me to worship... I can't remember a more beautiful sunrise :)
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Clean ~ vs ~ Unclean
11 . 03 . 11
Mark 7:1-20
Man... reading this, and now writing this, - especially immediately after just doing my last post - I read it in a compleeeeetely new light.
We (I) just read in what manner, and for what reasons Jesus fed four thousand hungry followers... and now Jesus is being questioned by the Pharisees for his disciples being unclean, and eating food.
Actually, NO! I’m just now remembering why I read these in reverse order, and it was because when I finished reading the story of the four thousand, I for some reason placed my book mark a page behind... shutting it, then coming back to it, I wasn’t sure why it was a page back, but I figured that in the interest of letting the spirit speak, I would read where the book mark indicated... and it’s lovely that I read this story now, with the understanding of the four thousand.
Moving on... stick with me...
So as I’m writing now, I’m extending the metaphor from yesterdays blog, so it might be important you have read that... but here goes. These pharisees - people with hearts distant from knowing their God, but knowing the world, the law - they were called out by Jesus when he said...
“these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”
I understand the gift of God’s law, being a gift given to ALL men, having been written on ALL mens hearts... this, and the gift of His spirit, are the gifts of God given to... all men.
Now, whether or not people know Jesus, that might be a different story, I’ve written other blogs about that...
But, what I hear jesus saying is that regardless of what a person’s intake is (religious intake??!), it is how they respond to the Law of God which makes them clean, and worthy of one day being in eternity with their creator. We read yesterday of the people who suffered for three days in hunger, following Jesus tirelessly, trusting completely in his providence... and at the end, earning the meal of their life.. it taught me beautiful things. :)
I think it’s this view that brings about movements like “one love”... where people in a deep way, all over the world, grip onto the call of God written again on all men’s hearts, being realized by those who seek good... this call to love all men, and be with brothers in their suffering. I love learning the call of God, it has a way of bringing me to know His children, who to God appear clean, but to the world appear very ‘unclean’. think about it...
Jesus goes onto talking to these ‘pharisees’ (or people separate from knowing and abiding by the basic call of god written on their hearts) and to these pharisees he accuses them of adjusting their “law” to their own self interests... the interests of Man, not the interests of God.
I've known myself to do this in so many ways :/
But jesus challenges them, and told them that it was not what went into a mans mouth that made him unclean, but what but what came out of it. Unclean things like “evil thouthts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly" to name a few...
These ways of living 'unclean' - although experienced at different levels in all people - are in some way blinding us from the gift of God.
"To thine own self be true"... a good friend of mine Dave Bondo shared with me earlier, and I pass it along to you and encourage you to give these "things" up to Jesus, and ask to see god in a knew way, a way that brings more light to the hope of what is to come for all who surrender to Him. Freedom.
I see a challenge presented to all lovers of God, a challenge to join together regardless of "intake". Each in their own unique way, worshiping God and knowing they are a part of a beautiful family under Him... a family with other children, all answering the call 'to love' written on their hearts.
Bringing people this hope now, is Jesus. This is the gift of Jesus... Obviously so much more to explain with this, and please, if you want to know more about the gift of Jesus, there would be no greater joy for me than to share it with you :)
Some may see my interpretation of this scripture as being too abstract, or maybe just off... but to some it may connect.. And to all readers, it’s important we understand that whatever Jesus is trying to communicate through this interaction... all who were present, didn't understand!
Jesus was forced to repeat it to the crowd... “listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man... click to continue”
And then again to his disciples (important it's not his apostles.. i'd like to explain if you're interested) in a seperate house...
‘“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man can make him unclean... click to finish”
Grasping the meaning of what Jesus is communicating here was difficult for all present... in fact it doesn't appear any of them do.
... but now we, upon His death, have been gifted with the holy spirit, who to this point had only been given to Jesus after his baptism, and bits to the apostles.
But now we, if we give our lives back to God and his good work, we are given the spirit to maybe read this interaction in a fresh way, a way it was meant to be communicated... soaked in the gift and guidance of the spirit.
Imagine it...
I stop here, the sun maybe seven fingers off the horizon, thankful for many little blessings surrounding me... and asking the lord to forgive me for ways I’ve ignored him... so many ways.
Be well friends.
Mark 7:1-20
Man... reading this, and now writing this, - especially immediately after just doing my last post - I read it in a compleeeeetely new light.
We (I) just read in what manner, and for what reasons Jesus fed four thousand hungry followers... and now Jesus is being questioned by the Pharisees for his disciples being unclean, and eating food.
Actually, NO! I’m just now remembering why I read these in reverse order, and it was because when I finished reading the story of the four thousand, I for some reason placed my book mark a page behind... shutting it, then coming back to it, I wasn’t sure why it was a page back, but I figured that in the interest of letting the spirit speak, I would read where the book mark indicated... and it’s lovely that I read this story now, with the understanding of the four thousand.
Moving on... stick with me...
So as I’m writing now, I’m extending the metaphor from yesterdays blog, so it might be important you have read that... but here goes. These pharisees - people with hearts distant from knowing their God, but knowing the world, the law - they were called out by Jesus when he said...
“these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”
I understand the gift of God’s law, being a gift given to ALL men, having been written on ALL mens hearts... this, and the gift of His spirit, are the gifts of God given to... all men.
Now, whether or not people know Jesus, that might be a different story, I’ve written other blogs about that...
But, what I hear jesus saying is that regardless of what a person’s intake is (religious intake??!), it is how they respond to the Law of God which makes them clean, and worthy of one day being in eternity with their creator. We read yesterday of the people who suffered for three days in hunger, following Jesus tirelessly, trusting completely in his providence... and at the end, earning the meal of their life.. it taught me beautiful things. :)
I think it’s this view that brings about movements like “one love”... where people in a deep way, all over the world, grip onto the call of God written again on all men’s hearts, being realized by those who seek good... this call to love all men, and be with brothers in their suffering. I love learning the call of God, it has a way of bringing me to know His children, who to God appear clean, but to the world appear very ‘unclean’. think about it...
Jesus goes onto talking to these ‘pharisees’ (or people separate from knowing and abiding by the basic call of god written on their hearts) and to these pharisees he accuses them of adjusting their “law” to their own self interests... the interests of Man, not the interests of God.
I've known myself to do this in so many ways :/
But jesus challenges them, and told them that it was not what went into a mans mouth that made him unclean, but what but what came out of it. Unclean things like “evil thouthts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly" to name a few...
These ways of living 'unclean' - although experienced at different levels in all people - are in some way blinding us from the gift of God.
"To thine own self be true"... a good friend of mine Dave Bondo shared with me earlier, and I pass it along to you and encourage you to give these "things" up to Jesus, and ask to see god in a knew way, a way that brings more light to the hope of what is to come for all who surrender to Him. Freedom.
I see a challenge presented to all lovers of God, a challenge to join together regardless of "intake". Each in their own unique way, worshiping God and knowing they are a part of a beautiful family under Him... a family with other children, all answering the call 'to love' written on their hearts.
Bringing people this hope now, is Jesus. This is the gift of Jesus... Obviously so much more to explain with this, and please, if you want to know more about the gift of Jesus, there would be no greater joy for me than to share it with you :)
Some may see my interpretation of this scripture as being too abstract, or maybe just off... but to some it may connect.. And to all readers, it’s important we understand that whatever Jesus is trying to communicate through this interaction... all who were present, didn't understand!
Jesus was forced to repeat it to the crowd... “listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man... click to continue”
And then again to his disciples (important it's not his apostles.. i'd like to explain if you're interested) in a seperate house...
‘“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man can make him unclean... click to finish”
Grasping the meaning of what Jesus is communicating here was difficult for all present... in fact it doesn't appear any of them do.
... but now we, upon His death, have been gifted with the holy spirit, who to this point had only been given to Jesus after his baptism, and bits to the apostles.
But now we, if we give our lives back to God and his good work, we are given the spirit to maybe read this interaction in a fresh way, a way it was meant to be communicated... soaked in the gift and guidance of the spirit.
Imagine it...
I stop here, the sun maybe seven fingers off the horizon, thankful for many little blessings surrounding me... and asking the lord to forgive me for ways I’ve ignored him... so many ways.
Be well friends.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Four thousand fed... with seven loaves. SOO much more than food here...
11.03.11
Mark 8
I’m sitting, overlooking myyy pacific northwest coast, with poulsbo somewhere just across the way, and up wrapped around the corner of my northern coast lies the beautiful Whidbey. Today, sitting here, I read two stories out of Mark, the story of Jesus feeding the four thousand, and the story of Jesus speaking on Clean and Unclean. Both I read in a completely new way... :)
The story of Jesus feeding the four thousand... I think in the past I just saw it as Jesus feeding this large crowd, and it being amazing that he split a few loaves into being able to feed a few thousand... amazing still, but SOO much more there! Stick with me...
These people he fed... they were devout followers of Jesus... they were three days deep into their tireless journey of following him into the wilderness... they hadn’t eaten ANYTHING.
They knew Jesus, and they would do anything to follow him... four thousand of them.
Just imagine it... what did they seee?! (we know some of the stories...) They dropped ALL, and followed... into the wilderness... with no food.
They were houngry... Imagine the hunger??!
Do we trust our lord enough to go three days without food?? With this verse, a three day fast can be very powerful... think about it.
They trusted Him... in what he promised, because they believed... they knew their gift to come was so good, they were willing to wander, no food, into the wilderness... three days.
And then they were fed... their tummies filled.
Jesus took the only seven loaves this whole group had (the #7 being very important... can talk about that more maybe), he laid them down... and then he prayed for them... :)
"There was fish too..."
So, seven loaves, and a “few” fish were laid there “before the people”, and prayed over, by Jesus.
Imagine it... give your shitty circumstances to Jesus... what does he do, he takes them and fills the tummy of the spirit with His goodness, and afterward there amounts to seven basketfulls... FULL baskets, of leftover bread.
His providence will not only fill our lives, our stomachs, but it will leave us OVERFLOWING with leftovers, for others to enjoy.
Others might read this and hear the words of Jesus telling them that in the early days of our walk with Jesus (Just like Jesus taking on the holy spirit and spending an immediate 40 days in the desert experiencing all temptation satan could throw at him), we are going to experience a tough three days (we all have our different “three days”)... persecution, mockery, and all sorts of suffering, until - like jesus - we feel the warmth of the holy spirit in a way that brings power, confidence, and all sorts of joy... the feast.
I see it both... :)
So, Jesus after feeding them, giving them what He promised (a tirelessly full spirit, and a reward of a feast at the end... not until after three days in the wilderness), disperses them and “sends them away”.
He leaves now on a boat... over to a different region... Dalmanutha.
So, normally I might see a ‘different region’ as being a geographical location... But this time I see it as a different place of the heart... a different perception of the world, a different more ‘pharasaical’ way of living, by the law of man, and not the law of God... I saw Dalmanutha as this location.
Here you have the ‘pharisees’... they asked him for a sign, and he replies - directing his comments towards what he refers to as a specific ‘generation’ - with this...
“why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it.”
To me, he may be speaking to a different thing than he is you, but try and see this as pointing to areas we are blind to seeing the STINKING miracles right in front of us... like the one Jesus just did, feeding the four thousand.. Those suffering alongside jesus in the wilderness (spiritually, physically, emotionally, maybe all three?) with Him, experience his miracles and the gift of his spirit... Their hope, their joy amidst the suffering, is also shared with Him...
Two very different lessons I hear in this section...
The first having to do with the cost of following jesus, his promise, and the yummy reward.. :) Think on it...
The second being my oftentimes blind eyes to see the miracles right in front of my stinking face... it can be as simple as pausing to give thanks for the steady breaths which bring life to our hearts... or giving thanks for the fact that we’re able to even give thanks, that our spirits are magnetically directed towards something outside of life here on earth, the feeling that at our deepest level, something beyond ourselves exists and deservs our worship...
so pause, and give thanks to the god that created you... your thoughts... and a bazillion other things right in front of your face that deserve your... that deserve our ‘pause’.
Sink into these two warm truths, and as a shoutout to my friends who commented/liked the photo I posted earlier... now you know what I meant when I posted it... Promises in scripture comfort a person interested it's comfort, a person seeking the guidance of the spirit...
Next post is about when Jesus spoke on what made a man clean and unclean... don’t miss it, pretty wild, warmly embrassing stuff!
Mark 8
I’m sitting, overlooking myyy pacific northwest coast, with poulsbo somewhere just across the way, and up wrapped around the corner of my northern coast lies the beautiful Whidbey. Today, sitting here, I read two stories out of Mark, the story of Jesus feeding the four thousand, and the story of Jesus speaking on Clean and Unclean. Both I read in a completely new way... :)
The story of Jesus feeding the four thousand... I think in the past I just saw it as Jesus feeding this large crowd, and it being amazing that he split a few loaves into being able to feed a few thousand... amazing still, but SOO much more there! Stick with me...
These people he fed... they were devout followers of Jesus... they were three days deep into their tireless journey of following him into the wilderness... they hadn’t eaten ANYTHING.
They knew Jesus, and they would do anything to follow him... four thousand of them.
Just imagine it... what did they seee?! (we know some of the stories...) They dropped ALL, and followed... into the wilderness... with no food.
They were houngry... Imagine the hunger??!
Do we trust our lord enough to go three days without food?? With this verse, a three day fast can be very powerful... think about it.
They trusted Him... in what he promised, because they believed... they knew their gift to come was so good, they were willing to wander, no food, into the wilderness... three days.
And then they were fed... their tummies filled.
Jesus took the only seven loaves this whole group had (the #7 being very important... can talk about that more maybe), he laid them down... and then he prayed for them... :)
"There was fish too..."
So, seven loaves, and a “few” fish were laid there “before the people”, and prayed over, by Jesus.
Imagine it... give your shitty circumstances to Jesus... what does he do, he takes them and fills the tummy of the spirit with His goodness, and afterward there amounts to seven basketfulls... FULL baskets, of leftover bread.
His providence will not only fill our lives, our stomachs, but it will leave us OVERFLOWING with leftovers, for others to enjoy.
Others might read this and hear the words of Jesus telling them that in the early days of our walk with Jesus (Just like Jesus taking on the holy spirit and spending an immediate 40 days in the desert experiencing all temptation satan could throw at him), we are going to experience a tough three days (we all have our different “three days”)... persecution, mockery, and all sorts of suffering, until - like jesus - we feel the warmth of the holy spirit in a way that brings power, confidence, and all sorts of joy... the feast.
I see it both... :)
So, Jesus after feeding them, giving them what He promised (a tirelessly full spirit, and a reward of a feast at the end... not until after three days in the wilderness), disperses them and “sends them away”.
He leaves now on a boat... over to a different region... Dalmanutha.
So, normally I might see a ‘different region’ as being a geographical location... But this time I see it as a different place of the heart... a different perception of the world, a different more ‘pharasaical’ way of living, by the law of man, and not the law of God... I saw Dalmanutha as this location.
Here you have the ‘pharisees’... they asked him for a sign, and he replies - directing his comments towards what he refers to as a specific ‘generation’ - with this...
“why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it.”
To me, he may be speaking to a different thing than he is you, but try and see this as pointing to areas we are blind to seeing the STINKING miracles right in front of us... like the one Jesus just did, feeding the four thousand.. Those suffering alongside jesus in the wilderness (spiritually, physically, emotionally, maybe all three?) with Him, experience his miracles and the gift of his spirit... Their hope, their joy amidst the suffering, is also shared with Him...
Two very different lessons I hear in this section...
The first having to do with the cost of following jesus, his promise, and the yummy reward.. :) Think on it...
The second being my oftentimes blind eyes to see the miracles right in front of my stinking face... it can be as simple as pausing to give thanks for the steady breaths which bring life to our hearts... or giving thanks for the fact that we’re able to even give thanks, that our spirits are magnetically directed towards something outside of life here on earth, the feeling that at our deepest level, something beyond ourselves exists and deservs our worship...
so pause, and give thanks to the god that created you... your thoughts... and a bazillion other things right in front of your face that deserve your... that deserve our ‘pause’.
Sink into these two warm truths, and as a shoutout to my friends who commented/liked the photo I posted earlier... now you know what I meant when I posted it... Promises in scripture comfort a person interested it's comfort, a person seeking the guidance of the spirit...
Next post is about when Jesus spoke on what made a man clean and unclean... don’t miss it, pretty wild, warmly embrassing stuff!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Soiled Relationships
10.26.11
Mark 4:1-20
Continuing my reading from what I posted yesterday, I was fresh on this heart-wave riding through thoughts of family, and the beauty of Goood’s family. Anyway, after this, “jesus began to teach”. His first lesson was the parable of the sower...
Now, if you read this parable (reeead it and let the spirit speak to youuu!) and it’s ending, you learn that the message the spirit is sending through Jesus’ words is intended to be seen as a metaphor for the different environments believers grow up in their faith, and their varied successes/failures with each environment. A beautiful imagery that i've read in the past with this imagery, and its been very helpful...
Today however, I read it differently...
Fresh off the ‘family’ section at the end of chapter three, I read the parable of the sower imagining relationship (man & wife) being the seed thrown to the different environments (path, rocks, thorns, and good soil)... and I saw the different environments those seeds were given to grow as being the families and surrounding influences of that seed. The soil from which a relationship comes together and grows, is of vital importance to that seed’s success in sprouting, revealing it's beauty, growing good fruit, and bringing light, glory to a world of scattered seeds.
It’s especially beautiful reading this after just learning about our family in God... how this community - growing intimately with god fearing people - is where seeds grow well.. in strength to fend off the elements (trials), and in beauty (joy) to attract onlookers who wonder at the contents of your soil... soil to be shared.
I’ve been lucky to have rich soil in my family on earth, what a blessing :) and with the amount of joy iiiii feel for my ‘new family’, I can’t imagine the anticipatory joy of someone whose family here on earth is torn, broken, and in need of good soil... their joy in being a member of a new family, in eternity.
I’m not sure if this sounds in any way judgemental, but for some reason I have the little yellow caution lights going off in my head warning me that I might offend someone... :/
I don’t intend offense. I merely am caught in a place of thanksgiving for the gift of this soil, and hope for all to join that family.
Relationships growing in good soil, with blessings and love coming from both sides... these will from their onset, I believe, grow with less confusion and more LIFE.
Now, in no way is this exclusive... My mimi and papa for example, married now over 50 years, would probably agree they didn’t have the best soil starting out as far as family was concerned... but have you ever seen the most beautiful little wildflower sprout between the cracks in a broad stone (ya?! me too..), and wonder hooooow in the heck it made it through that journey? Well... they are that flower :) they sucked the nutrients out of.. stone.
beautiful...
They are in God’s family... And in that growing out of stone they have sowed good soil for their next of kin. Soil their children, and their children's children get to grow into (how it's designed?). In this soil grows fruits of the spirit, the same spirit which gives life to the soil, bringing life to the seed... those fruits delivering love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness etc... In His family, and in our own, these are the gifts we receive, these fruits. And these fruits we are responsible to grow for others to pick and enjoy, juice dripping off their lips.. bringing life.
Then the two become one, and the soils mix.
Fruit is grown, new seeds now sprouting, life grows. The soil bringing strength to withstand the elements, and beauty to attract others to the life giving soil... the fruit. Pause... and imagine it with me..
Maybe a whole other subject all together, but isn't it funny that plants grow best in manure... shit. Shit brings growth?! Hmm... Extend thaaat metaphor... ha
Without really feeling led to write anymore about this cause I could go on all day... I dive into the morning giving thanks for the soil I was born into, and the gift of the soil offered in our ‘new family’.. offered to all. I get excited about making good soil one day for my own family... growing God’s family... :) blaaaah!
be well friends.
Mark 4:1-20
Continuing my reading from what I posted yesterday, I was fresh on this heart-wave riding through thoughts of family, and the beauty of Goood’s family. Anyway, after this, “jesus began to teach”. His first lesson was the parable of the sower...
Now, if you read this parable (reeead it and let the spirit speak to youuu!) and it’s ending, you learn that the message the spirit is sending through Jesus’ words is intended to be seen as a metaphor for the different environments believers grow up in their faith, and their varied successes/failures with each environment. A beautiful imagery that i've read in the past with this imagery, and its been very helpful...
Today however, I read it differently...
Fresh off the ‘family’ section at the end of chapter three, I read the parable of the sower imagining relationship (man & wife) being the seed thrown to the different environments (path, rocks, thorns, and good soil)... and I saw the different environments those seeds were given to grow as being the families and surrounding influences of that seed. The soil from which a relationship comes together and grows, is of vital importance to that seed’s success in sprouting, revealing it's beauty, growing good fruit, and bringing light, glory to a world of scattered seeds.
It’s especially beautiful reading this after just learning about our family in God... how this community - growing intimately with god fearing people - is where seeds grow well.. in strength to fend off the elements (trials), and in beauty (joy) to attract onlookers who wonder at the contents of your soil... soil to be shared.
I’ve been lucky to have rich soil in my family on earth, what a blessing :) and with the amount of joy iiiii feel for my ‘new family’, I can’t imagine the anticipatory joy of someone whose family here on earth is torn, broken, and in need of good soil... their joy in being a member of a new family, in eternity.
I’m not sure if this sounds in any way judgemental, but for some reason I have the little yellow caution lights going off in my head warning me that I might offend someone... :/
I don’t intend offense. I merely am caught in a place of thanksgiving for the gift of this soil, and hope for all to join that family.
Relationships growing in good soil, with blessings and love coming from both sides... these will from their onset, I believe, grow with less confusion and more LIFE.
Now, in no way is this exclusive... My mimi and papa for example, married now over 50 years, would probably agree they didn’t have the best soil starting out as far as family was concerned... but have you ever seen the most beautiful little wildflower sprout between the cracks in a broad stone (ya?! me too..), and wonder hooooow in the heck it made it through that journey? Well... they are that flower :) they sucked the nutrients out of.. stone.
beautiful...
They are in God’s family... And in that growing out of stone they have sowed good soil for their next of kin. Soil their children, and their children's children get to grow into (how it's designed?). In this soil grows fruits of the spirit, the same spirit which gives life to the soil, bringing life to the seed... those fruits delivering love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness etc... In His family, and in our own, these are the gifts we receive, these fruits. And these fruits we are responsible to grow for others to pick and enjoy, juice dripping off their lips.. bringing life.
Then the two become one, and the soils mix.
Fruit is grown, new seeds now sprouting, life grows. The soil bringing strength to withstand the elements, and beauty to attract others to the life giving soil... the fruit. Pause... and imagine it with me..
Maybe a whole other subject all together, but isn't it funny that plants grow best in manure... shit. Shit brings growth?! Hmm... Extend thaaat metaphor... ha
Without really feeling led to write anymore about this cause I could go on all day... I dive into the morning giving thanks for the soil I was born into, and the gift of the soil offered in our ‘new family’.. offered to all. I get excited about making good soil one day for my own family... growing God’s family... :) blaaaah!
be well friends.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Family ... mine, yours, ours.
10 . 26 . 11
Mark 3
Today, if you read this section, you’ll read through Jesus’ direct defiance of the pharisees... You'll read of Him being crowded out and touched all over by all sorts of diseased folk... His beautiful, spirit soaked appointing of the twelve apostles... Him being accused of having an evil spirit by which he drove out evil spirits, and then Him going on this beautiful rant about spiritual warfare... “whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” ... I learn from reading this last section the importance of not allowing appearances blind me from experiencing the beauty of a persons spirit within. Lots to say here.. but i move on from these beautiful chunks to focus more on the next...
The end of chapter three was especially sharp for me. It talks about family, and gives us a new family under God. Beautiful, but kinda tough.. mostly beautiful though. Jesus says in response to a question about his mother and brother... “‘who are my mother and my borther?’ he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, ‘here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.’” (3:33) It's interesting he doesn't say father... mt23:9 tells us who Jesus says we are to call 'father'.. in God's family, all other men are brothers, even your earthly father. God is father.
A week or so ago I went to dinner at my uncle’s house to share a meal made by my cousin, enjoyed by all including my aunt and their three beautiful children... my cousins. I would be lying if I said that these familial ties haven’t suffered strain over the years, strain which has caused pain, a lot of pain, on both ends... But I would also be lying if I didn’t acknowledge that it was one of the most enjoyable meals I’ve had in a very long time.
Driving home, I was struck, and brought to a very sad place at the separateness of families these days. Now I won’t go into what I believe the reasons for this degradation to be, (here at least, I would LOOVE to talk about it whenever) but I will share of the condition of my heart that night.
Adrift among the sadness was a beautiful image of what I imagined family to look like in a perfect, loving environment. Now I know some people hate their family members, duh... but imagine this image being free from those ‘things’ that bring pain, a place where the the spirit over all members. A picture that is maybe more realistic when experienced in a dream state, but a picture none the less of a tight knit family, a clan, a loyalty, a nearness... We’ve become distanced. And reader (you), let me tell ya i’m as guilty as any for placing ‘distance’.. :/
So driving along after this dinner, I became really sad. Then I was given hope because in my heart was somewhere buried a rememberance of this scripture... and I saw the beauty of our trueee family, those who do God’s will... those with good spirits... this is our family Jesus says. Our clan. Where we feel warm, invited, understood, welcomed, trusted, and loved... of whom we make warm, invite, seek to understand, feel welcome, trust and love because the spirit of God is in them.
What a gift for me on this drive that this realization came after painting the ideal picture of what God intended family to look like... because then He tells me.. “this ideal family, you have that in me”... “that picture you imagined, luke, in my kingdom, that picture is reality.. on earth as it is in heaven... in my family... my clan”
I think it’s important that those in His family are those who “do God’s will”, and are not simply believers, or even broader... “Christians” (oooohhh).
Those who do God’s will.
Man, the fat sort of rises to the top on this one, no?
Thessalonians lays out what “god’s will” is for all men pretty well... in chapter 4 verses 3-12 (read it here), Paul says that we should live sanctified lives... having control of the spirit over the flesh, being true to our neighbor, not living in passionate lust or webs of deceit... like so many (guilty as charged :/) are guilty of. He calls those who follow God's will to live quiet lives, working with their hands, winning the respect of outsiders and not being dependent on anyone.
Then in chapter 5 he tells us that those living into God’s will will be “joyful always, praying continually; always giving thanks in all circumstances (good and bad).”
Who just popped in your head? I’ve more than a couple friends close to me, from foreign cultures also, who have spirits that fall within this line. Their spirits bring life... their life oozes joy... their joy in faith will be made complete in eternity with their maker.
These verses give us insight into the spirit of our family... “those who do God’s will”, and what we as members of that family are responsible to.
My car ride mostly over at this point, I pulled into my destination with a heart of thanksgiving. Thanks for my beautiful family here on earth despite our separateness, as well as my many brothers sisters, aunts & uncles, moms (not fathers) and grands all over the world whose spirits are ones that in the midst of their diverse cultural background, do the will of God, through earthly suffering, with joy. I’ve felt warm, invited, welcomed, trusted and loved under many roofs... shingled roofs, cardboard roofs, many roofs...
Who doesn’t want to be in this family?
Well... I think thats a good place to wrap er up...
Be well friends.
Mark 3
Today, if you read this section, you’ll read through Jesus’ direct defiance of the pharisees... You'll read of Him being crowded out and touched all over by all sorts of diseased folk... His beautiful, spirit soaked appointing of the twelve apostles... Him being accused of having an evil spirit by which he drove out evil spirits, and then Him going on this beautiful rant about spiritual warfare... “whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” ... I learn from reading this last section the importance of not allowing appearances blind me from experiencing the beauty of a persons spirit within. Lots to say here.. but i move on from these beautiful chunks to focus more on the next...
The end of chapter three was especially sharp for me. It talks about family, and gives us a new family under God. Beautiful, but kinda tough.. mostly beautiful though. Jesus says in response to a question about his mother and brother... “‘who are my mother and my borther?’ he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, ‘here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.’” (3:33) It's interesting he doesn't say father... mt23:9 tells us who Jesus says we are to call 'father'.. in God's family, all other men are brothers, even your earthly father. God is father.
A week or so ago I went to dinner at my uncle’s house to share a meal made by my cousin, enjoyed by all including my aunt and their three beautiful children... my cousins. I would be lying if I said that these familial ties haven’t suffered strain over the years, strain which has caused pain, a lot of pain, on both ends... But I would also be lying if I didn’t acknowledge that it was one of the most enjoyable meals I’ve had in a very long time.
Driving home, I was struck, and brought to a very sad place at the separateness of families these days. Now I won’t go into what I believe the reasons for this degradation to be, (here at least, I would LOOVE to talk about it whenever) but I will share of the condition of my heart that night.
Adrift among the sadness was a beautiful image of what I imagined family to look like in a perfect, loving environment. Now I know some people hate their family members, duh... but imagine this image being free from those ‘things’ that bring pain, a place where the the spirit over all members. A picture that is maybe more realistic when experienced in a dream state, but a picture none the less of a tight knit family, a clan, a loyalty, a nearness... We’ve become distanced. And reader (you), let me tell ya i’m as guilty as any for placing ‘distance’.. :/
So driving along after this dinner, I became really sad. Then I was given hope because in my heart was somewhere buried a rememberance of this scripture... and I saw the beauty of our trueee family, those who do God’s will... those with good spirits... this is our family Jesus says. Our clan. Where we feel warm, invited, understood, welcomed, trusted, and loved... of whom we make warm, invite, seek to understand, feel welcome, trust and love because the spirit of God is in them.
What a gift for me on this drive that this realization came after painting the ideal picture of what God intended family to look like... because then He tells me.. “this ideal family, you have that in me”... “that picture you imagined, luke, in my kingdom, that picture is reality.. on earth as it is in heaven... in my family... my clan”
I think it’s important that those in His family are those who “do God’s will”, and are not simply believers, or even broader... “Christians” (oooohhh).
Those who do God’s will.
Man, the fat sort of rises to the top on this one, no?
Thessalonians lays out what “god’s will” is for all men pretty well... in chapter 4 verses 3-12 (read it here), Paul says that we should live sanctified lives... having control of the spirit over the flesh, being true to our neighbor, not living in passionate lust or webs of deceit... like so many (guilty as charged :/) are guilty of. He calls those who follow God's will to live quiet lives, working with their hands, winning the respect of outsiders and not being dependent on anyone.
Then in chapter 5 he tells us that those living into God’s will will be “joyful always, praying continually; always giving thanks in all circumstances (good and bad).”
Who just popped in your head? I’ve more than a couple friends close to me, from foreign cultures also, who have spirits that fall within this line. Their spirits bring life... their life oozes joy... their joy in faith will be made complete in eternity with their maker.
These verses give us insight into the spirit of our family... “those who do God’s will”, and what we as members of that family are responsible to.
My car ride mostly over at this point, I pulled into my destination with a heart of thanksgiving. Thanks for my beautiful family here on earth despite our separateness, as well as my many brothers sisters, aunts & uncles, moms (not fathers) and grands all over the world whose spirits are ones that in the midst of their diverse cultural background, do the will of God, through earthly suffering, with joy. I’ve felt warm, invited, welcomed, trusted and loved under many roofs... shingled roofs, cardboard roofs, many roofs...
Who doesn’t want to be in this family?
Well... I think thats a good place to wrap er up...
Be well friends.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Who will be in Heaven..(??)
10 . 25 . 11
Revelation 6-7
Since the first time I ever reeeally read revelation (which was maybe two years ago or so, just months before I left for Haiti) these two chapters have been really difficult for me.
The first five chapters left us nestled into a pretty warm scene... Jesus, the lamb, has just revealed himself walking to the throne surrounded by elders and angels worshiping his greatness... He had just been given the seals to open, and they worshiped in this anticipation of what was to come.
In chapter 6 we have the seals being broken. The first four seals each revealed a horse, each ushered in by one of the four living creatures there with the lamb... each a different color and each with a very different rider on their backs. White, red, black and pale. The description and importance of these horses is beautiful and deep, coming more into play later.
Stay with me...
The fifth seal opened up the voices of the martyrs. Those “slain because of the word of God”. Each was given a white robe, and on this day they were made holy... but they were told to “wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was made complete.” They wait for those living, who will eventually die, “slain because of the word of God.”
Faith. Combine faith. This is a scene we want to understand deeply... we learn who will spend eternity with our God.
The sixth seal brought a great earthquake, the stars fell and the earth was rocked.. The sun turned black, and the moon red. Everyone fled to caves (safe places). After this, a strange thing is done to the earth... Angels are assigned to take the four corners and stretch it, “preventing any wind from blowing on the land or the sea or any tree.” This might seem strange, unless you see the wind as representing the spirit... as it does all throughout scripture.
BUT. Before they began their duty that would rid the earth of the spirit, the seal of the living God came down and said to the angels “do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
Mmm...
Before John - after hearing the words of the living God - there appeared a "great multitude, that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the lamb.” (7:9) All wearing white robes, they worshiped.
Now, this next part was tough for me...
An elder standing near John during this unfolding of the great multitude wearing white asked him... “these in white, who are they?”
John responded.. “sir, you know.” And the elder did know... he said this..
*soak this in, these are those who will be SEALED.. those that will be with Him in eternity, wearing white*
“These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore ‘they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (7:14-17)
The first time I read this, what I left in the margins was simply “I am too comfortable...” yuuup.
... apparently at that time, like now, it was the simpliest way of packing up such a crazy loaded emotion.
I just read about those who will inhabit heaven... and I would be hard pressed to place myself into any of the descriptions...
Never again will they hunger...
thirst...
be scorched by the sun...
“And God will wipe away every tear...”
Are these things I need freedom from? Should I need freedom from them? Peace in their midst?
This isn’t a section of scripture I’ve found to fit well into my cultural puzzel... The pieces are just different...
I realize now that this book of revelation largely influenced my interest in diving into other puzzle boxes...
My time in Haiti - learning the beauty of those peoples spirits in the midst of such terror, oppression, and lack of basic supplement - was vital for me in understanding the reality behind these verses.
Laced throughout scripture we find the comfortable things of this earth paling when compared to the richness of color offered by the gift of the spirit. I feel a bit pale today...
The less comfortable we are on earth, the more we learn to lean on the spirit... leaning - like maybe doing a wall squat would burn your quads and bring strength - in this way strengthens the bonds with the spirit... trust increasing with increased reliance... trust in an eternity wearing white in His kingdom separate from the pains they felt on earth...
Placing myself in other peoples pain - another puzzle box with very foreign pieces - I was able to learn a sliver of the depth of their trust... their reliance. I also soaked in the depth of our need, right here in my own puzzle box. In different ways we rely, in different ways we are then led... to different boxes maybe? maybe not.
I believe many reading this have experienced something similar to my own... shocking in nature, burning on the tablet of your heart new ideals for life here on earth... and a new hope of the beauty that awaits amidst the struggling.
I still wrestle with this scripture, knowing who will be ‘sealed’, and not feeling worthy. It’s funny, worthy in the kingdom of Heaven are those who here on earth experienced great suffering.. hunger, thirst.. Not really funny actually. :/
I know that today I want to rely on the lord in new ways, leeeaning more on Him and his spirit for guidance, comfort, strength... And if you will lord, bring me again into another box of puzzle pieces that I might be near to those, and grow deep with those who experience daily the plight (or glory?) of hunger, thirst, and scorching heat... those who will be dressed in white one day. Give me a heart soaked in compassion, moving to act in bringing the attributes of heaven to earth.. sharing in peoples pain that I am foreign to... healing and being healed.
A deep struggle of mine, my spirit is anything but settled (i count it a blessing..), I too pray for peace and conviction... Today, I feel a bit sick..
“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” -Jesus (mt2:17)
Revelation 6-7
Since the first time I ever reeeally read revelation (which was maybe two years ago or so, just months before I left for Haiti) these two chapters have been really difficult for me.
The first five chapters left us nestled into a pretty warm scene... Jesus, the lamb, has just revealed himself walking to the throne surrounded by elders and angels worshiping his greatness... He had just been given the seals to open, and they worshiped in this anticipation of what was to come.
In chapter 6 we have the seals being broken. The first four seals each revealed a horse, each ushered in by one of the four living creatures there with the lamb... each a different color and each with a very different rider on their backs. White, red, black and pale. The description and importance of these horses is beautiful and deep, coming more into play later.
Stay with me...
The fifth seal opened up the voices of the martyrs. Those “slain because of the word of God”. Each was given a white robe, and on this day they were made holy... but they were told to “wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was made complete.” They wait for those living, who will eventually die, “slain because of the word of God.”
Faith. Combine faith. This is a scene we want to understand deeply... we learn who will spend eternity with our God.
The sixth seal brought a great earthquake, the stars fell and the earth was rocked.. The sun turned black, and the moon red. Everyone fled to caves (safe places). After this, a strange thing is done to the earth... Angels are assigned to take the four corners and stretch it, “preventing any wind from blowing on the land or the sea or any tree.” This might seem strange, unless you see the wind as representing the spirit... as it does all throughout scripture.
BUT. Before they began their duty that would rid the earth of the spirit, the seal of the living God came down and said to the angels “do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
Mmm...
Before John - after hearing the words of the living God - there appeared a "great multitude, that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the lamb.” (7:9) All wearing white robes, they worshiped.
Now, this next part was tough for me...
An elder standing near John during this unfolding of the great multitude wearing white asked him... “these in white, who are they?”
John responded.. “sir, you know.” And the elder did know... he said this..
*soak this in, these are those who will be SEALED.. those that will be with Him in eternity, wearing white*
“These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore ‘they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (7:14-17)
The first time I read this, what I left in the margins was simply “I am too comfortable...” yuuup.
... apparently at that time, like now, it was the simpliest way of packing up such a crazy loaded emotion.
I just read about those who will inhabit heaven... and I would be hard pressed to place myself into any of the descriptions...
Never again will they hunger...
thirst...
be scorched by the sun...
“And God will wipe away every tear...”
Are these things I need freedom from? Should I need freedom from them? Peace in their midst?
This isn’t a section of scripture I’ve found to fit well into my cultural puzzel... The pieces are just different...
I realize now that this book of revelation largely influenced my interest in diving into other puzzle boxes...
My time in Haiti - learning the beauty of those peoples spirits in the midst of such terror, oppression, and lack of basic supplement - was vital for me in understanding the reality behind these verses.
Laced throughout scripture we find the comfortable things of this earth paling when compared to the richness of color offered by the gift of the spirit. I feel a bit pale today...
The less comfortable we are on earth, the more we learn to lean on the spirit... leaning - like maybe doing a wall squat would burn your quads and bring strength - in this way strengthens the bonds with the spirit... trust increasing with increased reliance... trust in an eternity wearing white in His kingdom separate from the pains they felt on earth...
Placing myself in other peoples pain - another puzzle box with very foreign pieces - I was able to learn a sliver of the depth of their trust... their reliance. I also soaked in the depth of our need, right here in my own puzzle box. In different ways we rely, in different ways we are then led... to different boxes maybe? maybe not.
I believe many reading this have experienced something similar to my own... shocking in nature, burning on the tablet of your heart new ideals for life here on earth... and a new hope of the beauty that awaits amidst the struggling.
I still wrestle with this scripture, knowing who will be ‘sealed’, and not feeling worthy. It’s funny, worthy in the kingdom of Heaven are those who here on earth experienced great suffering.. hunger, thirst.. Not really funny actually. :/
I know that today I want to rely on the lord in new ways, leeeaning more on Him and his spirit for guidance, comfort, strength... And if you will lord, bring me again into another box of puzzle pieces that I might be near to those, and grow deep with those who experience daily the plight (or glory?) of hunger, thirst, and scorching heat... those who will be dressed in white one day. Give me a heart soaked in compassion, moving to act in bringing the attributes of heaven to earth.. sharing in peoples pain that I am foreign to... healing and being healed.
A deep struggle of mine, my spirit is anything but settled (i count it a blessing..), I too pray for peace and conviction... Today, I feel a bit sick..
“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” -Jesus (mt2:17)
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