"That's all that matters, isn't it?"
Oh, yeah.
Yes, my Beloved. It is. It really is.
Let's just keep going. :)
I just had a mini meltdown. It's hot, I haven't slept much lately, I'm out of coffee, and I have more work in the next five weeks than I can humanly handle. Yesterday someone said something that hit me in a tender spot and took a big swipe at my self-confidence. Ack -- enough! I had to stop just now and throw myself into the Lord's arms. I blurted out my frustrations and then said,"I just love You SO MUCH!!"
"That's all that matters, isn't it?" Oh, yeah. Yes, my Beloved. It is. It really is. Let's just keep going. :)
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I'm STILL digging out of my interminable project (almost there), but I have a few minutes and am listening to Phil Wickham's song "Holy, Holy, Holy," which I posted yesterday on the main page. The line "All who see You bow for countless days" rings through my head like a perfect image of what it is that I live in now -- I have seen Him, not physically, but I have begun to know what it is to love and worship Him and to be loved and transformed forever by Him. Having seen Him, I can do nothing else now but bow for countless days -- praising Him publicly, posting things online that I hope will help other believers love, revere, and obey Him all the more. His Way is perfect: He is the Way.
This lowly one whom Your hand has saved, Jesus, comes before You -- singing Your endless praise, bowing before You forever. One of the most mind-boggling things to me about the Christian life (now that I finally know what it is) is when God takes me right smack dab into a scripture passage and won't let me out until I've seen Him face to face inside it. This definitely doesn't happen every day. (Maybe if I walk deeply with Him for the rest of my life?)
Anyway, the other day I was reading the messianic prophecy Isaiah 49. It begins like this (vv. 1-4): Listen to Me, O islands, And pay attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called Me from the womb; From the body of My mother He named Me. He has made My mouth like a sharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me; And He has also made Me a select arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver. He said to Me, “ You are My Servant, Israel, In Whom I will show My glory.” But I said, “I have toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the Lord, And My reward with My God.” The two lines beginning "But I said..." jumped out to me. I read them over and over. What? This sounds a bit like one of the lamentation psalms. But this is the Messiah, Jesus, speaking prophetically. Jesus is complaining? Yes -- oh, praise the Lord -- Jesus is complaining. Not whining, like we sometimes do. He's taking His broken heart and His frustration to the Father: "Father, is this all really going somewhere? THEY'RE NOT LISTENING. They still don't understand." I can imagine He prayed something similar not long before He was crucified, because during those days and weeks He did spend quite a lot of time confirming that the disciples had understood who He was and why He had come. Maybe He also ran this chapter of Isaiah through His mind on the cross, to remind Himself of the Father's reply (vv. 6-7): He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, To the despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers, “Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down, Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.” Imagine, words resembling Jesus' intimate, honest prayers and the Father's resounding replies were recorded by the prophet Isaiah, many centuries before Christ was born. What can I learn from these prayers (God wants it "real"!), and, even better... what other wonderful snapshots of Jesus' mind and heart are hiding in scripture? I, for one, want to find out. :) I've recently begun looking more deeply at the "woman at the well" story from John 4, mostly because this story reveals so many things about Jesus. There's enough spiritual "meat" here to fill several books. I'll spare you the several books, but here are just a few observations:
The woman is an outsider on many levels. 1. She's a Samaritan. The Jews and the Samaritans have taken separate paths as a result of a spiritual rivalry, and have come to despise one another. 2. She's a woman. The disciples don't even notice her as they're walking away to get food. (Jesus apparently actually sent them in that direction as a test, to see if they would pay any attention to her.) When they return and find Him speaking with her -- speaking with a woman, it specifically says -- they're appalled. 3. She's had many husbands. Although we don't know the stories behind this, it seems feasible that at least one of her marriages ended in divorce, knocking her even further down the social status ladder. 4. She's living with her boyfriend. She could quite easily one day find herself stoned to death for this. 5. She's been rejected by the other women of the town. She's not someone a "nice person" should associate with. So, she's clearly scratching her head, wondering for many reasons why Jesus is talking to her. She's adapted to being the invisible outsider -- coming to draw water at an unusual hour, for example, so that she won't run into the other women. But it must still hurt. Adapting to being an invisible outsider is a painful process: you have to give up, on many levels. Jesus doesn't reproach her. He simply acknowledges her reality, and gives her hope. Amazingly, He even tells her directly who He is. Then, in contrast to what He said to His disciples when they figured out His identity, He doesn't add "and don't tell anyone." She tells the whole town about Jesus! Interestingly, they pay attention, and many people come to believe in Him. As I said, there's enough material here for several books. But here's one aspect that strikes me, concerning, of all things, the Church and its outreach. What would have happened if the events in this story had been reversed? Suppose Jesus had seen the woman and had walked to the other side of the street to avoid her. Or, suppose He had spoken to her but had said something like, "You're a woman, you're sinful, and your people are doctrinally lost. I shouldn't even be talking to you. But here's the story of your life, and now here's how you can find eternal life." If the thought of hearing Jesus speak like that makes you squirm (it should), imagine His reaction to us, when we do and say similar things to spiritual and social outsiders. Suppose someone from an "unacceptable group" (possibly even a fellow believer) shows up at our church or at one of our homes. Will what they see and hear make them want to run and tell everyone about the loveliness of Jesus and the power of His saving grace, or will it make them just want to run? There are a LOT of hurting people out there. Do we see them, or do we classify them as "not us" and dismiss them? People don't need to be cleaned up before they can meet Jesus, before He meets their gaze and offers them life. So why do they so often have to be cleaned up before we can see and meet them? I'm basically just posting that title to remind myself that even at the bottom, the very bottom, my Rock is there.
I think I'll repeat that a few times, because I really need to hear this today, and maybe someone else does, too: Even at the very bottom, my Rock is there. Even if I fall off every cliff the enemy wants to push me over, my Rock will be there to cushion me. Even if I fail at everything, my Rock will be there to rebuild me. Even when I don't fit in anywhere, I fit right into a me-sized crag in my beautiful Rock. Even when I don't see light at the end of the tunnel, my Rock is there, and He is also The Light. Even when I feel invisible and voiceless, my Rock sees and hears me and longs to be in my presence. Even when I feel like giving up, my Rock has a perfect purpose for me. Even at the bottom, the very bottom, my Rock is there, and always will be. I am to Him a sweet yielded thing, a pearl of great price. My voice is to Him an "I love You," and my tears are to Him an "I need You." He will always be my Treasure. He will always be my Rock. Broken, so that He could be my Rock, He broke me, so that I could fit in His hand and be used of Him. He will always be my Rock. He will always be my Treasure. Even at the bottom, the very bottom -- the rock bottom -- my Rock is there, and always will be. So the other disciples were saying to [Thomas], “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25)
Just a quick reflection, food for thought: How would it change your spiritual life if you knew God was real? This may seem like a funny thing to say, since I realize I'm writing largely to a believing audience. But in fact, we can believe something officially without believing it in a way that puts everything on the line. When I vote, I'm stating officially that I believe this person or this party will best represent me. But if the party or person lets me down (they almost inevitably do, eh?), I can just as easily walk away from it/her/him without too much trouble. It's not exactly the same thing with belief in God, but to be honest, most of us do go through life without ever seeing the sort of concrete evidence Thomas was looking for. Historical records appear to show, incidentally, that Thomas -- often dismissed and dissed as the faithless disciple -- went on to have a powerful ministry spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, and was eventually martyred for his faith. God knows each of us so well. He asks all of us to believe by faith, but He also knows what each of us needs to move forward into deeper commitment. Even if He never gives you concrete evidence that He's real and that Jesus is exactly who He said He was, it is still a good question: How would it change your life if you knew God was real? How would your bond with Him change, how would your prayer life change, how would your priorities and focus change? If you're a bit like Thomas (as I am), remember -- Jesus loved Thomas, and met him where he was. Thomas was honest with Jesus, after all. That's always where a deeper relationship begins. After posting a link yesterday to that fabulously exuberant praise song, "Heaven Fall Down," I discovered more amazing songs by the same musicians. Here goes ...lost in love for the exquisite Lord... two more songs:
YouTube videos: "Burn Us Up" performed by Shane and Shane written by Shane Barnard "You're Beautiful" performed by Shane and Shane and Phil Wickham written by Phil Wickham Lyrics:* "Burn Us Up" by Shane Barnard There were three before the king. There were three who wouldn't bow to him. For when you heard the music play and you were standing you would burn. They looked at him and said... Burn us up. Burn us up. Burn us up. Oh, King won't you burn us in the furnace of Your desire. We give up. We give up. We give up. Oh, King won't you burn us in the furnace of Your desire. Oh won't You throw us in the fire. The king enraged at what they said. Sent the three away to find their death. The palace stopped in unbelief when the guilty raised their hands to sing... Burn us up. Burn us up. Burn us up. Oh, King won't you burn us in the furnace of Your desire. We give up. We give up. We give up. Oh, King won't you burn us in the furnace of Your desire. Oh won't You throw us in the fire. You are able to deliver from the fire of affliction! It's the declaration of my Lord! You're not an image of gold! You're the God of Old. You have made us. Come and save us. We are Yours! But even if You don't we will burn. So burn us up in the furnace of Your desire. * source ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Lyrics:* "Beautiful" by Phil Wickham I see Your face in every sunrise The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes The world awakens in the light of the day I look up to the sky and say You're beautiful I see Your power in the moonlit night Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright We are amazed in the light of the stars It's all proclaiming who You are You're beautiful I see You there hanging on a tree You bled and then You died and then You rose again for me Now You are sitting on Your heavenly throne Soon we will be coming home You're beautiful When we arrive at eternity's shore Where death is just a memory and tears are no more We'll enter in as the wedding bells ring Your bride will come together and we'll sing You're beautiful I see Your face, I see Your face, I see Your face You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful *source I've been having quite a rocky day, so just now I listened to one of my favorite music videos online. Then -- bam! -- God knows me so well -- I saw a link to this music video, "Heaven Fall Down," sung by Shane and Shane and Phil Wickham (who wrote the song). I'm not saying my rocky day is now smooth as silk, but it's very hard to be miserable while listening to this song. :) Just had to share it. May it help rock away your blues, if you're down.
YouTube music video "Heaven Fall Down" performed by Shane and Shane and Phil Wickham written by Phil Wickham Lyrics:* Open our eyes, Lord, let us see All that You are, all that You mean Open our ears, Lord, let us hear All that You are, be loud and clear Please be near As our praises rise May Your presence fall Heaven, Heaven fall down Spirit, Spirit pour out On us all now Heaven fall down Come Jesus come, come like the wind Fill up this place, we welcome You in Come Jesus come, come like the rain Open the sky; show us Your face Oh, Lord, we wait As our praises rise May Your presence fall Heaven, Heaven fall down Spirit, Spirit pour out On us all now Heaven fall down We’re crying out in desperation Waiting now in expectation We’re crying out in desperation For You We’re crying out in desperation Waiting now in expectation We’re crying out in desperation For You Heaven, Heaven fall down Spirit, Spirit pour out Heaven, Heaven fall down Spirit, Spirit pour out On us all now Heaven fall down * source This morning I was taken to Psalm 142...
Have I mentioned that I love King David? He so often reminds me of me... what a drama queen (OK, king). This psalm is full of "Help me, I'm surrounded, nobody cares" (something I can completely relate to but which isn't my normal mindset at the moment, thanks be to the Lord). So, I strongly suspect the reason I was taken to this particular psalm was to see this (verse 7a): Bring my soul out of prison, so that I may give thanks to Your name. You see, this is just backwards. Yet it's often the way we think: "God, please get me out of this fix and make me feel better, so that I will see Your hand on my life. I'll praise and thank You so much if You do this." Giving thanks to His name is a vastly better starting point. When our primary focus is God and not the rescue, He begins to bring our souls out of prison in ways we've never imagined. But you know what? As I type these words I realize that David's heart probably did have it right. His words sometimes expressed things backwards, but His heart and will were fully the Lord's. Which is all God really asks. Not only that, now that I think of it, "Please get me out of my prison" was my own focus for a very long time. And the sweet Lord met me there. Thank You, beloved One, for meeting us in our prisons and ministering to us there, teaching us day by day to thank and praise You. |
Every truth of
Scripture leads to Christ. Charles Price .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
About me "Hephzibah" (Isaiah 62) A yet unfinished story of the Lord's perfect restoration work I live in southwestern Ontario, Canada. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ||| ||| ||| ||| ||| ||| ||| ||| |||
2 Chronicles 7:16 בָּחַר קָדַשׁ ||| ||| ||| ||| ||| ||| ||| ||| ||| [T]o our
wounds only God’s wounds can speak. from “Jesus of the Scars” by Edward Shillito (1872-1948) Blog archives
August 2022
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...The eyes of the
Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9a (KJ21) |