A Happy Bit

I have really been enjoying living in general lately. God has blessed me with a job that I'm enjoying, amazing friends that are an encouragement to me on a daily basis, and hope for a future that He controls. The best part is that He has given me a peace that passes understanding. There are some things in life right that I'm not sure about and some that are scary, but I have complete confidence that He is in control. It is a restful path that I walk with God.

On Life, Death and Beauty

Death....  It forces our attention to the irreducible minimality of life--the stark reality that often what we consider important in life is really not important at all.  A confrontation with death awakens us to the fact that the movies we have watched, the music we have listened to, the games we have played, all the things we have done out of a selfish motive have absolutely no value.  Two things become of paramount importance when death faces us.  First, our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  Second, the legacy we have left behind.

Death....  Its beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.  For those who squandered their life selfishly and wastefully, death is an ugly monstrosity--a beast to be feared and loathed.  For the Christian who has given his life completely to the Father and has endevoured to live selflessly and circumspectly, death is a beautiful creation.  Not a thing of bondage but a thing that frees us from mortality and introduces us to eternal life with those we love the most, first of whom is Christ, our Saviour.

Death....  It is the final step of our pilgrimage.  It is the vehicle that transports us to our final destination.  That destination is dependent upon the course we have chosen for our lives--essentially selfish or selfless.  In Philippians 3:20 Paul speaks a powerful message to Christians.

But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.  (NLT)

We are citizens of Heaven!  That means that even though death is often portrayed as a thing of power, a thing of loneliness, a thing to be feared, as Christians, we need not fear.  We are citizens of Heaven.  Because of this our hearts may rejoice with Paul when he says,

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  (I Corinthians 15:53-57 KJV)

There is one last verse in that chapter that is a powerful encouragement and admonition.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.  (I Corinthians 15:58 KJV)

We labor not in vain!  Death has no victory!  The grave will hold only our mortality.

Death....  Its beauty really is in the eye of the beholder....

Big Him; little me....

I'm laying on the ground looking up at the stars. It's funny, really, because I had no intention of doing so, but I took a mistep on some stairs and somewhat less than gracefully floundered my way to the ground. Since I was here anyway, I just started looking at the stars and watching the clouds blow and my mind began to wander. Looking at the stars makes me think about how big God is. He created all of these things and keeps them running in order every day. When I catch just that small glimpse of the big picture of who God is, it makes me realize about how small and really insignificant my problems are. The amazing thing is that even as big as God is and as many "major" things as He takes care of, He still recognizes my problems and concerns and takes them on as personal concerns of His. But it makes me think that perhaps they should concern me much less than they do. And it give me a little glimpse into why saints long so much for Heaven--a place where we can finally be truly identified with Who God is and not concerned with earthly things.

A Growing Beauty

There's something quietly strong about nature. Tonight the ocean once again became my muse. It is constantly changing and yet it is always the same.

Tonight started out as a dark evening with a plethora of stars strewn across the sky in complex patterns that God Himself designed and knows. But the "crowning moment" of the evening came when the moon boldly rose up from the darkness of the ocean as an ever-brightening orb of pure, orange beauty. As it rose it cast a path across the water almost to my feet. And if the simple, incredible beauty of the moon was not enough, two shooting stars coursed their flaming trails through my vision.

There two things the made the evening even better than the pure incredibleness (yes, I make up words)of nature. One was the fact the I was with friends. I am so blessed with friends. The ocean was unquestionably amazing tonight. But to share it with friends who enjoy it equally as much, is so much better.

The second thing is that those of us there tonight know the One Who created all of those things. That fact is incredible and adds so much to the experience of the evening. It was almost as if God said throughout the evening, "Oh, you think that was beautiful?! Wait til you see this!" And each thing was successively more amazing. To know that God is so big and powerful the He can create such amazing displays of beauty with no effort at all is to know that He is completely trust-worthy when it comes to my life.

We had to wait for awhile tonight before the moon came up. But when it did come up, it was completely worth the wait. Though I have only lived a relatively short time, I have a deep seated belief that God has a long-term plan for me. I don't know what it is. I can't see the full beauty of the whole picture yet. I don't feel like the "moon has risen" in my life yet. But I believe that as I walk with God, He will guide my walk and shape me into something beautiful so that at the end of my life, people will see an amazing picture of God's incredible grace that will point to Him and glorify Him in the same way that the moonrise did tonight. It's an amazing privilege to be on such an incredible journey with such a powerful, trust-worthy God.

To Know Christ....

My heart is so full tonight at the awesomeness of God. I have been impressed strongly just in the last couple of days by the incredible personal relationship I can have with my Heavenly Father.  I can truly call Him "Father" and know that He hears me as a father.  I can truly bring anything before Him as a son.  Because of Christ, I am a son of God.  It is not because I am anything or because I deserve to be His son, but because I have the incredible privilege of placing my full faith in Christ knowing that because of Him, I have power to become a son of God.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.  (John 1:12 KJV)

My heart cries out tonight to know Christ, not just know about Him, but to KNOW Him—to experience Him in my life. I want to lose myself.  I want to give up everything I am for the incredible honor of knowing Him.  I cry along with the Apostle Paul:

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.  I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.  For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith.  I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead.  I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!  (Philippians 3:8-11 NLT)

Oh, that I could know Him.  I have a deep longing inside to follow Paul's plea:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.  (Romans 12:1-2 KJV)

I want to be transformed.  I want to "count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord…."  (the KJV of Philippians 3:8a)  I want to know Christ and give up who I am so that He can fill me and possess every iota of who I am.  I want to live as a citizen of Heaven and  think on the things of Heaven.  (Philippians 3:20 & Colossians 3:1-4)

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand.  Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.  For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.  And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.  (Colossians 3:1-4 NLT)

I want to be free of myself—to surrender my right to myself and take up my right to be a son of God.  I want to tell others of the freedom there is in Christ.  Paul also said:

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.  Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ.  That is why I am here in chains.  Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.  Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.  (Colossians 4:2-6)

I'm so excited….  God is moving….  He's working in the lives people here and there, and I sense that power is about to be unleashed that I have never seen in my lifetime if I...if we will only listen…if we...will only hear the heartcry of our Father….

The Peace of Power

I got to visit the ocean again this morning after an early-morning jog with a friend.  It was calm today.  I love the moods of the ocean.  Sometimes the waves come crashing in and go far up the beach.  Sometimes the waves crest smoothly and scoop up the shoreline.  Today, the waves were small and the ocean almost had a glassy look.  I could see far out over the ocean to the distance horizon with a bank of clouds.  When I first got there, the sun had not yet risen and there were gorgeous bands of blue, purple, and pink.  As the sun rose over the cloud bank the colors became more vivid and began to change into oranges and yellows.  Then the sun began to peek boldly over the top of the clouds…the dawn of a new day—a day with potential for great good if I surrender myself into the hands of my Heavenly Father.

This morning was so peaceful and quiet (minus the annoying four-wheeler that destroyed the peace for awhile.  Ha!)  It was re-assuring, though, to think that everything is in the hands of a God who brings the new day into existence with such peace and tranquility—no strain or stress.  If we humans were even capable of putting on such a lovely production, can you imagine the massive stress, preparation, scurry, rush, frustration, and practice that we would have to put into one sunrise?  The light has to be just right; someone has to coordinate the waves; someone has to make sure the half-moon is in just the right place; someone has to make sure the colors change as they are supposed to; the sun has to come up at just the right rate; someone has to scatter the hundreds of shells on the shore…and who knows what else....  And that is only for my little section of the beach.  Yet all night long, God kept the world spinning and the planets in order; He kept everything running perfectly and the sun came up this morning with no great rush, no stress, no perspiration, no headache, no effort.

God is awesome.  I'm glad that it is He that I trust with my life.  I'm glad that I can let Him control all the details instead of trying to keep track of everything myself.  In a world that seems like it turning upside-down sometimes, it's so comforting and reassuring to know that God has everything under control without any stress or strain.  It's a wonderful feeling of peace...kind of like a glassy ocean with gentle waves splashing on the shoreline and beam of brilliant sunlight shining across the surface….