Love

God wants to speak to us more than we want to listen.

He is a God of love, and love longs to communicate.

 Linda Schubert

He asks one step, not the mountain

FOLLOW ME ONE STEP AT A TIME. That is all I require of you. In fact, that is the only way to move through this space/time world. You see huge mountains looming, and you start wondering how you’re going to scale those heights. Meanwhile, because you’re not looking where you’re going, you stumble on the easy path where I am leading you now. As I help you get back on your feet, you tell Me how worried you are about the cliffs up ahead. But you don’t know what will happen today, much less tomorrow. Our path may take an abrupt turn, leading you away from those mountains. There may be an easier way up the mountains that is visible from this distance. If I do lead you up the cliffs, I will equip you thoroughly for that strenuous climb. I will even give My angels charge over you, to preserve you in all your ways. 

Keep your mind on the present journey, enjoying My Presence. Walk by faith and not by sight, trusting Me to open up the way before you.

Do not wear yourself out with analyzing and planning.  Instead let thankfulness and trust be your guides through this day; they will keep you close to ME.

2 Corinthians 5:7 – “For we live by believing and not by seeing.”

from "Jesus Calling"

by Sarah Young

Sin's "why"

"Sin is what you do

when your heart is not

satisfied with God."

- John Piper

As in human relationships...

"I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, 'Here am I, here am I,' to a nation which did not call on My name.
I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people,
Who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts"

Isaiah 65:1-2

From a friend

THE ACHING OF THIS LIFE. WHAT IF?

Progress

"Beware of comparisons.

A sad person who doesn't attempt suicide any more

may be a greater triumph of grace than your joy."

- J. Piper

"Some bruises bleed years deep.

So the wounded trust slow.

- A. Voskamp

Choose Your Slavery: Freedom from One = Slave to Another

"God, in the end, gives people what they most want,
including freedom from Himself.
What could be more fair?"

-C.S. Lewis

John 8:31-37

"In Gethsemane

the holiest of all petitioners

prayed three times

that a certain cup

might pass from Him.

It did not."

-C.S. Lewis

"Before God can use

a man greatly,

He must first

wound him deeply."

-A.W. Tozer

Forsaking all others...

"Idols always break the hearts of their worshipers." - C.S. Lewis

"An idol is anything apart from God that we depend on to be happy, fulfilled, or secure. In biblical terms it is something other than God that we set our heart on (Luke 12:29), that motivates us (1 Corinthians 4:5), that masters and rules us (Psalm 119:133; Ephesians 5:5), or that we trust, fear, or serve (Isaiah 42:17; Matthew 6:24; Luke 12:4-5). In short, it is something we love and pursue in place of God (see Philippians 3:19)." - Ken Sande

"Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us:

'Ye call Me Master, and obey Me not.

Ye call Me Light, and see Me not.

Ye call Me Way, and walk Me not.

Ye call Me Life, and desire Me not.

Ye call Me Wise, and follow Me not.

Ye call Me Fair, and love Me not.

Ye call Me Rich, and ask Me not.

Ye call Me Eternal, and seek Me not.

Ye call Me Gracious, and trust Me not.

Ye call Me Noble, and serve Me not.

Ye call Me Mighty, and honour Me not.

Ye call Me Just, and fear Me not.

If I condemn you, blame Me not.'"

- Inscription in the Lübeck Cathedral, Germany

The Gift or the Giver?

“If I would know the love of my friend, I must see what it can do in the winter. So with the divine love. It is very easy for me to worship in the summer sunshine, when the melodies of life are in the air and the fruits of life are on the tree. But let the song of the bird cease, and the fruit of the tree fall; and will my heart still go on to sing? Will I stand in God’s house by night? ...My heart has recognized His majesty through His mean disguise, and I know at last that I desire not the gift, but the Giver. When I can stand in His house by night, I have accepted Him for Himself alone.”

- George Matheson

It comes down to this:

"to those who fear Him there is no want." Psalm 34:9

"they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing." Psalm 34:10

"No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly." Psalm 84:11

So.


Either...
1) I am not fearing Him and walking uprightly, 2) I am not seeking Him, or 3) "this" is not a good thing for me (at least right now).


Because...
1) He is good, and 2) He doesn't lie.

The Liar's Taunt

"Then [the enemy's spokesman] stood and cried with a loud voice in [the language God's people could understand] and said, 'Hear the words of the great king, the [enemy of your king]. Thus says the king, "Do not let [your king] deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you;  nor let [him] make you trust in the Lord, saying, 'The Lord will surely deliver us, this city will not be given into the hand of the king of [the enemy].'"  Do not listen to [your king], for thus says [my] king, "Make your peace with me and come out to me...until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.  Beware that [your king] does not mislead you, saying, 'The Lord will deliver us.' Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of [your enemy]?"

The Response

[Upon receiving the news of the enemy's threats against him, and taunts against the faithfulness of his God:]  Then [the king of God's people] took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. [He] prayed to the Lord saying,

'O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.  Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to all the words of [the enemy's spokesmen], who sent them to reproach the living God. Truly, O Lord, the [enemy has] devastated all the countries and their lands, and [has] cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.'"

Isaiah 36:13-21, 37:14-30

One of the hardest things to do

(harder than anything you could go through yourself)

...trusting God with someone you love

especially (although the best), when that is the only thing left for you to do for them.

___________

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”

-C.S. Lewis

“Sobbing with tears,

sobbing without tears,

tears without sobbing,

smiles with tears.

Numb.

Welcome to the ministry of love.” 
-John Piper 

“I have held many things in my hands,
and I have lost them all;
but whatever I have placed in God's hands,
that I still possess.” 
-Martin Luther 

"Bear not a single care thyself,

One is too much for thee.

The work is mine, and mine alone,

And thine is...

Trust in Me.” 

-Unknown

"A battered reed He will not break off,

and a smoldering wick He will not put out" 
-Matthew 12:20

♫

in·car·nate, adj. a) Invested with flesh {What an investment.}

 "Jesus Christ became Incarnate for one purpose, to make a way back to God

that man might stand before Him as He was created to do,

the friend and lover of God Himself."

~ Oswald Chambers

A Christmas Poem

"In this smelly place he lay,
Smelly like the swine,
Smelly like the rotting hay,
Like your sin, and mine.
Do you see how low he lay?
Do you see how low?
There is lower yet to go.
Lower yet to go.

He is lying where they eat,
Lying where the swine—
Lying like a piece of meat
Where the hungry dine.
Do you see the flow complete
Do you see the flow?
There is greater love to show
Greater love to show.

Such a happy toddler there,
Happy like the birds,
Happy like the morning air
Filled with happy words.
Does he see or know or care?
Does he see or know:
O, how deep will be his woe
Deep will be his woe?

Knowing God was born like this
Knowing this is he,
Knowing somehow this is bliss
For the swine and me,
Is this love's full glow and kiss?
Is this love’s full glow?
There are deeper things to know,
Deeper things to know.

Mary musing every year,
Musing on her son,
Musing with a rising fear
Who will be the one:
Who will strike the blow and spear?
Who will strike the blow?
Does she know that blood must flow?
Know that blood must flow?

Jesus hanging on the tree,
Hanging like the meat,
Hanging there for swine like me,
Gives his flesh to eat.
Here is Life brought low and free.
Here is Life brought low.
O, how vast the debt I owe
Vast the debt I owe."  

~  John Piper

DesiringGod

The Mocking of The Christmas Bells

1860 - Henry was at the peak of his success as a poet. Abraham Lincoln had just been elected President, giving hope to many.

1861 - But things soon turned dark for America and for him personally. The Civil War began, and Henry’s wife died in a tragic accident in their home. He suffered severe burns on his hands and face while trying to save his wife. He was so badly burned that he could not even attend her funeral. In his diary for Christmas Day 1861, he wrote, “How inexpressibly sad are the holidays."

1862 - A year after her death, he wrote, "I can make no record of these days. Better leave them wrapped in silence. Perhaps someday God will give me peace." Christmas day - the toll of war began to mount, and in his diary for that year Henry wrote, "'A merry Christmas' say the children, but that is no more for me."

1863 -  Henry received word that his oldest son Charles, a lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac, had been severely wounded with a bullet passing under his shoulder blades and taking off one of the spinal processes. There is no entry in Henry's diary for that Christmas.

1864 - Christmas day. He wrote the words of the poem ‘Christmas Bells'.

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime

A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black accursed mouth

The cannon thundered in the South,

And with the sound

The carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent

The hearth-stones of a continent,

And made forlorn

The households born

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;

'There is no peace on earth,' I said;

'For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!'

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

'God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men!'"

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Sources:   1    2    3

{righteousness} Not learned by favor.

"My soul yearns for You in the night;

my spirit within me earnestly seeks You.

For when Your judgments are in the earth,

the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

If favor is shown to the [one guilty of sin],

he does not learn righteousness...

he deals corruptly and does not see the majesty of the Lord.

O Lord, in distress they sought You;

they poured out a whispered prayer

when Your discipline was upon them."

Isaiah 26:9-10,16

The Promise > The Circumstance

"Here's a principle to keep in mind: The promises of God are as real as the circumstances you are in. Your circumstances say 'God has forgotten you.' Your circumstances say, 'I look for God, and just when I need God to come through for me, God doesn't seem to be any place.' That's what your circumstances say. The promise of God says, 'I will not leave you. I will never forsake you.' And that promise is just as real as the circumstances you are in. And so by faith, we look beyond our circumstances and we look to the promises of God."

 ~Jerry Bridges

It's easy to miss the DASH on your tombstone

“LIFE  IS  WHAT  HAPPENS

WHILE  YOU'RE  WAITING  FOR  LIFE  TO  START."

"And so we say, 'As soon as I get through this thing,

then I can really get down to living my life.

As soon as I get through school;

as soon as I get my kids raised;

as soon as I get through with this thing,

then there will be nothing but good coming down the pike.'

I want to tell you something, it never works that way.

Good and bad grow together,

they are intertwined inseparably together.

Good and bad travel on parallel tracks

and they usually arrive at about the same time.

And there is a judgment beyond our judgment.

Faith isn’t the power to change things to the way you want them.

Faith is the courage to face things as they are."

- Pastor Ron Dunn 

www.RonDunn.com

"you do not know

   

what your life will be like tomorrow.

You are just a vapor

  

that appears for a little while

  

and then vanishes away."

- James 4:14

Reality vs. Appearance

"When circumstances seem impossible,

when all signs of grace in you seem at their lowest ebb,

when temptation is fiercest,

when love and joy and hope seem well-nigh extinguished in your heart,

then rest,

without feeling and without emotion,

in the Father's faithfulness."

-D. Tryon 

"Our circumstances are not an accurate reflection of God's goodness.

Whether life is good or bad,

God's goodness,

rooted in His character,

is the same."

-H. Lescheid