May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (The Message)
The picture above describes to me the battle we are in..it's over our hearts.
The hands below are of this earth. They are the hands of the enemy constantly trying to steal away our hearts. My focus then moves to the all consuming fire that surrounds the heart. Could that be Gods love consuming protecting our hearts from the thief? In this world you will
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
Hope trusts. 10,000 reasons why and still counting
As I look at today and what it represents I find with in me a heavy heart.
I know what it feels like to lose a son. It's hard to imagine that I could have this experience in common with God..
but I do:(
I often wonder what God was thinking. I also wonder what Jesus was thinking. At the cross we get a glimpse
"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
Matthew 27:46
This cry from Jesus's heart brings a stabbing pain to my own heart. I could not imagine hearing those words from my own son before he died.
In this moment.. as we hear Jesus cry out to His Father... we must TRUST that the Father's heart is "Good" towards His son.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
This passage is telling us to acknowledge Him ,
to know Him in all our ways
because He will make the crooked places straight.
The crooked places are places of disappointment.
Places where we do not know how to navigate.
They are sometimes places that we've prayed
for a different outcome than what we were given.
What do we do in these places?
What I have learned
in this place
we sit at the table prepared before us by God Himself and feast on His Truth.
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Psalms 23
So many times we hear this scripture quoted at funerals. I heard it at Jack's and many others. I used to hate this scripture... but now.. finally .. I see truth in it that brings comfort to my broken heart and soul.
I am now going to show you my true colors.. what really motivates me.. my hate for the enemy
This scripture say that God prepares a table for me in the midst of my enemies.
What does this mean?
A table is a place of communion, feasting, hospitality .. a place for an intimate gathering.
It is at this place
the table
we sit at in the midst of the crooked places
in the midst of the chaos of disappointment
Even as we walk through the valley of death
We find the table of communion
and we feast on the GOODNESS of God!
Let me share with you how I picture this
God, has prepared a beautiful table.. Candles, a beautiful linen table cloth, fine china and silver. The table is loaded with all my favorite food..
Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, collard greens, cornbread and some cold ice tea with lemon
Not to leave out desert and a glass of my favorite wine.
The music that is playing in the background brings such joy to my soul and spirit that I can hardly stay seated..
But I do
I lean over and grab a chicken leg and take a big bite
and then give a small nod of acknowledgement to the one sitting on the other side of the table
The enemy himself
he's not at the table..
because the Lord Himself is at the table feasting with me
The enemy is sitting in the distance, handcuffed, watching me feast on the goodness of God
right in the midst of what he intended for my bad
God is actually making it for my Good.
In the end it all turns out good.
I will see Jack again
because we saw Jesus again.
The tomb is empty
I am determined to allow my life to reflect this truth on this earth until I take my last breath.
The power of God in our life is to demonstrate the
power of the Kingdom of heaven here on earth.
The power He gave me was to still have a "yes" to Him even after loss
because I understand that in the Kingdom
Jesus overcame loss with the power of Resurrection!
So, with this truth in my heart I will lean on enduring faith so I can receive the promises of Heaven.
31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering.
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
I heard someone say the other day, "Hope for the best and prepare for the worst".
Is this any way to live?
Although I hate to admit it, I often see that my actions
align more with preparing for the worst that expecting the best.
Why is this?
I think it comes from the heartbreaking disappointments and
unmet expectations we crash into during life.
It would only make sense to lower your expectations.
To think good thoughts, hope for the best... but all the while prepare for the next storm already seen on the radar.
Living this way leaves no room for God to work.
When we live preparing for the worst we are motivated by fear.
Fear Controls
It makes choices to take action in the opposite direction of what we hope for. If we hope for the best yet prepare for the worst.. we take our eyes off God.
We actually step into Gods place and take over His job.
What happens when we hope for the best and prepare for it?
We fix our eyes on God and know His heart of love is for us.
When we live preparing for the best we allow love to lead the way.
Love always leads to freedom
Which reminds me of Isaiah 61
It has to be the best way to look at how we hope for the best and prepare for it..
The Lord's Promise to us is
He will bind our broken hearts
He will set the captives free
He will comfort all who mourn
He will rebuild to ruined cities
This is our Hope- Prepare for it:)
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. 4 They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.-Isaiah 61
Hope walks out of the cave The lyrics to this song reminded me of the hope that was whispered from God's Spirit to my broken soul as I took courage to leave the cave.
"A philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and can now see reality as it truly is."- Socrates
A philosopher is a person who seeks wisdom or enlightenment.
A few years ago, I had a friend tell me it was time to leave the cave. The only reason I was still in the cave was because someone I loved dearly was "stuck" in the cave. I had tried for years to help her see that her view was distorted by darkness and lies.
I had come to a point in the relationship that the only way to help her was to leave.
My hope in making that decision was that someday she would follow.
The only way she would follow was to see that life for me was better outside the cave than her life inside the cave. The hard part of this decision was that I had to commit to not turning back. I had to prove once and for all that following Jesus was the only way to freedom.
It was time to stop talking and start walking.
"if you’re going to talk the talk, you've got to walk the walk"
I was filled with doubt, I was filled with fear.
My biggest questions were..
Will she ever follow?
Will she think we left her?
Will her feelings of what she sees as abandonment aid in the death of her hope to find freedom?
I began to pray.
I asked for truth
I asked for wisdom
I sought Godly counsel
I put her in Gods hands
&
I began to walk as I held on to His promises.
"And I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; in paths that they know not will I lead them; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things will I do, and I will not forsake them."-Isaiah 42:16
God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
Psalms 46:5
But the LORD says, "The captives of warriors will be released, and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved. For I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children. Isaiah 49:25
The beginning of the journey was dark. The only light seen was through the eyes of faith.
Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. Psalm 43:3
Seeking and following Jesus led me to finding His care that slowly changed me to become a light of hope for her.
My hope was that she would look out from the cave that held her captive to see new life and that change was possible.
For most of us, there is a season in the cave. I'm going to borrow the words of a song that perfectly put to words how I felt at the beginning of my journey from the cave to new life. "The Cave" Mumford and Sons It is a season where it's empty in the valley of your heart and you realize that the harvest of this time has left no food for you to eat.
It is in this place that you hear God's "SPIRIT" say to your broken "Soul".. "It's empty in the valley of your heart The sun, it rises slowly as you walk Away from all the fears And all the faults you've left behind The harvest left no food for you to eat You cannibal, you meat-eater you see But I have seen the same I know the shame in your defeat
But I will hold on hope
and I wont let you choke
On the noose around your neck
And I'll find strength in pain
and I will change my ways
I'll know my name as its called again
Cause I have other things to fill my time
You take what is yours and Ill take mine
Now let me at the truth Which will refresh my broken mind
So tie me to a post and block my ears
I can see widows and orphans through my tears
I know my call despite my faults
and despite my growing fears
But I will hold on hope
and I wont let you choke
On the noose around your neck
And I'll find strength in pain
and I will change my ways
I'll know my name as its called again
So come out of your cave walking on your hands
And see the world hanging upside down
You can understand dependence
When you know the maker's land" I especially love the ending to this song. You really feel as if your coming out walking on your hands to see the world upside down.. Everything that pertains to walking out the gospel on this side of heaven seems upside down in this world.. but you understand it when you understand the maker of this land:)
I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.
Hosea 2:14 NIV
In this particular scripture we see that God is alluring Israel back to the wilderness.
Why?
She took her eyes off Father God .. and He found her focused on lesser gods. He is calling her back because she had once again forgotten her first love.
God has a history of leading her to the wilderness. When He first set her free from Egypt, she found herself wandering hopelessly through a desert. He led her there so He could have her undivided attention. He spoke instruction and love to her as she journeyed to the promise land. She learned to trust Him in the wilderness.
In Hosea we see God once again leading her back to the wilderness of heartbreak valley.I find comfort in the way God is leading her there. He is alluring her, whispering to her "come away with Me so I can speak tenderly to your broken heart".
You would think that if He was doing this for the 2nd time He would be mad at her. That He might had said, "haven't you learned by now, there are to be no other idols in your life?! Shame on you for loosing focus! "
But He didn't, because love never shames.
in fact real love hung on the cross to defeat shame because He despised it.
Love gets our attention by speaking to the brokenness in our hearts. He understands why we loose our focus on Him because He knows the battle is fierce. That is why He leads us to a place where we can be face to face with Him. A place where heartbreak becomes a door of hope.
"There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she will respond as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt." Hosea 2:15NIV
In that place of hopelessness is where we find the greatest hope of all.. His heart that leads to us to the promise land.. the place we've waited so long to see what we believed in.
Here are the lyrics to the song above.. It speaks so tenderly to the one who is in the wilderness who's waited so long to see what you believe.
Whisper my name, so only I can hear
Call to my heart, chase away my fear
Stand up in this place, fight for the one you love
Won't you come surround me, so I can rise above
Explode my soul, let these walls come down
All these prison thoughts crumble with the sound
Of my deliverance from my enemies
I stand up beside you, let's watch these giants flee
Let the silence be broken, and the winter be done
Will you come out of your hiding, kiss me sweet warm sun
Let the wind of your spirit blow the dust off my feet
I ran to you broken but now I am complete
Hello Promise Land, we've waited for so long
To see what we've believed in, to sing this Promise Land song
