The Walk

Amos 3   Do two walk together unless they have agreed to meet?

Sometimes it is the simplest of statements that stop you and cause you to remember...

Most all of our relationships in life are born from choices that we have made.  We fall in love by choosing to spend time with someone.  Children are born from choices made by their parents.  Friendships are formed by electing to spend time with another person.

Do two walk together unless they have agreed to meet?

I, we, are pursued by God.  By the choice of His will we exist and through His love for us He draws us to Himself.  Salvation, by faith in His gift of love for us, is really about a choice.  An agreement to walk with Him.

We are born estranged from God.  Not as a result of any wrong that we did but because we inherited a nature from our ancestors.  A choice was made long ago to disobey God and a breach in that relationship followed.  The relationship between God and man was forever changed and we are a result of that first choice.

God also had a choice.  He choose to redeem us.

Do two walk together unless they agreed to meet?

I remember when I agreed to enter this relationship.  I agreed with God.  I chose to believe that His word was truth, that He existed and that I needed Him.  I could not bridge the gap between us so He came to me.  He loved me.  He healed me.  He rescued me.  He saved me.  And as a result of His great love for me I agreed to walk with Him.

One of the phrases used most often by Jesus was, Follow Me.

It is an invitation to a relationship.  It is a covenant.  An everlasting marriage.  Sealed with His own blood and with His own life.  Paid for by His unfailing love for us.

If we could even for a moment open up our hearts and minds to grasp the depth of His feelings toward us we would never be the same.

He loves you!!  He waits for you!!  He longs for you!!

It is your choice.

Can two walk together unless they have agreed to meet?

Can you hear Him?  Do you see Him?

He gave you life and breath.  He gave His life and breath for you.  The call of Christ throughout the ages has been, Follow Me.  All the way home.

Father You are so good and so misunderstood.  Everything that we are and all that we have and enjoy is a result of Your mercy and goodness.  Open our eyes to You, Lord.  Open our ears and heart.  Let us find our Yes, our Hallelujah, in You.  We agree to meet You and walk with You.  It is the least we could do for all You have done for us.

The Portion

Lamentations 3    I have forgotten what happiness is....

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope; the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him.

Today we are in Denver, CO.  It is one of my favorite places.  My soul is at rest.

I have forgotten what happiness is....

Just a few months ago I was working in Manhattan.  Quite happy with life.  But that was before the tree fell on the house in April.  Funny that when you think you are finally getting everything together in life that something totally unexpected happens.

Since the first of May we have been working at the house almost daily.  And since we are finally so close to being finished, I almost skipped this trip.  I just want this renovation to be over so badly.  It has been so hot and exhausting and that makes us unusually ill with one another.  At the last minute I made a good choice to come and leave the house there.  The house will still be there when we get back (or it won't) but we need some time away and there are people here that I really want and need to see.

As I was flipping through my Bible this morning I came to their passage in Lamentations

I have forgotten what happiness is....

Life can be like.  Work can be life that.  Disasters, disease, poverty, disagreements.  Distractors from the things in life that really matter.  So this morning I just want to rest and find my center.  And just a few verses down I find help.

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope; the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him.

Isaiah 26   You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him.

Yesterday I heard of a the death of a sister in Christ unknown to me other than by phone conversation.  She was a missionary to the Native American Indians.  She had told friends that she was going to spend some time alone with the Lord, her love.  She went to her room to find her center.  She was found on the floor with an open Bible nearby.  Truly with the Lord.

No matter what happens in this life my soul is secured in Him.  If I live to be a hundred or if I die today, it is well with me.  I am sure that if I do live to be a hundred that there are sorrows yet to be endured and I ask for mercy for my family, my friends, our children and grandchildren.  Such is life.  But whatever life holds for me, He holds me.  And that is enough.

Father thank You for reminding me this morning of what it means to be happy.  You are steadfast in Your love for me, giving me hope and a future when I had none.  When I had nothing and no one You restored me to life, to health, to my children and family and mostly, to Yourself and I will be forever grateful.  You are my portion.  You are my friend.  You are my God and the keeper of my soul and I will hope in You.  Say hello to Jewel.

The Twin

John 20   Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord.  But he said to them, Unless I see in His hands the marks of the nails, and place my hand in His side, I will never believe.

When I was a child I used to dream of being one of the disciples.  What an awesome privilege to have a front row seat to the life and ministry of the Son of God.  And, I thought,  how easy it must have been for them to believe that He was the Christ.  They were the Twelve.  The Chosen.  The brothers and friends of Jesus.  When I was older I learned that nearly every one of them suffered a brutal death for their faith in Him.

Thomas was an eye witness to the miracles performed by Jesus.  The sick are healed.  The lame walk.  The blind see.  Thousands are fed with some loaves and fishes and if that was not enough, the dead are raised.

But Thomas was also a witness to the crucifixion and death of this good man.

And if Jesus was dead who could raise Him?  And if the leaders could crucify the Master they could certainly deal with His followers.

John 20   Eight days later, His disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them.  Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you.  ( I always wondered  here what Thomas was thinking.  Was he expecting to be chastised from the Lord for disbelief?)  Then He said to Thomas, Put your finger here, and see My hands, and put out your hand, and place it in My side.  Do not disbelieve, but believe.  Thomas answered Him, My Lord and my God!  Jesus said to him, Have you believed because you have seen Me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

Hebrews 11  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Did you know that it documented historically that the man Jesus Christ lived and was crucified?  The problem is proving that He was raised from the dead.

According to Scripture He was seen by not just His disciples but by hundreds of people.  Maybe the most compelling argument is that many of those people lost their own lives for telling others what they had seen.

Most people would not offer their own lives in place of another.  Probably fewer would offer their lives in defense of truth.  Probably none would be willing to die for a lie.  It takes real conviction to be willing to suffer and die and for your faith.

It does require faith to believe in the story, the ministry, of Jesus.  What follows faith, in this case is evidence.  The evidence is given at salvation.  The proof.  As real as the scars in His hands and feet or His nail pierced side is the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.  The Bible says He is our guarantee.  Until we receive the Promise.

The power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in the heart of every believer.

There is coming a day when all will see Jesus face to face.  All will see the scars in His hands and feet and the scars from the spear that pierced Him.  And all, like Thomas, will proclaim, My Lord and my God!

My prayer is that you will open your heart to Him for He gave ALL for you.

Father the most unbelievable part of all of this is that You loved us enough to give Yourself for us.  Your Word says that hardly anyone would give themselves for even a righteous man.  But for sinners and unbelievers like me You were willing and it is that truth that brings my heart to You.   Father take these words and spread them like seeds where You will.  Cause them to have an impact for Your kingdom.  I love You and I am so grateful for the life that You have given me and for the life that You gave for me.

The Stream

Proverbs 21   The kings heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will.

II Corinthians 1   For all the promises of God find their Yes in Him.  That is why it is through Him that we utter our Amen to God for His glory.

On my last visit to Jerusalem we were discussing what it means to be a follower, a believer, in Jesus Christ.  I have a friend there whose answer remains with me still.  She said that our answer to Christ in our life should always be Amen.  Yes.  Whatever He asks, before He asks, that the answer from our heart would be Amen.

I remember thinking at the time that I was not sure I was there yet.

The word "Amen" is used often in the Christian faith.  It is a punctuation to our prayers and is used in services as a term of agreement or acknowledgement of truth.  And it should also be the cry of our heart.  It is a submission of will.  A surrender of our heart to His.

The kings heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it where He will.

If I could make a verse my very own, absorb it into my thoughts, if I could lost myself in a theology I would chose this one....to find my Amen, my Yes, in Him.

For all the promises of God find their Yes in Him.

In order to do that I must be willing to hear Him and I must know Him.  For how will we ever follow a God that does not speak?  How will He ever speak if we do not know Him?  And how will He ever be heard if we are not listening?

One of the challenges in hearing is finding a quiet place and then willing yourself to be quiet in your mind and spirit.  When I find myself floundering and without direction or when I am certain that I have made a poor choice I can always trace this back to not taking the time to hear or worse, not even asking for direction.

If I know Him, if I seek Him, if I listen to Him then what will my answer be when He speaks?  Will it be amen?

Father may my answer to You in all things be Yes!  Amen.  To know You, to be found in You should be the objection of my life, my highest goal.  To hear you and to trust You enough to say Yes to You in every way is the desire of my heart.  I have found You faithful and true in all Your ways and worthy of all that I have.  Help me to find my Yes in You.

The Contribution

Exodus 35   Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, "This is the thing that the Lord has commanded.  Take from among you contributions to the Lord.  Whoever is of a generous heart, let Him bring the Lord's contribution: gold, silver, and bronze; blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; goats hair, acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breast piece."

In other words bring your best for the Lord and for the supply of His house.

What does it mean to give your best to the Lord?  Maybe it means not keeping the best for myself.

Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord's contribution.

Generosity is still something I struggle with.  Not just giving in general but particularly giving of my best.  It seems that the more I have the harder it is to give.  I dislike this selfish nature.  It is in direct contrast to what is required of a believer.

Matthew 16   Then Jesus told His disciples, "if anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever would lose his life for My sake would find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?  Of what will a man give in return for his soul?"

Good question.

So maybe I struggle with generosity because of a lack of faith.

If I let go of this life and my own plans to attain the next will it be there?  If I give all to follow Christ will He be there for me?  If I lose my life in Him will it be enough?

Shameful.  But true for most of us.

We live our lives, by and large, for ourselves and our own families.  We don't deny ourselves very much.  The idea of bearing our "cross" or calling for Christ is not very appealing and losing our life to find it is risky.

Are you giving your best from a generous heart to see His kingdom come?  His will be done?

Me neither.

For what will a man give in return for his soul?

Father You gave Your very best for us.  How is it that we could be satisfied to give you less?  Forgive us Lord.  Remember that we are flesh and blood and damaged.  Our minds and heart are twisted away from You by misconceptions of who You are and by the ugliness of our thinking.  We are selfish hoarders, obsessed with greed for things that, in the end, have very little value and no eternal meaning.  Help us Lord to see You as You are and to be mindful of our souls.

The Image

Genesis 1   Then God said, Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness.  And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female, He created them.  And God blessed them.  And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that is on the face of all the earth...And God saw everything that He had made; and behold, it was very good.

Whenever I read the story of creation I fall in love with God all over again.  I imagine Him smiling when the first rays of the sun appeared and warmed everything within it's reach.  I think of the creativity and wisdom involved in developing the tides and seasons or the sense of humor that went into the design of the giraffe or the anteater.  Each flower designed by hand and built to reproduce by a loving craftsman, a master gardener.

There is a truth in this story that brings me to my knees.

It was for us.

On the last day of creation when all else was done, the sun and moon, rivers and seas, mountains and valleys and every creature that draws breath on land, in the sea or sky were in place, God on this last day, creates man and woman.  He blessed them, gave them dominion over everything that He had just made and placed them in a beautiful garden to love and help one another.

I believe that all that was ever made was made for us.

And we were made for Him.

You cannot afford to miss this.

He made us for each other and to care for the earth and to be a people for His own.  You were made for Him.  To follow Him.  To have a real relationship with Him.  To love Him.

If you are in love just imagine for a moment that this man was made for you and that before you fell for him he had a plan to win you.   Imagine he purchased the most beautiful piece of property with a creek and a waterfall, meadows full of wild flowers and a charming cottage that he had made with his own hands.  A pond that he had stocked himself and a meadow with a pony and puppy all in preparation for the life that you two would have together.  To marry and raise a family there.  To grow up and grow old and fall in love there.  Everything that you could ever want is there.  Sure, there will be hard times, fights, sickness or sorrows but such is life, right?  Even a good one.

But she, you, find yourself indifferent to his offering.  You doubt, without reason, his sincerity and despite everything he has done you walk away.

She gives herself to lesser things.

Surely somewhere in the recesses of your mind and heart you hear the call of your Creator?

Come home.  Come back to me.

Song of Solomon   The voice of my beloved!  Behold, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills.  My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.  Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, looking through the lattice.  My beloved speaks and says to me,
         
                               "Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away".

He has made a dwelling place for you.  He has made a place in His world for you.  He has a place in His heart for you.  He wait and longs for you.

Do you have room in your life for someone who loves you that much or will you be indifferent to his labors and give yourself to lesser things and walk away.

Consider this.....where will you go?

Father, there is nothing greater in this life or the next to surpass knowing You.  Lead us to truth Lord and remove the lies in our hearts about who You are and what You are like.  Reveal Yourself to us.  Goodness, mercy, integrity, patience, loving kindness and unending love.  Forgive us for ever thinking that you are less.

The Creation

Genesis 1   In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water.  And God said, "Let there be light, " and there was light.  And God saw that the light was good.  And God separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.  And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Do you believe this?

When I was a young child, before I became a believer or came to know God, the story of creation just made sense to me.  I could look at the stars and moon, the wind and weather and watch our food just grow up out of the ground and it was just easy for my mind to transition into the thought that there was someone in the heavens that was bigger than us and that He must keep the whole thing running smoothly.  It was my thought that he was wise and good.  And distant.

Have you ever walked barefoot out to your own garden and picked a tomato that you had planted with your own hands, washed it off with a garden hose that had been lying in the sun so the water was nice and warm and bit into a ripe, juicy tomato?  If you haven't, you should.  My first thought would be, Thank You Lord for sunshine and tomatoes.

Other theories on creation just don't fit for me.  Our world seems to be built with wisdom, creativity, order....intent.

Does it take a leap of faith to believe in creation by God?

Does it take faith to believe that we evolved from apes or came from the sea or are a product of an explosion in space?

Maybe.

Maybe before I came to know Him.

If you consider the ant, the brain, the conception of a child ask yourself if these things are random accidental events that occur by instinct alone and if so, who created that instinct.

I will not pretend to be wise enough to argue the great minds of science.  I know the outskirts of science.  But I have a working knowledge of its creator.

Trying to explain being filled with God's Holy Spirit is like trying to explain contractions to a man.  But there is, living in the heart of every believer, the likeness and exact replica of that creator and it bears witness to the truth.  He, the Holy Spirit, is our Amen.  He is the One who leads us to truth.

Creation by God made sense to me as a child.  But from the moment I placed my heart in Christ and He placed His Spirit in me it not only makes sense but is also no longer takes a leap of faith to believe it.  Its just the way it is.

I would submit to you truth.  There is a God in heaven who is present at all times.  By His power and through His great love everything that you see was created for Him and by Him.  Man was the crown of that creation, made in His own image and dearly loved.  You were made to have a relationship with Him, not just knowledge of Him.  It is the longing of His heart to redeem You.

If you can accept this as possible and in your heart allow him to reveal truth to you, to reveal Himself to you, you will never to disappointed.

Father reveal Yourself to those who read this.  Make us aware of how much it matters, knowing You.  You are everything.

The Call

Matthew 11   Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Are you struggling under the weight of the load of religion?  You know what I mean.  You can't do this.  You must do this.  You cant touch this, or taste this, or drink that.  You know.....the list. I can't, must, ought, and should list.  The fine print reads that if you keep the list to perfection you might just catch the favor of a God who is only interested in the obedience of His subjects.

Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gently and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

One of the purposes of this blog is to be a witness for Christ, a testament to a great love, a healing, love, a restoring love.  I too would with to be a voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Make way for the coming King".

There is a phrase in the New Testament that is used many times by Jesus.  Follow Me.

It speaks of a commitment.  A bonded friendship.  A vested relationship.  Just walk with Me and talk with Me, dwell with Me, laugh and cry with Me.  Pray for Me.  Learn from Me all that is needed for life, for family, for country, for My Fathers kingdom.  He knew that if they followed Him they would come to believe in Him and that would be enough to secure them for all eternity.  And that they would tell others of His great love for them.

I hope that through this blog you come to know Him.  I hope my writings make you curious about Him.  I hope it sparks your interest in Him.  Because if it does and if you seek Him, He will be found.  If you find Him, follow Him.  For knowing Him is the key to it ALL.  The whole shebang.  The whole kit and caboodle.

For what He's done for me....this is why I write.  He loved me.  He restored Me.  He redeemed from from a worthless life, from the very bottom.

He saved me.  Not with a list but by His love for me.  He loved me into a relationship and He has been mending up the broken places ever since.

Does this seem impossible?  I would be for anyone other than the Son of God, the Savior of the world.  And doesn't the world need a Savior?

Matthew 7  Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him.

Father give me the words to write that  bring people to the knowledge of who You are.  Help these words find the hopeless, the lonely, the desperate, the seekers, the misguided and unbelieving.  Let me bear witness to Your honor, Your steadfast love, Your desire to heal our wounds and give meaning to our lives. Make us Yours Lord and may we count for Your kingdom.  It's all for You Lord and YOU really ARE worth it.

The Reunion

Revelation 21   Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold the dwelling place of God is with man.  He will dwell with them and they will be His people, and God Himselfwill be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

Yesterday was an awesome day.  It was the Bowen family reunion at my mom's place.

Ken went with the kids to church while I cooked for the reunion.  Jaimie, Nick, Haley and Will at church together and that is awesome enough.  There is something wonderful in having your children worship together the God who gave all for us, especially when those "children" are grown and married.

After Church we drove to Alabama to my mothers' house which is her parents homeplace which is beside their parents homeplace.  Of course they are all long gone from this earth.  They are at their Fathers' homeplace.

Our family has been meeting here in this place for as long as I can remember. Yesterday one of my cousins brought us a picture of my parents when they were young, taken in this very yard at a reunion long ago.  My sweet, funny Daddy, gone for so many years now.  We had such a great time.  My family knows how to have fun and they love to laugh and joke and tell funny stories of each other through the years.  They also know how to cook.  The food was awesome.

I looked around this group of people, some very young, some great in years, some known and loved for all of my life an some I had not met before and I was filled with such a sweet feeling of contentment, of connection.   By blood we are connected for life.  By the Spirit we are connected for eternity.

Anytime we are together as a family I feel the loss of those who are not here any longer.  Daddy, Casey, Uncle Floyd, Granny & Papaw, Mimmie & Papa and so many more.  I miss them so much.  It is also a bittersweet longing for I know where they are.  I know where I'm going.  And I know that our best years together are still to come.  I will see them again.  No doubt.  We will spend eternity together in our Fathers' house in heaven.

My parents, and their parents and their parents owned this land and year after year they invited all the their family to come to a reunion.  It is tradition.  A way to reconnect to those people who share your heritage.

I believe that my heavenly Father has done and is doing the same.  He has prepared a place for His people, a city, where He will live with them there.  This life will be no more, all things will be made new.  Even us.  No more sickness, no more death and maybe the best of all....no more separation from your family.

Down through the generations of my family has been passed a love for God and for the Scriptures and a belief that not only does He exist but that He has a longing, deep and constant for His family, for His children, for us.  And that when this life is over we will pass seamlessly into the next.  We will go home to a huge family reunion.  The bread, the wine, the celebration, the laughter and the knowing that we have been loved and sought after and watched over and cared for from before the foundations of the world were laid.  Forever.

Father, thank You so much for my family.  For my heritage and their legacy.  The You for revealing Yourself in our lives and in our day to day search to find our way home to You.  Bless them Lord with happiness and health, make the prosper in all that they do.  I pray that their hearts, every one, are steadfastly search for and finding the depth of Your awesome love for them and that their hearts are completely and forever Yours.  Father I pray that we will not come to you empty handed but that our house will be full of the others who have heard from us of Your awesome love for them, Your kindness toward them, Your goodness and everlasting mercy.

The Work

Exodus 31 The Lord said to Moses, See I have called by name Bezales the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stone for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft....And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you.

Words given to Moses regarding the building of the Tabernacle. A meeting place for God and His people. Still relevant after all these years.

John 9 We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming.

For the last few months we have been renovating our home after storm damage in April. It is September. It has been one of the most stressful times in my life.

It reminds me of a dance or an orchestra. Imagine the frustration of a conductor or choreographer with fifty instrumentalists learning to play to perfection a new and very difficult piece of music.

I have learned that one trade is dependent on another. First came finding the right contractor, dealing with the insurance company and the mortgage lender, the trusses, framing, roofing, plumbing, sheetrock, insulators, electricians, masons, painters, and on and on. We are at their mercy.

If it rains the project falls behind and if one person fails to show up for work everyone following them is delayed.

One thing that I have really enjoyed about this projects is watching people work who are gifted at their trade and who will be there when they tell you they will. I love to pull into the driveway and see the tradespeople hard and work and progress being made.

Sometimes in the daily grind of life I forget that God has called me to specific place in His kingdom work.

You and I have been equipped by God to serve in some capacity in His service. There is work that only we can do. And if we fail to do it, what then?

In our remodel when people do not fulfill their roles we fall behind and eventually someone else must be found to complete that task. It's frustrating. We are building a home that we really want to live in. It's expensive. It's hard work. There is a lot depending on it. I want to have my friends and family over for dinner. I want to see a dog playing in the back yard. I want my grandchildren to play there.

God has prepared a place in heaven for all His children to dwell. Whether the world or you or I believe that it does not change the fact that it is true. There will come a day when those who have believed in Him and placed their faith in the Son, in Jesus Christ, will live together as a family. Forever.

There is work to be done to prepare for that day. People need to be invited to come. A family needs to live there. Children need to play there. And workers needs to show up and work to make sure that we do our part and seeing His work come to completion.

I want you to be there.

John 9 We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day.....night is coming.

Father it is so easy to live life, to raise children, to remodel or garden or play and to let the days slip away and never give thought to our purpose for Your kingdom. I want to be a good mom, I want to be a good Nannie and wife and gardener and designer and nurse, all of these things are good but what I really want at the end of the day is to spend eternity with them, with You and with as many as we can persuade to come. Place eternity in my heart, in my thoughts every day. Give the power of Your Holy Spirit to these words and let them have an impact for Your glory.

The Shadow

John 12 Now is My soul troubled. And what shall I say? "Father, save Me from the hour?" But for this purpose I have come to this hour.

Father, glorify Your Name.

Sometimes knowing the end of a story causes the beginning to lack impact. May it never be that we would consider the cross and not be impacted by the sheer horror of it.

One thing that amazes me about the life and ministry of Jesus is the fact that He could enjoy life and fulfill His purpose with the cross looming in His future. How could He function will clarity, form friendships, laugh, weep at the pain of others, teach, heal and love without measure when He knew what was coming?

And this is the point in which our minds might say, Well, He was God. And the thought is that it was easier for Him than it would have been for us. Right?

Now is My should troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour?

He was a man. Flesh and blood. The Scripture says He became weary, sleepy, hungry and angry. He cried real tears and felt real human emotions. Like fear. Or dread. The Scriptures say He was tested in EVERY way like a man. Yet without sin.

But for this purpose I have come to this hour.

Father, glorify Your Name.

He chose the cross. He set His eyes toward Calvary and endured not just for us. For the great Name and glory of His Father and in accordance with His will.

All things were accomplished through the life, ministry and death of Jesus Christ. Our debt was settled; an atonement was made for our sin. Jesus completed His ministry through obedience to the His Fathers' plan and for His Fathers' glory.

Be magnified, O Lord!!

Hopefully, when we consider the cross we will be impacted by the act of His will and His love and His sacrifice.

When I survey the wondrous cross....

Lord Jesus may we never forget Your anguish, Your suffering and Your commitment. Remind us of the agony and sacrifice that was made for our souls. For Your devotion to our Father and for the price that You pain we are grateful. May our gratitude be reflected in the way we live.

The Whirlwind

Hosea Hear the Word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the Land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the Land; there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Do you ever feel that the only consistent trait in your life is inconsistency? Me too.

I have several unfinished projects. I work short contracts in different states so I travel a lot and we have been remodeling our house for the last several months due to storm damage so life has been pretty erratic. Part of this seems good for me. It stretches my boundaries, forces me to try new things and gives me a sense of adventure.

But I have come to suspect that it is fueled by an inconsistent nature. I have fostered a lifestyle that allows me to be inconsistent. I hover around the edges of my life.

I have become a visitor.

If you follow this blog then you know that part of work being done is here is My Father loving me too much to leave me the way that I am. So to get to the real cause of this problem the Helper brings me to Hosea....

There is no steadfast love...

And for this, God has called me out. He is not interested in the excuses. He has heard them all.

And because of that, I run. The subconscious thought is this: If I cannot be found I cannot be held responsible.

Hosea What shall I do with you, O Ephrain?

What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early.

Therefore I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. And there she will answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me "my Husband".

Sow for yourself righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you.

What holds me to Him, what keeps me coming back is His overwhelming love for me. What causes me to run away? Knowing that I am not worth it.

Hosea When Israel was a child, I loved him. And out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.....

My people are bent on turning away from Me.

Return, O Israel, to the Lord you God, for you have stumbled because of you iniquity. I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely. I am like an evergreen cypress; from Me comes your fruit.

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

Father Your Word is like a mirror into my heart exposing the nature behind the actions. With tender, unrelenting love you pull my hands from my eyes and expose to me the dangers of my innermost being and I am undone by the things I find there. Layer upon layer you peal back the ugliness of pride, selfishness, self-destruction, willfulness, worldliness and compulsion to expose the beautiful spirit that lies within. Arise in Me O Lord and shine through the darkness of my flesh, expose Yourself in me and through me and rid me of all the garbage that lies between us until the day that we fall into One. Thank You for loving us all, for pursuing us all until we find ourselves lost in You.

Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and CHRIST will shine on you.

The Pursuit

John 8 If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciple, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. They answered Him, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been slaved to anyone! How is it that You say, "You will become free"?

Jesus answered them, Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever, the Son remains forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham, yet you seek to kill Me because My Word finds no place in you.

Freedom is oftentimes an illusive idea. We, as Americans, live in the "land of the free". We pride ourselves on being free. Freedom of speech. Freedom of the press. Freedom of religion. Financial freedom.

But are we really free? And what does freedom cost?

Jesus changes our perspective of freedom. Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.

Sometimes freedom is found within the boundaries of the Law. For instance if I want to remain free from prison I must obey the laws of the time. Do not steal. Do not murder. If I want to remain free of disease I will refrain from smoking, eat healthy or be monogamous. But even at my very best I am not guaranteed freedom. The innocent go to prison. People who have never smoked get cancer. Children are born to parents infected with HIV.

Even before sin entered the world there was still boundaries to freedom. There was still a law, only one, and that was broken by the very first family.

True freedom by human standards my be an impossibility in this life, in this flesh.

But is the Son sets you free....If the truth sets you free....You are free indeed.

Do you long for freedom? Then the first question might be, To what are you enslaved?

What was the first thing that came to mind?

I wish I had to answer to the question. I do not. What I do know is this. For me, at least, and I believe for all of us, true freedom is found only by turning to the One who is able to free us.

If money could free us, if fame could free us, if drugs or alcohol or freedom could free us we would be free.

Truth frees us.

We were built with a hole in our lives that is only filled by our creator. Nothing and no one will ever be adequate to meet our need for Him.

If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciple, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. So, if you Son sets you free, you are free indeed.

Father we have become willing slaves to so many things. We are enslaved to the pursuit of freedom itself. As we learn to abide in You, reveal Yourself to us. Lead us to the freedom that is found in You alone.

Ephesians 5 Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Proverbs 21 The kings heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever He will.

The Incurable

Jeremiah 30 For thus says the Lord; Your hurt is incurable, and your wound is grievous. There is none to uphold your cause, no medicine for your wound, no healing for you...for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy, the punishment of a merciless foe, because your guilt is great.

Lamentations 2 For your ruin is vast as the sea; who can heal you?

Isaiah 53 For He grew up before Him like a young plant, and like a root our of dry ground; He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief and as one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to His own way. And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

It has been a long, long time.

When I sat down with my Bible today I did not expect to write a blog. I hoped I would. So I brought paper and pen just in case. Just in case the Lord of heaven and earth should speak. For what could He possibly have to say to such a wandering heart, to one so easily drawn away?

For this says the Lord, your hurt is incurable....your guilt is great. Who can heal you?

So today, as with so many days before, I am faced with the truth. The biting, cutting edge of truth. There is no possible answer to our pain, our addictions, our trouble or our sin aside from Jesus Christ.

There is, I believe, a fundamental flaw in our thinking that is this....If I can change this, control this, stop this.....I will be acceptable or approved by God.

And so He comes to me with truth. Who can heal you? There is no hope for you. No help. No cure. No medicine.

You are ruined.

But He....

He was wounded for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace and by His stripes we are healed.

Because on Him was laid the iniquity of us all.

If you struggle, like I do, be comforted. There is hope for you. There is a cure. There is a remedy of healing and forgiveness in placing your faith in the only one who is able, who is is worthy, who is willing to save.

What can wash away my sin? What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Jude Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blames before the presence of His glory with great JOY, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Amen.