Heart Longings

Everything we ever longed for is found in Christ! There is such an intense longing placed within all mankind for intimacy with their Saviour (Christ). God so loves and cherishes His creation, He longs for us to know His love and to find the love that we were all created to experience.

After we come to know Him, we go from "image to image" and 'glory to glory' ! The sooner we all can come to the realization that no human reasonings can offer us this depth of intimacy and sharing, the better.

I really want to spend my days and years to come ALL in pursuit of Christ. Have you ever heard that song, if tomorrow never comes? I don't know if tomorrow will come, I don't know what it will be like, but I do know that TODAY I can hear His voice, share love with Him, be loved and cherished by Him, growing in the intimacy of oneness with Him.

What should we do with the Cross? What should we do with the one true fact, that Christ longs for us, to a degree we don't understand: that we have within us, all of us , a longing to be satisfied by Him? He sent Christ to fully & completely satisfy us, he does this as he opens our hearts, cleanses us, and we receive forgiveness. He keeps the door of our hearts opened, knowing that intimacy is meant to be expressed continually between us. That is love, that is intimacy. The longing within is so deep as is the love, that the intimacy is expressed continually.

Will we fill this need and longing within us with Christ? or in the pursuit of other things that will fade away and leave us more empty inside than ever. Satisfying us briefly, superficially, but not deeply, in our deepest most being.

There is one thing we can count on - all things will pass away, but Love, His Love, will last forever.

1 ¶ The song of songs, which is Solomon's.
2 ¶ Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.
4 Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.
5 I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
6 Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.
7 ¶ Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?
8 If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.
9 I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.
10 Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.
11 We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.
12 ¶ While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
13 A bundle of myrrh is my well beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.
14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.
15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.
16 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.
17 The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.

Salvation is a Person, not a Thing

Because I come from a Christian background where salvation is limited to the notion of a simple one-time prayer, or a decision made when you walk down front, or raise your hand to agree with the speaker’s summation of the Gospel, it can be quite easy for me to lose site of the real meaning of the Gospel. The Gospel is a person, not a moment, or a thing.

It is the continual grace bestowed on me through the work done in and through the Person of Christ.

Salvation is not a detached gift of God in some gracious and miraculous way bestowed upon man.

Salvation is Christ, and to experience salvation is to experience Christ. It is not the experience of something, but of someone.


The Bible does not teach that Christ has salvation and dispenses it like a benevolent master giving gifts to his servants who obey him. Christ is our salvation and gives Himself to us as our salvation. He is our life; He is our strength; He is our peace; He is our joy; He is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.”

—George W. Peters, A Biblical Theology of Missions (Chicago: Moody Press, 1972), 65

Living for Others !

Am I My Brother's Keeper?

'None of us liveth to himself.'
Romans 14:7

Has it ever dawned on you that you are responsible for other souls spiritually before God? For instance, if I allow any private deflection from God in my life, everyone about me suffers. We "sit together in heavenly places." "Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it." When once you allow physical selfishness, mental slovenliness, moral obtuseness, spiritual density, everyone belonging to your crowd will suffer. "But," you say, "who is sufficient for these things if you erect a standard like that?" "Our sufficiency is of God," and of Him alone.

"Ye shall be My witnesses." How many of us are willing to spend every ounce of nervous energy, of mental, moral and spiritual energy we have for Jesus Christ? That is the meaning of a witness in God's sense of the word. It takes time, be patient with yourself. God has left us on the earth - what for? To be saved and sanctified? No, to be at it for Him. Am I willing to be broken bread and poured out wine for Him? To be spoilt for this age, for this life, to be spoilt from every standpoint but one - saving as I can disciple men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ. My life as a worker is the way I say "thank you" to God for His unspeakable salvation. Remember it is quite possible for any one of us to be flung out as reprobate silver - ". . . lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

(Oswald Chambers)

Father's Hugs

Just looking at this picture was like, oooh, that soothes my heart and soul!

How does it make you feel !?

(Maureen, it reminded me of the picture on your blog you put up recently)

found the picture here if you want to check it out .

Continuing on In Knowing Christ

Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we [him] no more.
2 Cor. 5:16

The relationship that the disciples once had with Jesus, of knowing Christ in the flesh, was changed, forever changed, by the Holy Spirit. By the wind and power of the Holy Spirit. I would think that as Paul spoke to the church, and tried to convey this truth to them, that they would have found this difficult to understand. Jesus understood that there were many things inexplainable until the Holy Spirit would come - there were many things He could or would have said to them but He knew it wouldn't make any sense til the Spirit of Truth would come and explain it to them (John 16:13)

Knowing Jesus as I do, I am coming to understand that the best relationship that I could ever have with Him is one that is by the Spirit.

That is why Jesus said:
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. (John 16:7)

Jesus said that it was a very good thing that He go, { for He wanted to go } so that we, together with all saints, might know Him by the Spirit and develop our spiritual 'seeing' of Him.

He spoke of a spiritual vision, a 'seeing of Him', that was necessary to have within us, to encounter and experience relationship with Him. Knowing with certainty that the Kingdom of God is within us.

This despite the fact that we cannot see Him in the natural, we cannot touch Him in the natural, nor hear Him in the natural.

A relationship based upon the Spirit of Christ, connects us to Him, and to each other!

Thank you Jesus for the gift given unto us by the Holy Spirit !

Should We Be Content in the Boat?

Religion has always taught many the 'need to get out of the boat' so to speak and walk on water. You know, do something miraculous and supernatural, like Peter did, .. er .. I mean attempted to do. Not much has ever been said perhaps about the others, who stayed behind in the boat and only watched as Peter stepped out of the boat and subsequently failed. All in the boat had feared as Jesus came toward them (walking on water) but Jesus soon spoke to them, calmed their fears by saying, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." Matt. 14:27

Perhaps Peter, unlike the others, was not content to stay in the boat after receiving Jesus' words and comfort. Jesus words were spoken to all. But in the end, it wasn't faith that drove Peter out of the boat because Jesus eventually said to him, "O ye of little faith, why did you doubt?" (fear) Perhaps, after all we have been taught on this, we should consider the other side of this story: consider those disciples who were willing to stay in the boat, willing to receive the comfort and words of Jesus vs Peter's lack of faith.

Often, our first religious inclinations, as honorable as they can appear to be, to ourselves and to others .. if we are truly honest and sincere, they can be traced back to fears and insecurities that linger within all! Linger in all their strengths and passions - yet subtely masquerade as faith!

I think back to so much of what I was taught and often compelled - by not only myself, but others as well - of what I needed to be doing, needed to be thinking, exercising faith, etcc. and see it as clearly a lack of faith and instead rooted in insecurity & fear.

Now that I am settled down in the boat, (gasp lol) and no longer compelled as deeply as I once was towards these things, I find it truly much easier to continuously receive Jesus' comfort and words to my very own heart. Experience His love & enjoy confidence in Him, in His ability to sustain and provide for me.

At the same time, I often see others struggling over and over again, struggling in their fears and doubts, thereby driven to try to do so many things, reflective of walking on the water. I see them struggle and pray above all that they would find rest and peace from this battle deep within. That they might gain Christ, deep within, for truly He speaks to all, He is all we need and will ever need. And become the peaceful influence He desires us to be. A resting place for His Spirit. He provides for all as we simply learn to be content and keep our eyes on Him. Eyes on who He is and the wonderful provision He has given and laid out before us. He will certainly see us through every storm, and every rough current that we face or see on the horizon.

Oh, the peace of God that surpasses our understanding! Now that is truly miraculous~!

More on Marblez Once Again

Ok. Continuing on the topic of marbles in the mouth, so tonight what happened was I stopped over at my best friends' place, and right out of the blue she started asking me all kinds of God questions. I mean, you know, the real ones. I mean changing the subject, interrupting, and wanting to talk about God. About reading the Bible, about what to read in the Bible for starters, and what Christians should and shouldn't do... sigh...

When she got to the 'how do you become born again question', well it seemed like I was having quite a good old time with some more marblez rolling around in my mouth. I mean, like the good Christian that I am, (cough) I had learned long ago how to answer it from a religious perspective, but NOW, how do I explain it from the Spiritual reality of Christ in one's life? I mean it is all spiritual. Explain something spiritual ?! whoa, what !? Explain Christ so that she can grab hold of it, the Spirit can quicken it and bring meaning and guidance to her (for only He knows what she is asking and what glasses she is seeing her questions to me thru). Clearly, only He can bring spiritual life.

What if I said too much or perhaps not enough, or worse than that, what if I confused hereven more (marbles). Oh Holy Spirit, what do I say? Can't I just follow the religious script on this one? I mean marbles anyone? lol

Is it just me? I don't think so. Right off the bat what I really wanted to do was roll off the scripted answer page. "how to lead someone to Christ" page 59. It reminded me of a time when my middle daughter came to me in tears worried about her salvation and need for forgiveness. I mean she was crying. Oh what to say, oh what to do. Did I do the right thing ? I said to my daughter, 'Honey go kneel by your bed, He will speak to you, tell Him what your feeling right now, speak to Him and He will listen. He will give you reassurance as you bring this all to Him and talk to Him." (No I did not lead her in the sinner's prayer but I was tempted to) smile. He has a plan, He always has a plan. Thank you Jesus.

In this situation with my friend, thankfully, I also quickly recalled to mind how utterly confused I myself was 13 plus years ago when I first tried to understand the whole born again experience. What is it ? How does it work ? What do I need to do ? Con-fu-sing!!

Nicodemus said , "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" (John 3:4)

Clearly we are all like Nicodemus in our lifetime as we ponder this very same question. Perhaps we should remember this for we all just like him at one time. All of us do not understand Jesus and the truth about the new birth. Add on top of this or in the mix the incredible confusion of churchianity and their 'messages' (*&^:#@) to their adherents week after week. Therefore, we are not only confused & incapable of understanding the new birth, we are blinded to the wonder of it all by many things.

I didn't have a clue back then of the amazing life that is available, that I could have a relationship with Him unlike any other - where I am cherished by Him. All we/I could compare or call to mind is dead old religion as well as kooky way out there Christians I met here and there perhaps. Come to find out, it was nothing like that ! We have no idea how beautiful it truly truly is, and can become with Christ. We all need to be BORN AGAIN and made completely new to find this reality in our lives.

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (Notice how there are two births being described here. There is the fleshly one, then there is the spiritual one. There is a deliberate distinction here between these two. )

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

This gives me peace because I now realize sitting here that even though I couldn't explain the spiritual process of being born again (ie just as I can't explain the wind, where it comes from, where it goes) I could however explain the spiritual life and reality of Christ, Christ living in us, changing us from the inside out.

Just like the wind. We don't know where it comes from either, or where it goes, and we certainly can't describe it other than when we see the effect of it around us, blowing softly through the trees.

Right now I am thankful for the fact that the Holy Spirit is blowing in her direction. I am not sure how he is doing it, but He is. Definitely He is. I see the effects of the wind (spirit) blowing in her life.

Rolling Marbles

I couldn't help but laugh as I read the post from Barb at Former Leader's Journal.

I have felt the same way as her and thought often with amusement about the words I used to say
and how they now feel so 'strange' . She describes them as marbles in her mouth.

for example,

"how was church today?"

"worship was so amazing today"

"the message was so powerful today"

"what time is church at"

"where do you go to church"

"the annointing was so strong today"

lol

I am sure there's more.

More marbles.

Forgiveness Quotes

Which quote is your favorite???

Quotes:

Know all and you will pardon all. --Thomas A’Kempis

We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies
--Voltaire

A mature Christian has capacity to absorb the offenses and weaknesses of others, not just demand they perform up to the code of ideals. --Stephen Crosby

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.—Unknown

Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were. --Cherie Carter-Scott

He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.--George Herbert

Resentment is like a glass of poison that a man drinks; then he sits down and waits for his enemy to die.—Unknown

A Christian will find it cheaper to pardon than to resent. Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, and the waste of spirit. --Hannah More

Forgiveness means that you've decided not to let it keep festering inside even if it only comes up once in awhile. --Doc Childre and Howard Martin

Forgiveness is giving up the possibility of a better past. --Unknown

Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting. --William A. Ward

You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well. --Lewis B. Smedes

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. --William Blake:

Forgiveness is . . . accepting God's sovereign use of people and situations to strip you of self importance, and humiliate your self love. --Martha Kilpatrick

Without deep humility, true forgiveness is impossible…and will never happen. --Martha Kilpatrick

Forgiveness is me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me. --Anonymous

Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes revenge, and dares forgive an injury. --E. H. Chapin

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?-- Abraham Lincoln

There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.-- Josh Billings

Always forgive your enemies--nothing annoys them so much.-- Oscar Wilde

To err is human; to forgive, divine.-- Alexander Pope

Humanity is never so beautiful as when praying for forgiveness, or else forgiving another. --Jean Paul Richter

The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness. --William Blake

Yes, this is what good is: to forgive evil. There is no other good. --Antonio Porchia

A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers. --Robert Quillen

Forgiveness is the final form of love. --Reinhold Niebuhr

One forgives to the degree that one loves. --Francois de La Rochefoucauld

'Tis the most tender part of love, each other to forgive. --John Sheffield

Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness. --H. Jackson Brown

We are all on a life long journey and the core of its meaning, the terrible demand of its centrality is forgiving and being forgiven. --Martha Kilpatrick

Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life. --George MacDonald

Sweet prayer to you Father

Father , I pray you would help us to be mindful of you, of your heart, your love, your kindness and graciousness.

We can chit chat about so many things (me) but Father you hear us , you long for us to close the door and love you , and let everything that would weigh us down evaporate as we feel your love and presence wash over us.

Nothing is more important than listening.. listening to you and hearing clearly your heart that soothes us, that cares for us... that is RIGHT there, opening up for us a deep satisfying DRINK right down inside of us.

thank you Father for transforming us everyday. thank you Father that we can lean on you, and lean on our brothers and sisters and know that we are but fellow travellers discovering the delight you have always in us.

Help us to share the full joy that you have given us with others. We want to be a delight to others and be a soothing balm to others Lord.

Thank you Father for giving us a life with you - a life with your Son - you have truly made and continue to make all things new.

Lord dwell in us and between us, richly. Enrich and empower us as brightly shining instruments radiating with your love, light and truth ... each and every day !

amen

Prepare to Stand, not prepare to Survive

Having just finished a weekend of celebrations for Thanksgiving here in Canada, I have been thinking along the lines of "preparations". So much time, money, planning, and effort goes into 'preparing' for this day. Preparing/preparations for so much, whether it's Thanksgiving, Christmas, our future - whatever - it occupies and preoccupies our thoughts and our lives.

In the present state of economic instability & chaos, (some economists say that we are experiencing what they have labelled an 'economic tsunami'), you hear alot these days concerning what can be done & the necessary preparations: for example for coming food shortages, for environmental changes and disasters looming on the horizon, for fuel shortages hurricane predictions, economic recession, etc.

There are radio and television analysts, as well as politicians, who eagerly clamor & examine these issues with determination and resolve that they will lead the people towards the necessary changes & preparations. Their promise is if we will but 'prepare' ourselves for these days ahead, we will be able to 'save ourselves' and escape tribulations and devastation, economic woes, and collapse of pensions, uncertainties pertaining to our futures. Also, I have seen many interesting websites of which it seems their main goal is to 'warn and prepare people' for calamities; to provide various items for emergency scenarios. There is an array of various inventions that are available for purchase, said to be useful (according to their literature) to protect against various catastrophes, to aid 'preparedness' for all manner of necessities; power shortages, nuclear attack, and on and on it goes.

But I got to thinking. Whoa, wait a second. What does the Bible teach? First of all, imagine the energy that would be necessary & could be expended towards these preparations as well. Would there ever be an end to it? Imagine how all consuming this preoccupation could quickly become, and take hold of someone; it could become an all-consuming need, driven by & thriving on fear, on the hope of being able to fully 'prepare' oneself and store up' for the days of trouble just around the corner.

But if I look at the Bible, the message isn't 'prepare to survive'. It's prepare to stand! Our hope is in Him. Has He changed? Is He the same yesterday, today and forevermore? The world wants to survive but we know God has great things in store for those who love Him! He wants us to stand on the solid Rock of His Son and declare our God is forever and eternal! God would have us know that He is with us, He is faithful, and so we must prepare ourselves to STAND! Spend time in His presence and allow God's power through His Holy Spirit to search us, to prepare within us a sanctuary. He's our stronghold .

So, instead of being preoccupied (though it's tempting) with trying to prepare for calamities that we are told are looming, or prepare for the unknown and going into survival mode, let's all joyfully welcome more of the Holy Spirit who wants to stir up the faith that is within us that we may stand! What a treasure in our earthen vessels! That we might stand before Him! God said that we can come boldly before Him (with joy in our hearts) "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Heb. 4:6

I am convinced that those who have went before us, through the centuries, faced their own chaos and economic catastrophes. What were there preparations? WEll, certainly first of all they recognized that they no longer fought against human beings. This was completely finished with the New Covenant. They recognized their struggle was against principalities in the heavenlies.

Imagine telling Corrie TenBoom to save up and make preparations ! I think it's so encouraging to think about them and their faith. And how much they loved God and devoted themselves entirely to the Lord. They thrived not because they made preparations for all manner of catastrophies, (that did come upon them). Jesus said and I truly believe they survived with a great witness to the keeping power of God because they prepared to stand before God! They took God's Word into their hearts and sowed precious seed in the hearts of even and most importantly, their worst enemies. They were empowered to stand, to withstand the most cruel and harsh, degrading human conditions on the earth so powerfully, with a fierce love of Christ that would not at any cost be denied. They withstood as it says in Ephesians all evil principalities & rulers because they clothed themselves in His armor. As all others who have been so courageous and withstood every form of evil had done so before us. Eph. 6:10-18

10 ¶ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Christ in You

“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Col. 1:27. Christ joined to you, not Christ by Himself. Christ in you, the hope of glory.

So the central secret of all history is the union of the creature and the Creator, not just the Creator, certainly not just the creature, but the union. We’ve found the whole meaning of life in time and life in eternity when we’ve found that. It’s probably beyond intelligible apprehension by the finite mind, as well as beyond intelligible description. Probably our minds cannot completely compass this infinite glory, but thank God our hearts can experience it, and they do.

And to some extent our minds can compass it—union. We’ve got to think around that. We know that that’s life, for that is what eternal life is. There is only one eternal life, of course, God or Christ, but God is Three. God is Three dwelling in Each Other. So original life is not one Person, or still less one thing, it’s Three living People living in each other and proceeding out from Each Other in their several offices.

(Norman Grubb)

Two Things

I was challenged this morning when I read in Colossians 1 Paul's words :

"Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love [which ye have] to all the saints"

Paul had heard about these Christians and was firstly, thanking God, and also praying for them.
Why ? Because he had heard two things, which he was thankful for.
He had heard:

1. of their faith in Christ Jesus

2. of their love of all the saints.

Two Things.

It's important to understand that faith must be in Jesus Christ. That's the starting point and no amount of reasoning can do away with this. WE must be ever so careful of this.

I was sent a link (thanks Maureen) which I read, and they seemed to conclude that faith doesn't necessarily have to be in Christ alone, quotes:

"Even if we think Christ - as the divine Logos - is the way to God, that doesn't mean that you have to become a Christian to find Him."

"Once they know his name, some people will then be able to connect that name with the Truth that has been in them all along." ?yikes (further in colossians it seems to say, "and you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in [your] mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled". In order to become reconciled, they needed to understand how estranged and alienated they truly were. Not that truth has been in them all along. (yikes). Truth can only become a part of us through Christ. He is the one who makes us new and the old 'me' pass away. To be alienated means to be separated from or estranged from. The only way to not be alienated and an enemy is to understand our need for His redemption because of our lost condition. Knowing Christ truly is not understanding or appreciating truth that has been in us all along, but understanding our own NEED to be forgiven and reconciled and that apart from Christ's mercy and forgiveness we cannot be restored and become His reflection. )

"I KNOW in my heart of hearts that it is to that light that every one of us will return.. call it Jesus or God or Allah or Goddess or Krishna.. it doesn't matter.. It is the place that we come from and it is the place that we return to heal and whole once again."

**the implication in this article is that there are many ways to know the Light, the Truth, and even though they may disagree on the name or way to the Light, they are still the same. There is alot of talk about feelings, experiences, and statements like 'in Love and in the Light' .. yes, feelings and experiences are fine but they can also deceive us all and lead each of us astray very quickly

Please stay faithful to Him. Yes, it is Jesus.

Love Him.

Love the Saints.

Union with Christ

My son broke his right clavicle on Saturday! I am just trying to put together a few of my thoughts since this. I have had alot going on. But I must say, I think I have such a remarkable son. He has not complained of anything at all, nothing, zippo. This despite the fact that he will be out of commission for quite a few weeks from a sport that he loves with a passion. He excels as a hockey player and it's a real avenue for him on many fronts ... he is homeschooled (his last year) and hockey outings are a real part of his life and social interaction and enjoyment. So I praise God for this young man that I already truly admire, who seems to have a remarkable peace and trust in God.

I have thought about trusting God through this all. My heart has praised him because I know how steadfast He is, His peace, His comfort, His ability to completely captivate our being on every level that needs His touch, .. well that is breath-taking. The touch of the Lord!

On my way outside doing some chores last night (I am relegated to this as my son can't at the moment) I just was praising and loving the Father. I am so thankful that he sees us all as those who need their love and attention span 'stretched' at times. We give our attention to so many things, even knowing deep down inside, that only He truly satisfies. We get taken up and preoccupied with life and ever so subtley we lose sight of the joy of Jesus and who He is.

I have thought about how important it is to be thankful for His loving tender care. Thankful for the help of His Holy Spirit to guide us and relieve us of our wandering ways, and nudging us back into the deeper union with Christ. He wants us to truly see, see what we need to see, but see how great God is, and that His comfort, peace, and assurance is there to help us and to keep us strong in our faith, unwaivering, trusting Him. Abilities that can only come from Him.

Luke & I were reading about the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes. WE as a family were talking about the miracles that Jesus performed, as well as the impact it had, or didn't have, on others. Luke & I noticed today that the disciples hearts were hardened after the miracle of feeding those five thousand. They failed to see what perhaps we think was very plain and obvious. So Jesus sent them off, then sent the people off, and went and prayed. It was during that night (probably a long terrifying night, it says the fourth watch) that the disciples were on the sea, a storm raging, that Jesus walked on water towards them. In their despair, they didn't seem to recognize him here either. It seems they had lost sight of the ability of Jesus to rescue them and help alleviate whatever storm or need(s) arose in their midst. I am so thankful that Jesus has given us the Word, that we can read it and have our heart and eyes opened up to the miraculous provision of the Lord for us. He truly is our provider, our sustainer, our help & our hope.

May our eyes and hearts be upon Him! He is looking after us, so no need to doubt, no need to fear, He will come and strengthen us !

What are YOU looking at ??

When we look at Christ what do I see and what do you see ?

Is it about how my life or your life can be better ? I mean, what is it ?

Or is it about enduring despite our weaknesses, and really reaching out to the poor and suffering ? and helping those who are blind and without hope ? Is that our burden ? Oh, is it ? Do we have a burden?

What is Christ about to you ? More importantly, what is Christ about to me ?

Is it about spirituality ? Is it about being spiritual, (whatever that means in these days,) what is it about ?

Is it about his heart and love for all that would seek, for all that would hunger, for all that would be desperate enough in this world for Him, to seek Him, with all that they could ...

What are YOU AND I looking at ?

I fear that I have fallen prey to humanism and to other reasonings and 'truths', and the greatest danger i fear for myself is that in the end, I would deny what is my heart's one true desire ... to be a very real touch of the Master to broken humanity. It's such a heart wrenching place -but are we touched by the sufferings of others? I fear that I would veer off and I would not be what I was created to be, an image of Christ, but instead an image which is of my own imagination and reasoning.

I need a great deliverance against every imagination that is false .

Timothy said that we shouldn't consent to any teaching that is not according to godliness:
If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, [even] the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; (from such withdraw ourself)

Imagine the pleading of Paul's heart to those he loved and cared for. He didn't just pen these words down in a moment of inspiration. I mean think about it, feel it~ the great intensity sweeping over his heart, the tears that would fall quickly, as he wrote with such a passion and penned each and every stroke. And then afterwards, he would sit there and pray and pray and pray and weep . For sure, his heart was fully embraced and in touch with the Master, and so when we read the Word, such as Paul wrote here , we too, we must feel that great depth, that goes beyond what we have reasoned and imagined things to be. We so need the Holy Spirit to take ahold of us in the same way!