My 53rd Birthday Thoughts

"In him (Christ) was life and the life was the light of men. John 1:4  Send the light. Shine on me. 

If the Holy One does not reside and reign within me here at home... I would not presume to miraculously encounter him on Iona, or in church, or in the supermarket.

What makes a holy place? What makes a place truly thin? Before all else, he answer lies in our own internal landscape. Indeed, the first and best thin place must be our own souls. When, by the grace of God, that which has separated us from him has been removed, we can encounter the Holy One himself in freedom and friendship. Scripture tells us that the veil in the temple was literally torn in two when Jesus was crucified; we now have free access to the Holy of Holies... If we truly want to be open to God and hope and seek for more of him in our lives, we can find him ever nearer and ever dearer in the thin places of our spiritual landscape. Thin Places: An Evangelical Journey into Celtic Christianity, Tracy Balzer, pp 38,39

Lord, I want more of you.

And the cherry pie was really good. Thanks, Bev.

Meditation

Meditation has more to do with filling yourself with His thoughts than it does emptying yourself of yours.

To My Lord, My Grace

Joy and pleasure in Your presence
Knowing You in effervescence
Not in public presentation
Nor Spirit power demonstration,
But peace and joy -ecstatic grace-
Alone with You in the secret place.

Jinotega, A Church and Genesis 28:17-19

Entering your presence
is to encounter a large and open space;
It is to extend horizans
beyond those seen before;
It is to remove limits
and fly with the LORD of the Heavens,
Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.
Entering Your presence
is to experience eternity.


The photo is of a the inside of Iglesia de los Angeles [Church of the Angels] in Jinotega.

On one of the posts in the back were these words:

This is the House of God

The door to Heaven

Genesis 28:17

A Dream

Thursday afternoon once we arrived at the Dove Retreat Center I went to my room and started reviewing and writing in my journal. I fell asleep and had a very short dream which is the following.

I saw a man jump forward but he bumped his head on the ceiling. The ceiling was low and getting lower in the direction he was jumping. -- Got to raise the ceiling.


I shared the dream Friday afternoon and got a very positive response... it continued to be a focus point during the rest of the pastors' retreat. Thanks you Lord for your grace.

Discerning the Answer

Reading Psalm 73:16-17 reminded me that the answers to life's difficulties and questions, the knowledge of the future, the peace to go forward isn't found in just thinking, thinking, thinking... They are found in God's sanctuary.

The God-answer is found in His presence.

A Deep Yearning III

Why are you cast down, O my soul
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him
my salvation and my God.

Here is a clear response to depression and turmoil. Put your hope in God.

I like how the Lenguage Actual, a Spanish translation, says it:

There is no reason for me to be unsettled!
There is no reason for me to be worried!
I will put my trust in God my Savour!
I will praise only Him!

If the way is dry and the presence is not there, there is no reason to get upset. Trust in God. Praise Him. He is our hope and our salvation.

As the deer pants for water, so my soul longs for you!

Psalm 42:5, 11, 43:5 ESV

A Deep Yearning II

Time magazine has published an interesting article about Mother Teresa. David Van Biema writes a review of her "autobiography", Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light (Doubleday). The book's compiler and editor, Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk, uses Mother Teresa's "private writings", letters to her confessors and superiors, to produce the book that will be released on September 4, 2007.

The Internet article is quite long, but interesting; it will provide plenty material for some good, thought provoking conversations and it should inspire some deep, personal reflections.

A Deep Yearning

As the deer pants for flowing streams
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?


I long for you O God, your light, your truth, your love; the refreshing river that flows from above and passes within to satisfy the thirst and longing desire for more of you.


Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves have gone over me,
By day the LORD commands his steadfast love
And at night his song is with me a prayer to the God of my life.

Yes, deep within calls to deep without, O God, let your water flow, let the Spirit grow, the well, the river, that sweet and satisfying water. Cover me with your faithful love.

The song of the night is, "I need you more that anything. I need YOU , O LORD. You are my life, my reason to live."

The song wells up within me. "More of you, less of me. I want more and more of you, O my LORD."

Psalm 41:1-2; 7-8 ESV

I Want to Finish Well

Reading 2 Chronicles these recent weeks I've observed the ups and downs of the kings of Judah. So many started well and end poorly.

Solomon - had various encounters with God, built the marvelous temple, experienced his manifest presence and then was lead away and worshipped foreign gods..

Asa - started off very well but in the end he trusted in man and persecuted the Lord's prophet.

And on and on. What a warning! So many of the kings started well, but finished poorly bowing to the god of pride and trust in man.

Today I read the account of Manasseh. I was surprised... How could it be that having seeing that story so many times I never remembered that after being such a bad, bad, bad king, he repented and"commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel" [2 Chron 33:16].

I want to finish well.

Galatians reminds me that I'm not above any of the faults I see or have seen in others. Gal. 6:1b, "Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted" and 6:3 "if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself," serve as strong reminders that I have feet of clay and a very good ability to deceive myself into thinking that all is well.

Lord, I want to finish well. I want Paul's words to be my words, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" [2 Timothy 4:7]. I'll keep another idea from Paul on my lips to help me stay faithful. Phil. 3:13b-14, "I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

I want to finish well.

I Want More!

Since the beginning of the year and earlier we've been seeking for more of God. I'm not satisfied. I've not received what I'm looking for. I want more of God and His holy power. When Pastor Eddie from Nebraska shared at evening prayer in June he touched the area going to God's presence and staying there until you get a word and receive His power.

He shared that we must go to the high place, the place where God dwells and his presence is manifest. In Acts Jesus said go to Jerusalem and wait. Once in the presence of God we should wait there till he speaks and fills us with power. As we wait we must worship and serve the Lord with all our hearts. We must allow his holy presence to cleanse and purify our hearts. Who can believe that God will respond to an unrepentant heart? Who will go up the mountain of the Lord but those with clean hands (actions and lifestyle) and a pure heart (motives and attitudes)?

Once there don't move, until God says, "go." Saul got anxious and made sacrifice before Samuel arrived and began the process of doing things his way instead of God's way. If we wait until we have heard from God and then with quick and confident obedience we do what he said, His backing is certain and our success is sure. Too often, like Joshua, we are asking God to be on our side. When what he wants is for us to join his side and follow his leading.

Wait in Jerusalem until you have been filled with power, and you will be witnesses from you own neighborhood to the ends of the earth. Is that worth waiting for? Is that worth seeking God with all our hearts for?

Father, I want more. Help me be willing to pay the price and actively seek you face.

Consciousness

One of my favorite moments of the day is the time between awake and asleep, between asleep and awake. In those minutes I am aware of God and His world. I sing, I pray, I worship, I listen, I look, I feel. I come and go between consciousness and sleep and dreams and thought and streams of intimacy with Him. I lay there still. He speaks and I listen. Eyes closed, I see. Asleep, I perceive. Quiet, we talk together in the cool of the day, morning or night, as close to Eden as is earthly possible, today.

I sing for joy on my bed; He takes pleasure in His servant (Psalm 139:5, 4). God and man, one (John 17:20, 21).

Melt My Heart

He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. Psalm 147:18

I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone… and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes Ezekiel 36:26

Ice is hard, cold, non-changing, blocks the flow, breaks on impact, etc. Water is liquid, fluid, warm [relatively], takes new forms, take others in it's flow, absorbs impact, etc. (Alejandro, thank you for awakening me to the ideas about ice) My prayer is, "melt my heart, oh God. Make your wind blow over me and your waters flow through me. Give me a heart of flesh. Put your Spirit within me. I want to walk in your ways and be a light here in this world. Melt my heart, oh Lord."