For the Surpassing Worth of Knowing Christ
Letting go of the dusts means letting new light in. It means emptying life of things that were good to have for a time, but are no longer good to keep. Not because their value has changed, but because their role in my life has changed. There was a time for these dusts. But that time is passing.
Now is the time for letting go of the dusts and letting in new light.
What is love and am I known by it?
The western world tends to have this idea of love being a kindness. It’s a nice way to bind up the brokenness of our world’s heartaches for a few brief hours of sunshine.
But that’s not love. Real love is richer. It is steadfast and selfless. It is sometimes grimy and uncomfortable and unpleasant. Love is choosing to make oneself a servant to Christ and others.
Somehow, the dry, dusty brown of this earth has a way of sinking its fangs into the most beautiful fragments of creation and dimming their light. The earth was meant to be a flourishing place, yet, the dead places strip the live places of their beauty and turn creation into a wasteland.
But there is still goodness here.
Sometimes, we get so caught up in thinking about things – trying to rationalize why things happen, trying to pinpoint all the good things God is doing when life is complicated – when we really just need to lower our eyes, rest our heart.
Have you calmed and quieted your soul?
In this bleak midwinter, a take a moment to stop thinking…and to rest in the God who thinks of you.
My little sister taught me what childlike faith is when I discovered that, for all the times we’d driven across states, countries even, she thought my Dad was just getting us there without directions. She wasn’t worried about the details of a map or destination. She just new “[Dad] has gotten us everywhere we’ve needed to be.” And she trusted him to keep doing that.
This is the faith God asks of us. And it is the faith Jesus displayed for us.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and there are so many beautiful, biblical reminders of gratitude and contentment being tossed in my direction. Yet, I have one question still resting on my heart as I prepare for the joyful celebrations and traditions that will take place tomorrow….
What would happen if Jesus showed up?
Several weeks ago, my family tested out having chickens and dogs in the same yard. Little did we know, we were turning our yard into war territory.
Like chickens and dogs, though, humans don’t often live in harmony with one another. We expect everyone else to be perfect and accept our imperfections: silly, huh? God sets a different standard.
God says: be patient with people.
The ugly truth of garden snails is the ugly truth of the human heart too: both are full of a parasite that kills them and anyone who encounters them.
The lovely grace about garden snails is that they can be cleansed from their parasites! But it requires a tedious work that involves their death.
This is the difficult, beautiful glory of God. It is full of grace and truth.
A letter on outsiders, to outsiders, from an outsider…
I almost never do guest posts on my blog, but today I am sharing a letter written by a disciple of Christ who I dearly admire and appreciate. These aren’t my words, but they are full of far more experience and lots of wisdom.
So, read this letter. Trust me. You will be blessed by the words.
Do you hear the heartbeat of creation’s song? Do you hear the anthem of His people’s praise? Shh…listen. It is all around you. It is filling the air, it is blessing this ground.
The saints are singing a new song unto their worthy God!
Are you singing?