Tag Archives: love

The Man of Her Dreams.

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A bride in an elaborate wedding dress from 1929.

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A young woman dreams of the man she imagines.

With delicate care he considers her needs.

Though she knows her desire, wants, needs, and cares,

She envisions a man who understands.

And if the Lord blesses, and the two hear His voice,

Then the union will be strands of gold.

The man of her dreams will watch with intent,

Every movement, every habit, every notion his love presents.

What joy to be united in such a delicate embrace of care.

And sadly to few arrive.

The man of her dreams will go to extent.

Provision will surely arrive.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Are we not the Bride of Christ?

Winter Past, Victory Attained!

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English: Yosemite Valley in winter

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The people of God wake to spring in America.   As I sat in the dark to listen to the rain sprinkle life to new born plants, I thought about the winter past.  I thought of how quickly a season passes once it is done.  How odd that the strivings of winter fade to a single picture of either success or failure when Spring moves in.  And at the end of that inspection I find work.  By His Glorious Grace I have worked through Winter to become something more than what I was in the Fall.

How beautiful to find that growth has been logged in my history.  I did not do this.  It is God, because of His beauty, who has done this for me.  And not for me only, but for all who hear with ears not their own.  For those who have been given eyes to see what cannot be seen with the eyes of man.  And for all of us who fight that good fight with a strength that only comes from the One who is absolute strength.

How glorious to remember that God is eternal!  To know that there is no shadow of turning within the God Most High we serve through Jesus.  We rest in knowing that unending seasons will continue because God cannot fail.   Death belongs to sin.  And there is no possibility of God sinning against Himself.

With this I rise to serve.  And I remember this:  There is no fear in love.  For fear has to do with punishment.  And he who fears is not yet made perfect in love.  There is no reason to fear Spring this year.  For I remember that He has granted me sweet memories of holy work within me through the Winter.   May God bless all His children with the same victory, and more.

Amen!

By Hiis Grace.

Conquering Sin.

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The morgue in a abandoned hospital in Deventer...

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“I can’t take it anymore!  I don’t care if I ever see your face again.”  These words were spoken by a husband to his wife, one gentle Spring evening.  He walked out the door vowing to himself to never speak to her again.  Three days later, he spoke to her.  But she didn’t answer.  The last conversation he had with her was as she lay on a slab in the coroner’s prep room.  He had to go identify what remained of her after a violent car accident.  His vow broken, along with his heart, was a vow that should never have been made.

Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends, and enemies make vows of silence toward others every day.  And it is a rare thing when those vows can’t be broken.  But these situations are avoidable.   I could go into great detail about what to do to avoid using words you will surely regret.  But how useless would this post be?  Who would read a 10,000 word post?  Instead, I will go our relationship with God to make the point necessary.

The ultimate relationship anyone can have is that of himself and the Lord who made him.  How often this relationship is broken by the human alone.  We decide we will chase after a sinful path we knew well would not end in the pleasure of our God.  But we did it anyway.  And isn’t this what causes all human discord?  We want something the other doesn’t.  So we willingly break the bond of love and trust between us.

We can avoid every possible break in our relationship with God if we love Him more than those things which tear us apart.  It sounds simple when I type it here.  But in practise we find ourselves pulled into sin by a lack of love for His ways.  “. . . Do you love Me more than these?”

When was the last time you found yourself loving God more than the pleasures of sin?  Perhaps you’re stuck in a cycle of sin, confession, and restoration.  Retrospect tells us plainly how we define the word sin.  Hind sight is very clear when we find the relationship between God and ourselves broken.  We all have a weakness which we allow to trip us up and rip us from the loving and powerful prayer life.  This can be avoided if we train ourselves to love God.

We can’t conquer the sinful nature without a distinct and vibrant love for God.  What Jesus has done is to open the door for us into this relationship.  But He leaves it up to us to decide that this relationship with His Father is worth forsaking everything sinful.  My only hope is that those who read this will consider their love for God in a very deep manner.  There is a place where most will end up like that husband.  They will speak to God with a deep and overwhelming grief.  But it will be too late.

By His Grace.

My LOVE! How Sweet You Are!

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The Analysis of Beauty Plate 1, 37.15 x 49.05 cm.

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I present you words here.  That is all I can do.  And what shall I say which will describe the beauty of my Lovely God?

He is as a very light breeze which caresses my face.  Almost imperceptible to my senses, yet powerful enough to touch me, pass by, and caress a tree a hundred yards away.  And to my amazement, this same breeze which He allowed me to perceive has come from somewhere.  And it did not appear to me void of having touched others.  His beauty is a gentle breeze to those whom He loves.  Yet it is a hurricane to His enemies. 

His blazing light of Righteousness and judgment are welcome guests in this tent of flesh He has endowed with understanding.  And to say “guests” is less than appropriate.  For He is the owner of what He has made.  And even now I see that it is I who am become the guest in my own flesh.  It is I who sits down to the mean prepared by He who has come to live in my house.  This servitude is most amazing.  For He feeds the wicked in the temple of His building. 

Words.  Unholy words from he who is redeemed.  These are my lot.  Yet, don’t these words ring in your mind?  Can you read what I write?  When a man of God was brought to the Throne of He who Lives forever, that man spoke what is true;  “Woe is me!  For I am a man of unclean lips.  And I dwell among a people of unclean lips!”  This was said by a servant of the Most High God.  What shall be the words of those who remain in darkness?

Words.  How beautiful they can be if they strive to portray the beauty of my Love.  Yet how absolutely unable to paint the picture He shows to His people.  Who shall be proud of their words?  Who can stand in the Great Assembly and proclaim with their lips of man the Glory of God?  And who has ears to hear the beauty spoken?

By His Grace.

You Obey as You Love Me.

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Granite

Image by smiling_da_vinci via Flickr

As I walked along the path prescribed, I listened to the One above.  He walked along the top most part of the walls which encased my way.  The walls are built of every material known to man.  And as I looked up them, the materials became mixed together to form harder and more awesome materials. 

I remembered the day the Lord told me to climb to my left.  I looked at the mountain of sand and thought, “How could my tiny legs ever surmount that mountain of sand?”  I remembered how hard it is to walk in sand.  But the Lord told me to climb.  And, since I was desiring Him, I climbed.  Having reached the top of that mountain of sand, I thought to myself, “That was the task?  But it seems so simple now”. 

There have been many “climbings” since then.  And each one appears to be impossible at first.  But when the climb is accomplished, the task appears to be much like an evening stroll down a shaded and level path.  But it’s the initial view that is daunting. 

These climbs appear to be more and more difficult.   And the recent one was worst of all.  But isn’t that what I’ve said about every one of them?  The wall became like steel mixed with granite.  The mix was like nothing I had ever imagined before.  The surface of the wall was smooth as glass.  And the height was beyond my ability to see.  He said to me, “Climb this wall on your right”. 

Every time I tried, I would lose grip and come back down to the place of starting.    One day, after He had bid me climb again, I asked Him, “Why can’t I seem to obey what you ask?  You do not lie.  And there is no guile in You.  So why can’t I obey?”  His response was interesting and simple.  “You don’t Love Me”, He said.  “If you love Me you will obey My every command”.  This set me back a bit.  I pondered this for days.  Then it came to me.  I have been trying to do this so that I can accomplish His commands for myself.  Now I see it!  I will love Him! 

I thrust out my hand toward the wall with a vengeance.  My teeth set against each other hard.  My eyes blazing with intent.  And to my surprise, my hand penetrated the wall up to my knuckles.  I had a hand hold!  Up I went.  Hand over hand.  And my feet penetrating the glassy mix of stone and steel.  Sweat became like rain.  But my heart did not tire. 

I have reached the top now.  I know there are more climbs to endure.  But the key to this one was astoundingly simple, yet impossible to detect.  When I love Him, I can obey with ease!

By His Grace.

Allowing Time for Change.

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We all have someone in our life who we would love to see grow in maturity, or experience the freedom found in Christ Jesus, or take responsibility for their own actions, or even forgive an offence.    This desire to see positive growth in that loved one is a good thing.  No doubt, in that desire is found everything “good”.  There are even places in each one of us which might draw that same desire for ourselves.  “Oh, I so wish I could just…………….”. 

Will you permit me to ask a really hard question?   What serious change, or radical change, has ever come upon anyone over night?  Oh, there might be realizations that change our direction.  But the really concrete change (so as to never go back) happens slowly.  First we realize we have a problem.  Then we try on different fixes like a child tries on daddy’s shoes.  And finally we find what we know will solve the problem.  But it’s at the last point where we realize how absolutely huge and difficult change is going to be.

Even coming to Jesus with a problem we find the same three increments: realize, try variations, come to grip with the real fix.  Our lives are slow, yet hopefully sure, steps toward what we know is “good”.  I post this because I see a whole lot of people kind of stuck in a mire of doubt and inability.  I absolutely know that Jesus is the answer to any problem you might have going on.  But there’s an element of natural progress that must be embraced.

When we see someone we want to change toward what is “good”, what are we expecting?  If we expect them to just “Get with the program”, we’re bound to be disappointed.  Look at yourself.  What are you expecting?  Since even we can’t change over night, why do we expect it from others?  And what might the first signs of change look like?  The person we are focusing on, whether someone else or ourselves, is already dysfunctional in some manner.  Do we expect the first signs of wellness to appear void of this dysfunctional behavior?

This is what forgiveness is all about.  Openning the door to the sickness. so that when we see change we are willing to embrace it.   And this is why it is said that Jesus offers the fix to our problem.  His forgiveness and teaching are sure, real, and effective.  Let yourself receive forgiveness from Him.  Let yourself receive forgiveness from yourself.  Offer that same forgiveness to others.  This is the beginning of healing for everyone, even YOU.  Put on patience and love as if you were going to a stately dinner.  Wear patience for yourself.  Love without regard to who needs it.  This is the key to healing from wounds too deep to touch.

By His Grace.