Beauty ahead...

"A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice." (Isaiah 42:3)

Father, 

We take comfort today in the gift of Your presence and we trust Your leading to see us through. We praise You as a God of justice and mercy even though there are many things we cannot figure out on our own. We don't know, dear Lord, why some people seem to struggle so much while others seem to suffer so little. Guard us from trying to discern all the details and enable us to rest more and more in the peace of knowing You. Yours is a peace which transcends that which is seemingly certain, comfortable, and secure. Yours is a peace which allows for faith even when circumstances around us are uncertain and fragile. 

If we are known to You and You've called us by name, then we can draw strength from the knowledge that no one can snatch us from Your hand (John 10:28). We need not fear for You have willed Your truth to triumph through us.

Powerful One, work powerfully today in the lives of those who are weak, oppressed, and lost.Work mightily in the hearts, minds, and lives of those who need You, Your touch,  and Your amazing grace.

Jesus, enable us to shine brightly in places where our world seems so dark, so confused, and so forsaken.

You are still the hope of nations, Servant King. 

In gracious love, grant us glimpses of beautiful tapestry where right now we might be seeing only tangled threads. 

Manageable

My Father has the wonderful ability to help me manage that which I would otherwise name as unmanageable.


Every week, I need to be reminded He's not going to fail me while I flounder, flub, and fumble around. His mercies are new every morning and He's as close as my next breath of air . I love the thought of His compassion being fresh every day; His faithfulness is abundant and His grace is ample.


I can know and experience His full sufficiency even as I question, wrestle, and wonder. I can feel uncertain in my adventure even while being certain of my expected destination. I don't have to know everything about all the stops in between, before I board the bus. If I was aware of all the paths the Guide would lead me down before I arrived where I was going, I would possibly abandon ideas before I had opportunity to search them out. To walk with the Lord in faith, is not necessarily to abandon my fears all at once; to walk with the Lord in faith is to appreciate the gradual fading of my fears as I gain understanding of His plan piece by piece by piece. 

Often, renewal is not achieved by means of a singular Aha moment; often, renewal comes in incremental measures as I breathe in and out and find myself moving from peace to peace to peace. Admittedly, some days, times, and seasons are more peaceful than others. It's not wise, honest, or realistic for me to pretend that my days are always flowing smoothly and things are always proceeding swimmingly. It is much wiser for me to confess my neediness and move forward comforted by His presence and direction in the midst of my apprehension, agitation, or nervousness. His nearness despite my disquiet makes advancement possible step by step or inch by inch. Together with the Lord, I am able to persevere in whatever surprising activities a given day brings forth. It means a great deal to me to consider the fact He is not astonished by events which occur without my prior notice or intention. 


Each day is but a part of a bigger picture and I serve a Master whose call to hope and life extends way, way, way, beyond my fickle imaginations and momentary frustrations.


May I not "write off"  those things God is still working out...


He has a plan and those who believe are active members in it... 


I yearn to keep an open heart, mind, and will before Him.

Glimpsing the winner...

Amid all the talent and family displayed at yesterday's worship service, I desperately needed to remind myself I have not been cheated somehow. The Lord knows my heart and I'm so glad He does. He knows how close I felt to defeat yesterday in spite of the fact it was a glorious Easter remembrance. He needed to have a personal word with me about not feeling deprived and seeking to rejoice. I've got a lot to be joyful about even though I sometimes focus on what I have not rather than on what I have.


He's still the King and He's still calling people to find their life in Him. His kingdom is not of this world so it makes sense we won't find it completely unveiled here. We will only catch glimpses of it through what we know of Him and those He has chosen by His grace.


He's still the hope of those who seek Him.  He rose again from from the dead and  in so doing, He defeated the power and sting of death. He reconciled generations of lost and blinded children with their Father who created them and loves them as His own.


He's still the help of those who find. Those who have found Him and have been found by Him recognize what a treasure they have inherited in being known. The sense of rightness which accompanies being known is incomparable in part because it affords a person security in a world which changes from moment to moment.  "The saying is sure: If we have died with Him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him;" (2 Tim. 2:11-12a). He will give me what I need to stay strong and continue on in Him. He will allow me to participate in regular memorials so that I don't turn aside from the gift He is giving and applying to my heart.

None other is so loving, so good, and kind.  I can truly testify to God's love, kindness, goodness, and generosity as I remember where He has brought me from and exactly how faithful He is. I don't deserve anything I have been given, but He has dealt with me in grace and has been rejected and forsaken so that I would be abandoned not.


Not cheated...
Not deprived...
Not duped...
and only really momentarily disappointed...


Thine is the glory, risen, conquering Son...endless is the victory You over death have won...

Known

"The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps." (Proverbs 16:9)


This simple text has been a favorite of mine for over a decade and I have often referred to it in my prayers and encouragements. 


It is a true blessing for me to believe God will keep, direct, and establish my friends and family members when I cannot be physically present with them. I have the privilege of praying for His presence with them even when we are far apart from each other. It gives me a strong sense of comfort to acknowledge He is in control and I am not.


In His omniscience, He knows what will happen when. Sometimes our plans for the day or the week will be thrown seemingly off-course by illness or unexpected occurrence. We find ourselves surprised or caught off-guard, but God is not. He's the Alpha and Omega. In the end, all things find their purpose in He and His glory.


He is with us to sustain and uphold us when we feel stressed and uneasy. I can turn to Him over and over again when I don't know what's up and what's coming down the pike. He is able to withstand my distress. He is more than just my fair-weather friend and buddy. In His humanity, the Savior once was a man of sorrows, rejected of men,  and familiar with grief (Isaiah 53). 


It's a great relief to count Him trustworthy.  

He  knows about the emergency room visit. 
He knows about the premature birth situation.
He knows about the difficult move ahead.
He knows when two saints are called home at the same time.
He knows about the virus which appears without prior notice.
He's aware of depression, boredom, gloominess, and loss of hope.
He 's alert, not ignorant.
He's interested, not neglectful.


The Almighty's not in heaven wringing His hands and saying "Oh, my goodness" (Begg); instead, He invites people to confide in Him, lean upon His goodness, and depend upon on His loyal love. 


He is faithful and we can cast our cares upon Him regardless of what our specific concerns might be during any given time period.

The Wrinkled and the Willing

In recent weeks, I am learning to better appreciate a love who suffers long. This is love who exercises love toward me when I am not too lovely. This is love who loves me the same way at three in the morning and three in the afternoon. This is love who knows the words on my tongue before I speak them; this is love who knows I have no words left to speak. Love remains when I am frustrated with life, with others, and with myself. Love hears the words of confession, the sighs of unknowing, and the utterances turned prayers. 

Love is there in the silence and perhaps for the first time in my life, I don't find silence uncomfortable. I don't feel the need to ramble or fill the space. The ache in my heart is becoming a burden shared and I'm okay with letting go even when letting go seems a repetitive process. There is no need for flowery sentiments or long explanations because I am practicing the honesty of being at ease with the One who know me better than I could ever hope to know myself. Our midnight meetings might appear jumbled, tangled, unstructured, and unkempt, but they are also joyful, hopeful, freeing, and intense.

 At present, I kind of enjoy being at home with wrinkled in my physicality and in my thoughts. Wrinkled is not putting on a show; wrinkled is accepting what is: from day to day, hour to hour, and minute to minute. Wrinkled is humble enough to admit I've only just begun. Wrinkled is acknowledging my imperfections while gazing upon Him who is and always has been Perfect. 

I probably won't ever show up to church in my pajamas, but there is freedom in knowing that Christ will meet and accept me where I am and use whatever moment of the day to direct me to where I need to be physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.His way is often surprising!

He still uses His word and His presence to bring about teaching, rebuking, correction, and training in righteousness.

He still desires to make me a woman equipped for every good work. He doesn't give up, and He doesn't let me down.

I am weak, but He is strong...

I am wrinkled (for now), but praise Him, He is still willing...

Glorious!

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Roman 5:6-8).

 Within the context of my daily life, I am prone to doubt, wonder, and wander. I find it so reassuring to ponder the fact that God loved me while I was yet unloving and unlovely. This text reminds me Christ, the Messiah, came to save and rescue me while I was not able to provide resources toward my own welfare.

Christ came for me though I was, and am in myself, incapable, incompetent, inept, and insignificant. He didn’t look for me to be dynamic, vigorous, sturdy, strong, or self-supporting apart from Him. He saw me for who I was: feeble, frail, vulnerable, defenseless, and sinful; He knew, apart from Him and His grace, I was completely lost and unsafe.

Christ came for me at just the right time. Though I was neither righteous nor good, at God’s appointed hour in history, Christ gave up His worthy life in exchange for my unworthy, worthless, weak, and sin-sick one. He didn’t come for the perfect and healthy, He came for the broken, imperfect, and stained.

Christ came for me in great love and great sacrifice. His love and sacrifice was considerable, abundant, immense, profound, and amazing. There was nothing thin, puny, or miniature about the way or extent to which Jesus loved. His immense love, given to me in great, abundant measure, motivates me by Spirit and example to love others around me in the middle of imperfection, brokenness, unrighteousness, and strife. I am a broken person living in a broken world, but I serve a great King who overcame the powers of sin, death and hell in order that I might overcome together with Him and others who long for His glorious appearing.

Maranatha, our Lord came and comes again…

Soon and very soon…

He’s where the joy comes from…

Consider

"Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots." (Luke 23:34)


As I am instructed by the Lord through the presence of His Holy Spirit in my life, I am ever so slowly realizing the best defense to ignorance is probably not retaliation or quick retort.  My natural being wants to immediately cry out, "Now wait just a minute, you have that wrong"; at the very least, I want to let people know that they don't know from whence they speak. I am grappling with the idea that one of my best defenses against ignorance and stupidity is not retaliation or rebuke,  it may be reflection.


When I pause within a situation which might otherwise invoke my anger or frustration, the Lord may show up to speak His peace and wisdom to my anxiety and disturbance. 


He may remind me, "Amie, the person speaking doesn't have all the details; he or she might be making a judgment without knowing enough of the story." He knows I have done the very same thing often enough. He also knows there are people in my life whom I can trust for wise advice and direction when I need it. He has given them to me.


He may remind me to fix my eyes on Him as the writer of the story, the One who truly knows the end from the beginning. 


He may remind me of His time on the cross where He responded to rejection and hatred by calling on His Father to provide mercy, forgiveness, compassion and grace (www.bible.org)


His prayer from the cross provides believers with an example they can follow even though it may not necessarily be an easy thing to emulate. The Scriptures also provide the case of Stephen in Acts 7 when he asked Jesus for the sins of his persecutors not to be held against them.


I am learning and growing slow but sure. 


I must use discretion to evaluate the counsel I receive and ask wisdom to determine what is pertinent to me and what is not.


I need every day to consider Jesus who endured the cross and its shame for me; I need to keep steadily pressing on and pressing on and pressing on...


from here into eternity.