Unfailing, Neverending

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Unarmed Truth and Unconditional Love.

Lately I have realized just how much you can't have one without the other. I wish I had more to write and expand upon but it's sort of one of those things I have a million and a half thoughts about and really nothing of substance to write down. Truth paired with unfailing love is the only thing I see capable of making the Kingdom tangible to the world. And Jesus desperately needs to become tangible to the world. If people cannot see or accept the unconditional love we give them, how are they expected to even begin to fathom and accept the Father's love and mercy? It's like seeing the shadow before the person. The shadow makes us more inclined to believe in what is actually making the shadow. If I see what looks to be the shadow of an alligator, but am told the actual thing is a sheep, I'm not going to believe it. As a follower of a true and loving God, I need to make shadows that mirror the Creator. Not to take the place of God, but to point to the One who created love, truth, gave us life.

Live, Love, Laugh?

act justly.
love mercy.
walk humbly.

You know those "live, love, laugh" signs that seem to appear in people's houses the older they get and the more kids they have? Micah 6.8 is like those, except actually incredible and not at all cheesy.


photo cred: rae worker.

Peace/Piece of Heart.

It's amazing to me how well the simple prayer of peace works.

Something like: "God come into this," "God grant us peace of heart," or "God, show us peace right now."

It's such a short prayer, but it is filled with so much meaning. It isn't just a prayer for peace; it is also an acknowledgement that we can no longer do it on our own. It is letting Jesus take the burden for us. It is giving up and letting God take power in a situation, an act of humility. Prayers like these force us to let go of our pride and our fight for control and when God is given control, he works. Why am I always so amazed?

When we ask for peace of heart, we are are also giving a piece of our heart to God. We can give him all those shattered fragments we collect from day to day and he takes those pieces and gives us back a piece of himself, the peace of himself.

I can't think of anything more fantastic.

No, Thank You.

Wake up. Get my kids up for school and go down stairs and proceed to pack their lunches. Feed the dog. Make the family breakfast. Kiss my husband goodbye and slip a note in his briefcase that tells him I love him. Drop the kids off at school. Go to work. Run errands. Pick the kids up from soccer practice. Help them do their homework. Make dinner. Go to a PTA meeting before I come home for family game night. Put the kids to bed. My husband contemplates fixing the hinges on the door of our white picket fence this weekend.

But before I get to this particular point in my life, I need to first take the steps to ensure I will be comfortableand sucessful. So...I go to college. Get involved in a couple of clubs. Become more involved at church. Get the "college experience" and a useful degree in something like business. I graduate. Get engaged. Get married. Honeymoon somewhere tropical. My husband and I buy a dog and name him "scooter." See above for more detailed everyday schedule.

If this is dream of the life ahead of me, I would like to respectfully say "No, thank you." That cannot possibly be the climax of a life I am called to live. Where's the room for God? Where's the room for His movement? If I live the safe and comfortable life above, I am living a life of obligation, compartmentalizing God, making him fit society's dreams and hopes. And the reality is, we are all fooling ourselves if we think God is totally fine with being fit into a Sunday service and maybe a Wednesday night home group and then maybe an added couple week missions trip one summer. I want to do something more with my life. And really, I guess I would be fine with only living the life of the first two paragraphs if my life was my own, but it's not. I want to follow Jesus radically so badly. I don't want to live a life of comfort and security and self-betterment that everyone seems to be condoning. No, getting a business degree is not of the devil, and having a picket fence in your front yard does not make you boring, and God bless you if you have found a husband that really loves you and kids that can create play-doh sculptures like no one else in their kindergarten class.

Truth is, I would actually like a couple of those things as well. But I do not want those to be my dreams. I want to dream and hope for bigger and better things for the kingdom of God. I want to see people healed, people come to know and love God with reckless abandonment. I want to see great things. I would absolutely adore having a family one day. But there has got to be more. The life I originally described in this post cannot be all I can hope and dream for. God has so much bigger plans for all of us than just getting a good job and snagging a spouse and the yearly bonus. That's all self gratifying. I want to see the greatest things of God. I want to gratify God.

Peace

You can't live like hell and expect the peace of heaven

Mmm Mmm

"Your addictions tell your identity you are not qualified to meet with God"

"God sees what we could be, not what we aren't"

Redemption.

Jesus speaks of redemption, of mercy, of grace, of forgiveness.

I want nothing, nothing, nothing more than to be able to show these to others to my fullest ability.

"Freedom reigns in this place, showers of mercy and grace, falling on every face, there is freedom"