Archive for March, 2012

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March 29, 2012

Who gives this woman?

Jesus states in John 6:65 “No man can come unto me except it were given him of my Father”

I was pondering this today and realized of all the things I have asked for in my walk, I have actually failed to make this my hearts cry.  I can’t come to Him without being given to Him.  I can’t worship Him unless my heart is anointed to love Him.  He is the beginning and the end of my race, the object of the gaze of my heart and my eternal destiny.  Strive as I might in my own strength, it is futile unless I am given.  So I cry:  “Father, Give me to your Son.”

Given.  John 3:27  A man can receive nothing unless it is given from heaven….

The truth of this verse is speaking to me on many levels.  I can not receive unless it is given from heaven-nothing. Nothing? What does it mean to receive?

In our world, the sign of effective mothering is when a child has learned to receive well, and effective fathering is evident when we see a child has learned to give. The balance of this parenting structure is made plain in this verse. It takes the nurturing, mothering work of the Spirit of God to teach me how to receive the things of God, and the patient, tender work of the Father heart of God to teach me how to give what I have received.

Yet, here, the giving being considered is myself, and I find with shocking clarity that I can not be His on my own.  I realize the absolute frailty of my will and innate fickleness of my heart.  I must ask the Father to give me to the Son and yet even in that, I can’t ask in truth, unless He first places the yearning in my heart. I must be anointed to ask, and anointed to love and anointed to give.  It is only by His power to keep me,  and in His power to make me constant that I will know true devotion.  I must be given, I can not give myself.  The reality that I can not love Him, unless I receive the love of Heaven, and am given the love of the Father to love the Son, is at once frightening and liberating.

Jesus knew this.  He prayed for this.  My Beloved can not receive me, unless the Father gives me- Is this the passion behind the prayer of John 17?  “Father I desire…” That the lover of my soul would yearn for fellowship with me knowing unless I am given, I will not be his?  This moment takes my breathe away. He prayed for me, because he yearned for me. The yearning heart of the Son of God does not go unanswered-  John 3:35-because The Father loves the Son He has given ALL things into his hands….He has given me to the Son.

This then is my confidence.  I am in the hand of the Father, and He has delighted to give me to the Son. His love is transforming me, keeping me, wanting me, providing for and rejoicing in-me. Teaching me to receive love that I may pour it out on the Son in true devotion, and give it in true sincerity to those He has given me.

Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Sharing this with:  Far Above Rubies

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March 26, 2012

Placating Platitudes Or Passionate Purpose?

“You keep bringing me sacrifices, to ease your mind-when its your heart that I want.” A line from Kristen Mueller song that I can’t quite get out of my head.  How often we try and placate our God with offerings of good works, pleasing voices, pleasant songs, dutiful liturgy, and all the while our hands are lifted- our hearts are chasing other lovers.

How I desire to be like Daniel, who purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies. (Daniel 1:8)

The world sets a table of enticements to feed fleshly desires. Lusts of the eyes, pride of the flesh, accolades of men, selfish ambition. Is it the feasting at this table that will be responsible for the waxing cold of the fires of filial love?  May I not find a place setting there.  I long to feast at the table of My Beloved.  To know his love is more pleasing than the wine of this age. I am looking forward to our upcoming prayer watch.  To be in the place of waiting, watching, listening to the sound love makes when it wrestles with the will and wins.

 

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March 21, 2012

Don't Trifle With Calvary

Reblogged from Keenings:

Reading a poem by George Herbert rightly titled the Agony.  The last line has gripped my heart.
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day … when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ…

Read more… 166 more words

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March 16, 2012

“Drop of Innocence” – Sitra, Bahrain – Isa Ebrahim – Featured Photographer

“Drop of Innocence” – Sitra, Bahrain – Isa Ebrahim – Featured Photographer.

 

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March 14, 2012

If-his blame depresses me

If the praise of man elates me and his

blame depresses me;

if I cannot rest under misunderstanding without

defending myself;

if I love to be loved more than to love,

to be served more than to serve,

then I know nothing of Calvary love

-Amy Carmichael, IF.

The ability to be unmoved by the praise or accusation of man, for the sake or cause of Christ is a place I am consciously pursing. I desire to be seated In HIM in heavenly places and unmoved by the fleeting accolades, and the far too numerous accusations of man.  To be secure in my identity as the beloved of God, called according to His purposes, and not the appointments of man, to live steady under His gaze is a desire, and goal of my heart.

I do not know yet what it is like to live “at rest” under misunderstanding.  The desire to justify the intents and purposes of my actions pushes me to voice my concerns and clarify my point when misunderstanding arises.  I am searching for the  balance between ” if you know your brother has something against you, go to him”  and “being silent before your accusers”.  I am looking to find the shelter in his embrace that though the world wag their head and “say all manner of evil” against me, it doesn’t change who I am in The Beloved. That place that keeps me in love, though I am moved against in hate. I have the knowledge in my mind, but I need it to be a reality in my heart. For out of the heart we live.  Search my heart oh Lord…where is this reality?

Father, help me to not rise to my own defense when others think wrongly of me. Let me learn that place in the fellowship of your sufferings where abiding in you is my natural, not second or third response.  I ask you to show me the rest that is available to me in the knowledge of your love, a place that is my refuge, and my strong tower of defense.  Show me the servants towel, and the gentle way your hands wash the feet of your enemy.  Show me how to love.  How to give of myself unreservedly and how to receive unashamedly.

 

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March 12, 2012

God Wants To Fix Your Transmurner Before You Ask Him

Reblogged from Chief of the least:

Your Father knows what you need before you ask him...(Matthew 6:8)

I struggle with prayer.

Conceptually and practically.

Most of those struggles are probably because I put unwarranted credence on my feelings at any given prayer moment. If I don't feel a tangible groaning, or a burning in my chest, or goosebumps on my neck, then my prayers must have been rendered ineffective.

Read more… 704 more words

A great post on prayer from a fellow blogger. Enjoy!

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March 12, 2012

If-interupptions annoy me

“If interruptions annoy me, and private

cares make me impatient;

If I shadow the souls around me

because I myself am shadowed,

then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

–Amy Carmichael-IF

Interruptions as credentials of indispensability?

“When you are exasperated by interruptions, try to remember that their very frequency may indicate the value of your life. Only people who are full of help and strength are burdened by other persons’ needs. The interruptions which we chafe at are the credentials of our indispensability. The greatest condemnation that anybody could incur – and it is a danger to guard against – is to be so independent, so unhelpful, that nobody ever interrupts us, and we are left comfortably alone.”

-Anonymous

What an honor that people know your desk, office, home is a place where gracious attention to their lives could be found.  So often  souls pass in anonymity with each other, and themselves. To be an open door in a world closed to intimate knowing of ourselves, and the God who gave himself for us, is a privilege not to be taken lightly.

The phrase “shadow the souls around me”  is echoing this morning.  How sad it would be if those around me crave the warmth of the Son, and are denied basking in the brightness because a consistent cloud of my own impatient irritation moves in front of their communion.  To be one who blocked the life-giving rays of the love of God from my brothers or sisters and left them, after their time with me,  more anemic than they came, would be a tragedy of the deepest sort.

Oh God, teach me to cast my cares upon you, and learn of your perfect care for me, that my vessel will be translucent and open, reflecting the awesome light of the Christ who dwells within me, bright and radiant and rich in glory.  That no cloud of selfish ambition, or impatience with tasks uncompleted would keep me from tending the souls  you place in my care, and always pointing them to the Son. The source of life and love.

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March 8, 2012

If- The care of a soul

If the care of a soul (or a community) be entrusted to me,

and I consent to subject it to weakening influences,

because the voice of the world-

my immediate Christian world-

fills my ears,

then I know nothing of Calvary love.

Amy-Carmichael, IF

Proverbs 2:2  Incline your ear to wisdom and your heart to understanding

It is a privilege to be entrusted with a soul. To care for and nurture the inner man with weighty substance of things eternal.  The phrase:  “voice of the world” echoes deep. What are the sounds I have trained my ear to listen for?  Earthly pleasures? Pleasing promises? Accolades? Most worthy causes? Does my ear know how to pick out the phrases of a soul’s heart cry when the face before me is all smiles and “no worries?”  Do I discern the voice behind the words?  Do I listen for heart phrases, and silent sighs? Have I turned from the still and small to embrace the clamor and clang of man’s cymbal-lic honors, and tinkling praise? Oh Lord, let me not consent to weaken the message of hope, or bend under the pressure of the praise of men.  Let me fear The King, and know wisdom.  Let me love the silence between the words and know Calvary love.

Pro 9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Posted in Notable Sayings, Sister Sages, Uncategorized, Women's Voices | 2 Comments »

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March 6, 2012

To Hatch A Soul

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.

C.S. Lewis

How do you hatch a soul?

Images of God as mother bird fluffed, brooding, stirring the nest he has made for us, peek over the horizon of my well defined God-caricature, threatening to take the paint brush away from me, demanding that I start again. This time with softer colors, and rounded edges.

God the perfect temperature.

God the perfect weight and balance.

God the nest builder.

God the patient, all things beautiful in His time,

Calls to me from outside the shell,

refusing to break it lest it make me weak,

and deformed in my understanding.

Calling, ever calling as I gasp

straining at air in the tiny

pocket of life as I knew it-

I must-

Break open, or die

BREAK open or DIE-

“I know the plans I have for you,”

says the Hatcher

“Break open and live,

Thoughts to prosper you-

Break open and live-

Give you an ending to what I have begun-

Break open to live”

God the dream maker spreads his wings over my hatching,

shielding my nakedness from the prying eyes of

unbroken ones.

God the hatcher of my soul,

Keep me in the shadow of your wings,

under the watching of your eye,

where my soul can find it’s trust to break

in the rhythm of your love.

Mat 23:37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Sharing This Today with:  http://seedlingsinstone.blogspot.com/

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March 4, 2012

If-I can not forget

If I say, “Yes, I forgive, but I cannot forget,”

as though the God, who twice a day washes all the

 

sands on all the shores of all the world,

could not wash such memories from my mind,

then I know nothing of Calvary love.

Unforgiven.  The ancient pain.  The sages tell us that after the fall, Adam took a 120 year walk-a-bout from Eve.  God had to bring him back to her.  If that is true, how well that speaks to relationships today.  Can we say we have truly “forgiven”, when we refuse to forget the trespass?  As we replay over and over the hurtful scenarios we find that we never leave the place of offense and this more often than not is what causes us to  break community and suffer the first great pain, that of being alone.  Isolated and hurting the God of all compassion comes to us and desires to wash us, with the water of his Word, as he washes the sands of the shore.  There is no memory, no pain, no fear so great that He can not deliver us from the sting of it.  Like the memory of childbirth is faded in the heart of the mother with the joy of the child in her arms, so the labor to stay in community and relationship is forgotten when the sweet one accord of fellowship reigns in our midst.  How sweet it is when the brethren dwell together  in unity. Psalm 133:1.

Gal 6:1-2  Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

It is the mark of one who has become “spiritual” when the fruit of their life is restoration, and not destruction.

Oh Lord, make me a spirit-filled one. Cause my heart to run to you when the pain of wounding words, and hurtful deeds threaten to keep me from possessing my birthright. Wash my mind, and my heart with your Word. Remind me who I am in you, and who I am in this world.  Help me to forgive, as I have been forgiven and know again the power of Calvary Love.

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