Blessed

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23

The blessings of the Lord… who can adequately describe them?  Who can adequately thank God for them?  

Not a soul.

I just listened to an incredible podcast from Don Brewster, director of Agape International Missions.  Don talked about evil in the world (and he should know, he rescues children from the flesh trade in Cambodia), but He also proclaimed the goodness and loving kindness of our God.  The blessings God has given and promised to give us are of infinite value, yet how often we forget them, ignore them, despise them!  I constantly let the temporal replace the eternal.  So often I don’t live in light of eternity.  The Lord has promised us incredible blessings, so incredible that, in light of them, all else melts into meaninglessness, all else cannot prevail to discourage us or cause us to lose hope.

I want to hold fast to His promises, to know them as reality more real than oxygen.  If I really clung to God’s Word as true, what could this life do to me?  What would I not do to glorify God?  Who would I not love with Christ’s overwhelming love?  I have Christ, nearer than a husband, more faithful than a comrade.  He has made me clean, not only clean but one with Him.  I can boldly declare that I am my Beloved’s and He is mine… WHAT ELSE COULD POSSIBLY MATTER?

"Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him."

--Isaiah 3:10

“It is well with the righteous ALWAYS. If it had said, "Say ye to the righteous, that it is well with him in his prosperity," we must have been thankful for so great a boon, for prosperity is an hour of peril, and it is a gift from heaven to be secured from its snares: or if it had been written, "It is well with him when under persecution," we must have been thankful for so sustaining an assurance, for persecution is hard to bear; but when no time is mentioned, all time is included. God's "shalls" must be understood always in their largest sense. From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, from the first gathering of evening shadows until the day-star shines, in all conditions and under all circumstances, it shall be well with the righteous. It is so well with him that we could not imagine it to be better, for he is well fed, he feeds upon the flesh and blood of Jesus; he is well clothed, he wears the imputed righteousness of Christ; he is well housed, he dwells in God; he is well married, his soul is knit in bonds of marriage union to Christ; he is well provided for, for the Lord is his Shepherd; he is well endowed, for heaven is his inheritance. It is well with the righteous--well upon divine authority ; the mouth of God speaks the comforting assurance. O beloved, if God declares that all is well, ten thousand devils may declare it to be ill, but we laugh them all to scorn. Blessed be God for a faith which enables us to believe God when the creatures contradict Him. It is, says the Word, at all times well with thee, thou righteous one; then, beloved, if thou canst not see it, let God's word stand thee in stead of sight; yea, believe it on divine authority more confidently than if thine eyes and thy feelings told it to thee. Whom God blesses is blest indeed, and what His lip declares is truth most sure and steadfast.” 

-Morning and Evening, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

And THIS is what God promises us!

Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.

     Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.  Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ENDED, that her iniquity is PARDONED, that she has received for the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

     He does not deal with us according to our sins.

But now in Christ Jesus you who were once ---far off--- have been brought (near) by the blood of Christ.

     He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. 

God, being rich in mercy, *because of the great love with which He loved us*, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together (with Christ)- by grace you have been saved- and raised us up (with Him) and seated us (with Him) in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

     None who wait for You shall be put to shame.

The Lord your (God is in your) midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you with his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

     It is the Lord who goes before you.  He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you.

For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

     Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

     Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

     In the world you will have trouble.  But take heart; I have overcome the world.

We are treated as impostors and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

     Sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

     Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

     His divine power has granted to us *all things that pertain to life and godliness*, through the knowledge of Him who called is to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature.

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

     And I will betroth you to Me forever.  I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.  I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.  And you shall know the Lord.

Hallelujah.

Jason Michael Mills

I planned on sitting down and devoting hours on deep expression into this post because the subject matter is oh so worthy of it!  But I am currently running on negative time and by the time I have enough time to do this justice, it will be way past his birthday, so here goes!

22 years ago, my little buddy was born.  He rescued me from a life of selfish only-ness! (Well, he tried, I still managed to turn out rather self centered, but I would've been so much worse!)  I made him sing the Nala parts of the Lion King because I wanted to be the star of the show and sing all the Simba parts.  People thought we were twins (until he grew 2 feet taller than me!).  Even when we moved and had our own rooms, we would take turns sneaking into each other's rooms at night, especially when one of us had a nightmare.  One time, we were reading a scary book together on his top bunk, when the lights suddenly went out!  We flew off the bed and into the safety of the lighted hall way.  He burst out laughing so I did too, it was pretty funny how scared we were, at least, that's what I thought we were laughing at, until he said, "no, the funny part is, I peed my pants!!!"  Nope. I'll never let him live it down.  We did everything together as kids.  People were shocked at how well we got along (little did they know that was largely because he was content to let me boss him around all day.)  Once we were in the car with Grandma and she suggested we stop for an ice cream cone, but when she noticed Jason fast asleep, she suggested we wait.  "Look!  He's awake, Grandma!  He's awake!" I declared frantically while holding Jason's eyelids open with my fingers.

In our tweens, he was the steady, happy, secure anchor for my wildly melancholy soul.  Many times, my only true friend.  Even in high school, Jason was the friend I could find simple truth and comfort from.  Wholesome and steady- what I desperately needed.

Now he's halfway through college.... WHAT?  Time makes no sense to me.  He will always be my little buddy, but that doesn't mean he isn't growing up.  He astounds me with his integrity, his passion in worship for God, his loyalty.

I admit, I kinda have this thing against the male gender, but Jason breaks down my prejudices.

I love you, little buddy!  And I'm praying God leads you deeper into His heart and purpose for you this year.  You are not a failure.  You are faithful.

Reaching for stars? Or bending toward flowers?

Cyrano: "I aim to bring a star down from the sky-
And stoop, in shame, to pluck a common flower.

Roxane: "A common flower has charm."

Cyrano: "But not tonight.
Tonight I want the star!"

So maybe I'm taking this quote a little out of context, but it's been running through my head all day and is the only way I know how to describe my life right now.
I am so confused.
Especially after watching Machine Gun Preacher last night.  Don't watch it unless you are willing to take on the responsibility of knowledge of one of the most grotesque realities of human suffering and exploitation.
I can't live here like this while others live there like that. or, at least, I don't want to.  I know I can't change the world, may never see much redemption in my lifetime.  But I MUST do something.  I don't even have words for [this].
Do I continue seeking opportunities to go?  Sell everything?  Abandon everyone?  No if/ands/or/buts, only following Him at any cost?  Am I even willing to?
Or.
Do I choose contentment here in the little things?  Is God trying to teach me pure and simple obedience without the "grandeur" of my dreams?
Do I fight?
Or do I let go?
I don't think I know anything anymore.  The more I think, the more tangled I get.
I know I can grasp each with both hands, but I'm so weary of the struggle.
Can I please get out of the valley of uncertainty, Lord?

Covers

Found this lovely and applicable prose poem today and thought I'd share since my own words are tangled up in wires.

Covers

by Kathryn Cowles

I learn to knit so I can knit covers for things, easy things at first covers for my hands covers for my feet for my head and neck soon I am making covers for friends as well I am adept at covering I cover handles on doors I cover the tops of pots, themselves covers, covered with knit yarn, I cover things for my daughter, small things, I make a cover for her eye and a cover for the eye of her doll I make a cover for her doll covering the whole thing except for the eye, for which I have already made a cover, I cover her dollhouse in great patches I connect the patches I am on a roll, I learn to knit in my sleep with the aid of a sleep knitting machine I cover my bed over and over again at night I become more and more adept until I can knit covers for myself as I walk, slow business to be sure but faster and faster for I find I need always to be covered everywhere I go so I knit the cover and trail it behind me to cover where I've been.