The Mystery

I love a good story. And one genre that I and many other people love are mysteries. There are tons of books, movies, TV shows and one page magazine stories all dedicated to this intriguing genre.

I love when the author puts clues into the story from the very beginning, it shows a well thought out plan, that they knew what they were doing... Because once you get to the reveal, the little hints all start to add up and reveal the conclusion, and it becomes obvious - this was the author's plan from the beginning, this is the mark of a really good mystery.

God has done this. He has authored the greatest mystery ever to be told.


The new testament is peppered with the word but I would say there isn't anything particularly awe-inspiring about a mystery in itself, most of the time as a character's story [or real life] is working it's way along there are things that don't make sense; confusion, pain, heartbreak and wondering. We don't have the answers to our own life questions - or anybody else's, why did this or that happen to me, we don't know the future. Like in a novel we only know what has so far taken place.

And so the awe is not in what is not yet known in regards to 'the mystery of the gospel', but in what has already been revealed! 

The words of this song convey it better than I ever could -

Come behold the wondrous mystery, in the dawning of the King 

He the theme of heaven’s praises, robed in frail humanity 

In our longing, in our darkness, now the light of life has come 

Look to Christ, who condescended, took on flesh to ransom us. 

Come behold the wondrous mystery, he the perfect Son of Man 

In his living, in his suffering, never trace nor stain of sin 

See the true and better Adam, come to save the hell-bound man 

Christ the great and sure fulfillment of the law, in him we stand. 

Come behold the wondrous mystery, Christ the Lord upon the tree 

In the stead of ruined sinners hangs the Lamb in victory 

See the price of our redemption, see the Father’s plan unfold 

Bringing many sons to glory, grace unmeasured, love untold 

Come behold the wondrous mystery, slain by death the God of life 

But no grave could e’er restrain him, praise the Lord, He is alive 

What a foretaste of deliverance, how unwavering our hope 

Christ in power resurrected, as will we be when he comes.

A mystery is: "something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain" And yes, it is certainly impossible to understand because His ways and thoughts are so above our own!
I'm going to step into the role of detective for just a second, though I don't understand or comprehend all of these things He has done and revealed I will suggest the motive. Love.

The song above and the whole of the bible tells us what has (so far) been  revealed.

And... it is  just so amazing! 

And oh yea, God is not done working and revealing His plan for us all yet! Hallelujah!

The Work of God

 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

~[John 6: 25-29]~

I've always really loved these verses and my attention has always been grabbed by the use of the word 'work', three times in three little verses.

 The work of God is to believe in the one he has sent. I've repeated those words over and over in my head wondering...what does that really mean? What does that look like? 

Work is something you do everyday. Something you have to put effort into...Everyday. Believing in the One He has sent - Jesus. And standing on the promises He has made!

To do the works God requires I must first believe in the one He has sent. It takes work to pray and pray persistently - but I must believe the one who I am praying to can (and will) answer!

It takes work to worship but I must believe and trust the one I am worshiping.

It takes work to go out and serve but I must believe that this work is not for 'food' that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life. 

 It takes work to obey God, but I must believe that He is who He says He is, abide in Him, remember that believing in Him is the reason for all this work and in the midst of it that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. :)

Ducks In A Row

I took this picture the other night and thought of the phrase "Having all your ducks in a row" and then I started laughing because, at first glance this picture certainly looks pretty organized, the ducks are in a row, they've got everything together, just like they should have.

And I just felt like writing a short little something about the expectation to have everything together and have a plan. Yes, it's good to be organized and to plan things, but God is ultimately the one with the plan for us, the master blueprint.

A lot of people, younger people especially, feel the pressure to have it all figured out or have a totally reliable 'plan' for life like "At this age I should be at this stage doing this or that..."  And if  this or that thing hasn't happened, we compare ourselves to others around us. When we have this plan not working out how we want it to we ask the question 'why?' a lot...because those are hard things to wrestle with. I just want to encourage anyone who may be thinking along these lines a lot lately to trust God with the blueprint, with the ultimate plan, and then to keep trusting Him.

Because really, when you take a second look at this picture, you'll notice that none of the ducks are looking the same direction and the forth one isn't even facing the same way, it looks all perfectly lined up... but you know, a minute later those ducks swam off and most certainly were not in a row.

Desperate

A lot of people have a hard time asking for help, let alone asking for help while drawing attention to yourself.
 It would be highly unusual to see somebody running down the street or crawling or shouting after somebody, let alone one particular person... 'Help me! Please!'
It would be seen as weakness, pathetic, embarrassing and...desperate. Nobody wants to appear truly desperate, our pride won't let us.

And I wonder how deeply this affects our spiritual lives as well...
How often do we *desperately* come to Jesus? I know for myself it's when there is a major crisis and I'm sure many would probably say the same (whether they'd like to admit it or not)

There has not been any crisis or emergency in my life recently - for which I'm thankful, but as I was reading through the gospels the other night, I saw example after of example of all people coming to Jesus, desperately seeking Him out, desperately asking for help or healing with their situations,  breaking societal politeness, embarrassing themselves in front of crowds of people and I thought, "Wow those people must have *REALLY* needed Jesus", (As if I don't).

Now I'm not saying I'm going to be making a spectacle of myself in public, but this mini realization has challenged me to be more desperate in seeking Him and His will, in praying, in trusting, obeying and enjoying Jesus and break down this mentality that God will find it embarrassing if I'm grieving over situations in mine or other's lives, that I might be 'annoying' if I keep asking Him about this, or for this or that. Because God is not me, or any other person, He won't get annoyed, or think I or anyone else is pathetic.
This 'weakness', this desperateness in coming after Him will be made into strength, as long as we remain unashamed before Him.

Retreat

The last week and a half I've been on retreat. Except this retreat featured the brilliant lime green walls of the room I share with my younger sister. Sounds refreshing eh?

The last few months I've been really busy, which is something I'm usually not... at least not consistently for several months on end.. and it started to get overwhelming all this keeping busy... So with God's prompting I decided I needed to retreat. There were still commitments I couldn't avoid - work, household chores that sort of stuff. But I cancelled my social plans, And didn't make new ones.

I'm not saying being busy or overly social is a sin, but for me it was hindering the time and energy I had to talk to God, which honestly was very little and very shallow.

 So on my evenings and days off I sat and got to think, reflect and enjoy the peace and quiet. I reflected on things that were and weren't drawing me closer to God and just started to ask Him what He wanted of me...because I didn't really have a clear idea anymore (PS. Still working on that)

I thought about the prayer that is in 2 Chronicles 20. In this chapter King Jehoshaphat is told a vast army is coming against him and so he addresses the people in the temple with a prayer and he ends it in verse 12 with "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you" 
And I found that so encouraging - so refreshing! Though I do not and never have had a vast army come against me or my nation, I understood that overwhelmed feeling, the 'something's gotta change or else I'm toast' scenario. So that was one thing that God said to me.

 But the main thing He kept saying to me was to grow in my knowledge of Him, to learn of God and who He is in a deeper way and to better discern in the future whatever social plans, projects and other commitments are going to help rather than hinder in this area of my life.

That's all for now!

Free Indeed

I have walked in darkness, I have cried through the night
I'm sinking in a storm, I am trapped in a battle - that I'm too weak to fight..

Oh sinner come stand in the light

Then the son He said
 to me, be free
The Son He said - go and sin no more

Whom the son set free is
Free Indeed,
Oh free indeed.

Alone in my sorrows, alone in this world,
Crying out -do you hear me, will somebody save me?

Chains were holding, darkness was gripping on tight
I was trapped in a battle , I was too weak to fight

Then the son He said
 to me, be free

Holding on to the things not intended for me
Grieved when I should have let go
Surrendering now is the most joyful thing,
oh free, yes free indeed!

Then the son He said
 to me, be free

Whom the son set free is
Free Indeed,
That is me, oh free indeed.

Free forever, Amen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a poem I wrote several months ago and have just now felt the need to post it.

I completed this sketch last week and well I didn't plan on posting this either but it goes perfectly and is based on the verse repeated in the poem. So I thought I would share. Hope this encourages somebody out there! :) 

Use This

The last six or seven weeks as I've settled into a new routine and stage in my life so I've been asking God some questions. Questions like ''What do I do with the things and talents I have now?'' ''When will this thing or that thing happen in my life?'' "Why is this situation happening to my friend?" "God, How could you possibly use this?"

And He said to me:
I will show you what to do with the things and talents you have,
I will use this time in your life whether this thing or that thing happens,
I know it hurts to see friends and loved ones struggle, but there is a purpose to it,
 Child, I can use everything and anything you could possibly give me for good.


So for the last couple weeks, my prayer has been "Lord, use this"

Whether it applies individually - my time, energy, talents, money, heartbreaks, or joys.
Sometimes it's easy to look around in your own life, at things that are largely within your control and ask God to use it for His glory.

But things that are far reaching, not particularly related to me at all, such as a brutal murder you've heard about on the news, or terrible injustice done to someone on the other side of the planet, makes people wonder if God can really use things this tragic for good.

But God is SO good and so faithful! He has used injustice, cruelty and slavery and brought good from it, He has used heartbreak of every kind and used it for good, He has used happy, joyful things and brought more joy to them, He has brought forth goodness from hopeless situations, He is able to redeem peoples, nations and situations, He brought used the death of His own son to bring good.

Therefore, ask Him to use whatever you have and are, even when it seems silly if you ask Him:

'Even this Lord?'  He will answer.
"Yes, even this."

Dehydrated Grapes

The past couple weeks God has been convicting me in some areas of my life and asking me to take action and let some things go. And I've been fighting, telling myself that my sins aren't really that bad (in comparison to others), I've ignored my own personal convictions. Because when I'm not actively pursuing God, not focused on Him, sin looks really attractive and is tempting.

 I've had to be be honest with myself, and learn to understand that I and every one else have weaknesses, We all have one (or a couple) things that would immediately come to mind here and it really does affect my (and your) relationship with God.

So this week I asked Him for the strength to give up those things and to turn away from them. And I felt an incredible weight off of my heart and so much freedom, freedom to be joyful (after some tears) and spend time in God's presence rather than trying to 'hide' from Him and be half-hearted in my worship 

"Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed" -John 8:36

 Those were the words from scripture I kept thinking about that day - I had resolved (for the past couple weeks) to get right and honest with God and myself, but like New year's resolutions, convictions can start to slip away awfully quickly, and the temptation to turn and run away from God again was there because well honestly, it's just really hard to let go. 

The next day, after my talk with God and personal reflection, I was packing some grapes in my lunch for work and...well... the grapes had maybe been in the fridge too long and dried out... because when I went to pull them off the stem they just fell off. I barely had to touch them, let alone put in the effort to pull them away.
Suddenly this strange little picture hit me, and made me think of Jesus' illustration of being the Vine in John 15.

 I realized that my intentions were to stick to my resolve on my own, with no one's help. That I was so much like that little grape, falling right off the vine because it was dehydrated - and not asking the one who has living water (Always and in abundance) to keep me attached to the Vine. And so that morning as I packed my lunch I asked God for help - to keep me close, to abide in me. I had no other words because I knew if I didn't I would fall (again) without much prodding. 

The rest of this week has been pretty amazing!  Each day God has been keeping me close and giving me a verse that has been so encouraging, that I've been able to meditate on and focus on Him rather than other things. 
Yesterday He gave me a verse from Psalm 27: [13]

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" 

And God really does intend good things for us! This verse made me think about even though it can be painful to surrender things to Him, that it doesn't seem like giving it up IS a good thing, it is for our ultimate good in this lifetime and the next! 

Earlier in this Psalm in verses 4 & 5 it says:
"One thing I ask from the Lord,  this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock."

I love that David - in dwelling in the house of the Lord and in seeking Him is 'Confident, that he will see the goodness of the Lord' Because it's SO true because God ''rewards those who diligently seek Him''! [Hebrews 11:6]. 

The last thing I want to add is another verse that God gave me today which was 2 Corinthians 13:5: "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?" 

So I would encourage everyone to examine themselves and surrender to God those things He may be asking you to no longer ignore in your life, to earnestly seek Him and that you too will see His goodness!  :)