|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| God is a whole lot of
things...for any of you who read this and have journeyed with Him for
any amount of time know what i mean. Friend, confidant, savior,
and redeemer are just some things that we say "God is." What
truly is God though? I don't think many of us christians really
consider that question often. I know that I don't. Looking
around at the state of modern day, what we call christianity, one can
come to the conclusion that we don't really consider who He really
is!
Let's be real for a
moment...If we really considered who God is would we act, talk, think,
move, react, talk about, slander, moan, gripe, or complain the way we
do. Or would we actually get up off our duffs and begin to live
the life that God has called us each to. A life of abundance and
power, fulfillment and destiny. I preach to myself with this blog
and challenge all who read to...
...consider who "God is" and begin to mold and change your life to Him.
God help me and help us all......
faithful to the end
john
| | |
| St John of the cross wrote
some books a good while ago named, "The Dark Night of the Soul," In the
opening verses of the book he says these amazing words...
Souls begin to enter this dark night when God, gradually
drawing them out of the state of beginners (those who practice
meditation on the spiritual road), begins to place them in the
state of proficients (those who are already contemplatives),
so that by passing through this state they might reach that of
the perfect, which is the divine union of the soul with God.
We should first mention here some characteristics of
beginners, for the sake of a better explanation and
understanding of the nature of this night and of God's motive
for placing the soul in it. Although our treatment of these
things will be as brief as possible, it will help beginners
understand the feebleness of their state and take courage and
desire that God place them in this night where the soul is
strengthened in virtue and fortified for the inestimable
delights of the love of God. And, although we will be delayed
for a moment, it will be for no longer than our discussion of
this dark night requires.
I am in this dark night now
and I am glad that He considers me a beginner. Compared to Him
all that I have or done is so little. Regardless of how good of a
man Imay think I am, compared to God and His greatness I am
nothing. God will see me through though and I know that He will
not keep me in my dark night any longer than need be.
Psalm 30
1
I will praise you, LORD, for you have rescued me.
You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.
2
O LORD my God, I cried out to you for help,
and you restored my health.
3
You brought me up from the grave, O LORD.
You kept me from falling into the pit of death.
4
Sing to the LORD, all you godly ones!
Praise his holy name.
5
His anger lasts for a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime!
Weeping may go on all night,
but joy comes with the morning.
6
When I was prosperous I said,
"Nothing can stop me now!"
7
Your favor, O LORD, made me as secure as a mountain.
Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.
8
I cried out to you, O LORD.
I begged the Lord for mercy, saying,
9
"What will you gain if I die,
if I sink down into the grave?
Can my dust praise you from the grave?
Can it tell the world of your faithfulness?
10
Hear me, LORD, and have mercy on me.
Help me, O LORD."
11
You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.
You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,
12
that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever!
captivated by Christ,
john
| | |
| ...describe how God
works? Can it be with a word, an action, or a deed? I seem
to think not. He moves and acts in His perfect time. He
touches when He chooses. We can try to sum it up or surmise a
plan that can try to explain God but when it's all said and done, GOD
IS GOD and we are not.
so
I close with this...Don't try to figure God out, just get close enough
to Him to know when He moves. When He does, just receive what
He's doing and learn, also don't focus on the fluff, focus on Jesus the
true truth bearer and He will lead you through and out of every weird
spot you find yourself.
captivated by God's awesome grace
john
| | |
| God never ceases to amaze me, if He did then He couldn't be God. This time though He did it through good news from David's heart doctors. You see upon leaving the hospital in Jan05 David's coronary arteries were, at the point of the aneurysms, 2 to 3 times the size of an average man's arteries. Measuring at 7mm, 5.7mm, and so on. Yesterday, the doctors said that they were shrinking and the biggest is around 4.8. Though it is not completely "normal" that being 2mm, he no longer has to take a blood thinning medican called plavix. It is a great thing when you get to see the hand of God move. Keep trusting, believing, and hoping! In another six months David will have his next check up and I look forward to see what God will have done by then.
This is for all my fellow post modern youth warriors. Keep fighting the good fight...the one you know that God has called you to. The call to youth ministry is a high call to bring this message to the greatest generation that has ever walked the face of this earth.. You get to be part of the long line of believers that have carried this message down through the generations to this time. That's awesome.. God has called you to be something that only He could see in you, trust His call, not your feeling.
in the trenches,
john
| | |
| I'm sitting right now in Boston's Children Hospital cardiology
department waiting room for David and Lisa. As most of you know
David (my youngest son) last year developed kawasaki diesease.
The disease itself is no longer there but the damage it left behind
is. That damaged being Aquired Coronary Heart defects. With
that we now have annual trips to BCH to monitor his heart and make sure
there is no clotting or anything like that. Clotting for those of
you who don't know can cause a heart attack. Anyway, I often
wonder why God has allowed all this to happen...why it was David...why
our family...just a whole lot of why questions. (i am so thankful
that God is big enough to handle my why questions and not feel the need
to tell me because He is God and He is soveriegn, like most christians
feel the need to...) I know that He is soveriegn and he is
God. But that still doesn't answer the why question...
If we are all honest the why questions exist in all of our hearts at
some level. They, I believe, are the very questions that draw us
to the heart of God. I am coming to believe that the why
questions are not there to be answered, but rather to be bait to lead
us to the truth.
So I offer to you all this random thought...Embrace the why question
without expecting an anwer but rather as a means to the truth, and I
promise you in a weird sort of God way you will begin to
experience His peace and that peace Phillipians tells us will gurad our
hearts and minds. Thanks for listening to my contemplation.
always asking why....John
| | |
|
