Relevant to who?

I’m looking up relevant:

Having some bearing on or importance for real-world issues, present-day events, or the current state of society

I’m thinking of all the endless discussions about how the church must find ways to be significant to the world, as if Jesus Himself is not important enough.

He Is our God – He Is always relevant. That only becomes obvious to those that truly know Him.

Twisting in my thoughts today is the idea of turning this all upside down. Instead of thinking how we can be relevant to the world, perhaps we need to consider how to make the world relevant to us. Instead of hiding inside the four walls of our church buildings singing “this little light of mine” can we pray and ask the Lord to show us how to allow that light to really shine in the darkness?


Image via Wikipedia



Think about the way that Jesus lived when He walked among us. It was the broken, the hurting, the crippled and lame that caught His attention. He was filled with love and compassion for those who would never think to darken the doors of a temple.

These were the ones that were relevant to Him then.

These are the ones who are relevant to Him now.

If we claim the desire to be like Him, should we not feel the same?

Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:16 The Message



Joining Lisa-Jo and others where today's word is relevant

also bragging with Laura today





 

Only Him

To walk in the world
unattached to the world
to know enough to know that I know nothing
how much strength does it take
to allow weakness
how deep the need
to die afresh each day
each hour
each moment
for the flesh kicks, screams
marches into battle
and resolve crumbles
again and again


For I resolved to know nothing (to be acquainted with nothing, to make a display of the knowledge of nothing, and to be conscious of nothing) among you except Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and Him crucified.  1 Corinthians 2:2 Amplified

Joining with Peter Pollock and others - talking about resolution

What do we do - relentless love

Image by ladybeames via Flickr

What do we do
with a love so vast
we cannot see its edges?

What do we do
with passion
hot enough to consume all?

What do we do
with tenderness, forgiveness
endless patience?

What do we do
with love that pursues
that heeds no stop signs?

What do we do
with love we can’t conceive
or really believe?

What then
would He have us do
with His relentless love?

Receive it.

Live it.

Give it away.

For our God [is indeed] a consuming fire.  Hebrews 12:29 Amplified

Sharing with the other warriors at Jason's place - on relentless love

Word Filled Wednesday - Be brave

The new kittens we are raising as barn cats have started exploring the vastness of the world around them.  I can't help but think of God's Words to Joshua...

Have not I commanded you?

Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous.

Be not afraid, neither be dismayed,

for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. 

Joshua 1:9 Amplified

Stop by Internet Cafe Devotions for more Word and picture combos!

Veneer by T. Willard & J. Locy

For those of you who are regular readers here, you should already have a sense that the desire of my heart is to live an authentic, transparent life as I journey the path our Lord has called me to.

When I heard that I had been blessed by Dan King (bible dude) with a free copy of Veneer Living Deeply in a Surface Society by Timothy Willard and Jason Locy I knew this was a book I needed to read. The back cover hints at the riches inside:

Our lives are full of scars, quirks and insecurities we have learned to hide in favor of a more glamorous veneer we hope the world finds more acceptable. This is the modern tragedy. We have forgotten that like the stress-lines and fractures of antique wood, these imperfections in our lives make us beautiful.

Abundant living is more than a wall-post existence. Rich relationships are more than trends, status updates and group invitations. But neither are possible until we allow ourselves to be fully known, imperfections and all. Only then will we come to experience the life we are meant to live.

Willard and Locy deliver truth as they not only describe the problem, but offer advice on how to take off our masks and live stripped of our veneers.

A relationship of intimacy requires courage, the ability to look past uncertainty and see what could be. Courage looks beyond our fears and permits us to express feelings that lead us towards intimacy.  It requires courage, for example, to confess to your wife that the distance in your relationship is driving you to depression or even an affair.  It requires courage to tell your friend that she's headed for a fall with her family if she doesn't make serious changes in her work life.  It requires courage to admit and to confont.  But the wounds from a lover are worth it."

I want to live with that kind of courage and the cry of my heart is that others would make that same choice.

With books like Veneer to help us along the way, perhaps my dream will see full flower.

Grace for the Good Girl by Emily P. Freeman

I have been a regular reader of Emily Freeman’s blog Chatting at the Sky and was an active participant in her online community gathering Tuesdays Unwrapped where we took the time to explore the gifts God was placing in our lives. Emily’s new book Grace for the Good Girl letting go of the try-hard life is surely one of those gifts.

The back cover intrigues with:

You're strong. You're responsible. You're good. But . . .

. . . as day fades to dusk, you begin to feel the familiar fog of anxiety, the weight and pressure of holding it together and of longing left unmet. Good girls sometimes feel that the Christian life means doing hard work with a sweet disposition. We tend to focus only on the things we can handle, our disciplined lives, and our unshakable good moods.

But what would happen if we let grace pour out boundless acceptance into our worn-out hearts and undo us? If we dared to talk about the ways we hide, our longing to be known, and the fear in the knowing?

I wasn’t sure I thought of myself as a “good girl” for I am one of those that Emily writes about who spent a lifetime of turning-away before I allowed the Lord to own my heart. Yet as I moved through page after page I did indeed find myself within her words.

If the masks we wear are the false identities we show the world, then our performance is the rubber band that holds them in place. I perform so you will like me. I perform so you will think I’m okay. I perform because it’s comfortable. I perform to prove my worth to you, to God, and to myself. I perform because I don’t know how not to. Page 24

There is hope, there is One Who desires to rescue us from our “good life” and allow us to live a life dependent on Him.

The Jesus dependent life is not a balance between a little bit of law and a little bit of grace. Be sure not to tip too far to one side! That’s the problem: we can’t figure how to keep the scale balanced all the time. The true gospel says we don’t have to. Page 74

Jesus came to save me from myself. He came to save me from self-effort. He didn’t just die for my sin to give me forgiveness; he rose again to give me life. And so he beckons me, “Come.” Page 124

There is freedom in the pages of this book. You will find yourself and find the One Who longs to lavish His grace upon you, and if you want to share the good news with others, there is a small group study included.

Don’t miss the chance to learn more about His great love. Don’t miss this book!

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

The opinions I have expressed are my own.

 

Layers of light

Sunset on Lake Bemidji - September 2011

The days indeed grow short more quickly now.
The colours of the day grow more intense. 
Brighter blues, deeper greens, the golden glow of the sun as it departs
all catch my eye and for a moment stop my breath.

Life spins, but in His hands.
I read love words written to and about @gitzengirl a woman I never got the chance to know
a woman who burned with love for her Lord
and the desire for all to know Him
the pain of thier loss mixed with the pain in her body
and the Lord teaches us how to mourn
and the Lord teaches us how to rejoice
She will soon look into His eyes

His glory falls in golden light

shared with Emily and the rest of the imperfect

Word Filled Wednesday - Cast me not away

Cast me not off nor send me away in the time of old age;

forsake me not when my strength is spent and my powers fail 

Psalm 71:9 Amplified

Stop by Internet Cafe Devotions for more edifying Word/picture combos

Unfair trade

Eleven years ago I left city (suburban) lights behind me
moved from the Chicago area
to rural Manitoba
trading concrete for prairies
sidewalks for paths
asphalt for gravel roads
the roar of traffic for silence
broken only by birdsongs or a howling coyote

Yes, things are slower here
as I surrender to God's time
and savour the summer
life lived on porches, backyards
wide cottage decks on lake shores
breathing in fresh
and letting peace flow
time to connect
listen, pray
or simply watch in wonder, content

It was all a trade quite unfair
I gave up my life without God
for the one He chose for me
filling it with Himself
I received everything and more
for nothing at all
all because of His great love

Stop by Peter Pollock's to read more views of the word porch

So many tasty morsels

When I was given the opportunity to read The Spirit of Food 34 Writers on Feasting and Fasting Toward God by the editor Leslie Leyland Fields, I could almost feel my spirit begin to salivate.

The back cover tempts with its description of the book:

You are invited to a feast for the senses and the spirit! Thirty-four renowned and adventurous writers open their fields, their kitchens, their tables, and their recipe files to illustrate the many unexpected ways that food draws us closer to beauty, to justice, to Christian community, and to God.

If you ever doubted that words could be crafted to be chewed on and savoured, you haven't encountered this series of essays.  I found myself lost in the pages, unable to push away from the table.  "I'll just take one more bite" I would tell myself, diving in again.

Here, in stories of shopping, cooking and eating, we find ways to love our God, each other, and our selves in deeper measure.  We partake not only of calories but true life.  We discover fresh revelation about the Lord like tasting a new and unsual spice that bursts on the tongue.  In stories of communion I found a desire for more of what only He can provide, the bread we so desperately need.

Are you hungry?  As you enter into the tales told in this volume, you will find your appetite both slaked and stimulated.  I pray, that like me, you also enjoy each tasty morsel.

I was provided a free copy of this book by the editor.  The opinons I have expressed are my own.

Dream big

Murchison Falls, Uganda - we dream of returning to Africa

To dream big dreams
and live them
instead of casting them aside
as foolish
or unattainable
this is walking with the Lord

To learn to silence
voices that hinder
voices that crush
voices that press in hard
voices that speak "can't"
this too is walking with the Lord

To breathe deep
dive deep
search out the deep
deep places
in a heart crafted
ever molded
by His hand
to know His heart
is deeper still
yes, walking with the Lord

To stand brave
in the rain of His revelation
knowing
I am nothing
apart
and everything
in Him
every other dream
becomes brightly possible
in His light
and every other dream
fades and is humbled
next to the dream
of true abiding
walking with, beside
and in my Lord.

Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me.  John 15:4 Amplified



Jamming with Bonnie as she asks us to write about God sized dreams

More about the hummingbirds...

Yesterday morning, in the pale light of a stormy morning, in the quiet, the Lord shared another lesson using what I could see outside my window, letting His creation speak:

Let me speak again about the hummingbirds.

The feeder is empty - yet they come again and again - looking for the nectar that sustains.

There is a feeder filled on hte other side of the house - yet again and again they come - because it is what they know.

So I ask, little one, how often do My people return to things that cannot nourish or satisfy simply because it is what they know?  And even when they are dry and hungry they can't think outside the box long enough to find that I Am providing for them in ways they do not know.

You long to be able to tell the small birds to check the other feeder, frustrated that you cannot reach them.

So too do I ache for My children

Just ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you Job 12:7 NLT

joining today with others imperfect and redeemed in His hands at Emily's

Eat peace

Today Bonnie asks us: What is something new God is asking you to step out in?

My steps out have been steps away, not comfortable or easy, but taken in obedience. This is what the Lord shared about the same thing this morning in our quiet time.

I have held you and sheltered you while things shift and shake. I Am restructuring My church - tearing down to rebuild on the proper foundation.

It was time for you to step out of the war and out of the way, back into the secret place, hidden in Me where I could wrap peace around you.

My church will be like nothing people have imagined - yet it will not feel strange or uncomfortable - you will recognize at once that I Am there.

My house will be a house of prayer for all nations. (Isaiah 56:7)

I Am not looking for a Sunday church - but a body serving Me 24/7.

The church has tried to arise in her own power - it cannot lift itself but instead must release itself into My hands, for only I can lift her up. Only I truly know the design, know the plans and purpose, and have the power.

Do you want your church or My church?

Abide in Me then, while I contruct and deconstruct, My bride on the potter's wheel, molded and shaped. My church in the fire, purified and refined until I see Myself reflected.

Abide in Me. Eat peace. Drink grace.

My love Is. I Am.

That is enough.


Jamming with Bonnie today - come HERE to join us.

sharing with the broken and imperfect at Emily's





Reposting due to Blogger fail May 12/13

Morning meeting

Daily times spent in communion with Jesus are the most precious moments of my day.  We meet in the stillness of early morning.  I call, He answers.  He knocks, I open the door.  We seek each other with a hunger only true lovers understand.

We are not equal, He and I.  He Is Master, I am slave.  He Is Lord and I am subject.  He Is Teacher and I listen at His feet.

This is what He shared as dawn broke today:

Count the cost.
Count the cost first, then choose the better friend
Me or the world.

Yes, salvation through My blood is a gift freely given
but true life in Me
does not come without a price
My life for yours
your life for Mine

True life in Me
may require a turning away from all you knew before
Yes, all you knew before

The way of the flesh and the Way of the Spirit
at times may follow the same path
but walk carefully, with wisdom
and you will see forks in the road
places of decision
times of turning
yes, even switchbacks
when you'll feel as if you're going backwards

and at each of these forks
again rises the question

"choose you this day whom you will serve"

it is always a choice, child.

Count the cost.
Choose life.
Choose Me.

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD Joshua 24:15 NIV



Jamming with Bonnie today as she asks what Jesus has been teaching us lately.

First run off

Temperatures rise

clouds have scattered

sun streaming warm

on snow blanketed fields

begins the thaw.

What was held fast

releases

to the rhythm of Spring.

Will cold hearts melt
touched tenderly
by His love?

Tears flow
fast, free
preparing the spirit soil
to receive fresh seed
as something new
cries out
to be born.

Come visit at One Stop Poetry to read more Wednesday One Shot Poems

Stepping out in the cold

Words and more words are swirling about in my head, but I haven't the time to trap them just now.  I'm stepping out today, meeting with a friend, to share and explore what God has in store around the next bend.

Back later!

Dancing with my mustard seed

Image by New York Public Library via Flickr

We've reached the end of our time exploring Richard Stearn's The Hole In Our Gospel with Chapter 26, A Mountain of Mustard Seeds.

Have I the faith to believe that anything I could do might impact the lives of others in need?  Faith as small as a mustard seed?

Richard leaves us with the voice of the Lord, quiet, almost a whisper: 

You, Me, let's go.  We have work to do, and it's urgent.  Join Me...

And my heart says "yes"

my heart says "when?"

my heart says "where?"

but my heart does not say "how?"

because it knows

that anything that I can do

is only because of the One Who lives in me

It is time for my ears to hear

It is time for my eyes to see

and if you can't see my vision

if you can't hear my music

than dance to the tune He plays for you

I may do a slow waltz today

and a samba tomorrow

a jig or a mad break

to a funky beat

but know that I am listening

obedient

with eyes wide open

fixed on His glory.

Joining Sarah and Jason HERE for this final week of discussion and praying that we all have been changed.