"You, Lord, give true peace.
You give peace to those who depend on you.
You give peace to those who trust you.
So, trust the Lord always.
Trust the Lord because He is our Rock, forever"
Isaiah 26:3-4 International Children's Bible
MY PEACE....
my peace is like a Hallmark Card
or a
G-rated movie made for 2-3 yr olds
very little conflict
easily solved with a few words
everyone happy and getting along together in a wonderful way
YOUR PEACE
but your peace is
strong
durable,
deep
lasting
enduring storms
rugged
not flimsy or fragile
like cookies made of delicate icing
beautiful to behold but shattered with the least pressure
your peace is like the rocky cliff that endures the battering and bashing of pounding waves
and stands still
it can be counted on
it can be depended on
it can be the rock on which the foundation can be built for a house that will stand through any storm
A SURE FOUNDATION
"Everyone who hears thes things I say
and obeys them
is like a wise man.
The wise man build his house on a rock.
It rained hard and the water rose.
The winds blew and hit that house.
But the house did not fall,
because the house was built on the rock.
But the person who hears the things I teach and does not obey them
is like the foolish man.
The foolish man built his house on sand.
It rained hard, the water rose, and the winds blew and hit that house.
And the house fell with a big crash." Matthew 7:24-27
Both houses might have looked just the same
Both individuals heard the teachings of Jesus
but only one responded beyond just the hearing
They looked the same
until the storms came
GOD'S WAY FORWARD
I have learned that pretty much anytime I pray for a better relationship with someone
what comes to my mind is beach sunsets and lots of smiles and quick understanding and comfortable times together
what I tend to experience is:
Conflict
not just Conflict but
CONFLICT !!!!
nail bitting, up all night for days at a time kind of stress
this always comes as a shock and surprise to me
but I begin to see You in this
MY WAY - SLIGHT HEALING
"They try to heal my people's serious injuries
as if they were small wounds.
They say, 'It's all right, it's all right!"
But really, it is not all right."
Jeremiah 6:14 International Children's Bible
"They have also healed the hurt of my people slightly,
Saying, 'Peace, peace!'
When there is no peace."
Jeremiahh 6:14 KJV
I want to smooth things over with something nice
and it is always wonderful to show love and kindness to others
a soft answer does turn away wrath
but I see that I really wish to avoid dealing with the unpleasantness that is lurking below the surface
this is where sin lurks, hides and grows
like a poisonous plant
like a cancer cell
silently mutating microscopically
but then duplicating itself over and over again
over time
until
many times
by the time it is known
it is too late
ROOT OF BITTERNESS
"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble and by this many become defiled.
Hebrews 12:14-15 NKJV
"Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you'll never get so much as a glimpse of God. Make sure no one gets left our of God's generosity. Keep a sharp eye our for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time." Hebrews 12:14-15 The Message
all plants grow from a tiny seed
hidden under the soil
we only see the plant springing up
the fruit it bears
("You will know them by the fruit they bear" Matthew 7:20)
but the root grows below the surface
hidden and unseen
I may cut off the part I see
but the root persists
it springs anew and afresh
It seems, for me, anyways, that it is only in deep seated difficulties
with those whom I am very close to and love deeply
and/or are in consistent and close levels of interactions with
that the roots of things become clear
I can put up with a lot
or at least I try anyway
but it these deep and intimate relationships
I cannot
and the truth of what is in my heart is made manifest
for those who have eyes to see it
LIGHT MAKES MANIFEST
"The secret things in his heart will be made known.
So he will bow down and worship God.
He will say, 'Truly God is with you.'"
I Corinthians 14:25 ICB
this passage is not talking about an individual alone with God and a Bible
it is describing the community of believers
together
I have found this to be true
it is in relationships with others
that the revealed truth of God is made clear to me
the truth - not what I think is true about myself and my behaviour
but actually what is truly true
I need you to help me see what God is trying to show me
about myself and what He wants to heal, change, transform
where He wants to get worship and glory
I cannot see it clearly on my own
because my own point of view most likely will distort it
"Every person who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches"
Revelation 3:13 ICB
OPPORTUNITY
right here in this relationship
in this difficulty and conflict
is an opportunity to hear You, to really hear You
Oh Lord, grant me the eyes and ears and heart to really see, hear and receive the truth you are wanting me to face
to not sugar coat it
excuse it
defend it
point the finger out to another
or to the circumstances
What are you trying to communicate to me?
Regardless of what another may be saying, doing, thinking,
You are at peace
You are not perturbed
You are not agitated
You are at rest
You are full of love
Even when you must take strong actions and words
They are done in your wisdom
and rightousness
and for the ultimate good of another
This is the only path to your peace
PEACE WITH GOD
Your peace that came through shedding of blood, betraying, mocking, whipping, scourging, rejecting, nailing, crucifying
dying
no smooth, simple, easy peace here
"We have been made right with God because of our faith.
So, we have peace wtih God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through our faith, Chriat has brought us into that blessing of God's grace that we now enjoy.
And we are happy because of the hope we have of sharing God's glory.
And we also have joy with our troubles
because we know that these troubles produce patience.
And patience produces character,
and character produces hope.
And this hope will never disappoint us,
because the God has poured out his love to fill our hearts.
God gave us his love through the Holy Spirit whom God has given to us.
Christ died for us while we were still weak.
We were living against God, but at the right time, Christ died for us.
Very few people will die to save the life of someone else.
Although perhaps for a good man someone might possibly die.
But Christ died for us while we were still sinners.
In this way, God shows his great love for us.
We have been made right with God by the blood of Christ's death.
Romans 5 :1-9 ICB
"You, Lord, give true peace.
You give peace to those who depend on you.
You give peace to those who trust you.
So, trust the Lord always.
Trust the Lord because He is our Rock, forever"
Isaiah 26:3-4 International Children's Bible
Showing posts with label friendship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friendship. Show all posts
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Friday, September 5, 2014
Please take this splinter out
Yesterday afternoon I looked down to discover that a 1/4 in splinter had wedged itself somehow under the skin on the middle finger of my right hand. I have no idea how it got there or when it happened but there it is.
There is not enough of an edge to pull out either way.
Being in my finger means that I only have the 5 other fingers on one hand to try to do the job of trying to grasp and remove this foreign object from inside my first line of defense for my body - my skin
I cannot do this job myself.
It is a relative simple job and will only take 10-15 min and the right tool(s).
But I cannot do it alone.
I need help from another.
I got so busy last night that the tiny pressure from the splinter, while mildly discomforting, was not enough to remind me to ask someone to help me.
It got put off and forgotten.
I woke up at 5 in the morning. Oh, my finger hurts. Why is that?
Oh yeah I forgot about that splinter
the offending object shoved into me
the small break off point of something I handled
remains lodged in me still
how I let things that happen to me
words that are said to me
actions of others that I experiece
get under my skin
lodge into me
remain with me long after I am no longer around that person or event
affecting me long after
It is when all is quiet and calm that the pain and pressure present themselves
perhaps this is why so many of us avoid the quiet and the calm?
It is 9 am now
there is a red area around the splinter about 1/4 inch in diameter
The pain is stronger now and not so easy to forget about
My body is trying to remain healthy
but this foreign object is fighting against that
a continual source of contamination as long as it is jammed inside of me.
It will still only take 10-15 min to remove
but now I had better use some antibacterial cream
and soak it in hot water a few times
to make sure the germs that are rapidly multiplying are vanquished
again the lesson - my body needs help and support from somewhere outside of itself
but now the amount of effort it will take to heal has gone up dramatically
With the passing of time and left untreated
this will turn into a trip to Urgent Care
the germs do not care about my scedule or the other plans I had for this time
they have their own agenda...
I am home alone
I have asked a friend and neighbor to help me
I am afraid others will be busy
will be annoyed at the interruption of my need
the claim my need will make on them
but it is a need
I must seek help
I need help
no matter how someone may respond or not respond
I must seek out assistance
There is not enough of an edge to pull out either way.
Being in my finger means that I only have the 5 other fingers on one hand to try to do the job of trying to grasp and remove this foreign object from inside my first line of defense for my body - my skin
I cannot do this job myself.
It is a relative simple job and will only take 10-15 min and the right tool(s).
But I cannot do it alone.
I need help from another.
I got so busy last night that the tiny pressure from the splinter, while mildly discomforting, was not enough to remind me to ask someone to help me.
It got put off and forgotten.
I woke up at 5 in the morning. Oh, my finger hurts. Why is that?
Oh yeah I forgot about that splinter
the offending object shoved into me
the small break off point of something I handled
remains lodged in me still
how I let things that happen to me
words that are said to me
actions of others that I experiece
get under my skin
lodge into me
remain with me long after I am no longer around that person or event
affecting me long after
It is when all is quiet and calm that the pain and pressure present themselves
perhaps this is why so many of us avoid the quiet and the calm?
It is 9 am now
there is a red area around the splinter about 1/4 inch in diameter
The pain is stronger now and not so easy to forget about
My body is trying to remain healthy
but this foreign object is fighting against that
a continual source of contamination as long as it is jammed inside of me.
It will still only take 10-15 min to remove
but now I had better use some antibacterial cream
and soak it in hot water a few times
to make sure the germs that are rapidly multiplying are vanquished
again the lesson - my body needs help and support from somewhere outside of itself
but now the amount of effort it will take to heal has gone up dramatically
With the passing of time and left untreated
this will turn into a trip to Urgent Care
the germs do not care about my scedule or the other plans I had for this time
they have their own agenda...
I am home alone
I have asked a friend and neighbor to help me
I am afraid others will be busy
will be annoyed at the interruption of my need
the claim my need will make on them
but it is a need
I must seek help
I need help
no matter how someone may respond or not respond
I must seek out assistance
Matthew 7:1-5J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
7 1-2 “Don’t criticise people, and you will not be criticised. For you will be judged by the way you criticise others, and the measure you give will be the measure you receive.”
3-5 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and fail to notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me get the speck out of your eye’, when there is a plank in your own? You fraud! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you can see clearly enough to remove your brother’s speck of dust.”
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
J. B. Phillips, "The New Testament in Modern English", 1962 edition by HarperCollins
We all need help so be careful how you look at and treat others
How interesting
a splinter, a log, a plank, not just in my finger affecting what I can and cannot do but in my eye distorting how I see and view others and their words and actions
over time the body can build a callous around something and you no longer feel it anymore
it becomes part of you
Oh Lord, I see I see
I see how my own pride, my own self-pity, my own resentments, my own pain and insecurity have stuck into me
in my eye
twisting and distorting all I see and how I respond to others
the remnants of past wounds still remain to poison the present
Yet you tell me to remove my own splnter
in my eye no less!
HOW?
Maybe this means to come before you and let you show it to me, make me aware of it
but then ask you to remove it
Oh Lord, I need you
I need you so much
I need you to help me face the pain I bury
the hurts that have festered
there is nerve damage
I no longer feel or am aware of these splinters in my soul
until someone inadvertently hits one and WOW
such a reaction
they are confused
what I am saying and doing is so out of porportion to what they said or did
Why?
Oh Lord,
I need your healing touch in me
O Divive Doctor you
diagnose for your diagnosis is always spot on
peel back the layers of denial, anger, blaming and excusing
to cut to the core of the problem
my hurt and need of you
help me to not make excuse or blameshift
to lay still and quiet as you use your word (it is perfectly sterile and will not add in further contamination) to slice in
to grasp
to pull out
it is painful and humiliating
but oh what a relief
to see clearly
to understand truth in each situation and relationship
to be unencumbered to respond in love to what another needs
instead of reacting out of my____________
Matthew 7:7-12J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you. Search and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you. The one who asks will always receive; the one who is searching will always find, and the door is opened to the man who knocks.”
9-11 “If any of you were asked by his son for bread would you be likely to give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish would you give him a snake? If you then, for all your evil, quite naturally give good things to your children, how much more likely is it that your Heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask him?”
12 “Treat other people exactly as you would like to be treated by them—this is the essence of all true religion.”
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
J. B. Phillips, "The New Testament in Modern English", 1962 edition by HarperCollins
Matthew 6:22-23New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
22 “The eye is like a lamp for the body. Suppose your eyes are good. Then your whole body will be full of light. 23 But suppose your eyes are bad. Then your whole body will be full of darkness. If the light inside you is darkness, then it is very dark!
John 13 New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet
13 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world. It was time for him to go to the Father. Jesus loved his disciples who were in the world. So he now showed them how much he really loved them.
2 The evening meal was being served. The devil had already tempted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. He had told Judas to hand Jesus over to his enemies. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put everything under his power. He also knew he had come from God and was returning to God.
4 So he got up from the meal and took off his outer clothes. He wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a large bowl. Then he began to wash his disciples’ feet. He dried them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6 He came to Simon Peter.
“Lord,” Peter said to him, “are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You don’t realize now what I am doing. But later you will understand.”
8 “No,” said Peter. “You will never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you can’t share life with me.”
9 “Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet! Wash my hands and my head too!”
10 Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs to wash only his feet. The rest of his body is clean. And you are clean. But not all of you are.”
11 Jesus knew who was going to hand him over to his enemies. That was why he said not every one was clean.
12 When Jesus finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes. Then he returned to his place.
“Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You are right. That is what I am. 14 I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet. So you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have given you an example. You should do as I have done for you.
16 “What I’m about to tell you is true. A servant is not more important than his master. And a messenger is not more important than the one who sends him. 17 Now you know these things. So you will be blessed if you do them.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Living in Love Without Shame
"the man and the woman were both naked and were not ashamed" Genesis 2:25 ESV
God did not create us to live in shame but in relationships of care, truth and intimacy with himself and others.
Shame corrodes and corrupts and isolates from God and from others
"Weary of selfishness and pride,
False pleasures gone, vain hopes denied,
Deep in Thy wounds my shame to hide,
Christ crucified, I come."
from the hymn "Drawn to the Cross, Which Thou Hast Blest"
Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/nt/1049/j=a&jbl=30&pt=c&pn=9&pjbl=25&nt=c&nn=12&njbl=15&lpn=1&clpn=1&jil=30#ixzz2hocThtPv
I tell you that her many sins are forgiven.
This is clear because she showed great love.
But the person who has only a little to be forgiven will feel only a little love.'
Simon the Pharisee said,
'If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman who was touching him is sinner!"
Luke 7:39
But Jesus did know...
He knew even more than Simon knew....
He knew it all..
every last sordid detail of every wrong and destructive choice
But he also knew
the regret
the shame
the desperate cry for love
for being loved
to be cherished
to be beloved
to be welcomed with open arms, full embrace and eyes lit up with joy
to belong
to be a part
to be meaningfully connected
in deep, personal, intimate and mutually desired relationship
He knew that she loved him
He knew she knew that she only loved him because he had loved her first
you love a person not a choice not an action but a person
She knew she was not worthy
did not merit or do anything to earn his love
But she was loved, this she knew
loved completely, absolutely, thoroughly
there was no need to try to hide anything from him
there was nothing he did not see
there was nothing he did not know
He was perfectly clear about
the selfishness
the rebellion
the destructive pride
the refusal to listen
the persistence in sin
the putting of other people and things before him
the rejection of his grace before
But he saw beyond
the acts, choices, attitudes and words
to who he had made her to be
to who he wanted to make her to be
to who he was able to make her now
He saw her, all of her
He saw with kindness, with empathy, with understanding, with crystal clarity
He did not make excuse, deny, deflect or shift blame
He atoned
He forgave
He covered her
He accepted her
He loved her
He cherished her
He desired her
He hoped for her
He longed to transform
to renew
to recreate
His likeness in her
to bring her to what he has always intended for her
He knew the power of God
to cleanse
to forgive
to pardon
to justify
to change
to transform
to create anew
He knew who she was
He knew who He was
She knew only Him in a room full of those who did not know who was really there with them that day
She knew she could pour out her love on him and he would not reject
he would not scorn
he would not despise or disdain
He would receive
appreciate
admire
respect
respond in love and gratitude
They were all in the same room but these two knew a completely different universe
Oh, Simon, if only you knew who it was who was in your house that day,
who it was among you
with you
You would have poured out your tears on his beautiful feet
for they were bringing the good news of the gospel of peace
You would have been free from caring what anyone else thought at all
free even from what you thought about yourself at all
a burning, fiery, passionate love would have consumed you so completely
as to leave your old self
old life
old desires
old pursuits
old wants
old vices
all behind in a blinding flash
an all consuming, passionate love
a blazing connection
igniting
able to burn away all impurities, all traces of contamination, to purify
to bring us to himself
he wants love in return
not only things and actions
but my whole person
actions springing from this source of love
Oh to see you, to know you
to let your holy fire burn within
so that we are nevermore the same old selfish, stale, self-centered sinner
but pouring our our love on you and on one another for all to see
tears of amazement
gratitude
wonder
crazy love
kneeling
wiping with our hair
You
the one whom all our hearts truly long for
She alone, in this house, knew who He was
a priceless treasure none could ever take away from her
a precious person for whom all could be sacrificed
You can enable me to love the one or ones that you have put in front of me
to love them as I would love you as you are loving me
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/131christians/martyrs/perpetua.html
I have been really helped by the community formed at writewhereithurts.com
God did not create us to live in shame but in relationships of care, truth and intimacy with himself and others.
Shame corrodes and corrupts and isolates from God and from others
"Weary of selfishness and pride,
False pleasures gone, vain hopes denied,
Deep in Thy wounds my shame to hide,
Christ crucified, I come."
from the hymn "Drawn to the Cross, Which Thou Hast Blest"
Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/nt/1049/j=a&jbl=30&pt=c&pn=9&pjbl=25&nt=c&nn=12&njbl=15&lpn=1&clpn=1&jil=30#ixzz2hocThtPv
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him. Jesus went into the Pharisee's house and sat down at the table. A sinful woman in the town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house. So she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. She stood at Jesus' feet, crying , and began to wash his feet with her tears. She dried his feet with her hair, kissed them many times and rubbed them with them with the perfume. The Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this. He thought to himself, 'If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman who is touching him is a sinner!"Jesus said to the Pharisee, 'Simon, I have something to say to you.'
Simon said, 'Teacher, tell me.'
Jesus said, ' There were two men. Both men owed money to the same banker. One man owed the banker 500 silver coins. THe other man owed the banker 50 silver coins. The men had no money; so they could not pay what they owed. But the banker told the men that they did not have to pay him. Which one of the two men will love the banker more?
Simon, the Pharisee, answered, 'I think it would be the one who owed him the most money.'
Jesus said to Simon, 'You are right.'
Then Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon, 'Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet.
But she washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.
You did not kiss me, but she has been kissing my feet since I came in!You did not rub my head with oil, but she rubbed my feet with perfume.
I tell you that her many sins are forgiven.
This is clear because she showed great love.
But the person who has only a little to be forgiven will feel only a little love.'
Then Jesus said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.'
The people sitting at the table began to think to themselves, 'Who is this man? How can he forgive sins?'
Jesus said to the woman, 'Because you believed, you are saved from your sins.
Go in peace.'"Luke 7:36-50 International Children's Bible
He has sent me to announce the time when the Lord will show his kindness... He has sent me to comfort all those who are sad. He has sent me to the sorrowing people of Jerusalem. I will give them a crown to replace their ashes. I will give them the oil of gladness to replace their sorrow. I will give them clothes of praise to replace the spirit of sadness. Then they will be called Trees of Goodness. They will be like trees planted by the Lord and will show his greatness." Isaiah 61:2-3 ICB
"But he took our suffering on him and felt our pain for us. We saw his suffering. We thought God was punishing him. But he was wounded for the wrong things that we did. He was crushed for the evil things that we did. The punishment, which made us well was given to him. And we are healed because of his wounds." Isaiah 53:4-5 ICB
Shame
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shame
Shame is, variously, an affect, emotion, cognition, state, or condition. The roots of the word shame are thought to derive from an older word meaning "to cover"; as such, covering oneself, literally or figuratively, is a natural expression of shame.[1]
^ Lewis, Helen B. (1971), Shame and guilt in neurosis, International University Press, New York, p. 63, ISBN0-8236-8307-9
A "sense of shame" is the consciousness or awareness of shame as a state or condition. Such shame cognition may occur as a result of the experience of shame affect or, more generally, in any situation of embarrassment, dishonor, disgrace, inadequacy,humiliation, or chagrin.[3]
A condition or state of shame may also be assigned externally, by others, regardless of one's own experience or awareness. "To shame" generally means to actively assign or communicate a state of shame to another.
^ Broucek, Francis (1991), Shame and the Self, Guilford Press, New York, p. 5,ISBN 0-89862-444-40-8236-8307-9
Psychoanalyst Helen B. Lewis argued that, "The experience of shame is directly about the self, which is the focus of evaluation. In guilt, the self is not the central object of negative evaluation, but rather the thing done is the focus."[6] Similarly, Fossum and Mason say in their book Facing Shame that "While guilt is a painful feeling of regret and responsibility for one's actions, shame is a painful feeling about oneself as a person."[7
Following this line of reasoning, Psychiatrist Judith Lewis Herman concludes that "Shame is an acutely self-conscious state in which the self is 'split,' imagining the self in the eyes of the other; by contrast, in guilt the self is unified."[8
Simply put: A person who feels guilt is saying "I did something bad.", while someone who feels shame is saying "I am bad". There is a big difference between the two.
- ^ Lewis, Helen B. (1971), Shame and guilt in neurosis, International University Press, New York, ISBN 0-8236-8307-9
- ^ Fossum, Merle A.; Mason, Marilyn J. (1986), Facing Shame: Families in Recovery,W.W. Norton, p. 5, ISBN 0-393-30581-3
- ^ Herman, Judith Lewis (2007), "Shattered Shame States and their Repair", The John Bowlby Memorial Lecture
Simon the Pharisee said,
'If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman who was touching him is sinner!"
Luke 7:39
But Jesus did know...
He knew even more than Simon knew....
He knew it all..
every last sordid detail of every wrong and destructive choice
But he also knew
the regret
the shame
the desperate cry for love
for being loved
to be cherished
to be beloved
to be welcomed with open arms, full embrace and eyes lit up with joy
to belong
to be a part
to be meaningfully connected
in deep, personal, intimate and mutually desired relationship
He knew that she loved him
He knew she knew that she only loved him because he had loved her first
you love a person not a choice not an action but a person
She knew she was not worthy
did not merit or do anything to earn his love
But she was loved, this she knew
loved completely, absolutely, thoroughly
there was no need to try to hide anything from him
there was nothing he did not see
there was nothing he did not know
He was perfectly clear about
the selfishness
the rebellion
the destructive pride
the refusal to listen
the persistence in sin
the putting of other people and things before him
the rejection of his grace before
But he saw beyond
the acts, choices, attitudes and words
to who he had made her to be
to who he wanted to make her to be
to who he was able to make her now
He saw her, all of her
He saw with kindness, with empathy, with understanding, with crystal clarity
He did not make excuse, deny, deflect or shift blame
He atoned
He forgave
He covered her
He accepted her
He loved her
He cherished her
He desired her
He hoped for her
He longed to transform
to renew
to recreate
His likeness in her
to bring her to what he has always intended for her
He knew the power of God
to cleanse
to forgive
to pardon
to justify
to change
to transform
to create anew
He knew who she was
He knew who He was
She knew only Him in a room full of those who did not know who was really there with them that day
She knew she could pour out her love on him and he would not reject
he would not scorn
he would not despise or disdain
He would receive
appreciate
admire
respect
respond in love and gratitude
They were all in the same room but these two knew a completely different universe
Oh, Simon, if only you knew who it was who was in your house that day,
who it was among you
with you
You would have poured out your tears on his beautiful feet
for they were bringing the good news of the gospel of peace
You would have been free from caring what anyone else thought at all
free even from what you thought about yourself at all
a burning, fiery, passionate love would have consumed you so completely
as to leave your old self
old life
old desires
old pursuits
old wants
old vices
all behind in a blinding flash
an all consuming, passionate love
a blazing connection
igniting
"For our God is a consuming fire" Hebrews 12:29 KJV
"Put me like a seal on your heart, like a seal on your arm. Love is as strong as eath. Desire is as strong as the grave. Love bursts into flames. It burns like a very hot fire. Even much water cannot put our the flame of love. Floods cannot drown love. If a man offered everything in his house for love, people would totally reject it." Song of Solomon 8:6-7If human love can be described this way, how much more God, who is love himself
able to burn away all impurities, all traces of contamination, to purify
to bring us to himself
he wants love in return
not only things and actions
but my whole person
actions springing from this source of love
Oh to see you, to know you
to let your holy fire burn within
so that we are nevermore the same old selfish, stale, self-centered sinner
but pouring our our love on you and on one another for all to see
tears of amazement
gratitude
wonder
crazy love
kneeling
wiping with our hair
You
the one whom all our hearts truly long for
She alone, in this house, knew who He was
a priceless treasure none could ever take away from her
a precious person for whom all could be sacrificed
"The slave girl gave a name to the Lord who spoke to her. She said to him, 'You are 'God who sees me.''' This is because she said to herself, 'Have I really seen God who sees me?'"
Genesis 16:13 ICBYour love was enough to enable Hagar to return to a difficult situation and remain there instead of fleeing away.
You can enable me to love the one or ones that you have put in front of me
to love them as I would love you as you are loving me
"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did for me" Matthew 25:40 NIV
There is therefore now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1an example of one such woman: Perpetua
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/131christians/martyrs/perpetua.html
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