went to a chris tomlin concert the other night. christmas themed music sung as worship is meant to be. ahhhhh. i was transported. funny how worship just takes you out of yourself. amazing how entering the courts of the King causes me to lose all inhibitions. every care falls off, the hands rise up, the voice resounds til it echos, it seems, into the heavens, like a pebble being thrown into the water. i love to worship Jesus. my King. when everyone else has failed me, He has remained immovable. steadfast. my Rock. my Strong Tower. i know what it is to run into the Name of the Lord and to rest in the sweetness of His embrace.
there was also preaching. a sweet message given by chris' pastor, who must follow him around just to give sweet messages. i loved that message. it caused me to reflect again on the circumstances surrounding Jesus' birth. it caused me to look again into the reality of the world into which He was born, and which He was born to redeem. 400 years of silence until, in the fullness of time.......the voice of God is finally heard.... as the piercing cry of a newborn child. identifying with the helpless cries of His people. Immanuel. boom, there He was. God with them. God in us. how blessed am i. i know it...and yet somehow it seems, i cannot always quite grasp it.
today i was watching a martha stewart show. there was a fashion show of clothes for dogs. dog clothes. i thought about the culture in which we live. we buy clothes to keep our doggies warm. how many are there on this planet who would be glad to have the clothes off our doggies' backs? then i thought about my friend christina. i remember when God called her to forfeit her nursing training in preparation to follow Him wherever He would lead. i witnessed her struggle to lay it down. i signed on as a supporter and have also witnessed God's faithfulness to build a life for her in indonesia, teaching english, and preaching and ministering whenever He opens the door. she's paid a huge price and she has persevered and pressed on into His call on her life. she came home for her second visit several months ago and can't raise the money to buy her ticket to go back. now, i have certain questions about this development, and i do know that God has a purpose in the delay, but nonetheless i began to think about my planned tour of italy in the spring. here i am going to play. it is a tremendous & fortuitous blessing for which i thank God. yet....my friend can't raise the money to go back to live the life to which she feels compelled by Him. she has always been after me to fly over for a visit when she is there. i have never found the money or the time, and to tell the truth i just haven't felt that "compelling" of His Spirit. i know enough to know that should God call me, He will provide the "compelling" which in turn will cause me to press in and see it through..... yet still...how i wish i could just write her a check right now for that ticket.....
i had to apologize recently to a couple of close family members for acting stupidly towards them. beware of vain imaginations. they are killers. they will cause you to behave in ways that make you want to puke even as you are being swept along with them. they will cause you to take on an offense that will disguise itself as "hurt feelings". awwww. poor thing. you deserve better than this. vain imaginations take on a life unto themselves. they will deceive you. and you will never know it. until you make a fool of yourself. and though not everyone may know and see...... there is One who intimately knows and sees. and when He taps you on the shoulder baby & pulls the wool off of your eyes, you had better bite the dust and eat that crow. because in the end that is the only way you are going to emerge with your integrity intact, a smile in your heart and peace in your mind. the kicker: i would never have known that my "imaginations" were wrong if i would not have obeyed Holy Spirit's conviction and issued the apology in the first place. Immanuel. i need Thee every hour.
No comments:
Post a Comment