Tuesday, January 29, 2008

faithful and present.

for some reason, the following truth has been ringing in my head the past few days:

god is not only faithful, he is also present. (as in present in my life, in my circumstances, in my world. not just present in the universe at large.)

i think that it's easy for me to fall into the trap of viewing god as a "faithful" god who's "somewhere out there" overseeing everything, making sure it will eventually work out in the end. this is NOT the god of the bible. the god of the bible, the one true god, is intimately acquainted with all of my ways. he knows when i lie down and when i rise, my coming and my going. this is the god i trust with my life and the lives of those i care about. let's be honest, no one is stoked on a distant god who is minimally involved. our god is one who wants to be involved in every detail of our lives. will we (will i) let him?

god IS good!

Monday, January 7, 2008

battle orders from the lord.

so i figured i would start out 2008 in blog world with words jesus spoke to me today...

do not wait until you feel strong to start fighting. just pick up your sword.

lately, i've been feeling like i slowly stopped fighting and ended up on the sidelines of the battlefield. not a good place to be really. i had this whole picture of me in full battle array, sword in hand, on an active battlefield on the front lines in hand to hand combat. then slowly i began to move backward and out of the front lines, allowing the enemy to push me back. i kept moving backward, put my sword down, and stopped fighting. eventually, i ended up on the sidelines, sitting on a bench, sword dragging low. this is not the place of victory the lord has for me! he has SO much more for me. am i willing to receive it?

so, now that i've received the command, what am i to do? i need to move forward in victory. oh, help, lord! i for sure can't do it on my own, and isn't that the point? god wants me to be weak in and of myself. when i am weak, then he is strong. his power is made perfect in weakness. as the scripture surrounding the spiritual armor says, i am to be strong in the strength of HIS might. oh, lord, i can't do this. i so badly need you to do it...