Discovering True Intimacy with Our Savior

It Is Finished

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I have been looking forward to writing this post for 364 days when me and my accountability peeps decided to embark on “Daily Resolve 2011” and read through The Bible in a year. Remember our cute binders?

Well…mine is FULL!

And so is my heart.

It’s been quite the journey to say the least, and like any journey, it has been full of ups and downs, disappointments and doubts, followed by complete and total elation upon reading the last words penned by John in Revelation.

I had the name of this post picked out a long, long time ago. A smile crept across my face when I read my last reading assignment and those very words popped up by Jesus Himself. I think these are my three most favorite verses in the whole entire bible:

“And the one sitting on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making everything new!‘ And then he said to me, ‘Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.’ And he also said, ‘It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.’ Revelation 21:6-8

I cannot think of a more beautiful way to celebrate the birth of Christ than to behold the truth that He is coming again. Three times Jesus tells us in the last chapter of His Word, “I am coming soon!”

“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book (v. 7)…Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (v. 12-13)…I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star (v. 16)…Yes, I am coming soon! (v. 20).

It’s like he just couldn’t say it enough…he couldn’t remind us enough…that he is coming soon. And I can’t help but echo John as he writes:

“Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (v. 20)

Music Monday: Always

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I was going to post a lovely Christmas song for Music Monday, but this song held such a special meaning for me last week that I knew it needed to be a post. I hope you’ll roll with this non-Christmas song.

I was plagued with doubts early in the week, and when my unexplainably joyful friend, Jada, sent me this song, it was an ointment that soothed some old scars on my heart.

Give it up for Mr. Kristian Stanfill.

Always

 

My foes are many.
They rise against me.
But I will hold my ground.

I will not fear the war.
I will not fear the storm.
My help in on the way.
My help is on the way.

Oh, my God
He will not delay.
My refuge and strength – always.
I will not fear.
His promise is true.
My god will come through – always.

Trouble surrounds me.
Chaos abounding.
but my soul will rest in you.

I will not fear the war.
I will not fear the storm.
My help is on the way.
My help is on the way.

Oh, my God
He will not delay.
My refuge and strength – always.
I will not fear.
His promise is true.
My god will come through – always.

I lift my eyes up.
my help come from the Lord.
I lift my eyes up.
my help come from the Lord.
I lift my eyes up.
my help come from the Lord.
I lift my eyes up.
my help come from the Lord.

From you Lord
From you Lord

Oh, my God
He will not delay.
My refuge and strength – always.
I will not fear.
His promise is true.
My god will come through – always.

I lift my eyes up.
my help come from the Lord.
I lift my eyes up.
my help come from the Lord.
I lift my eyes up.
my help come from the Lord.
I lift my eyes up.
my help come from the Lord.

Waiting

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Often, we have trouble making sense of the Bible. It is full of so many stories…

…good stories
…amazing stories
…stories that bring hope.

But sometimes we forget that it’s one big story. God used a little concert called Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson to help me to see the big picture from the Old Testament to the birth of His son.

But you see, the story didn’t stop with the birth of Christ but became the greatest story ever told through his death on the cross. And it isn’t finished; the story isn’t over; it is still being written today…as we wait for him…

Are you waiting?
Do you believe?

Advent: God With Us from The Village Church on Vimeo.

Rest

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I asked God this morning what He wanted me to know today. His answer came quickly – without hesitation or delay.

“I am in control.”

Not me.
Not my boss.
Not the President of the United States.

God is in control.

Maybe, like me, you need to be reminded of this truth.

The burden – whatever it is – is not your’s to bear. It is God’s and God’s alone.

It is not your responsibility to accomplish – it is His.

Your responsibility is to know Him for to know Him is to trust Him. His intentions are good and noble and trustworthy towards us. Ask Him to show you and He will. And in the meantime…may you REST in knowing that He is in control. Always and forever. Amen.

Plan B

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A while back, God started to reveal to me a plan he had for my life. So, I’ve been waiting…and waiting…and waiting some more…for Him to set things in motion for that new season to begin. It’s difficult. It stretches my faith. But yet it is so much fun to see Him work.

I realized yesterday that I do not have a Plan B should things not happen as God has promised. My mind started to get away from me, and to be honest, a little panic started to set it. What am I going to do if XYZ doesn’t happen? I don’t have a plan B.

Now for some not prone to plan, this might not phase you, but for a project manager who is constantly asking the question, “What is our contingency plan? What if this doesn’t work?” it is difficult.

So, like any good project manager, I immediately started to come up with a Plan B. “What are my options?” I asked myself. Never, not once, did I take this question to God.

This morning, I overslept. Since my coffee time with Christ was limited, I started reading some random devotions that I keep on my phone for emergency purposes. To be honest, I cannot remember the last time I opened one. Here is what I discovered:

“I kept hearing in my spirit, “Steady as she goes.” It is a navigational phrase that means the same thing as “stay the course”. Don’t change anything; keep doing what you’ve been doing. And, I heard the Lord say: In your recent course corrections refuse to get discouraged when you don’t see immediate advantage. You are on the right track. Just keep moving and obeying My voice and My leading. You will see that divine purpose is being accomplished.

While I found this interesting, I didn’t know exactly what God wanted me to do with it. Until I read another devotion. This one written by Beth Moore (which I haven’t picked that up in months and months, mind you). This is what Mrs. Beth had to share:

“…The Greek term for “keep watch” is prosecho. “As a nautical term it means to hold a ship in a direction, to sail towards…to hold on ones course toward a place.”

Immediately, my response to God was, “What is up with the nautical terms this morning?” And then it occurred to me.

Despite the fact that I never took my Plan B question to God, He answered it.

I am on the right track.
I need to stay the course.
There isn’t a Plan B.

You see, when we have a plan B, we are doubting God’s ability to accomplish His plan for our lives, and that denotes doubt. Doubt, as we have learned in the past, is the antonym of belief. The nemesis of faith. Scripture tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please God”
(Hebrews 11:6).

So, despite the discomfort and the waiting, I will choose to stay the course. I will not have a Plan B “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in [me] will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ”
(Philippians 1:6).

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful”
(Hebrews 10:23).

Dang it!

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Do you have any grace stretchers in your life? Grace stretchers are people who cause you to extend so much grace that you are sore from all the stretching. They are typically people you want to love from really far away, but not always.


I have a grace stretcher in my life right now that makes me want to bop someone in the head. He is difficult; he doesn’t listen; he creates confusion; and makes a huge mess for people to clean up and its generally just annoying. Grace stretching exhausts me.

This morning, I went to the throne to pray for him. I wanted to pray that God would change him. That God would help him see the error of his ways and rehabilitate him into a non-grace stretcher. But I knew that wasn’t what God wanted me to pray. Dang it!

God wanted me to pray that He would change my heart. Dang it! Dang it! Dang it!
God wanted me to pray for additional grace to love this person. Dang it! Dang it! Dang it!

You know what that means, don’t you?

That means that I will have to try.
It means that I will have to surrender.
It means that I am going to be frustrated and uncomfortable as God removes some of the dross from my heart so that I can love the way Jesus loves; see the way Jesus sees; and care the way that Jesus cares.

I hope God doesn’t mind as I wince and whine from all the stretching. After all, no grace will ever stretch me as much as the grace that Jesus extended to me on the cross.