Even more, I am recognizing how much of this journey with Him, deeper into His heart and will and desire for my life, is not about "arriving" much less figuring His plan out...rather, it is preparation for what is next.
So as I keep stumbling blindly by faith, in this current season of preparation, here have been His moments of gentle love and grace...in the words He has spoken, how He has made Himself evident, or having simply met me in my fleshly desire to have an "answer"...
Isaiah 42:16 AMP version, "And I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known. I will make darkness into light before them and make uneven places into a plain. These things I have determined to do for them; and I will not leave them forsaken."
Deuteronomy 31:8, "It is the Lord Who goes before you; He will march with you; He will not fail you or let you go or forsake you; let there be no cowardice or flinching, but fear not, neither become - in spirit - depressed, dismayed, and unnerved with alarm."
Psalm 31:15, "My times are in Your hands..."
Interesting fact about the chrysanthemum flower...it does not bloom until the frost, essentially when all other flowers have died or gone. What brings them to finally bloom? The longer nights! The longer nights do not just bring rest, but they also are ideal for blossoming, because the waiting in the darkness grows, develops, strengthens, prepares, brings fruition..."waiting on Him for whom it is no vain thing to wait."
My God operates on a "need-to-know" basis only. I can rest in His peace.
Ah the joy of Your very Word God...
All of Psalm 16...He is my "portion" and my inheritance...my Father alone "holds" me, "maintains" my very life and steps I take...He gives me "counsel," not man...His very Spirit within my heart "instructs me in the night seasons"...therefore, I can "rest" and "confidently dwell" in His hand, His safety..."I have set You continually before me...You will show me the path of life"...when I need to see and know, because only "in Your presence is fullness of joy"...regardless of externals, circumstances, the tangibles...
No matter what man may say, I know Your Word and will keep You continually before me.
This is grace, and knowing one's identity in Jesus alone..."Failure means nothing now, only that it taught me life. Success is meaningless, only that it gave me farther experience in using the great gift of God, Life."
Faith binds a man to what he knows inside.
Romans 1:17 reads, "For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith...disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith." It is that righteousness, the mystery and the freedom of the Gospel that pushes you out over the edge, longing for more of Jesus, taking what seem to be unwise and apparent "risks," all to know and experience Jesus more...it is a way that is only known through walking blindly, yet still longing for more of the unknown because it drives us deeper, not only deeper trust but deeper knowing of the One who leads...because "as it is written, the man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith." Not only do I draw my life by this way, but this is the only way...I am only righteous and justified by faith...how can I expect to live but by any other way? I "shall live and shall live by faith"...
Faith is - not alone in facts and a rational apologetic - but in the reality of the inward work of the anointing which he possesses through the gift of the Spirit.
2 comments:
Wow, AJ...you don't blog often, but when you do, it's great stuff. I printed it out so I can read it again later and pick up on what I missed the first time. Love your analogy on the flower (I'm not even going to try to spell it!) Hope all is well with you!
hey aj,
how're you doing? whats with our tandem? i really need it :-)
are you going to visit germany/berlin in the next time?
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