Revelation 1: I noticed tonight during the local youth baseball game that people were talking...a lot.
Really, they seemed to relish the very art of conversation.
There was a constant hum, an endless chatter.
And, I began to wonder at our desire and ability at communication.
Why do we like it so much, and what does that have to do with God?
I like to remember how He says we're made in His image (Genesis 1:26), which means we reflect Him....in most everything we do. Our very essence breathes His own.
So, if we're made in the image of God, and we love communicating, talking, sharing, laughing, listening, then, we can be certain that God is the master Communicator. He, after all, authored the Bible.
Revelation 2: This is our 14th wedding anniversary, which always causes me to be more ponderous and reflective...thinking over the years, mulling over trials, suffering, good days.
Those reflections led to a mini revelation in my heart today. I've bemoaned past trials and challenges, wishing at times that things would have been pieced together differently, within a perhaps tidier and neater package.
In the middle of those mind meanderings, it dawned on me that nothing can enter my domain without it first having passed through the okay of Christ Himself. As He is owner of all, and as all (including the Evil One) must yield and submit to Him, He has the final word on what befalls me. I remembered how Joseph told his brothers, " You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 50:20)
God's desire for me is good, His good, which may be defined differently than my good. God's intention is to refine me, to grow me, to discipline me, to use whatever means He chooses to effect the changes He desires. He purposes to conform me to Himself, and if that requires some high waters, tumultuous storms, terrifying fires, or dry wastelands, He will do it. His desire is good for me, good for me. Not just good like a tasty ice-cream but good as in character-shaping, identity-defining, readiness-equipping, Christ-conforming good.
I have fought it, resisted, mourned over what was lost, tasted bitter roots of days gone, wept for life changed; but today, God showed me in this mini revelation that He is truly working all things together for my good. And, now I'm understanding that this does not simply mean lining things up to make my day a good one, or to bring good from a bad situation; rather, He issues troubles, trials in order to obtain the good He has in store. These sufferings are His means to His end.
Please give me arms to embrace the thorny memories and trials to come, a mind that trusts that You know what You're doing, and a heart that welcomes these refineries with hospitality and thanksgiving.
I need You.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
a morning with the Lord in Jeremiah 29
It is a dark day for the Israelites. They are in the land of Babylon as exiles. God commanded them to go, to be subjugated by King Nebuchadnezzar, promising consequences and punishment if they did not obey.
Most obeyed the Lord and entered into exile in the land of Babylon; however, some Israelites remained behind, setting up a king and listening to false prophets.
While God promised consequences to those who remained behind their fellow Israelites, He also promised hope, a future, and restoration to those who yielded to Babylonian captivity: ‘They will be taken to Babylon and there they will remain until the day I come for them,’ declares the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’” Jeremiah 27:22
He reinstates His promise and plan in Jeremiah 29 via a letter written from Jeremiah to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, reminding the Israelites that there is hope. When seventy years of captivity in Babylon have been completed, they will return to Jerusalem. He instructs them, “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 29:5-7
The Lord then reminds those in Jeremiah 29:16-19 who remained behind in Jerusalem the very promise He made in Jeremiah 27:8 if they were disobedient to His will: "...but this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile— 17 yes, this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse and an object of horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. 19 For they have not listened to my words,” declares the Lord, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets."
He reminds my heart this morning that my sin will not go unnoticed, that disobedience is abhorrent to Him, and that He desires a pure heart and clean hands. He requires obedience, and He, in His way, will bless the obedient. Obedience is a beautiful response; it is a bending of my will to His, yielding myself to His directive, humbling my heart to enter into sweet harmony with His. Make it so in my life, Lord.
Most obeyed the Lord and entered into exile in the land of Babylon; however, some Israelites remained behind, setting up a king and listening to false prophets.
While God promised consequences to those who remained behind their fellow Israelites, He also promised hope, a future, and restoration to those who yielded to Babylonian captivity: ‘They will be taken to Babylon and there they will remain until the day I come for them,’ declares the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’” Jeremiah 27:22
He reinstates His promise and plan in Jeremiah 29 via a letter written from Jeremiah to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, reminding the Israelites that there is hope. When seventy years of captivity in Babylon have been completed, they will return to Jerusalem. He instructs them, “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 29:5-7
The Lord then reminds those in Jeremiah 29:16-19 who remained behind in Jerusalem the very promise He made in Jeremiah 27:8 if they were disobedient to His will: "...but this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile— 17 yes, this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse and an object of horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. 19 For they have not listened to my words,” declares the Lord, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets."
He reminds my heart this morning that my sin will not go unnoticed, that disobedience is abhorrent to Him, and that He desires a pure heart and clean hands. He requires obedience, and He, in His way, will bless the obedient. Obedience is a beautiful response; it is a bending of my will to His, yielding myself to His directive, humbling my heart to enter into sweet harmony with His. Make it so in my life, Lord.
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