It always starts like this,
A harmless and simple thing to fix.
Contagious and spreading quick…Like cracks in ice,
Wholly claiming our lives while we sleep.
We’ll pray for Heaven’s floor to break,
Pour the brightest white on blackest space,
Come bleeding gloriously through
The clouds and the blue.
Forcing one place from two,
Killing formulaic views,
Only love proves to be the truth.
When heaven meets the earth,
We will have no use for numbers
To measure who are and what we’re worth.
When Heaven meets the earth,
We will have no need for mirrors
To tell us who to be and where we fit into this awkward point of view.
When angels meet the earth, may our bodies be light.
When angels meet the earth, may our heavy hearts untie.
When angels meet the earth, may our bodies be light.
May our bodies be light for you.
- Heaven Breaks, Sleeping at Last
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
i will.
"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."
Ezekiel 36: 25-27
i love that God promises to be the one to clean our hearts out of all the junk we put in them. coming from someone who is more than a little OCD about cleaning, its nice to be reminded that someone else is doing the complete and perfect work that i could never do. just when we feel helpless and frustrated to do what the Father has called us to, he reminds us that HE gives us the Spirit that enables us to obey.
the phrase "I will put/I will give" that is repeated over and over again in this passage correlates to the hebrew word "nathan," meaning to give, to put or to set in place. it is the same word used in Genesis 1 when it talks about God setting the sun, moon and stars in the heaven.
so the Father uses the same power to place His spirit in us that he used to create the universe.
that is amazing to me. really, really amazing.
"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name." Ezekiel 36:22
Ezekiel 36: 25-27
i love that God promises to be the one to clean our hearts out of all the junk we put in them. coming from someone who is more than a little OCD about cleaning, its nice to be reminded that someone else is doing the complete and perfect work that i could never do. just when we feel helpless and frustrated to do what the Father has called us to, he reminds us that HE gives us the Spirit that enables us to obey.
the phrase "I will put/I will give" that is repeated over and over again in this passage correlates to the hebrew word "nathan," meaning to give, to put or to set in place. it is the same word used in Genesis 1 when it talks about God setting the sun, moon and stars in the heaven.
so the Father uses the same power to place His spirit in us that he used to create the universe.
that is amazing to me. really, really amazing.
"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name." Ezekiel 36:22
Saturday, September 12, 2009
don't know how to just put a song without a video in here...so this will have to do. listen and have a joyful day!
"put sufjan stevens on
and we'll play your favorite song
'Chicago' bursts to life and your
sweet smile remembers..."
-snow patrol, hands open
"put sufjan stevens on
and we'll play your favorite song
'Chicago' bursts to life and your
sweet smile remembers..."
-snow patrol, hands open
Sunday, August 23, 2009
fear not
"It's fear that makes us do those slightly crazy, often inappropriate things. Fear that blurts out thoughtless, sometimes hurtful words. Because fear babbles. It freaks out. It searches frantically for explanations and solutions. It races around trying to fix things or, at the very least, figure things out....
For you see, difficulties can't separate us from God - only fear can. And fear in its purest form is really unbelief, the false conviction that 'God can't, God won't...so I must.' Faith on the other hand, chooses to believe that 'God can, God wants to, and God will...so I choose to trust Him with my life.' Can fear and faith coexist in the same person? Of course they can...and they do. As long as we live on earth, flesh-fed fear retains an influence. But the more we persist in faith, obeying God and opening our hearts to His love, the weaker fear becomes....
On those difficult, overwhelming days when I'm struggling with fear- when the waves of my failure obliterate my awareness of God's perfect love - I make a conscious choice to both repent and then believe I am forgiven in spite of what I feel. And not just forgiven, but cherished. Beloved. Protected. Held close with a love that far surpasses anything we could ever experience here on earth. "
-Joanna Weaver
For you see, difficulties can't separate us from God - only fear can. And fear in its purest form is really unbelief, the false conviction that 'God can't, God won't...so I must.' Faith on the other hand, chooses to believe that 'God can, God wants to, and God will...so I choose to trust Him with my life.' Can fear and faith coexist in the same person? Of course they can...and they do. As long as we live on earth, flesh-fed fear retains an influence. But the more we persist in faith, obeying God and opening our hearts to His love, the weaker fear becomes....
On those difficult, overwhelming days when I'm struggling with fear- when the waves of my failure obliterate my awareness of God's perfect love - I make a conscious choice to both repent and then believe I am forgiven in spite of what I feel. And not just forgiven, but cherished. Beloved. Protected. Held close with a love that far surpasses anything we could ever experience here on earth. "
-Joanna Weaver
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us." 1 John 4:16
Monday, July 20, 2009
messengers of grace
"troubles in life are often messengers of grace." -lloyd shadrach
"I call out to you Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you. Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in destruction? Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion? But I cry to you for help, O Lord, in the morning my prayer comes before you." Psalm 88
praise God that the answer to all those questions is a resounding 'Yes.' like mary and martha facing lazarus's death, my heart has asked God several times this month...Lord, where were you when that happened? and He responds the same: "I am the ressurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26).
the past few weeks have been full of very hard and heavy things for a lot of people i know. pray that God's grace can find its way through the cloud of troubles to heal their hearts... and mine.
"I call out to you Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you. Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in destruction? Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion? But I cry to you for help, O Lord, in the morning my prayer comes before you." Psalm 88
praise God that the answer to all those questions is a resounding 'Yes.' like mary and martha facing lazarus's death, my heart has asked God several times this month...Lord, where were you when that happened? and He responds the same: "I am the ressurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26).
the past few weeks have been full of very hard and heavy things for a lot of people i know. pray that God's grace can find its way through the cloud of troubles to heal their hearts... and mine.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
"As for me, I have set my King."
we are going through psalms right now at church and sunday we explored the issue of kingship and how we often rebelliously seek what we think is 'freedom' from Jesus being king over us.
"But when they said, 'Give us a king to lead us,' this was displeasing to Samuel, so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: 'Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king...'
But the people refused to listen to Samuel. 'No!' they said. 'We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles." 1 Samuel 8:6-7, 19-20
i love imagining what scenes like this look like. samuel's pride is wounded when the israelites tell him they want a king instead of a judge. the hebrew word for 'displeased' is ra'a', which can mean to injure, to be evil to, or to shatter/break. 'displease' just makes it sound like samuel is a little irritated, when in reality he is crushed and probably angry. yet the Lord is quick to remind him, "this story is not about you, its about Me."
Jesus please keep us from desiring to 'be like all the other nations' and trying to replace you with something less. thank you for reminding me on sunday: "As for me, I have set my King." (Psalm 2:6)
"But when they said, 'Give us a king to lead us,' this was displeasing to Samuel, so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: 'Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king...'
But the people refused to listen to Samuel. 'No!' they said. 'We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles." 1 Samuel 8:6-7, 19-20
i love imagining what scenes like this look like. samuel's pride is wounded when the israelites tell him they want a king instead of a judge. the hebrew word for 'displeased' is ra'a', which can mean to injure, to be evil to, or to shatter/break. 'displease' just makes it sound like samuel is a little irritated, when in reality he is crushed and probably angry. yet the Lord is quick to remind him, "this story is not about you, its about Me."
Jesus please keep us from desiring to 'be like all the other nations' and trying to replace you with something less. thank you for reminding me on sunday: "As for me, I have set my King." (Psalm 2:6)
Sunday, June 28, 2009
looking for justice
Oswald:
"Looking for justice is actually a sign that we have been diverted from our devotion to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it... "
really cool film projects focusing on the injustice of poverty in the world. gerry straub says in the film that "...the suffering is there not because of God, but the suffering is there because of us... and our unwillingness to share. Christ isn't looking for us to give our spare change, he wants us to give our very lives."
"Looking for justice is actually a sign that we have been diverted from our devotion to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it... "
really cool film projects focusing on the injustice of poverty in the world. gerry straub says in the film that "...the suffering is there not because of God, but the suffering is there because of us... and our unwillingness to share. Christ isn't looking for us to give our spare change, he wants us to give our very lives."
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