silence.

I’ve come to conclusion that one of my favorite hobbies is to simply think. Sit quiet, maybe reading or music, but just to sit and think of theology, scripture, the Spirit, and even relationships. I think it’s interesting how God communicates so well in silence.

Last night, it hit me… water is such a perfect example of Christ in the lives of His followers, and today that truth has just got me thinking. Think of the qualities of water, what comes to mind first? To me, it’s the obvious factor that water itself provides life and health for us. There is an obvious parallel to that spiritually that we won’t go into. Secondly, I think of how beautiful water is to us and how powerful bodies of water are. Just standing over the edge of a cruise liner looking into an endless stretch of ocean is so beautiful and overwhelming. Looking over the lake from a bridge or boat is just worth sitting and gazing for a while… it’s the beauty and mystery of the water. Point is that in the simple, calm state the water is so beautiful to us and almost doesn’t seem real. When our God requires of us to sit and just meditate on His word and His presence, imagine the beauty and power that is revealed to us. I have enjoyed thinking and sitting this week, breaking from studying, in just a simple awe of God’s power. In parallel to how a person stops and looks over this body of water, I think we are called to sit and gaze upon Christ’s beauty and power. These are minor points associated with the concept of water, but fitting to my walk right now. Hope there’s time later to expand on it’s symbolism to me.

Simple concept, hope it’s a recall to your worship though.

-B

Jesus Fruit.

This week has been weird for me, in several aspects. One of which is that of the barriers I have put in front of God. These hit me the past few days and I felt foolish and completely lacking in fruit. I look at how James tells us to “consider it pure joy” in our trials and also how Jesus teaches that He is the vine and God “cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit”. These two connected to me, in the simplicity that in every trial, I need to bear fruit for Christ. I’ve harped on this a little before but we deserve nothing…no grace, no love, no good, no God. We deserve torment on Earth, we deserve failing relationships, we deserve unstable families, we deserve Hell. How can I expect to bear fruit in Christ if I don’t know where I stand with Him? I find my joy in Him and as I grow I’m realizing how essential that is in my worship, but in my trials I must know that I deserve nothing good, and last of all a Savior. My fruit in my trials is produced when I realize that my God has done so much more than just heal me when I’m sick, more than just provided for me, and more than just loved me unconditionally, my God has planted His glory in my heart and His Son has died for that good. So may my struggles not even maintain those of the physical boundaries I have limited my mind to, but the faith-testing spiritual warfare that my God strengthens me through. I pray that in our struggles as disciples we find that our God strengthens and our God produces, but most of all that our joy is found in the fellowship we have with God – may that be our worship. 

Just thoughts thrown together, don’t know if they make sense. 

holler.

 

-B

praise.

I was reading John Piper’s book, “Let the Nations Be Glad”, and his final chapters summed up an amazing love perspective on our praise to God. He put our verbal and active praise into a perfect analogy. When a boy thinks his girlfriend is cute, he thinks it, but completes it by telling her. When a wife thinks her husband is sweet for bringing her flowers, she completes that joy by thanking him, and telling him how sweet he is. This is exactly parallel to how we should praise God. When we praise Him it should be the completion of what He’s doing in our lives. The joy we find in our Saviour is complete when we tell Him how much it means to us. Just a cool thing to think about how and why we praise Christ.

holla.

-B

reward

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”               -Teddy Roosevelt

 

 

scripture

Psalm 67

“May God be gracious to us and bless us
    and make his face shine upon us,
that your ways may be known on earth,
    your salvation among the nations. 

May the peoples praise you, O God;
    may all the peoples praise you.
May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
    for you rule the peoples justly
    and guide the nations of the earth.

May the peoples praise you, O God;
    may all the peoples praise you.
Then the land will yield its harvest,
    and God, our God, will bless us.
God will bless us, and all the ends
    of the earth will fear him.”

This psalm speaks of the fear we have in God, but also in the praise that is called to Him. I look at the details in my life and think of how I lack both of those things, yet I consider myself a vessel to spread that praise across nations (Matthew 28:19)? It’s baby steps to God’s will, but still I should gladly suffer to make those towards His Kingdom on earth (Philippians 1:29). Still, after reading this, typing this, and praying this….. my worthless flesh will continue to strive, as will yours in reading this (John 6:63). Fear God, that’s His command to me (Psalm 96:4), and as I long to find that joyful obedience in my life I know that the flesh has no power over His will. It’s within us now, as disciples, to overcome that struggle… so often do we underestimate the power pushing us forward (John 16:33).

a challenge.

-B

 

Purpose in Prayer (?)

There was a note I read somewhere where a young lady had written about a man and his family. This man’s wife had been in a fatal car accident last year, but now he was wounded in a work accident and is currently on life support. The couple has two kids and are no doubt the victims in a very sad story. The thing that was weird and reflective in my perspective is her request for prayers. Her plea was an overall natural reaction and my view is in no way offensive to her. I still was convicted (in my prayer life) about how we view prayer.

This young woman kept repeating that these two kids were in dire need of their father, and also that his healing needs to be the focus of our prayers. Again, this is no shot to her but simply a reflection on how I view my God and our conversations. *Thinking Aloud* Would it not make more sense to pray for God’s glory in this situation, and to not limit our expectations of his sovereignty? This made me think about how my view of my faith is just that….. that it’s mine. Granted, God delights in the personal joy we receive in His presence in grace, but the faith of a disciple is for God’s glory and is no way centered on the individual. My prayers need to focus on the glory of God rather than on my poor perspective in life. I hope this challenges you in your prayers and perspective on God’s sovereignty. 

 

-B

 

WAH!

I was reading this old poem from last year and was just kind of seeking what the core idea of it is. Me and a very dear friend of mine last night were talking about how ‘Christians’ are so comfortable and there is no real fruit in their lives. This poem is more focused on males but in general, i think God’s heart breaks in the way we live our lives. Risk free, plenty of health insurance, and a new car when the mileage gets high…there’s more than that. Atleast we like to say there is – very few cases or words have been followed with a sincere pursuit.              

   -B

wild at heart

i’m told to keep my mouth shut and sit still in church,
to color inside the lines and find a band-aid when it hurts.
i hear it pays off to always be the nice guy,
and to obey the authority and avoid asking why.
they know who i have to be…
at least that’s what they tell me.

they tell me not to fight and to sheath my sword,
they tell me what i need and what i can’t afford.
they teach me to be a man and never shed a tear,
they teach me to protect but to also live in fear.
i’m glad i can look away and always find you here.

you teach me to always be humble and always to seek.
you tell me to stand in defiance and be ready to speak.
i learn to question my world with you as my rock.
when they say stop, i now know to walk.
lord, guide me in my battle, sharpen my blade
give me your power, o god, for they are afraid.

let me see through your eyes and join your fleet,
lord, soften their blows and give me my beat.
i’m marching with you and seeking my part,
god, unleash your spirit, make me wild at heart.

7/4/07

Comfortable?

I’m enjoying this kind of reflective point of the day… it’s challenging. Yesterday at church we sang a song by Hillsong, ‘Saviour King’, that really allowed me to worship God through song. The simple lyrics brought me to a place I haven’t been in a while, just humbled in front of Christ.   

 

  ” We love you Lord, we worship You. You are our God, You alone are good. You asked your son to carry this, the heavy cross, our weight of sin. I love you Lord, I worship You. Hope which was lost, now stands renewed. I give my life to honor this, the Love of Christ, the Saviour King.” 

 

I stood there in the service basically overwhelmed with the presence of who God is. It was just refreshing to know that God has given us hope in Him, and that no one deserves even an opportunity to hear the name of Christ. We are all deserving of Hell and with God’s grace we’ve had the opportunity to find that hope in God. What is really awkward to me and somewhat discouraging is the way we’ve reacted to this. With myself included, why is this not an urgent issue? Why has the world not been drowned with the name of Jesus and ultimately lifted up the glory of God? Christ is relevant to all and is the only hope for the lost.

 

Urgency should be our state of mind. 

 

‘Mark’ My Words

This is definitely the first time I’ve ever tapped into something like this, but tonight I was trying to study and really could not focus on the appropriate subjects. I started flipping through the New Testament and ended up in the sixth chapter of Mark. I read of when Jesus came to his hometown to preach and spread His kingdom, but also of how he was not appreciated and more so questioned simply because they knew he came from a carpenter and what not. It really convicted me of how I always view the flesh of people and how the world is using them rather than how Christ is growing in them. It was just a simple challenge the Spirit threw into me tonight about my perspective on the people I walk with. 

Think that’s about right. 

-B