green, green pastures

"If we could count the fears, both great and small, that once hounded us, and then thank God for each dread outcome that never materialized, we would reach no end of gratitude."

-John Kavanaugh

from georgia

you are neither a good christian nor a bad one;

you are either trusting God or you are not.

all is vanity

"Trust in the Lord, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness."

-psalm 37:3

"I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live..."

-ecclesiastes 3:12

to do good is to trust;

to take pleasure is to be well-acquainted with grace.

"Come to me" - Matthew 11:28

excerpt from My Utmost for His Highest, June 11th:

Where sin and sorrow stops, and the song of the saint starts. Do I really want to get there? I can right now. The questions that truly matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words— “Come to Me.” Our Lord’s words are not, “Do this, or don’t do that,” but— “Come to me.” If I will simply come to Jesus, my real life will be brought into harmony with my real desires. I will actually cease from sin, and will find the song of the Lord beginning in my life.

Have you ever come to Jesus? Look at the stubbornness of your heart. You would rather do anything than this one simple childlike thing— “Come to Me.” If you really want to experience ceasing from sin, you must come to Jesus.

[...] Personal contact with Jesus changes everything. Be “foolish” enough to come and commit yourself to what He says. The attitude necessary for you to come to Him is one where your will has made the determination to let go of everything and deliberately commit it all to Him (italics added because it resonates with me).

“. . . and I will give you rest”— that is, “I will sustain you, causing you to stand firm.” He is not saying, “I will put you to bed, hold your hand, and sing you to sleep.” But, in essence, He is saying, “I will get you out of bed— out of your listlessness and exhaustion, and out of your condition of being half dead while you are still alive. I will penetrate you with the spirit of life, and you will be sustained by the perfection of vital activity.”

This is one of the more applicable entries in the entire devotional for myself. I get very caught up in trying to keep the Law without recognition of Jesus, grace, reconciliation, etc., that I just "try" and "do" and "perform" to the point of my own personal exhaustion. I attempt to reconcile myself to God without the bridge of Christ/grace. And as a result, I burn out and nothing changes. BUT, the good news of the gospel of grace is that all we all called to "do", is come to Jesus; He does the rest. All He wants is US...a relationship. It's amazing (grace)! In coming to Jesus, we are actively exercising our God-given will to deliberately let go of everything else. That's where we make the choice.

It's at this point that things get difficult, fear sets in, and our hands might clasp. So, we have to keep in mind that the God of the universe is in control of it all and always has been. For me, the most encouraging and comforting attribute of God is His goodness. (I feel myself starting to ramble, so I'll try to keep it in line).

-God is good

-God loves us

-God "shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us", and it's only through his grace (i.e., his FREE GIFT) that we are even saved! Praise God things aren't dependent upon me or my own doing.

Ramble complete, but I'll sign off with this well-known passage in Ephesians. I think it sums it up well. God is good.

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."- Ephesians 2:5-10

Thank you for your goodness. Thank you for your grace.

the acquaintance of grace, part 1

charbroiled

distinct-

ively har-

d

to swallow

diminished melody

tender and

visceral

(strum, strum, strum, ...

perception

alterations

Made

to the dusty dress.

perception AS

a bee sting

the most beautiful thing you could ever hope for.

Do not shout,

Like.

elder brother of prodigal one.

like, abide

banana colored sailboat

in the middle of kansas

during hurricane season

placed.

the good pleasure of

the goodKinggave:

it touched the top of my head

violently and

sweetly

like a first kiss

etched magnificently

into the marrow.

whispered majestically,

"your doing is

your undoing,

child."

the earth awry.

the viper abdicate.

sounds of poor

abject

but blessed

souls

sounding

hallelujah tunes

scattered about my premises

was the remarkable

lay in the reins

i truly believe this can be a life-changing thing.

i'm pretty sure this is from c.s. lewis:

"Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control."

Proverbs 25:28

The contemporary church is plagued with problems of self-discipline. Sinful behaviors have infiltrated our congregations possibly at unprecedented levels. One reason self-control is such a problem for so many Christians is that it feels like a work of the flesh. We are told to live Spirit-filled lives, so we become passive. We have incorrectly assumed that any effort on our part is "works", a product of the flesh and a symptom of legalism. We end up with a faith without works, and as we find out, that kind of faith is dead.

Self-control is perhaps the most confusing of all the fruits of the Spirit. How can it involve the self and the Spirit at the same time? If it's self-control, how can it be Spirit-control? It can't. But, contrary to popular teaching, the Bible never tells us to be controlled by the Spirit, at least not in the sense that we lose our personality and will. We are to be born of the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, led by the Spirit, inspired by the Spirit, and sealed by the Spirit. But we are not controlled by the Spirit. The Spirit enables us to have self-control.

A lack of self-control will cause us to neglect necessary disciplines like prayer, Bible study, contemplation, evangelism, and more. It will also cause us to indulge even godly desires in inappropriate ways. A lack of discipline distorts work, sexuality, entertainment, nutrition, and stewardship of time and money. If our lives were compared to an ancient city, self-indulgence would be the weakness in our walls. Erosion will eventually cause our protection to collapse and allow our enemies to raid.

The uncontrolled life squanders God's treasures--spiritual and material--and invites attack. At all costs, let the Spirit empower to learn self-control. It is the key to managing all other fruitfulness.

holy reinstatement

I just finished a great book today by Martin Smith, the co-founder/lead singer of a band called Delirious?. I won't rant too much about how much I loved the book (which I did), but instead I'll just mention one small part of the book towards the end that really stuck with me.

"When all around is moving and shifting and the future is uncertain, there's no need to panic. If we find Jesus we will be so enthralled, so content that we'll forget that we're in transition anyway. If we have Him inside our lives, then the good we worried about will lose its appeal in the light of His face [...]. In the same way, I'm learning that God doesn't want my voice--He just wants my heart. He just wants me [...]. When we put down our desire to impress God and allow Him to invade our hearts, everything can change."

I hope this resonates with others just as it has with me. That's His will, He just wants us. That's the only thing that matters. If we draw near, He'll do the rest. Sanctification will come; we've got to get to His feet first.

Enjoy the day. Enjoy what's offered. Enjoy the risen King. Enjoy His goodness and mercy and grace.

Let's delight.