Even sunsets bear witness to His Name.
Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
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“Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
According to Your lovingkindness remember me,…”
Psalm 25:7
David sounds so much like me sometimes. He is asking God to look beyond the surface of his sin, and see his heart and soul. David needs God to remember him, as he was, before he sinned.
I believe followers of Christ struggle with their own “image” of themselves to the point of believing they don’t measure up to God, the church, or to fellow followers of Jesus.
I know first hand how this “image struggle” can deplete your confidence, make you doubt His promises, and question your salvation in Him. Feeling unworthy is probably the greatest snare created by our adversary. It is easy to fall into and difficult to escape from. It attacks all facets of who we are and how we see ourselves. Unfortunately, it also causes doubt regarding forgiveness.
David asks His Father to look past ALL of his sins and transgressions so that all He sees is David in his purest form. Sometimes when David sinned he pleaded to God for a “do over” heart. David felt his sin was so great that his current heart was not salvageable and required a new pure heart. (Psalm 51)
I must confess there have been pleadings to my Father in heaven for this new clean heart David spoke of. I have needed a “do over” heart too.
On this side of the cross, we are blessed beyond measure. We KNOW without the slightest doubt our repented sins are covered by Christ everlasting cleansing blood. We KNOW He provides a path that is easily followed by those who daily seek Him. We KNOW who we are to Him because He inspired numerous authors to record His words of our preciousness in His sight.
I too, want God to remember me. I want Him to look beyond my heart stained with sin, allow His Son to cleanse me, and see His servant anew according to His loving kindness. I know He will. God’s promises example His nature.
We desperately need to imitate God by seeing others as He sees them. We all have been where David was and we all need to be seen with the heart and eyes God has so graciously given us. We need to look beyond the sins of youth. No matter how young or old a soul surrendered to Christ. See me now.
The storm was raging all around me, my boat was filling up with unwanted abusive pressures, and I had no rescue in sight. I was abandoned by a people who were supposed to love and protect me. I knew I was drowning in fear.
In God’s Word, the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all share an experience His disciples encountered in a boat, on an angry sea, and fear was their rudder. Jesus was with them in the boat. They were experienced fishermen and they even had other boats around them. This storm over the sea was different. This storm caused the disciples to re-evaluate their faith, their beliefs, and their confidence to handle storms, in their own boats.
Jesus exampled what weathering the storm truly looks like. He reminds us to make sure the boat you are in has the people who believe in you, support you, and have a solid relationship with you. You can be surrounded by other boats with people you know and care about, but not everyone makes a healthy shipmate. Just make sure your boat is filled with likeminded friends, family, and mentors.
Make sure your boat is capable of providing a space of rest. A place you can go to, to sigh with God. It needs to be a place where you can receive the calm and peace that Jesus offers. Jesus knew Who was in the boat with Him, which allowed Him to rest.
Make sure your boat goes where Jesus directs you to go. Make sure Jesus is your captain and listen to Him. He will not steer you to chaos, danger, or anxiety. Do not allow yourself to be shipwrecked by others who are not listening to the Captain.
Make sure your boat is fortified with a rescue plan. Our life jackets wrap us in His Word, our life preservers hold us in His Hands, and our chosen people are ready to pull us out of the depths of darkness should we step out of our boats forgetting Who the object of our faith is anchored in.
Confidence in ourselves is not enough to save us. We must have Jesus in our boat. The storms we face are only endurable because of His everlasting love, mercy, grace, and eternal promises.
We all have “scary” moments. Some have “scary” seasons. Jesus asked the disciples in the boat what happened to their faith. Faith is not a noun worn by a Christian. Faith is a living, breathing, on-going action we demonstrate each and every day. It is a daily proclamation of Who we follow and an exaltation of praise to the One Who commands the storms.
My boat is safe, my storms are shared with people who know me and love me anyways, my anchor is in my boat with me at all times, and Jesus drowns out my fears by wrapping His loving arms around me and reminding me He is my rest, my peace, and the object of my faith.
Psalm 146
I struggle with the idea that another individual would be envious of anything about me. I live simple, dream big sometimes, and try to be a positive influence on others. Being envied for a particular facet of my life just seems improbable. Then, as I was studying the sermon on the mountain, Jesus uses the word “Blessed” nine times in the first twelve verses of Matthew, chapter 5. In the original Greek, the meaning of “Blessed” is happy, blessed, and to be envied. I was all in on happy and blessed, but the “to be envied” took some further study and research. I could not find, in God’s Word, one scripture that spoke of envy, envied, or envious in a positive light. This increased my need to understand how being blessed can cause another to envy the blessed one.
I continued to read and re-read the next nine verses and Jesus gives me every reason to believe and understand why being divinely blessed by Him can appear to others as possessing something with a far greater value, and worth, than any monetary asset.
The conditions of the heart that Jesus spoke of in each verse, which can only be achieved through Him, ensures the blessings He states as well. 1. We can know the kingdom of the heavens is ours. 2. We will be comforted. 3. We can inherit the earth. 4. We will be satisfied. 5. We will be shown mercy. 6. We shall see God. 7. We shall be called sons of God. 8. We can know the kingdom of the heavens is ours for a second time. 9. We can bring reproach upon ourselves for and because of Jesus. 10. We will receive a great reward in the heavens.
All of the heart conditions are characteristics that require action in our lives for all to see. This visual life lived before all peoples are to be so apparent; the blessings Jesus bestows upon us are just as visual and sought after. This picture of living and following Christ as a blessing, and not a burden, according to His Words in Matthew, can and should cause others to envy after righteousness.
Knowing I am so imperfect on my own, places great doubt in my ability to bring about a sense of envy from anyone, BUT, when Jesus is the center of all that I am, only His image through me can stir up what others may deem as being enviable. May all of the blessings Jesus promises be ours when we are spiritually poor with a humble and devout heart, feel the guilt associated with sin and lament, exercise meekness, harnessing our power, earnestly crave righteousness, compassionately pour out mercy, daily purge our hearts of stains, practice peace keeping, endure righteous persecution for His sake, and rejoice with exultation in anticipation of the greatness of the heavens. I now see how these blessings and righteous living can be envied.
I’ve had the honor and privilege of knowing several family, friends, and co-workers who are serving or have served this country. Every single one of them counted the cost before they signed the dotted line, pledging their lives to defend the freedom all true citizens hold dear. Each of our military branches has a code or creed they live and serve by. These Codes of Conduct are the doctrines that define a soldier’s duty, resilience, and unwavering commitment. The commonality of all branches is Honor, Courage, and Commitment. Each branch has several more, but these three are threaded through them all. Dedicated soldiers will not waiver from their creed. They give all, at all times. They are determined to obey the Code of Conduct they swore to their fellow soldiers, commanders, and God. They are living by their calling.
In Ephesians chapter 4, beginning in verse 1, Paul is begging the Ephesians to walk worthily of the calling with which they were called. Then Paul describes the mindset that accompanies the walking. This called walk involves lowliness, meekness, long-suffering, bearing one another in love, diligence to keep the oneness of the Spirit, and have a bond of peace. Paul then expounds on the calling as he reminds them of what they were called to. Paul says we are to walk and remain as One Body, One Spirit, One Hope, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God, and One Father. These are absolutes for a true follower of Christ!!!
I am asking you to remember why you answered the call and the zeal you felt when you first committed yourself to the Ones. Remember how careful you were and reverent you were to be totally infatuated with all that Christ asked of you because it was so freeing and threaded with such love from the Father. Remember when obeying His word was not a burden, but a Joy. Remember when telling others of your salvation was a privilege and not something you now avoid. Remember when you counted others more important than yourself and led your life in such meekness and lowliness, others were drawn to you. Remember when bearing others in love set your heart, mind, and soul free from bitterness, judgment, and anxiety.
When a soldier doesn’t walk worthily to the vows he or she made when taking the oath of a military code of conduct, his battalion, his company, his platoon, or his crew can lose their lives. The greatest defeat of a soldier is to leave behind a brother or sister soldier on the battlefield. Paul also states in chapter 4 that Jesus put on the hearts of the called to serve in a capacity that builds up Christ church. When we, as followers of Christ, fail to the honor the calling for this earthly battlefield into which we were called, the same holds true, souls can be lost. God Word provides all we need to Honor, have Courage, and be Committed to Him and His church.
“Hear, O God, my cry; Give heed to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will call out unto You. When my heart faints; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”
In Psalm 61, verses 1-2, David asks God to lead him to the Rock that is higher.
David is woeful and needs the Lord, which prompts him to ask for help.
I am intrigued by the request. Lead me to the Rock that is higher. Higher than what? Higher than me.
Whether in dire straights or humming right along, we can and should ask God to lead us to the Rock that is higher.
If a mountain climber never reached for the higher rock they would either fall or decide that reaching the ultimate goal of ascending the mountain top is not worth reaching for the higher Rock.
Staying where you are is just as dangerous as falling.
I encourage you, in everything you face, do, and achieve, reach for the Rock that is higher.
Psalm 18:2 "Jehovah is my crag and my fortress and my Deliverer; My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my high retreat".
Having a seemingly “priceless” possession become a pile of trash right before your eyes can be heartbreaking, anguishing, and disappointing all in one big emotion. Some of us carefully gather them up in hopes of reassembling the pieces to restore the treasure to its prior form. Some of us deem the situation hopeless while sweeping the pieces into a dustpan and discard. Some of us ask, how can I repurpose the broken pieces?
Sometimes, we can all feel like the broken pieces. We wonder what can be done with me now? Can I be fixed? What will I look like put back together? What if my broken pieces don’t fit back together? Will I ever be whole again? Do broken pieces have any value? What am I worth now?
In John chapter 6 Jesus is feeding a great crowd with a boy’s “sack lunch” of five barley loaves and two fish. We all marvel over the miracle Jesus performed to make sure ALL those in the crowd were satisfied with the amount of food they received. The estimated number of men alone was five thousand. This does not include the women or children in the crowd. So, after everyone was fed, Jesus instructed the disciples, “Gather the broken pieces left over that nothing may be lost.”
Everyone comes to Jesus broken in part or in whole. Sometimes our broken pieces are all we have to offer. Jesus gladly takes our broken pieces and offers us the ability to become whole again. Why? Jesus sees great value in broken pieces. He also knows His blood is the only adhesive strong enough to bind us together. Jesus is the only One Who can restore us, rebuild us, and redeem us. Jesus knows exactly what can be done with us, and how to fix us. He knows what our new life will look like, missing pieces will be filled in with Him, wholeness will be our new normal, and our broken pieces are so valuable to Him, He is willing to give of Himself to bring greater worth to our souls.
After the crowd ate to their fill, the disciples gathered all the broken and fragmented pieces. They filled twelve handbaskets. Jesus values our broken pieces because it is imperative to Him that no one is lost. Whether we have been His followers for a lifetime or less, every piece of what makes us who we are, holds great value in Jesus’s eyes.
Paul writes in the letter to the Colossians, his goal was to “present every man full-grown in Christ”. Full grown is a complete, perfect, growth in Christ. This cannot be accomplished without Jesus blood in the watery grave of baptism. This is where broken pieces are made whole again. This is where your value exponentially soars in heaven and on earth. Jesus will always gather all of your broken pieces, so you will not be lost.
In 34th chapter of 2 Chronicles an 8 year old boy named Josiah becomes king and does what is right in the sight of the Lord. Josiah wiped out idol worship and literally purged Jerusalem and Judah of these practices and any symbolism of their existence.
While in the temple, Hilkiah the priest, found the book of the law of Jehovah. (Jewish writers believe it was the book of Deuteronomy) God’s Word was hidden, but no longer.
Hilkiah gives the book of the Law to Shaphan, the king’s scribe, who presents it to Josiah. Josiah has God’s word read to him and recognizes everything Israel is lacking in their worship to God. All that he did to rid the land of idol worship and idols, it was not enough. He was deathly afraid of God’s wrath and his heart was truly repentant of his ignorance of God’s Word. Josiah decides to verify the message from Moses to him and God’s people.
Josiah sends his men of education, religion, and royal servants, to a woman. The author of 2 Chronicles and 2 Kings calls her a prophetess, the wife of Shallum , who was keeper of the kings wardrobe. She and her husband dwelt in the part of Jerusalem called the Mishneh (the “Second Quarter or District”), which in Hebrew literally translates “in the college”. Her name is Huldah.
Huldah recognized God’s Word and was able to deliver the message of judgment and mercy to the king. Verse 23 states she spoke to them. When you announce the Word of God, you are teaching. She taught them the heart of God’s message to His people. She spoke of the saving power that would spare an entire nation. She spoke words of hope that changed her nation’s religious habits and views. She laid out God Words to these men to take back to their king.
Huldah’s standing and reputation in the city are attested to by the fact that she was the one consulted when The Book of the Law was discovered. Huldah obviously knew God intimately and was known for her knowledge of God. Her family obviously obeyed Moses writings in Deuteronomy 11: 8,18-25 because she put God’s word in her heart. God intended for Huldah to be the one to deliver this particular message at this particular time.
Huldah is a prophetess, she is a wife, and she is a teacher. Her culture and customs would denote she maintained a household. She was in subjection to her husband, yet God used her as His mouth piece to proclaim His Word. Jewish history writers state Shallum was the wardrobe keeper before Josiah became king. He and Huldah probably watched Josiah grow up. It may be that Josiah’s prior relationship to Huldah may have held her in a higher esteem, therefore, his request to seek her out for this very intense and important moment in his life.
Huldah was in a right relationship with God, her confidence in God shows no hesitation to be God’s mouthpiece, she was faithful to God, her faith changed a nation, and her greatest strength was having an intense devotion to God’s Word. She was prepared in the knowledge that was entrusted to her to correctly deliver the message of God.
Confidence in God is not a virtue but an inner strength and determination inspired by God. Deut. 31:7-8. Pray for wisdom and knowledge of His word and it will be given to you. God has given us the means to stand confident in Him. Eph. 6:10-17. God’s faithfulness to us, challenges us to be steadfast in our loyalty and our unwavering trust in Him.
It doesn’t matter who we think we are, God chose us to be who He purposed us to be. He wants us to know Him. Philippians 4:8-We too have the command and empowerment to internalize God’s word. Colossians 1:9-10 2 Timothy 2:2 Philippians 4:8-9 9
Huldah is known only from this circumstance. I do not see where she is mentioned again. Like Huldah, if this is the only story I’m known for, I’m good with that. I have a long way to go to have the knowledge Huldah had, but I’m working on it. I invite you to fall in love with God’s Word.
A few Sundays ago during worship services, the scripture reader asked everyone to stand for the reading of God’s Word. The audible moaning and groaning was heartbreaking to me. I can only try to fathom how it affected God’s heart. Then another speaker asked us to kneel in prayer with him as he led us in prayer. We were reminded by both speakers that God’s Word affirms and approves both actions all throughout God’s Word, but especially in Nehemiah chapter 8. The entire chapter permeates reverence for God’s Holy Word.
Nehemiah received king Artaxerxes blessing to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and restore its people to the city. Nehemiah and God’s people rallied to rebuild Jerusalem, endured, and overcame opposition. They were focused on pleasing God, not man.
After the rebuilding was finished, God’s Word says in Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 1 that ALL the people; men, women, and those who were old enough to understand, came together as one for the reading of God’s Word through the law of Moses. This reading started at daylight and ended at midday. As soon as the people watched Ezra open God’s Word they stood. Nehemiah writes that the ears of all the people were to the book of the law. God’s Word had the undivided attention of ALL who were present. Israel truly revered God’s Word and responded from their hearts.
After they lifted their hands, they bowed their heads, and worshipped Jehovah with their faces on the ground. God’s people listened so intently, as a nation, they understood His Words. It left them hungry for more. They rejoiced in His Word – vs 12 they came back the very next day and asked to hear more and to seek understanding.
After this the people mourned and wept because they understood what they heard and realized they need to make changes in their worship to God. Have we lost our reverence for Gods Holy Word? My heart weeps at the impatience, disrespect, and disloyalty displayed by so many that Sunday morning. Are we a people who have forgotten the Holiness of God’s Word?
God’s people should not have to be asked to stand at the reading of His Word! God’s people should not be embarrassed or afraid of what others might think if they knelt in prayer. God designed this. His own Son, Jesus the Christ, kneeled in prayer before God His Father. We do not have the right to claim “comfort zones”!! We do not have the authority to change how God should be worshipped. Example after example in God’s Word shows a people who bowed down to the ground in worship and in prayer. Who decided, way back when, that this just isn’t convenient anymore? Who on this earth had or has the authority to change what God’s people knew to be right, pure, and undefiled? I have yet to read or find where God’s Word condemns lifting hands or kneeling in prayer to God. If that were true, then Paul sinned in 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 7 where he wrote, “I will therefore pray that men everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” I’ve heard it said “we are in modern times now and we only have to bow our hearts”. No one has the authority to “modernize” or dilute God’s Holy Word. God wrote it.. He is the author.
Nehemiah states upon hearing God’s Word His people cried at His Word, they stood at His Word, they grieved at His Word, they lifted hands at His Word, and they bowed down at His Word. Was all this an accepted practice before God? Yes. Are we today focused on pleasing God or man? God received every prophet, messenger, and His own Son who knelt when praying and stood for the reading of His Word.
Hearing God’s Word will never leave you empty when you take it with you. We can’t leave His Holy Word in the pew.
When scripture is being read we should stand in reverence and listen so intently it causes a change in us. Just like the people of Israel. We should rejoice at God’s Word and hold it in our hearts as Holy and pure on a daily basis. Our purpose in listening should invite us to compare our lives to His truth and joyfully make any changes necessary to grow in faith.
Ezra didn’t have to ask them, it was a reflexive response. Not only did the reverence in their hearts bring forth a spoken Amen but they lifted their hands, then if that is not enough, they voluntarily bowed their heads and worshipped Jehovah with their faces to the ground.
Finally, Ezra told them to go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing has been prepared. Do not be grieved, why? Jehovah is your Strength. Israel did as they were told while rejoicing because they understood the Words of God. They listened and heard with all their heart, mind, and souls.
There is so much more in Nehemiah chapter 8 to enliven your yearning to draw nearer to God and His Word. I encourage you step up and recapture the AWE and reverence God’s Word has always deserved and demands.
My Mother’s declining health was a predecessor to our moving back to her hometown and joining her in her Winter Season. We worked through all the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of jumping the hurdles of her Dementia Alzheimer’s in a six year span. My Mother, like most, taught me values, skills, and reasoning while growing up under my parents roof, but the lessons I learned walking, running, and at times crawling with her through her Winter Season will forever alter me. Each lesson was presented as a challenge of character and perseverance. Each lesson reminded me age has no boundaries when inheriting knowledge and wisdom from your parents. Mom infused a new knowledge of who I am to her, to God, and to others I had not perceived yet. Unbeknownst to her, Mom imparted a measure of wisdom that will stand firm and continue to grow within me with God’s grace.
I despised watching the demon called Dementia Alzheimer’s take over my Mom’s life and yet, somehow, I was gifted with another woman to love and cherish. As Mom’s mind was replaced with a new personality, a new perspective, and new avenues of expression or communication, I grew to appreciate and love dearly the other woman in my Mom’s life. My “new” Mom struggled with verbal communication which caused me to be more attentive to her facial expressions and body language. I call her a “new” Mom because everything I knew and loved about the woman I grew up with, and old with, was no longer present and only visited occasionally. It was excruciatingly painful to let go of my Mom as I knew her, but realized all too soon how necessary it was in order to embrace and love the woman she became.
There were no absolutes to knowing what my Mom needed or wanted. Her inability to vocally communicate the last year or so of her life caused me to develop a keen awareness of her new language spoken through her body movements, eyebrow movement, moans, nodding, and occasional tears rolling down the sides of her cheeks. Mom expressed her joy with the humming of a song that only she could hear the music. She conveyed when she was hurting with moans or grunts to the movements that brought her pain. Once in a while, when Mom was cognizant of the conversation, she would nod signaling she agreed to the question at hand or an unmistakable disagreeing nod. When the pain was overwhelming, her tears spoke for her as they rolled down her cheeks without a sound to signify the pain was more than she could bear.
Mom was one of the strongest women I’ve ever known. She had an inner strength unmatched and unrelenting. Her Winter Season never robbed her of that beautiful inner strength which she displayed many times during her decline. Two days before she died, she turned to me and said almost apologetically she was doing her best to get better.
Mom also had a level of physical strength a lot of men could only wish for. She was my Dad’s hero time and time again when he couldn’t muster enough strength to get a bolt loosened or an alternator belt tightened, or even opening a jar of his favorite pickles. When you heard him call out “Judith Ann”; that was his “come and save me” cry. She never disappointed. Mom’s hero status was demonstrated in all facets of her character and personality. She always seemed to be saving someone from whatever crisis they were in without thinking of the consequences to her wellbeing. I guess that is the definition of a hero.
Interacting and caring for Mom these last six years of her life never left me empty. It wasn’t always “peachy”, but I learned to listen so much more tentatively and hear her heart. Sometimes her words were hurtful, but I learned what truth was and what involuntary change was. Realizing the majority of the time, the involuntary changes were not within Moms control. Dementia wreaked havoc on her emotions, her words, her moods, and especially her perspective. Mom would create the most erratic and unreasonable scenarios in her mind, but for Mom, they truly were her reality when none of it was true. This is what we crawled through together because the horrors of desperately defining truth from fiction were her constant nightmares. It was easier to crawl through these times and then rise up, than to walk and fall to our knees in defeat.
There came a time when looking into my Momma’s eyes wrenched my heart in directions I didn’t know it could go or expand to. Seeing this “nothingness” caused a panic in my soul and I desperately wanted to “break through” and rescue her from the dungeon of darkness she now lived in. Writing this brings tears to my eyes all over again. I felt helpless and scared of this new stage. Dementia eventually robbed her of all her facial expressions except being able to raise her eyebrows or furrow them. I knew I still had a morsel of my Mom still fighting this demon to stay with me. We had several trial and error lessons in communicating with limited understanding on my part. It truly was hard.
A few of days before Mom passed; God gave us a most memorable gift. For approximately four hours, Mom broke the chains of her bondage and spoke to me as if all were right with the world. When I realized it was truly her, I called my daughter Amber, Mom’s brother Ronnie, and her son David so she could talk to them. Mom carried on an actual conversation with each of them. Watching and listening speak words of love and longing to each other, that otherwise would never been uttered, held such elation for me. My most precious instant was when Mom spoke to me. Her words will forever be encapsulated in my heart.
God used Mom’s condition to refine me, purify me, and create a deeper compassion within me I didn’t know I had the capacity to occupy or confine. Thank you God for working Your plan through Mom’s Winter Season.
Romans 8:28 Paul states, “And we know (and are convicted to) that ALL THINGS (the purpose and will as He planned it) work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called (through the Gospel) according to His purpose.”
Have you ever thought, how can others not see what is right in front of them? Are they blind? It should be as plain as the nose on their face. These are all expressions I have said or thought at one point or another in my life when Truth is louder than the Lie.
Paul said the god of this world has blinded the MINDS of the unbelieving.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 – “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Doubt has been greatly exercised in my life, but the one facet, the biggest facet of my life, without a morsel of doubt, is the unseen waiting for me beyond this earthly journey. I can see all there is to see with the eyes of vision God has so graciously given to me. I can speak to, feel, smell, and hear my children and grandchildren. I can dream, imagine, and create scenarios in my head that are tangible, accessible, and believable. I can explore every inch of this earth, see every creation God blessed us with, and have firsthand knowledge of their existence. God has provided us with so much and yet our eternal lives are an unseen mystery.
We are given “likenesses” throughout His Word of what heaven will be like. We are told about our resurrected bodies and meeting Him in the air right before we ascend to heaven. We are told, what following Jesus the Christ, should look like in our daily lives. But the unseen is not visible to us.
Another aspect of this passage transports me to envision myself as a flower decaying. There are seasons when the decay seems to progress at a rapid velocity and stages where the decay can slow down to a snails pace. Each has its own level or degree of pain. Both strides lead to death. The afflictions, struggles, and emotional wars I experience can be the decay. Sometimes, the changes in me, from the ravaging decay, are torturous and cruel. Other times, the drawn out lingering decay is almost unbearable to endure with no visible signs of justification or usefulness.
Praise God of all creation, under all the decay, life awaits through renewal of His planted and protected seeds that bring an abundance of growth not only within myself, but an overflowing wealth to share with others. THIS is my faith, knowing God is in total control of it ALL. While my new growth begins to sprout, thrive, and then bloom, He is there feeding me, nurturing me, and watering me with His promises. His Son is my source of nutrients and Light. Our Father knows the seeds of life in me, are far better than the layers of decay that only He can lovingly, skillfully prune and remove with mercy. I also know it is necessary and warranted for my eternal soul. Not until He strips them away, do I see His plan and will for me so much clearer.
So, maybe a truer question is, do I see what God sees?
God is working His eternal plan for me and through me EVERY day, EVERY hour, and EVERY minute of my life through His Word which produces faith in His Wisdom to cause and allow decay. By faith I accept it, knowing this is essential to my growth and His glory.
I can see what others fail to see in the life I have chosen, willingly, joyfully, and completely. I can see their confusion and disbelief in my commitment to Christ. I can see my Father working in ALL of it. I can see eternity with my Father in heaven. 1 John 5:13
Open their eyes Lord and let them see Jesus.
In Spirit And In Truth 