Understand

For a long time I was puzzled as to how any human being, even a disciple of Christ, could say that they "understand God"
After all, God is infinite, eternal - beyond our puny capacities in every way.
And yet He says:
"Let him who glories, glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me."

What was I missing?
Bruce Wilkinson came to my rescue a while back: he said something like this -
"We need never misunderstand God"
Wow!
The lights came on for me then. . .
It explains the last part of the verse too

As parents, we can relate in a tiny way
How awful it feels when our children misunderstand what we do; when they attribute mean and unkind motives to the things we do out of love and concern for them.

Whether we understand what He is doing all the time or not
Let us never misunderstand Him
He is always good
Always just
Always gracious

Loyal

I sometimes wonder what we will feel when we arrive "there" and we see just what the Lord had provided for our lives here, if we had just allowed our eyes to be opened to it.

When He says He has already given "everything for life..."
And has already provided for us "all things in Christ...."
why is it so hard for us to relax into that?
He tells us about His unending devotion to us
Over and over again
But we are often so blinded by the looming threats around us that we can forget His words.
We are like children afraid of the boogie man
Or the sounds of thunder

He is reliable
Trustworthy
We cannot dictate to Him the modus operandi
But we are welcome to ask Him for whatever we desire
As Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane

He is loyal to us
Can we be loyal to Him?
Will Jesus indeed find faith on the earth when He comes?

Attentive

I was numbering to myself all the things I like about God

There are an awful lot.

I halted at this word when it came to mind:

"Attentive"

Have you ever noticed how attentive He is to us?

* His eye is on us

* He knows how many hairs we have on our heads (bear in mind that we are constantly shedding hair and growing new ones!)

* He knows when we sit down and when we get up

* He knows when we lie down

* He knows our words before we say them

* He knows our thoughts before we think them

* He knows our paths before we walk them

* He knows what we need before we ask Him

And those are just a few (mostly in Psa 139) but we see undivided attention, as though He cannot tear His eyes away from His beloved.

Its a lump-in-the-throat lovely picture.

An example might be the way we just cannot help watching a tiny baby: it just lies there, but we are unable to stop looking at it.

And so I thought about our attentiveness towards Him.

Is it precious to Him?

It seems so -

That love-rivetted gaze speaks of adoration and He seeks worshippers. . .

Open-Handed

I have sung songs;
prayed prayers;
made statements;
concerning surrender
Yielding fully to God was something I desired more than anything.
In part, I had "done it".
But, underneath was an awareness that there was a white-knuckled holding on - grimly, fearfully.
I didn't know what was holding on;
I didn't know what it was holding on to;
and I didn't know why it was holding on.
There was always this deep knowledge that the very thing I thought I wanted to do more than anything - to that very thing there was an inward resistence.


I have some answers, at last.
And like all the lies we believe, once they are exposed to the light, it is easy to see how ridiculous they are.
I realised that at some level, I had believed that if I fully yielded to God,
my life would become rushed, busy, noisy with lots of talk-talk, meetings, appointments, no quiet, no space, no solitude.
Everything that is hard for me.
So I held on to my loved life-style, in the same way a child who is offered a $1000 note clutches on to her shiny cent piece.

At that same level,

I had also believed that a fully surrendered life was too hard for me, too holy for me, too high for me.

That I would never be able to live it.
If we want truth, we look at Jesus.
He lived His earthly life totally surrendered to His Father.
His life didn't look anything like my imaginings.
In fact, the complete opposite.
And, about it being too hard?
Well, ja-hah!
ALL of the Christian life is too hard for us to live: we've only got to read The Sermon on the Mount to get that.
That's why He lives His life in us, through us -
To the degree we will allow Him to.


So now I say YES to Him
Now I can open the white knuckled grip.


I don't know how He is going to work it out in my life but I am just going to live
And watch what He does.
The great adventure rolls on . . .

Write It Down

Anxiety is something that most people think of as a necessary part of life.
Yet most of the things we worry about never happen.
We seem to battle to learn from experience though -
Shouldn't we look for ways we could change that?
How about keeping a notebook for the sole purpose of recording anxieties and our prayers concerning them
Just simple notes like:
"I am worried - I don't have money for school fees next term. Lord, please help me through this situation."
And then record what happens over time.
What I have realised is that often the Lord answers prayers in such subtle ways that we don't even notice what He has done.
Two things are wrong with that:
a) We don't get to say 'Thank You" to Him
b) The situation does not add to our faith in His ability and willingness.
So some of the value of the experience is wasted.

In the Old Testament, altars were set up to commemorate times and places where God showed His power on behalf of His people.
I believe that He wanted them to have something tangible to remind them of His faithfulness and power.
The same principle holds good today for us: people are people in whatever age they live.
We too need something to look back on to remind us how He has come through for us time after time.
To encourage our confidence in Him.
Every time He does it, and we remember it, our faith in Him increases.
It is amazing how much it helps when we have specifics of His faithfulness to look back on when we are anxious.
Try it.
You may be surprised by what you see over time.

Kind

Sometimes God just blows me away.
I mean, He is always amazing but every now and then, He just pours out kindness and favour in a way that beggars belief.
(If you will pardon the expression!)
Today is one of those.
We feel as though we have stood under a deluge of answered prayers - all in one day.
And we are practically speechless with gratitude

Experiential

There have been some interesting chats as a result of the previous post -

For me, it has brought the heart of God for His lost people vividly front and centre again:

I didn't realise how much I had allowed it to become sidelined.

So easy to do as we get caught up with our own trials and lives - even our quest to follow Christ ourselves, hmm?

Anyway, people have aired views like:

Isn't it fantastic to see God at work in such a specific way?
It's mind blowing to see the reality of His search for the lost!
Is it necessary to have the process so structured?
Isn't it supposed to be the normal lifestyle of Jesus-followers, to be 'tuned in' to Him all the time?
Isn't it open to abuse?
Is it wise to tell the people you encounter that they are 'targets' in God's treasure hunt?
All of which make great topics for discussion.
Interestingly, no one has dismissed it out of hand. . .

Straight after one of these discussions (which took place at a local mall), I walked into a practical application lesson, or thats what it felt like.
On my way to my car, I was made aware of two separate situations of women in trouble: both of them had their heads in their hands; both of them felt faint (for very different reasons) and both of them responded with openness to my approach.
And I had the excitement of watching Him causing them to open up and share - one of which has resulted in a planned meeting over coffee.
Who knows what plans He has for this dear desperate woman?!

I am so stirred by this -
And have a new desire to have my spiritual 'antennae' fully operational even in the midst of the hurly-burly of life.