Random Musings

Sometimes I feel like God pounds home one thing. Sometimes it seems that every second of every day He is teaching me ONE thing.
But recently, I feel like I have been learning ALOT of different things.

So, in the random way that my mind works, I'm going to attempt to put words to some of those things...or at least, share some of the things with the words of Paul Tripp who says things better than I could ever dream of saying them.


1 - "Remember Israel, on the way to make sacrifice to Jehovah, they stopped and did homage to Baal. Remember Judas, he attended the supper after he sold Jesus for a little Silver. Remember the Pharisees, so publicly committed yet they plotted Jesus' death. What seems so very spiritual on the surface may not be in reality a matter of the heart." - From Broken Down House by Paul Tripp.
We must do whatever is necessary to Resisit Spirituality and embrace a vibrant relationship with Jesus.

2 - Above ALL ELSE...guard your heart...for it is the wellspring of life. Out of your heart flows your passions and your desires and your joy and your tears and your heartache and your pain and your laughter and your worship and your adoration, and maybe most imporantly, out of your heart flows your love...and everything, is always, about love.
Too often we fail to guard the wellspring of life, we fail to guard the most vital thing, and the result, is terribly messy.

3 - Wait Wait Wait Wait.
"I have come to understand that I am not the author of my own story. My narrative is being penned by One who is the definition of all that is wise, loving, pure, true and good. But since I am in the story but not the author of the story I am often called to wait. I wish I could say that I wait well, but I don't. I wish I could say that I never question your wisdom but I do. So, Lord, once more I ask for the grace to wait, not only so I can get what I'm waiting for, but so that I will become what You want me to become as I wait." - Paul Tripp

"Waiting is living through those moments when you do not understand what God is doing and you have no power to change your circumstances for the better." - Paul Tripp

"Waiting will always reveal where you have placed your hope. Your heart is always exposed by the way that you wait." - Paul Tripp

"We must wait because we are not writing our own stories." - Paul Tripp

"This means that in ministry we are called to have the same conversation again and again. We are called to pick that person up after each failure, to be willing to forgive and forbear, to remind him or her once more of God's presence and grace, and to be willing to have our lives slowed down and complicated in the process. People of grace and love are always people who are willing to wait." Paul Tripp

4 - We serve a very passionate and a very jealous Redeemer. He will not rest until things are they way they are supposed to be. He will not rest until sin is completely destroyed and we are made whole.

5 - Life is coming into focus.

5.a. - While sometimes seeming like it is out of control.

5.b. - God never said it would be easy, He only said He would never leave us alone.

6 - Discipleship is huge! Deep relationships are very important. We must choose our focus of ministry very carefully, for it is better to invest in 5 and succeed than to invest in 500 and fail.

7 - We must never stop dreaming.

8 - We must never lose sight of who we are, we must always live the way we were intended to live. God makes each and every one of us for a specific and distinct purpose, He places passions in our lives for a reason.

9 - Wherever you go, create. Never stop creating.
Love.
Relationships.
Beauty.
Joy.
Laughter.

10 - "This is the only moment we can do anything about so breathe it in and breathe it out, I don't want you to miss, the miracle of the moment."
Every moment is a gift, use it well.

Do Nothing

Sometimes, God asks you to do nothing.
That's right, sometimes, God asks you to do absolutely nothing.
Nada. Nothin'. Zilch. Zero. Zip.

Sometimes doing nothing is the hardest thing!
It would be so much easier if simply God said, "Do X."
But sometimes He says, "Wait, trust me on this, wait and see."

We can choose to wait patiently, or we can tap our foot and wait anxiously.
The choice, is ours.

Heaven Song

When I was far away, Your love went further still.

As long as I have breath, Lord, I will wait for You.

My soul is getting restless for the place where I belong, I can't wait to join the angels and sing my heaven song.

Joshua 1:9

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

Time

The time is short, and the road is long.

Urgency

We live only a few short breaths.
We are here today, and gone tomorrow.
We are but a flower that is quickly fading.
We are but a vapor.

We have very little time.

What are we waiting for?
Why aren't we living for eternity right now?
Where is the urgency?

Where is it?

Where is the urgency?

Some, will wake up every morning and beg for the kingdom...
most will not.

Some will call people crazy who live for this world and not for this world.

There are only two choices in life.

Life is all about Jesus, or it doesn't matter at all.

Which will you choose?

Where is the urgency?

Clarity

I love it when Jesus brings clarity to our lives.
He gives us eyes to see the big picture, to see clearly and beautifully.

This will be sort of a random post, but I need to get some thoughts out.

One - Proverbs 27:6 says "wounds of a friend can be trusted."
Proverbs 27:9 - "The pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel."
It is such a beautiful thing when your real friends act as God intends for them to act. When they speak truth over your life...even when it's hard to hear!
One of my friends told me the other night, "no matter what God says to do, you have to do it, no matter how much it doesn't make sense."
And that is so very very true!
The book of Deuteronomy is all about total and complete obedience, and God has been showing me alot about that recently.

Two - Old friends bring joy to the heart.

Three - Love is Patient

I'm finally at a place where everything is ok.
I'm totally content with being in this place, this is where God has called me to and I'm going to walk in it.
Being patient contains many immense blessings along the way.

Last year, I didn't know who I was.
Now, I finally know who I am.
Life is real again. Life is fresh. Life is new.
This semester has been one of immense blessing from the Lord.

"Trust in the Lord and He will do this, He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn and your justice like the noonday sun."
God is always at work, He is always doing something new, He is always creating a beautiful painting.
The Master is painting His masterpiece one stroke at a time. Sometimes it seems like the strokes come slowly, but that is only because the painter is making sure every stroke is perfect, timely, and precise.

Psalm 65:11 - You crown the year with Your bounty!
and Your carts overflow with abundance!
The grasslands of the desert overflow!
The hills are clothed with gladness!
The meadows are covered with flocks,
and the valleys are mantled with grain;
they shout for joy and sing."

God truly is crowing this year with His bounty! His blessings are overflowing. Everything is being placed in perfect order, and it is causing me to rejoice and sing and have a heart of joy.

God is so real.
God is alive.
God is at work.

In Him I rest.

In Him I find everything.

In Him I find who I am.

In Jesus, who bore my sin, I find salvation.

In Him, I find my rest.