{spring}Swaying side to side, the breezes play in and through the born-again tree leaves. Color peaks its shy head from the ground. The sky is a piercing blue that stares back at me. The sun dances, shooting rays of its happiness down to the Earth. As if in a lazy river, puffs of clouds meander about the vast blue. Amidst all of it, I see God. The sky that seems to be revived, and grinning because of it, I see God there. {summer}Crickets sing a melodious note, and the other nocturnal creatures construct a symphony of night harmonies. Shutting my eyelids, I tip my head backwards. I breathe in the serene songs of this liberated night. Neck craned toward the sky, I open my eyes to black velvet that runs without end. Twinkling rhinestones of fire--intentionally placed--join in the jamboree with their sparkling dance. Some dart back and forth in joy and disappear. The moon sits still, admiring them all, as the sun keeps her company. Tonight, I see God in this rejoiceful gathering. {fall}The breeze gently cups my face, hugs my waist, and continues on through the open window. As it joyfully journeys, the breeze leaves behind a crisp, adventurous aroma. Laughing, the trees bounce about as if all in on the same joke. Their happiness exudes warm colors that fall to the ground and paint an array of yellow, red, and orange below. The affection of the breeze and the community of the trees remind me. I see God in them. {winter}Sleeping, the landscape hushes and blankets the Earth with fallen snow. As if spelled into a state of patient waiting, the trees stand still. Bare, stretching empty branches to the yawning, gray sky. Sharp winds sprint around, anxiously awaiting the return of a broader color palette. Even in a melancholy state of season, I see God. Amongst the patient and prayerful nature, I see God there.
0 Comments
Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." Matthew 22:37 This verse is one of the most recited verses in the Bible. We hear it all the time. And we know that it depicts the degree to which we are called to love Jesus. But, what does it really mean? Why is this "well-duh" kind of commandment the greatest one? Let's dig into the original language of this text: Greek. "You will love" to "agapaó":
"All your heart" to "kardia":
"Soul" to "psuché":
"Mind" to "dianoia":
Now, let's try to rewrite this frequently referenced verse, giving it the impact it should really have. Jesus replied, "Embrace God's will, long for Him, and actively live through Me with your entire desire-producer, your God-breathed life, and your side-to-side-search type thinking." Matthew 22:37 Pretty cool, huh?
(family, wealth, dignity, health, etc.), he found himself in this place of wondering. He asked himself "Who can challenge him [God]?" and "Why then did you bring me out of the womb?" By chapter ten, Job was questioning why he had even been crafted if God only planned to tear him apart. He determined that "even the light is like darkness." Then Job hoped aloud, "If only there were someone to mediate between us [him and God], someone to bring us together."
Anyone living in that time period would have probably experienced the same type of thoughts. Before Jesus came, there would seem to be little hope. What could a mere mortal do to justify himself before the Almighty God? This line gave me chills because, in this time period, I have knowledge of the mediator that would soon come. His name is and was Jesus ("For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus" 1 Timothy 2:5). Because of his death on the cross for us, we have what Job hoped for. To Job's Old Testament comment on how even the light is like the darkness, the apostle John joyfully answers with a New Testament hope that "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5). Also, the Holy Spirit acts as our mediator every day between God the Father and us ("But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." John 14:26). Again I say, we have what Job had hoped for. Now, this is the part that really blows my mind. This summer, I spent six weeks in East Asia in hopes of fulfilling the great commission and seeing the awesome things God has been doing over there. I had many conversations with East Asia nationals that were all the same age as me. With a handful of them, I asked the big question-- "What do you believe?" Many, many of those people answered with "I believe in myself." Many of those I asked had everything that they needed/wanted and saw no need or want for a being higher than themselves. Their only goal in life was to just simply "try again and try harder." Does this not sound like a similar American mentality? This "I believe in myself" answer always broke my heart a little more for the United States-- a place where most of us live like Job did before everything was stripped from him. To most, there isn't much a need for a god. Why would there be? All to be done is to try again and to try harder. If we fail, then we can fix it ourselves. If we succeed, we achieved it on our own. The more that I spoke the gospel to myself and others in East Asia, I realized how BEAUTIFUL our God is. Jesus came to earth to die on the cross for our sins to bring us into an intimate relationship with our Creator. We are made perfect through Jesus Christ. We have a mediator between God and ourselves. Yet, we choose to continue out on our own. We would rather believe in ourselves. Job, who lived as most of us lived, found himself eventually pleading for death over life. He no longer had hope when all worldly things were stripped from him-- wealth, security, family, and so on. He had hoped for a mediator. If you don't get anything from this, I hope that you understand the immensity of Job's one little verse in a rather enormous book. We have what Job had hoped for. I mean, wow. My alarm goes off for the thousandth time that morning, causing my roommate to yell my name and wake me up. Like a robot, I climb out of bed, go through my morning routine, grab my backpack, and head out of the residential hall. Everyone, including myself, walks from class to class like a zombie. We are being dragged from one class to another, day after day, going through our automated routines.
Within that day of annoying alarms, various meetings, and yawn-worthy classes, I find myself forgetting about one important thing. Guys, life is more than this. Today, I read in 1 John 5:9-15 for a 21 Day Challenge to study the Word. Within it, I was awakened to what we are called to do. Though we know this calling--it is often an easy Sunday school answer--we do not live like it. "Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony." (v. 10) "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." (v. 11-12) Two words to notice here are "testimony" and "life." In Greek, the word "testimony" in this particular passage is "martyrian," and it means to bear witness or to be a strong witness to something. The word "life" in Greek is "zóé," which refers to life both of the physical and the spiritual. Because we believe in the Ultimate Testimony, the Testimony of Jesus' death on the cross for our sins, we have eternal life. Life is in the Son, in the Ultimate Testimony. We are called to "bear witness," to be "strong witnesses," to the Ultimate Testimony with our own lives. We are walking, breathing testimonies to the One who died on the cross so that we may have both physical and spiritual (eternal) life. My alarm clock may not wake me up in the morning, but this surely will! Let's live every minute of our lives knowing that we bear witness to the Ultimate Testimony and have eternal life through Jesus' death and resurrection. We are ALIVE! Nothing brings me to tears like this one prayer.
This is Jesus' prayer for me. For you. For us, the future believers. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” John 17:20-26 John records Jesus' prayer for the future believers in which He prays right before being taken by soldiers. He's praying this for us. He is praying to the Father for me. This is Easter, guys. "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 We're all starting to feel it. There are so many things that are weighing down on us from so many sides: school, work, people, circumstances, people, maybe a little more of people. I have needed words of encouragement myself in these categories as college work piles on, and I cannot seem to find His voice amongst countless others. Here is His voice for you today, His words of encouragement. Are you worried about grades? "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34 Are you stressed out about next year? "Instead you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." James 4:15 Are you feeling impatient with friends? family? or people in general? "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." James 1:19 "And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:34 Or in your circumstances? "But take heart! I have overcome the world!" John 16:33 Are you exhausted or run down? "Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall, but those who put their hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:30-31 Do you feel alone in all of this? "And surely I AM with you always, to the very end of age." Matthew 28:20 I hope that this is as much of an encouragement for you as it is for me today. You are all so dearly loved.
One of the most radical, heart-warming revelations I have had this year is seeing my time with God as a date. A daddy-daughter date. However, these dates are so contrasting to those of our culture. You can come to this date without looking your absolute best. There is excitement to get to know the One who ALREADY knows you. And the best thing is that you do not have to have a put-together appearance or heart. Your Date already knows you and loves you. He wants all of you.
This daddy-daughter date concept has become so beautiful to me. I know that my date will never stand me up and is eagerly awaiting my arrival. He earnestly longs for the time that this date offers to hear my heart and reveal Himself. I find it so much easier to hop out of bed in the morning, to grab my Bible and journal, and to sit down in a quiet place with my cup of coffee and my Date. If making time for our Father is a difficult thing for you, I think viewing this time as a daddy-daughter, or daddy-son date, is so gorgeous. Standing God up becomes a really challenging action, and you become so much more ecstatic to meet with Him. You are all so dearly loved. "But Mary treasured up all of these things and pondered them in her heart."
|
|