Desire or Disappointment

Strange title right? They seem like polar opposites don't they? But why is it that they go together so often like chicken and noodle soup? Can you have one without the other? Is there truly joy apart from the pain? Beauty without the ashes? Isn't the very message of the Gospel one that rescues us from the terrible mess we found ourselves in? Or should I say He found us in.

Desire is in the heart of every boy and girl from the time they could reach for the stairs and crawl up them. A desire to conquer, overcome, explore and find that next fun thing to do. Every young girl dreams of being a beautiful princess with a purple dress and of course, pink shoes. Every boy dreams of greatness, that when he grows up he wants to be a fireman, or an engineer who builds the tallest buildings. No boy dreams of being in a cubicle of an office for forty hours a week. They long for adventure and risk to get that adventure. Sadly as many grow up and face disappointment they give up their desires and dreams because it is just to hard. Life is difficult. Life isn't fair. Life throws some curve balls that would make even the finest of batters seem anything but great.

How do we go back to the garden? How do we find the life worth living for again? Is it really worth more heartache and frustration? Jesus says in John 10:10 that He came to give life and life abundant. Really? Then why am I so unfruitful, and disconnected? Ah good questions lad? The answer most certainly lies in the resignation of your heart and soul. The scriptures also say that He rewards those who seek Him diligently and persistently. If we have lost heart and given up then we will not love God enough to stay with Him to bring us out of despair and into spacious territory. It is a two way street.

To be continued...

Radical love...the only way to live.

As a believer in The Lord Jesus Christ, and more importantly as a disciple there is only one way to live. What does it all boil down to? How do you sum up the life of the believer in the unseen, uncreated God? Radical love. Why not just love? Jesus loved in the most extreme way. He laid down His very life unto dying a radical death on a cross in order to prove that love was not measured by our ability to earn or measure up to, but solely in the mercy and grace of the blood of the Lamb of God. Therefore we are also called to lay down our lives for one another.

Jesus was unique in the way He loved as He walked the earth. He brought forth a new reality in a time when love was not the norm, especially loving the poor, broken, destitute, and rejected of His day. He showed His disciples the way of the kingdom. Not only would they have power to heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast off demons; but they would have power to love in a way they had never known before. In essence their ministry would be measured by love, not just power. They would struggle to learn the way of humility and love. Who wouldn't want to be powerful and able to perform amazing miracles? It wasn't power that Jesus was after, it was genuine and sincere love. The disciples would struggle with wanting to be great in their own strength and abilities.

Who signs up to love in the most radical, sincere, committed ways? Not many. Love requires deep sacrifice and a different way of living entirely. Radical love for each other requires laying down all pride and arrogance and embracing humility, meekness, grace,long suffering, kindness, mercy, forgiveness, and peace. Imagine if we were to live this way in our families, churches, neighbors, and cities. Entire families, churches, cities, and nations would be changed. The world would be changed. This is what I have signed up for. I am on a quest to learn to love in a radical ordinary way. I want my life to be measured by love and compassion and not just what I accomplished.

A wild God.

You ever wonder why you have a desire for adventure? Have you ever noticed that even your fears or insecurities can't seem to calm the fact that you wonder and imagine yourself accomplishing great feats and conquering many obstacles? In a world full of twists and turns, hardship and heart ache, long roads and treacherous territory, my heart and your heart beat to know God in all of His mystery and power as we dare to believe for the impossible.

Yes, it is true there is something in me that wants to play it safe. You know like taking the path of least resistance, or finding the easy, predictable way out. Yet there is a voice inside that says you were not created for ease, comfort, predictability, and safety. It is true that we as humans desire to be safe and secure and dwell in a state of comfort and assurance that we will be okay. I guess this is not wrong in and of itself, and probably a bit healthy in some respects. The problem with being a man or woman who represents a wild and adventurous God in a kingdom not built by human hands or limited to human reason, is the very fact that the King is not safe. He is everything good, trustworthy, loving, caring, merciful, gracious and kind, but He is very unpredictable, adventurous, risky, dangerous, and in essence not safe according to our definition of safety.

We most likely would stay in "The Shire" at every chance if it was solely up to us. Its that still small voice inside of us tugging at our hearts and conscience until we dare to trust God in the cause of justice, bringing hope to the hopeless, leaving all to share the Good News of the kingdom to those who have never heard, and risking it all for the sake of seeing the eternal kingdom established.

To be continued.

A journey of the heart

You have heard it said, "guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life." There is no doubt in my mind that the greatest battle any one will face is for their very own heart, which includes ones affections, desires, wants, needs, and longings. The human heart is a vital organ. Without the heart the body dies, and so it is the same with the Spiritual.

There is light and there is darkness. There is love and there is hate. Good and evil. There is no in between, no middle ground. We love out of our hearts or we hate out of the same. Love is from God, it is eternal and the very nature of the Triune God. There is no darkness in God, He is absolute truth, love, and light. You see friends, you have to wake up to the fact that every moment, every day, your heart is being targeted. You are being hunted if I may say. You are wanted. You have a stalker and an adversary. Beloved you must not fear or be dismayed for God is greater than the enemy who seeks to kill, steal and destroy. Only submit to Him daily, hourly, minute by minute and the devil will flee.

Allow all of your affections to be wasted at the feet of Jesus. Allow all of your longings to be satisfied by the Father Himself. Allow all to be yielded before the Holy Spirit so you may be empowered to walk in great freedom and victory.