Continuation To An Intro

We ought not fight seasons.

They have their purpose, despite the transition period, these stages are distinct.

One leads to another.

Stranger to Beloved.

Failure to Triumph.

Doubt into Peace.

Do not fight...for the fight is already won and decided.

Rest, and rock with the waves.

Rest. For the season is short and delight in it. And become grateful to the Lord for the stages.

Ah, Jesus...

To see You complete.

No holes in Your hands,

Nor wound in Your side.

To see You complete.

Would mean we are together.

Would mean that Your hands have pulled me up,

And revived my heart.

Hands wounded...allow for sinners to abide within them.

Would mean that Your side...

“At last...bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh”,

Has been used by the Creator and Father,

To give me life.

Ah, to see You. Complete.

Would mean to be in heaven.

Would mean to see others perfectly.

Belonging in failure is such a good place to be confused.

Finding that you’ve “failed” in just about every human measure, is lonely.

But finding also that you are not the only one, is comforting.

Finding that failing is normal is not fun, but it is a part of life.

Not being alone, occasionally “failing” reminds me that I can only find me...in Christ.

It reminds me I am embracing life, because the Christian walk is filled with grace.

Grace to remind me that what the world says is fail isn’t what God says is...in fact, the only time God says fail, is when we sin or don’t know Him (but also because of sin) and thus don’t know it’s failing.

Grace is the only thing God says.

Grace...

Meant to fail in every way, in every thing, in life.

But that is not my life...because. Of. G R A C E.

God says success, because He sees Jesus. Jesus in you. And Jesus in me.

And that doesn’t mean the world sees it that way, but it is the only success that will bring life to my life, because it is God’s life in me.

Because it is God’s will for me.

And His will is perfect.

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ...”

I hope that for some this will ring as true as it did for me.

I hope that for some it will open their eyes to the sovereignty and relevance of God in this time.

Because God is immutable…

God is merciful. Every day He renews.

Every day we are made new.

In many of these verses, it will seem that what the Bible says may not be true at a time like this, where chaos has come, and with more chaos coming.

But God...is sovereign.

"Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in.

Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things."

Psalm 107:1-9

It’s not Eden. What we do in faith, In obedience, In trust, In consistency, Is done and sown in faith.

Whenever we plant, We pray for prepared ground, We see God break the soil we can not but join Him, We strive to be part of breaking the soil and He shows us and teaches us to. Delicately, firmly and lovingly. We take pride in the work we do.

Whenever things grow. They learn. As they soak up the Sun. They grow and are watered. Not by our words but by Living Water that brings life. No longer ignorant but now informed. Full of nutrients. They begin to grow without limit and begin to branch off and drop seeds.

We reap the rewards and the nutrients. These blessings. Encouragement. We let them be for seasons so that they may keep growing. Each one for its season

Then we begin again. In prayer and in faith. By faith.

Welcome to The Garden. Here you will be filled. Not by the work of our hands. But by the One who makes us grow.

It should hit paper and make a splash.

We see it in how the wind comes and sweeps from under the feet of those who have yet to be stabilized.

It picks them up and lays them where they ought to be and where they are found.

How would indeed Dorothy have found herself were it not for the tornado that took her to Oz?

Rather than a tornado, or a grand storm or a chilly blizzard, consider perhaps a soft breeze, a warm one in the time of cold weather or a cold one in the heat of the day.

This great Wind comes and picks us up when we are worn, in need of renewal, in need of discovery…

Here, we are swept away, uprooted perhaps, and are carried by joy 

(though not always happiness) to a new, unfamiliar, beautiful place that demands of us to be brave and courageous.

Here we are found.

Truly Found

Here we are rooted and are rewritten so that our story is brand new.

So that we are unlike another.

But only because of the Wind that comes and carries us through life,

redrawing, rewriting and recreating us creatively to become like Him.

Be swept away.

                                                          Be swept away…

The noise began, a strategic melody ushering in that which is dreaded and often the only thing left to do. Where stood you? The same field of grass, similar on all sides. To its right, green, to its left, green, and in the center, green. Where stood the others? He, finely dressed in clothes of deceit. Showing that which returns empty. Wearing it on his armor, on his horse. That which moth and mold flourishment depend upon. He rode with his knights of darkness. Getting a head start before the war was officially. Oh how he pranced—he pranced because he assumed you were his. The other, dressed in cloth of humility, one layer or perhaps two sufficed. He watched and observed. For He'd always known you from afar and from close. He was always there. He rode on, He alone sufficed. He knew His Father had won the war already. He knew that He only need go forward and be the perfect example. He remains. Where stood He? He came as you played with the grass of the field that is here one day and gone another. He stood before you and as the enemy came, He let all wounds afflict. He was not broken. He felt your sin. All sin of forever ago and all sin ahead. He felt not ashamed. He alas felt separation from His Father, here He was broken. But He was reunited again. After three moments, He rode again. He forever defeated His enemy. There He stood, before you, beside you and all around you. The peace He brought abounding. The war fought for a long time. Every day until eternity. When He shall return one last time and take you with Him. He shall lift you upon His horse and take you with Him to be a child of the King, of which you are, but her to return home. The chaos before you, to your left and right never more to be again. For now, you are redeemed. You are royal. And above all... You are His. Where stand you?