September 13, 2010 Dissolved Into Strength

Every once in a while, I find myself in a place of absolute inability to function.  Whether it's my own fault or it's something that God is doing is impossible for me to tell, but I always come to the same conclusion: I am nothing without Him.  I could relate very much to this verse today: For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you. 
2 Corinthians 13: 4

I decided a long time ago that there isn't any point in trying to do something in my own strength.  What little natural strength I have is easily used up, and what meager things I can do on my own are nothing compared to what the Lord can do through me.  I have learned (more than once) that the world goes on without me.  This can come as a big shock to anyone who has finally believed that "I am the only one who can be me and do what I do."  As true as this is, we still must accept that it is up to God to empower us.  He is Life, and there is no substitute for waiting on Him.

I see myself as a sailboat.  My gifts and talents are like sails.  When the wind blows I will go somewhere as long as my sails are oriented to being filled with the wind.  Just as in the natural world, sometimes the wind is just not blowing!  A sailboat cannot control the wind.  It cannot fake wind either. Why do we Christians think we have to fake the wind?  Do we control the wind?  No.  We don't control the Holy Spirit, and we do not fake His activity.  We just wait.  We actively wait, for at the first sign of movement, we get our sails hoisted and ready to be filled.

It is the times that I am forced to rest that I see how very weak I am.  I feel overwhelmed at the idea of doing any of the things I had previously been doing with ease.  How much I need the Lord!  There is no shame in this.  If Jesus accepted this place of total dependency on God, then it good enough for me.  In fact, it is the only safe place to be.  I am reminded, with force, to be constantly dependent on Him and His strength alone so that I do not fall into pride and self-will.  Stripped of all that makes me feel acceptable to Him, I discover once again that He loves and accepts me "just because."  Everything gets distilled down to having a relationship with God and a more pure desire to please just Him.  Of course, this is the place of inspiration, where exploits are born.

Questions to ponder:
Are you naturally a "be-er" or a "do-er"?
What word-picture would you use to describe the way God empowers your life?
Do you ever feel you are trying to "do" your life on your own?  What do you do about that?
Have you ever felt a sudden shift in how the Holy Spirit was moving in your life?  How did you feel about that?  What was your response to this change?

June 10, 2010 Why Does Beauty Exist?

Stephen's mention of Solomon's temple in his sermon (we're still in that!), and his quote from Isaiah, are nicely juxtaposed in our One Year Bible reading today.  "But Solomon built Him a house. However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: ‘ Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest? Has My hand not made all these things?' " Acts 7:47-50 NKJV (Isaiah 66:1,2).  

As I contemplate the beauty of the temple and furnishings that Solomon designed, I am quite certain that he created them as an act of worship.  I remembered that Solomon himself mentioned that God doesn't live in a physical building, so I decided to look it up (we're coming up to it in just a few days):  "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!" I Kings 8:27  There is so much more to be said about the dwelling-place of God, and I'm sure that topic will unfold as we continue reading throughout the year.

We read in previous chapters that Solomon was quite a naturalist (botanist/biologist).  He appreciated how God expressed Himself through the intricacies of nature, and responded to that by echoing the beauty and excellence in his own creations.  He wanted the temple surroundings to remind people that God was the creator of the world, and that He should be called upon and worshipped.  Solomon knew the language of beauty.

 As Stephen also pointed out, the creation itself is not to be worshipped--  when the people made idols and worshipped them, the end result was captivity.  There is an obvious difference in decorating things beautifully with images from nature and making a golden calf and worshipping it.  It's what's behind the image-making-- the purpose and spirit of it-- that makes artistic expression what it is.  I may be stepping into a spiritual hornet's nest here, but the Muslim aesthetic is all about trying to avoid such idolatry (geometric adornment only; hide women's faces and bodies), but it does nothing to change the idolatrous heart of humankind.  On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Western culture of idolizing beauty in general, and beautiful people particularly.  This is where all of our hearts go when we are not letting the Spirit of Truth give our sinful hearts an overhaul.

God is beautiful, but beauty is not god!  Beauty is an intrinsic quality of God-- you can't have God without getting extravagant beauty in the bargain!  It springs forth from Him.  Just look around!  And God created human beings with an appreciation of, and an ability to create, astounding beauty.  I am very thankful for that!  I am a great fan of God's beauty, His artistic ability, and His awe-inspiring creations.

I believe that beauty on this earth exists to testify of God's Beauty, of Him.  Getting religious about our attitudes about beauty just doesn't help anything-- it only spoils what God has given.  But if we can see beauty as a interface of communion-- back and forth, giving and receiving-- we will enter into a greater realm of Heavenly worship and glory than we have ever been in before.   

February 6, 2010

What can I say? This is one of my favorite reading days in the One Year Bible! So much is packed in here (really all the days are that way, aren't they?)-- I feel so full, and so inspired. Maybe it's all the pictures. They make me want to do art!!

One thing I love is the picture of the "sapphire pavement" under God's feet. Another is the flowering almond lampstand all in one piece of gold. Exodus 24:10, 25:31-36. And what a glorious picture in Matthew 24:30-31-- the sign of the Son of Man appearing in the heavens, Jesus coming on the clouds of heaven in power and glory, and the angels sent out with a loud trumpet to gather his people wherever they are! Is that awesome or what? To top it all off, the Psalms 30:11 offers the picture of dancing with praise when He turns our mourning into joy.

I sure do love the Lord-- don't you?