FINDING LIGHT IN THE SHADOWS

It has been said that everything we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see. In the book of First Samuel we read, "...the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as himself."  I think the compassion that Jonathan found for David was not of this world, but a shadow of the love that Jesus has for us. It was a supernatural "knitting" of the souls. Not something Jonathan could have mustered up on his own. Remember, he was the one in line of inheriting the Kingdom. It was his legal right to one day sit on the throne that he was willing to give to David. He  would lay down his life for David if necessary. Without hesitation The Word tells us that he gave  David his royal robe, his armor, including his sword, his bow and his belt. It was a shadow of what Love would lay down for us.

Love took off His robe of royalty and covered the sins of peasants, only to call us Priest and Kings. He laid aside His divine protection as the Creator of the Universe. Legions of angels must have wept when He bid them stay. He was willing to die in order to transfer that heavenly protection onto us. As I stare into that shadow I am undone with the beauty of His light. How The One who heaven knows as The Morning Star would become a falling one on my behalf. He knit Himself to our souls. Souls whose stench must have made it hard for Him to even find breath. Don't think for a moment He didn't know what He was getting Himself in to. Remember, nothing was hidden from His all seeing sight. He knew exactly what price He would have to pay.

We envision how disgusted He must have been to see the depth of our wretchedness. How despairing He must have felt over our failures. If that wasn't enough, surely our rejection of Him would have been the last draw. Yet, He chose to knit Himself to our soul....He loved us as Himself!  Love's eyes see much differently than ours. When He chose to set aside His safety and welfare to die in our place, He wasn't undone by our weakness, nor our failures. He was there each time we gave way to temptation. He was there when we chose to erect walls to protect ourselves from those who cut our hearts. In the midst of our darkness He never once looked away. His eyes have always seen what ours couldn't. He always saw the prince of darkness lurking in all of our shadows. He saw the one who strategically placed temptations on our paths. He saw the liar that convinced us to erect walls around our hearts. He saw that the very bricks we used were nothing less than the lies themselves, until they towered so high over head, that we could no longer see the light.

Love can only love! We just can't wrap our minds around that. No agenda, no networking, no pay-backs only "pay it forward". He laid everything aside and knit Himself to our souls, even knowing many would refuse to stay there. He loved us as Himself. No greater love than this, that One would lay down His life for His friends! Let us burst forth through the shadows into His glorious light. Let us not give up pressing our souls into His heart which beats in rhythm with our own. Let us not lay aside everything He died to give us! Let us press in and take hold of that which has taken hold of us. Like Moses let us persevere because we see Him who is invisible, who gave up His everything to bestow it upon us! Search diligently for Him in the shadows...He is always there!

EXTRAVAGANT LOVE IS NEVER WASTEFUL

 Wounds are inevitable. They happen! They hurt! Sometimes they last a lifetime. We've all had them. We all have them. We may not talk about them, or even admit that we have them, but we do. No matter how silent we are on the issue, we can be guaranteed that it's not a secret. Those in our life, who we have allowed to get close enough, have seen the evidence. They have at some point brushed up against them and we have reacted with more pain than we realized we even carried. It wasn't pretty, but pain never is.

Who knows when the wounding even began? It seems, as early as the cradle. Not certain of it's origin, what date could be given for the cutting and the bruising... one things for sure...it happened...because we still flinch every time someone rubs up against it the wrong way.

Maybe it was a parent who let you down when you were much too young to understand their wounds. Maybe a teacher who made the mistake of repeating what once had been harshly spoken to them as a second grader. Maybe yours didn't come from playing dodge ball, but from the team unlucky enough to have to pick the last one standing. How about the invitation that never came or the phone that never rang? Wounds...all shapes and all sizes.

No matter how sophisticated we have become in covering them, the enemy of our soul can smell them like raw meat. Like a fly on a hot and humid day...swarming...waiting for the right time to land.  He studies us and finds the perfect relationship or circumstance that will most intricately and precisely apply the wrong pressure at the just the right time. His plan is to once again, cause the bruising to go even deeper.  If we could be objective, we could see exactly how many times he has done this in our past...but pain makes it really hard to be objective.

We would be able to count all of the numerous times he has made us feel rejected or abandoned or whispered "you're just not enough" or "how could you be so stupid?" The Word says, "we are not unaware of his schemes." The Greek word for schemes originates from the word "methodeia". This is where we get the word "method or methodical". The enemy is methodical in his delight to wound us, both strategically and ruthlessly. He takes the very "weakness: the very wounding" that he inflicted you with and then spends the rest of your life trying to cause repeated injury. He delights greatly in knowing that wounded people, wound people.

Love delights in healing those wounds and that is the reason He died on the cross. He was wounded for wounded people, like me and like you. Every time the enemy strikes again at our unhealed wounds, trying to get the pain to go even deeper, Love allows the pain for only one reason. Love allows the pain so that we will run to Him and find healing. It's like the red light on the dash of a car. It is allowed by The Lover of our Soul to show us where we have been duped. It specifically pin-points an area where we have believed the enemies lies and where we need to believe Love's truth. Love wants us healed. The enemy wants us in pain.

Who we believe will determine if that weakness will become a strength. When we can be objective enough to trust Love and recognize that a lie, straight from the pit of hell, lies at the very center of our wound...we can agree with Him and exchange that lie for His truth. To the degree we make that choice will be the degree that age old wounds will heal. It's a win-win! We win by not only our wounds being healed, but by outsmarting the enemies strategies. He looses and that my beloved is a WIN!

The Lover of our Soul is extravagant! How much sky do we really need? How many grains of sand are needed to represent His thoughts towards us? How many galaxies will never even be seen by the human eye? Extravagant is His love, but know this my beloved, He waste NOTHING! NOTHING! Every tear you've ever cried and even those you refused to let fall, He has swept each one in a jar that He guards and treasures. He keeps a book of remembrance when He hears us speaking well of Him, even those spoken in a weak whisper. Yes, extravagant is His love for us! But know this, He waste nothing. He refuses to waste what the enemy has done to us! Not for one moment has our pain inflicted by the enemy ever been missed on Love's radar. He takes what the enemy has devised for our devastation and He turns it into the opportunity for our deliverance. He makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose. It is His purpose that we prove the liar to be a liar. It is His purpose that we allow the pains of our wounds to execute judgment on the one who inflicted them. He waste nothing! The very thing the enemy uses to bring you death, He uses to bring you life...Extravagant Love! Yes, extravagant!




 

 

TO TRULY SEE

I just can't shake David's words. In the twenty-third Psalm he tells God "...I have always been mindful of Your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on Your faithfulness." That's more than a mouth full. That is a heart full! This truly may be the reason that God said that he was a man after His own heart. He got it! He really got it! His love for us is unfailing, no matter how good we've been, no matter how bad (remember David was not only an adulterer, but also a murderer). Yet, he trusted in God's unfailing love. He is faithful...even when we are not! David knew this from first hand experience. David's life was a testimony of one who had proven his God to be faithful.

 What if my life is a gift given to me, so that I can prove You faithful, which in turn, is a gift only I can give to You? A life lived in reliance on Your faithfulness, even when everything seems to indicate just the opposite?  A life addicted to Your unfailing love, even when I can't "feel" a thing? When I feel my way through the darkness and pain, what if I felt the warmth of Your hand as You lead me through? In those moments when I feel so alone, what if I would purpose to hear Your heartbeat and make declaration of Your nearness?

What if the sad and broken pieces of my life were merely opportunities to see if I would trust in Your unfailing love and rely upon Your faithfulness? What if all my sorrow was intended to bring You joy? Not in watching me suffer, but in watching me completely trust in the One I can't see? In the proving that no matter how dark and weary the journey, I never walked alone!? Not for even a moment!

If I would but look at life's hardships in this light...I might be able to see...to truly see... just like David.

If we are faithless, He remains faithful for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Tim. 2:13)

Surprised By Love

He was talking about how easy it is to doubt Your goodness towards us. How sometimes we feel like Your promises are meant for others...finding it hard to believe they are meant for us too. We wander through life wanting nothing more than to be unconditionally loved...to be understood...to be cherished. I remember, thinking to myself  "I don't struggle with that anymore!"  I 'know' I am loved. I 'know' I am wanted."

If I had spoken my thoughts out loud to everyone present, no one would have been more surprised than me! Do you know how many years that simply wasn't the truth...not even close to the truth! I mean I was saved...I spent time everyday in the scriptures and prayer...memorizing key verses to combat all of the truths that I couldn't believe with my heart. The problem was I possessed them...but they didn't possess me.

How many tons of condemnation and rejection mixed with self-hatred did You have to move to get me to this new place? This wide open space, this place where I never doubt Your intention towards me. It took me 51 years to arrive. I would have perished along the way, had it not been for desperate desire to believe that which I didn't. To believe that You really knew me by name and You longed to be gracious to me and You arose to show me compassion.

Miracles happen everyday! I am one. No one could have further to travel than I did. No one could have to push past more rubble and more obstacles than I. The secret is His arms are longer than any road we may find ourselves on. His love reaches to every far away land. His heart is beckoning you home. He wants nothing more than for each of His children to truly know they are loved and how desperately they are wanted!

"He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction...." Job 36:16