Day 170 Another Resolution

 

Alas, one more day of drudgery, then...the WEEKEND!! Two days of escape!  You guessed it...it has been a VERY busy week.

Since I was hosting my Ragamuffin Gospel Bible study Friday night I had decided to shut down precisely at 6 pm, so I could straighten up a bit and read over my chapters in the book again to refresh my mind. So following my plan I locked everything up by 6 pm, and I scurried around picking up, moving my stuffed children off the sofa, and cranking up the AC so it'd be nice and chilly for everyone. Actually I had it on most of the day, and I was already a Popsicle!

I bounced on the trampoline a few times before moving it out of the living room, and I accomplished a few more things before the first guest arrived early on the scene. Sitting down for a few minutes to chat is always a nice escape from mundane household chores, so sit I did. Soon others arrived and the evening began.

As I attempt now to focus on the evening I can say that I have missed the fellowship sharing my home with others affords. Pastor said that porch sitting is a thing of the past, but when I go home I do sit on the porches of more than one and reminisce of early days. We did a bit of that sitting in my parlour, as the lives of those sitting in the room spanned the decades of wars, civil rights, trail of tears, past Christian Presidents and great world leaders. A nice repose, yet a startling realization of where our nation will be if we do come to the place of removing God as our Sovereign.

Although the end of this world is certainly drawing closer to an end, still the focus must always be on the unified Church of Christ. He is still very much alive and well in so many of us who are standing for His righteousness and His glory.  Our focus need not be on approaching doom, rather our eyes should always be on revival which has been prophesied before the end. Amazingly no one notices that important fact in Biblical accounts, but we who do are standing, praying, believing and praising God for His Kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven! That means here; that means now!

It is my most ardent prayer that people really come to know the person of Jesus Christ and apply His truths to their life. Yes, we suffer; yes we go through horrendous, tormenting episodes in life, but as I shared with the group last night, and I have shared many times in my blogs...this I know for a fact ... I know that He loves me, and I know that He never lies, so I can trust what He tells me, regardless of what I see before my eyes in the natural or read in an email or receive in the mail. He is my Father, and He always fulfills His promises.

We should never doubt what He tells us in secret or reveals to our hearts through His work or someone He sends. We in our weakness and unbelief think that just because things don't turn out as we expect, or we surmise that God has forsaken us. Dear ones, always God's way is best. For those who have lost a loved one, having believed that God was going to heal, only to have that one die, know this.. death has no victory for a true believer. Just because a person may not be healed as you understand, does not mean He did not do it. He rescues! Rescue is much different than death! Never doubt His trustworthiness. If you do, then you really do not understand His love for you. To quote quote a friend about the outrageous love of our Lord:

“This is yet another prayer song. Sometimes I find it hard to pray. Maybe that’s why I’ve written so many prayer songs because it’s easier to sing sometimes. God may find it more entertaining than if you just say it too. Who knows? Except I’m not sure if God’s all that concerned about being entertained. Maybe that’s just a human thing. Sometimes you try to impress God with all the right words. I just don’t think it’s an easy thing to impress God Almighty.

Here’s the thing that I think we often forget is that we don’t have to impress him. He’s already knocked out about you. He already loves you more than you can imagine.

I remember reading a thing Picasso once said. I like to read what famous artists have to say because I’m barely able to look at their paintings without going into a coma trying to figure out what it’s about. He said that ‘good taste is the enemy of great art’ which I think is very true. Good taste has all to do with being cultured and being refined. If art has to do with anything, it has to do with being human.

One of the reasons I love the Bible is because the humans in the Bible were not very refined. They’re pretty goofy if you want to know whole the truth about.

I remember when I was a kid – I was one of those typical, depressed adolescent types. I wrote poetry and stuff. That’s how morose I was as a kid. People would say “Cheer up because God love you.” And I would say “Big deal, God loves everybody. That don’t make me special. That just proves that God aint got no taste”.

And I don’t think He does. Thank God. Because God takes the junk of our lives and he makes the greatest art in the world out of it. And if He was cultured and He was as civilized as most Christian people wish He was… He would be useless to Christianity.

 But God is a wild man. And I hope in the course of your life you encounter Him. But let me warn you, you need to hang on for dear life…or let go for dear life.”

 

But God is a wild man. And I hope in the course of your life you encounter Him. But let me warn you, you need to hang on for dear life…or let go for dear life.”