Quiet Mornings

        One of the things I enjoy most about being out at the cottage is the quiet mornings- mostly because I am usually up earlier than a lot of people. Typically, I go out and jog or ride my bike, then come back and stretch while looking out at the bay. It is beautiful here and I could certainly spend my life in a place like this! After I finish stretching I like to go perch on top of a big rock at the end of a ‘rock peninsula’ and spend some time with the Lord. There is no quieter place at that time of the morning. The sun is just starting to warm up the surroundings and it heats up my back as I relax before the Lord.

…O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Ps. 63:1,2

With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: Is. 26:9

        What better way to start the day than in the presence of Almighty God- the One who keeps the universe in motion. After all, if He can do that, He can surely help me with all the daily issues I face, so it is the best way for me to embark on a new day. Out here at the cottage, it is so much easier to remain undisturbed: no service for cell phones, no internet, and a phone that could be unplugged although no one calls me early enough to worry about :-). It is much more difficult back home to have the same quiet mornings, and there is far too much in my own house that distracts me.

        Still, I think I need to go home and re-order my mornings, or at least figure out how I can have those early quiet times with the Lord in order to start my day properly- in the presence of the Lord. After all, it is in Him I find my peace and joy, so how will I have any peace and joy in my day if I don’t start it: with and in, Him. It will get difficult when the kids start school again, but I’m sure I can work it out with a little bit of effort.

        Quiet early mornings with the Lord...

               Better than coffee…

                      in my opinion anyway!!!

Soaring in the Wind

        The wind whistled through the crack in the screen door as I sat eating my breakfast and staring out the cottage window at the overcast sky. What happened to the warm weather? The waves had whitecaps due to the windy conditions, and I enjoyed watching the rocks get splashed by them. Up in the sky above the bay, a seagull soared, and he seemed to hover in one area for a longer time than normal. The wind was so strong I wondered if he was struggling or if he was just playing around and having fun.

        Sometimes I wish I were an eagle soaring high above the treetops. I imagine myself flying high above the yuckies in this life: troubles, pollution, irritations and responsibilities. From such an elevated a position I don’t think you can even see all the troublesome details of life. But sooner or later you have to fly down toward the earth to find food for your body. You also have to return to your nest to feed the babies if you have them, or build a nest for your mate. Work is never done, most especially in the animal kingdom.

(Jehovah) He gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak. Even the youths shall be exhausted, and the young men will all give up. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Is. 40:29-31 TLB

        The Creator is the only One who never grows faint or weary (v.28). Now in midlife I am finding my energy levels are far below what they were when I was a teen, though I still know some 70+ whose energy levels far surpass my own. Still, I have seen youth so exhausted they have to stop and give up completing their work, just like us old codgers- lol. But, since God is all powerful (Rev. 19:6), He is able to give vigor to the tired and strength to the weak no matter our age. And I find the more I draw near to God, the more I feel like I am soaring over life’s troubles.

        So, we who expectantly wait, or patiently look for the Lord will renew our strength. We will walk without fainting, run without getting tired, and best of all (imo), we will soar with wings like eagles, high in the sky. The wind (of the Holy Spirit) will cause us to ride on the currents of air letting our wings take us higher and higher above all the little details of life. Oh how exciting life is when we allow the Holy Spirit to direct our flight in life.

Precious Lord, help us all to soar with the help of Your Spirit in our lives!

Sunlight through the Window

 
        As I sat on the bed in the quietness of the room while spending time in the presence of the Lord, the sun began to shine through the window. It not only warmed me up from the slight morning chill, but it shone through my closed eyelids making them appear a soft red, then orange, then yellow, and then almost like a pure, bright white light. It was far more brilliant than the other colours and actually became difficult to ‘look’ at, so I had to open my eyes.

       It made me think about how Jesus is the Light of the world (Jh. 8:12) and how He shines in my dark places, exposing my sin to his light and warming up my heart: 
 

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2Cor. 4:6

…God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 1Jh. 1:5

But ye are a chosen generation …that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 1Pt. 2:9

        What keeps us in our darkness? Fear, shame, guilt, desire, flesh, love of self over love of God? Sin is often typified as darkness, and pestilence, death and sin reside there: Ps. 91:6; Jer. 13:16; Ac. 26:18 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (Jh. 3:19) But when Jesus (our Light) came we did not, as a human race, recognize Him: “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (Jh. 1:5) Our refusal to accept Him does nothing to change the truth: He is our Light and only He can dispel our darkness.

        One day I won’t have to close my eyes in the sunshine of my window to see a bright light. On that day I will walk in the city of my God and my Savior, my Lamb will be the light of it, and my God will be my glory. And there I will have perfect peace and life abounding- forever- and I will cry no more tears of unhappiness. There I will no longer ‘see’ darkness in myself...

but for the first time I will see pure Light.

The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Is. 60:19

And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Rev. 21:23

Tearing Down Fences

       I saw something the other day, not with my actual eyes, but within my mind or spirit.  The warm sun was shining down on gentle ‘rolling’ hills and grassy lands which were divided by fences.  Slowly, one by one, the fences were being removed/ torn down.  It was like the Lord was telling me that all the fences (those things that separate us) need to come down.  It’s not going to happen all at once, no matter how much I wish it, but one fence at a time.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; Eccl. 3:1,3

       Many of the fences will require effort on my part, though I’ll need His help, however, some He may choose to remove by His miraculous power.  I need to surrender all the barriers between us into His capable hands, even though some of them He expects me to work on by ripping them down myself.  The important thing is to know it wasn’t the Lord who erected the fences between us, but me.

       Over the years as I have resisted Him, rejected Him, denied His Godlike attributes, and been disappointed by His actions or lack thereof when I wanted Him to respond as I desired...  In other words, I built the fences up between us, probably thinking I was protecting myself from something at the time, but in the end those fences only serve to keep me farther away from the one who can make me whole again- in Him.

       If the power of God is able to (pull down) demolish fortresses (2Cor. 10:4), then He is surely able to help us (Ps. 115:11) when we tear down those fences we have built between us.  Though our own strength fails (Ps. 38:10; 71:9), and efforts decline, God’s strength can show perfectly in our weaknesses (2Cor. 12:9).  We can trust Him to help us with our efforts, and to show us which fences to take down at what time for He knows what we can handle (1Cor. 10:13).  Just read all the things God is to us:

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.  Ps. 18:2

Oh Lord, please forgive me for all the fences and walls I’ve built between us.

Help me to pull down the ones I can, and use Your might with the ones I am not strong enough to do on my own.  Thank You for not shaming me for having built them, and for opening up Your arms in love and giving me a safe place of refuge where my fences can be torn down.  Lord, please rip everything down that stands in the way between us.

Like a Trampled Rose

Like a rose, trampled on the ground,

You took the fall, and You thought of me

Above all.

       During my worship time I was pondering these words from the song ‘Above All’ sang by Michael W. Smith and I wondered how often Jesus, the ‘You’ in the song really felt trampled by society, and by people who never really understood who He was.  He was God (Jh. 1:1,14,29,36) and He chose before the foundations of the world (Rev. 13:8) to set aside what He had as God (Php. 2:7) to come down as a helpless, weak, limited and dependent baby who needed poopie diapers changed, and to be taken care of and fed by other humans.
(Luke 2:4-52)

He did all that and more.

       Jesus endured temptation (Mt. 4:1-11), He lived a life of sacrifice, denying the flesh that probably would have liked to live a normal life, healed and delivered many people even when tired/sad (Mr. 6:34), taught and discipled for us three years and by doing that showed us the way of life, and then allowed Himself to stand accused of crimes, an innocent (Jh. 19:6) man, and yet defended not Himself (Mt. 27:14).  He suffered greatly (Jh. 18:22-19:34; Is. 53) and died on the cross.  Why did He do it?  “…Jesus …who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:2)  He rose, by the power of God, from death and makes intercession for us (Rom. 8:34) at the right hand of God.

He did all that and more.

       He gives us abundant life here, “…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (Jh. 10:10) and promises eternal life to those who believe (Rom. 6:23).  This man is our Savior (1Jh. 4:14).  Jesus has given all for us, yet daily I find myself trampling Him despite all He has done.  I ignore Him because I’m too busy and have things to do.  I think about myself first when making decisions, rarely stopping to ask Him.  I give in to sin when it suits me- sometimes not even bothering to resist.  I watch TV and read novels instead of spending time with Him.  Many times I neglect to express gratitude for all He has done and continues to do… and I certainly don’t treat others with the same great love, compassion, mercy and grace that my Lord Jesus Christ has shown me.

       Do not my selfish actions trample all He has done in the dirt as if it was nothing?  Does my resistance to growth/ maturity not smack of arrogance?  Ah, conviction hits my heart today, and I wonder: just how many times have I trampled Him, like a beautiful rose, on the filthy ground?

Oh Lord, I am a sinner and am in need of Your help… for only You can help me.  Don’t forsake me and continue to change me because I really don’t want to remain the selfish person that I am.