IT HAPPENED. Heaven came down. In a moment, it seemed, the atmosphere shifted. And the cool air of the Holy One entered in. He meant to meet with us in a way as never before in that place. Now, we were ready. Now, it was time.
Weeks of obedience. And failure. Months of endurance. And learning flexibility. Time and time being reminded and remembering, "It's all about Him."
The one night that "no one showed up," that we could rest in the Word and enjoy the fruit of faithful friends. That was the night that changed everything. Now, we'll never be the same.
You can't walk the same or talk the same or even think the same once you've tasted and seen the goodness of the Holy One. You can't go back after experiencing those shivers in your skin, that unexplainable wrenching of your gut, the fire that consumes your whole being. Why would you go back to lack once you've drank from the well of living water.
How could you not want to give everything in pursuit of Love?
Eyes have been opened and barriers torn down. The only structures left standing are the strongholds of the Lord. On a seemingly ordinary Thursday night, bible study as usual (John 13), I got to see my closest friends wrecked for the Kingdom. And by wrecked, I mean encountered. And by encountered, I just mean they got loved on. They got to see another facet of the face of Jesus and in doing so we have been drawn closer to our destinies.
Because when we know Jesus, when we sit at his feet, when we lay on his chest, when we let him touch us...wash us...we begin to know ourselves a little better, too. Who we were created to be because of Who he is. And how together we mirror His Presence by our love.
When we humble ourselves and let him be God, craziness happens.
Things we thought impossible.
Women start singing. Men prophesy. Children releasing the Spirit of their Father. How beautiful it is! Jesus says it's beautiful. He stands and he watches and he utters, "My Beloved" to ones whose response is unashamed.
This is the life we lead. Lives bowed low in service to one another. Lives given willingly in honor to our King. Because we glory in His glory. And we fight for His rule and reign. We sing for freedom.... declaring the nonexistent as if it already is.
We do because He did first. There is no place we would rather be than in love with the Man, Jesus. Without Him there is nothing. Yet, in Him, unprecedented things.
And it's beautiful...Jesus says it is.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Suffering and Intimacy
Have you ever been hurt? Experienced physical pain and coursing blood? Have you ever had to have someone apply pressure to a gaping hole to stop the loss?
Have you ever gone through the process of what it takes for a wound to really heal? To have the restraint and trust enough to not to pick at the scab and expose what happened all over again?
We all have scars. We all tend to want to remember them. But what happens when someone gives you a different side? What happens when after so long, new information is introduced? An eye witness comes forward and hits you with the truth that things were not as you thought they were all along. Everything you once were so sure of must meld to the new.
I guess that's how I feel about death. We think we know, until we get older and something we didn't know comes about and switches it all up. What we believe, how we feel, and why we resolve to walk out our lives a certain way as a result.
Things end. That's life. But that doesn't mean it's all over. I heard a story about how death is actually the beginning. I mean, it's not just a story, it's science really.
Bury a seed in the ground. Suffocate it. Pour water on the grave. And let the hot ass sun beat down on it. Next thing you know something is alive inside and growing. We call that something life.
Doesn't make sense, does it? I know. That's life. And as much as it can suck and hurt and punch the stuffing out of us, we love it. It's the painful things we experience that point us to the great joys. The end of one thing that allows us to have the start of the other.
And it's the struggle of giving up, of letting go...that yields to the deepest, richest, most amazing unknowns. The thing is, we must lose ourselves- our comforts and what we know- to find it.
We would do well to remember, in the hard times and the good times (because hard times are gonna come- that's a strange promise), a wise and enduring truth:
Have you ever gone through the process of what it takes for a wound to really heal? To have the restraint and trust enough to not to pick at the scab and expose what happened all over again?
We all have scars. We all tend to want to remember them. But what happens when someone gives you a different side? What happens when after so long, new information is introduced? An eye witness comes forward and hits you with the truth that things were not as you thought they were all along. Everything you once were so sure of must meld to the new.
I guess that's how I feel about death. We think we know, until we get older and something we didn't know comes about and switches it all up. What we believe, how we feel, and why we resolve to walk out our lives a certain way as a result.
Things end. That's life. But that doesn't mean it's all over. I heard a story about how death is actually the beginning. I mean, it's not just a story, it's science really.
Bury a seed in the ground. Suffocate it. Pour water on the grave. And let the hot ass sun beat down on it. Next thing you know something is alive inside and growing. We call that something life.
Doesn't make sense, does it? I know. That's life. And as much as it can suck and hurt and punch the stuffing out of us, we love it. It's the painful things we experience that point us to the great joys. The end of one thing that allows us to have the start of the other.
And it's the struggle of giving up, of letting go...that yields to the deepest, richest, most amazing unknowns. The thing is, we must lose ourselves- our comforts and what we know- to find it.
We would do well to remember, in the hard times and the good times (because hard times are gonna come- that's a strange promise), a wise and enduring truth:
Conflict is what leads to intimacy. And that's how we overcome.
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