I have been living my life in a haze. A haze of wrong and right and true and false and pure confusion. God is showing me that it is all a problem that lies in the fact that I have fallen trap to the legalistic expectations people place on me once again. I feel the need to defend myself against "the law". The bible says in Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
God is showing me that I am fighting for my life. I am defending myself and my heart. I am screaming for freedom from the people who are placing these struggles in my life but all the while I am believing what they are saying over what God says about me. I was listening to Chris Tomlin's song "Kindness", in the song he quotes Psalm 63:3 in saying "Your love is better than life". Well, at the same time I heard him singing this verse I saw it on a friends blog. He revealed to me that I need to get back to His heart. Jesus is showing me that His love is better than my life. It is better than what people think about me. It is more important than the accusations they make. It is more important than what I am fighting for. Once I get back to His heart and trusting Him, fully surrendered and losing my life, I will gain it. When I am focused on His heart I will bear His fruit and in that there is no law! No legalism. Pure FREEDOM!
Everything becomes a blur when we put ourselves into the mix. I couldn't tell left from right. But when I am nestled into God's arms and cuddled close to His heart everything begins to seem so simple. When my soul is living in worship to the God of all creation I cannot help but see anything but Him! Praise the Lord of Heaven and Earth.
In closing, I would like to challenge us to lose the legalism. Let's drop our expectations of people and let them find THEMSELVES in Christ. Let's just love and encourage them through it. They will make mistakes just as we did, do, and will continue to do. Thankfully God doing what He does and some good encouragement from fellow believers can help all of us learn through it. :)
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
I am a Tree
Trees grow strong, tall, and wise.
They see everything around them but nothing further.
Do they slumber? Do they dream?
Their roots go down deep so they do not fall as they grow weary.
What could cause them to fall?
The brutal antagonization of people making them a spectacle.
Their leaves which are so delicately placed begin to change color and fall with the stresses of the seasons.
They wear their bark proud covering their tender insides which know it's history, it's past; where it has been and what it has seen.
They drink up the water to produce and to give; starving when it is lacking.
Birds make their homes high in their branches... are they friends or imposters? Partners or consumers?
Animals eat from them causing scars and damage.
They breath in the waste of those who hurt them and offer back life.
At the end of the day it still stands tall, strong, and wise; knowing what it has seen and what it has heard.
I am a tree.
♥
As I took my daughter for a morning walk the sun began to heat up, so we parked in the grass under a tree. I have always loved trees. They just always seemed wise and like there is something mysterious about them. You know like Treebeard or something. ;) I began to let my mind run a bit with thoughts on what a tree is, what it does, etc. I ended up comparing myself and thinking about how the imagery of these beautiful creations matched up with myself. As I began to write I felt that I could let out exactly how I felt and what I knew was going on in me. But as I came to the sentence "They breath in the waste of those who hurt them and offer back life", it all clicked and I saw the truth of why they were so meaningful and so mysterious all this time! Jesus died on a tree to give us our freedom. Yes, but it is more! The tree symbolizes Jesus himself! The tree is a perfect example of the Lord! How perfect and like God is it to make the tool of "destruction" which was really the tool of "freedom" resemble Freedom Himself. This is just proof that everything God has made should point us back to Jesus. God is everywhere. His love and mercies and lurking in the midst of His creation. We just need to seek Him out in it. We can find Him anywhere. Be blessed!
They see everything around them but nothing further.
Do they slumber? Do they dream?
Their roots go down deep so they do not fall as they grow weary.
What could cause them to fall?
The brutal antagonization of people making them a spectacle.
Their leaves which are so delicately placed begin to change color and fall with the stresses of the seasons.
They wear their bark proud covering their tender insides which know it's history, it's past; where it has been and what it has seen.
They drink up the water to produce and to give; starving when it is lacking.
Birds make their homes high in their branches... are they friends or imposters? Partners or consumers?
Animals eat from them causing scars and damage.
They breath in the waste of those who hurt them and offer back life.
At the end of the day it still stands tall, strong, and wise; knowing what it has seen and what it has heard.
I am a tree.
♥
As I took my daughter for a morning walk the sun began to heat up, so we parked in the grass under a tree. I have always loved trees. They just always seemed wise and like there is something mysterious about them. You know like Treebeard or something. ;) I began to let my mind run a bit with thoughts on what a tree is, what it does, etc. I ended up comparing myself and thinking about how the imagery of these beautiful creations matched up with myself. As I began to write I felt that I could let out exactly how I felt and what I knew was going on in me. But as I came to the sentence "They breath in the waste of those who hurt them and offer back life", it all clicked and I saw the truth of why they were so meaningful and so mysterious all this time! Jesus died on a tree to give us our freedom. Yes, but it is more! The tree symbolizes Jesus himself! The tree is a perfect example of the Lord! How perfect and like God is it to make the tool of "destruction" which was really the tool of "freedom" resemble Freedom Himself. This is just proof that everything God has made should point us back to Jesus. God is everywhere. His love and mercies and lurking in the midst of His creation. We just need to seek Him out in it. We can find Him anywhere. Be blessed!
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