In the Breaking

 

Listening to:
Song: The Cure for Pain
Artist: Jon Foreman
Album: Fall

 

 

Tonight as I was driving and letting the raindrops be my melody, I came to this conclusion…
As with every other muscle of the body the heart must break to build. Tissue must be torn and tendons must be stretched all for this process of growth. And though it hurts in the moment the fruit it produces is innumerable and the strength it builds faces no atrophy. It is in the breaking I am able to see grace and know the Father’s love. In my weakness I am able to submit to the unknown and trust in the Almighty. In the breaking I find peace.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. -Hebrews 12:11

Fire

Pick-pocket in the night
Stole my peace
Stole my sight

He broke me without a fight
But oh no, not tonight

‘Cause there’s fire
There’s fire in my veins
There’s fire in this blood that can’t be tamed

There’s fire flowing through my veins
There’s fire in this blood that can’t be tamed

He fed me my fill of lies
Placed the wool over my eyes
Cloaked in the darkest night
Now dawn brings new life!

And there’s fire
There’s fire in my veins
There’s fire in this blood that can’t be tamed

There’s fire flowing through my veins
There’s glory, glory that can’t be contained

You’re Beautiful: A Photo Documentary

So I have started a journey. Over the past couple of days I’ve been pondering, “Lord, what does your love look like today? What is our divine romance?” So often I feel like I have become so blinded by the world that I miss seeing the glimpses of his beauty in the world. So I have unofficially started a picture blogging series. Where I’ll show you what he has shown me. I’m hoping to see a spec of his glory and the beauty of his character in everything surrounding me. Who’s to say that God can’t be seen in the petal of a flower or heard in the passing bird’s song.

“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made…” -Romans 1:20

 

Here’s today:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’re Beautiful by Phil Wickham: “I see Your face in every sunrise. The color of the morning are inside your eyes. The world awakens with the break of the day. I look up to the sky and say…You’re beautiful.”

Call My Name

 

Listening to:
Song: Call My Name
Artist: Third Day
Album: Revelation

 

 

Call My Name
By Third Day

It’s been so long since
You felt like you were loved
So what went wrong
But do you know
There’s a place where you belong
Here in My Arms

Chorus:
When you feel like you’re alone in your sadness
It seems like no one else in this whole world cares
And you want to get away from the madness
You just call My name and I’ll be there
You just call My name and I’ll be there

The pain inside
Has erased your hope for love
Soon you will find
That I’ll give you all
That your heart could ever want
And so much more

Chorus:
When you feel like you’re alone in your sadness
It seems like no one else in this whole world cares
And you want to get away from the madness
You just call My name and I’ll be there
You just call My name and I’ll be there

You just call My name
You just call My name
Call My name say it now
I want you to never doubt
The love I have for you is so alive
CALL MY NAME SAY IT NOW
I WANT YOU TO NEVER DOUBT
THE LOVE I HAVE FOR YOU IS SO ALIVE

You just call My name
You just call My name
You just call My name

The love I have for you is so alive
The love I have for you is so alive
You just call My name
You just call My name
You just call My name

What a beautiful blessing it is to know that You never leave Father. Even when the world around me crumbles…when relationships fade. Even when I feel so alone in this world…You are here with me.

“what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” -Psalm 8:4

Lord I did nothing to deserve this love…nothing. Why? Why do you love me? Why do you love any of us? We live lives loving and then leaving You…still You gently draw us near to You. What great love is this…that the King of the universe would call me…would call me friend.

You are deserving of everything I have to give. Oh God, that I would only call Your name…that I would only call Your name.

“that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,” -Philippians 2:10

Listen Up

I spend so much time talking to God…telling Him my concerns, my complaints, my desires…

It’s time to listen.

O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. – Psalm 78:1

Love’s Divine Romance

 

Listening to:
Song: I Am Still Running
Artist: Jon Foreman
Album: Fall and Winter

 

 

Hmm…what a beautiful time. I lay here in my dimly lit dorm room all by my lonesome listening to Jon Foreman remind me that His love is strong. I admit so often I forget just how strong His love is. My heart becomes weary and my soul becomes restless and the enemy’s lies press in my inadequacies and lather on the doubts. Still, I must always remember His love is strong. Even where I fall short He is able to fill in the blanks and cover the empty spaces. When there is no where to run I always have somewhere to go…straight into His arms.

Still, I won’t build myself up to be stronger or more spiritual than I truly am because Lord knows He’s not always the first place I run to. Many times I’d love to steal a shoulder before I’d even think about delving into His Word, but He’s changing me. I’m beginning to understand what it truly means to run to Him, and seeing how those shoulders I once thought to be my only hope are just bi-products of a greater love and deeper romance. I cherish the shoulders, but I am more grateful for the one who flows through them. In every tender embrace Christ’s love pours out on me.

It is Him who makes Himself manifest in our loves. Doesn’t the Word say it best in 1 John 4:8, “…God is love.” It doesn’t say God knows how to love really well or God is a pretty cool example of love…it says God IS Love. He defines love. Love is Him and He is love. To love is to know God and to know God is to walk in that love. Therefore, I will look at love differently today and every day following. Each and every loving act done by a friend or friends I will count as just one more loving act from the Father. As said in James:

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” -James 1:17

It is Him who infuses me to love and surrounds me with love. He loved me even in my most unloveliest of states.

Jehovah-Jireh

 

Oh man late night blog posts! Gotta love ‘em! So today has been a busy day but all in all a fun one. It involved everything from Starbucks, broken phone chargers, Wild-goose chases, EWR (Emergency Walmart Run), root beer kegs, near injury experiences, jam sessions, and a 5 page lit analysis…mmm fun! But all that brings me here…

Now what here looks like is kinda hard to explain. It’s not happy. It’s not sad. It’s not even sleepy (though it probably should be). If anything it may be a little lonely…but it’s weird this feeling we call loneliness. It’s the only feeling I know that can defy its own definition. Loneliness claims to be a feeling one gets when they are all alone, but how can it be then that one can feel lonely when they are surrounded by people? What an enigma. I am far from alone, yet loneliness plagues me. It reminds me of the verse in Proverbs:

“Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief.” (14:13)

Now mind you as I said earlier, I am not sad. I am content…at peace with the hand dealt me, because I know the Lord is in control, and as I seek him he will give me all I need. I mean to live a life so consumed with our “have nots” that we lose sight of our “oh my goodness thank God I haves” would be far worse. So Lord I say thank you. Thank you for what I have had, what I have now, and what I will have. Thank you. Nothing will make me stop giving you praise.

Jehovah-Jireh (The Lord Will Provide)