This Day; This Battle

A silent mantle of mist slowly rises as sunlight creeps down the coniferous hillside.  

I walk. I run. I wrestle. I pray.

It is a theme I cannot deny. 
Everywhere I turn, everywhere I go, I see fresh reminders of its undisguised reality.

Thoughts in the shower,
     wood-splitting with my brother,
          conversations with friends,
               work with saws and sanders,
                    recent blogposts,
                         a walk with my dear Mother,
                              family worships and personal devotions…

Evidences are everywhere.
There is a real battle to fight. Conflicts to engage in. Souls to be won.

Rest is not an option. There is no time to live mediocre Christianity.
I’m learning, a part-time Christian is no Christian at all.

In my half-asleep reality, it seems so real. The wrestling arena is filled. 

The atmosphere is intense. And then I see Him. His powerful form causes 

the strongest black-cloaked wrestler to shudder. There is no question who 

will come off Victor. My Savior can win every wrestling match. 

So it’s off to the thick of battle…
I must wrestle for those who cannot wrestle for themselves, holding the arm of the Divine.

“If God be for us, who can be against us?”

"You Shall Call Me, Father…"

{Jeremiah 3}

Christ’s chosen bride, His beloved, has utterly violated the sacred vows of marriage—despite the fact that an incalculable dowry had been given to claim her as His own.
Time after time she has renounced her promise to faithfulness and fallen into a life of whoredom and harlotry.

See the tears running down the face of the Bridegroom as He watches her turn from the path of righteousness up a winding path leading to groves of trees waving on the hilltops.

“My beloved,” He cries, “Return unto me, for I am merciful and will not remain angry with you. Only acknowledge your sins and return unto me, for I am married to you…”

Still married after such absolute desecration of sacred trust? How can that be possible?
No earthly marriage patterned after such disloyalty would endure.

Yet divorce is not an option for Christ. He will ever remain faithful to His bride.
And the Father, watching this abomination to His Son’s reputation, what will He do?

He claims her still, as His daughter.
“You shall call me, Father…”

There is no greater love.

no. greater.

A Noble Vine

{Jeremiah 2}

Nobility: “the quality of being noble in character, mind, birth, or rank.”

It was the right rootstock planted in the hearts of the right people,
yet somehow something had gone wrong,  
terribly wrong…

They had carelessly slashed the living vine, grafting an inferior, degenerated one in its place.
And they were reaping the results.

Yet God still pleads with them and offers to re-graft the right vine into their lives.
He longs for them to be representatives of nobility, pinnacles of His creation—noble vines.

He longs for you. He longs for me.

How will I respond to the Grafter’s plea?

Touched by God

{Jeremiah 1}

I cannot speak. I am just a child. I am unqualified.
Excuse. Excuse. Excuse.

When God touches your life, excuses hold no validity.

God says what He means.
His word enables.

"We are to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect, not by struggle and effort, but by the impartation of that which is Perfect." {Oswald Chambers}

“Be ye therefore perfect…”

Yes… Be.

To Walk Worthy...

He wants me to be worthy.

I stop and stare at the words again.
“…that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing…”*

A few verses later.

“…having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself… to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight…”

Me? Worthy? Unblameable? I think not.

By no stretch of the imagination am I without fault. I don’t deserve anything.
I am overcome by a complete sense of my unworthiness.

Nevertheless…
Despite how undeserving I feel myself to be, He wants me to be worthy.
He has given His very blood to cover my wretchedness.

How can I spurn the gift that cost my Savior His life?

So I claim His pure white garment of righteousness to fully cover my unworthiness.

He will continue to transform my life “til we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”**

And I will walk on those golden streets worthy—not because of any virtue in myself, but because I walk in His worthiness…

What incomprehensible love and grace my Father bestows!


*{Colossians 1:10}
**{Ephesians 4:13}

His Power Never Goes Out

The lights flicker. And flicker again. And finally go out.
A soft evening glow falls softly through the window setting a new ambiance to our Friday evening.

After a moment's consideration Dad resumes reading one of our family's favorite book series, Jungle Doctor, by the faint light of dusk. The family is cozily situated on the floor of the bedroom. I close my eyes and listen, laugh, cry.

Blink. The power bursts back on. Despite the adventure darkness might have been for a while, light is a good thing. Power sustains life.

After the last chapter of the evening is concluded and prayer offered, I sit thinking…

My Power Source never flickers or dims. He cannot have a power failure. He is continually available if I will but flip the switch and turn on the Power. If I make the choice, nothing can interrupt my connection.

His Power never goes out.  

No. Never.

Just One Stitch

In the tapestry of life, we are each just one stitch.
Seemingly insignificant? Maybe.
But only to the untrained eye…

After knitting many projects over the years, I’ve learned that in order for the resulting texture to be strong and beautiful, there must be no dropped stitches, no mistakes. You may be able to hide them for a time, but eventually there will be problems.

If even a single stitch is dropped, twisted or flawed, the texture is ruined. And the seemingly insignificant lost stitch, will influence the others around it, until there is a gaping hole in what was originally designed for perfection.

--

Your life is just one stitch.
Your faithfulness could affect the destiny of thousands.

Will you allow the Master Knitter to fashion you into a faultless stitch?