Treasures of Earth Don’t Compare to God’s Treasures

Last week I vacationed at the beach in South Carolina. Looking down from an eighth floor condo at the ocean, I noticed a guy with a metal detector on the shore looking for buried treasures. He stepped slowly, methodically swinging his contraption back and forth in front of him, his head cast downward, eyes fixed on the ground in front of him. Something inside me felt sorry for him. I wondered how much time and hope he put into his pursuit of beachcombing. All around him was a breathtaking, majestic scene–one I had driven hours in order to see and experience.

Gazing out at the horizon made my soul soar. The sun rose in the morning sky of scattered clouds, casting a heavenly golden hue on everything; the sound of the steady waves pounded the shore, the gentle beeze added to the beauty of the hour. The beach was rather solitary because it was not a warm day, not yet the tourist season.

God quickened my heart to see a parable because the beachcomber was in my view and experience at the moment. So often, we walk around without noticing the beauty and living art God is painting and orchestrating all around us. We are too busy with our eyes cast down. We put our hope on finding treasures of Earth. We miss so much when we are like this, oblivious to the wonders around us. Really, all we need to do is look up. Look around. Notice the miracles of creation and life God is orchestrating for us, for our hearts, minds, and souls. He is saying, “I am here.”

I don’t want to live like the beachcomber. I want to look up, be attentive and see and experience what God is communicating to me through my surroundings and find my treasure in things from above.

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Live in the Light of Jesus–Lift up your Lamps of Oil

God made us in his image and we can rise up with the Light of Heaven and be creative, intentional, and passionate in all we do. Remember what Jesus said about the Ten Virgins? “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.  Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.  But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

Jesus wants us to be close. “I am with you always,” he promised. Scripture says to “Pray without ceasing” and it doesn’t mean to talk to God continually. It simply means to be aware and present to God—that is prayer. Oh, my, if only we would pay better attention to what God is doing all around us, for us, in us, through us—we just need to notice and be present to him.

God’s bursting heart of love longs for us to live in his Light today, not deceived, discouraged, disinterested, diverted, or distant. These are the devil’s Ds he directs to descend down doing damage to the dearests of God.

When we look around, we see evil running rampant in the world. Fear grips the hearts of people and nations. But not so with the Bride of Jesus.

Look what is happening in God’s Kingdom. We are not part of the world though we are in it. We are the Last Days lovers of God. We are the Bride of the King of Kings, and we long for his return. Our love songs call to him to come and not tarry. Our books stir us on for more and more of his presence, goodness, and beauty. Our prayers are filled with the poetry of longing, calling our Beloved to make haste. And, Jesus the Messiah will come. It is nearly midnight. Are we ready? What is the oil we carry in our lamps? Our own oil? We can’t borrow from anyone else because God gives us our own measure of oil from the Holy Spirit. How much oil depends on your relationship with the Lord. Are you filled to overflowing? Are you lit with the fire of God? Jesus said only the Father knows when he will return for his bride. Is Jesus seeing half of the Church ready? Are you IN LOVE WITH JESUS? Are you singing love songs? The bride of Jesus is standing on tip-toes looking up. You know who you are. Your oil is burning bright.

Even better, Jesus knows you.

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Seeing the World with Sylas

It’s already springtime in Charlotte and so I took little Sylas out for a stroll. He learned to walk about four weeks ago. Imagine if a 1 ½-year-old walked out of his house and went on his own. That’s how I wanted him to feel. Except, I would be there to redirect him if needed. No coaxing, no hand-holding. This was his own excursion.

I let him wander. Grandmother hen hovered only two to five steps behind him. This was the first time he was free to go wherever his heart desired in the wide, open world. Just watching him was the greatest joy. A thought occurred to me: This is what God does with us every day.

Sy never stopped moving except when he came upon something he couldn’t pass by. First stop: purple and yellow pansies in a flowerbed close to the corner. He stopped, squatted, and touched them gently with his fingers. Then he looked straight up. Way above his head, pink flowering tree branches spread out, boughs full of blooming clusters, swaying in the warm breeze. He gazed at them until I lifted him up. Reaching up, he touched the flowers with kind, playful, fingers. I don’t believe he had ever seen a real flower close up. I saw such an expression of wonder on his face; it was so touching. I wish I could be like him and see God’s wonders as if for the first time.  God must wish this, too.

We came to a curb at the end of a sidewalk. I patiently watched him sit down, turn around, and manage it going backwards. I could have helped him in one swift movement, but it seemed important to let him do it himself. At this thought, I felt God smiling.

Next, we came across a giant toy car parked along the sidewalk. Shiny and bright yellow, it looked new. It was a VW Beetle. (I wish I had one.)  The way he reacted at his first sight of it was adorable. I felt sure this was more amazing to Sylas than the flowers. He maneuvered himself down the curb and stepped up to the car’s back tail light. He pushed it repeatedly with his index finger. He knew it should do something. Next, he felt the tires. The rubber was different than he expected. He looked closely. He felt the grooves and the outside roundness of the tire. He touched the ornate hubcap. Then he toddled around to the back of the car again and he began pushing against the fender. Alas, even after a bit of effort, it was still a no-go. The car wouldn’t budge. Next, he walked around the vehicle on the street side, not lifting his hand from it until he reached the front. He backed up a little to take in the view of the entire car.

I was so enamored by him while watching all of this unfold. I know how Sylas feels about cars. They are his favorite toys. He likes to poke at their undersides with pens that look like his daddy’s small screwdriver. He makes the cars go vroom with his voice. And, if it has batteries, he’s non-tiring in chasing after it. Until today, he didn’t know a car could be so gigantic. It was a discovery he made for himself.

When he was ready, Sylas took to roaming down the middle of the quiet street. I gently guided him to the safety of the sidewalk and we headed home, although I had to carry him for the last stretch.  Isn’t this a parable of how it is with God and each of us?

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Kissed by God

Besides dying for our sins and ending our separation from God by doing so, Jesus showed us God’s heart: God WANTS us.

Many years ago, when I was on a private retreat, I was listening to tapes on experiencing a close relationship with God. The teacher had this prayer exercise: “Ask the Lord what He likes about you.” I wrote the question in my prayer journal and waited for an answer. God’s words immediately bubbled up within me: “I love how you think of Me as a person.”

This amazed and delighted me. Yet how often have we heard the words that God wants to have a personal relationship with us? Of course He’s a person.

Imagine, this is what He yearns for, to be known by each of us. Once we know Him, we know we are His beloved. The closer we come in our relationship with Him, the more we realize His individual favor towards us. We discover our uniqueness and how special, in a particular way, we are to God. This understanding, this God-perspective, becomes our true identity.

There is no one else like you and no one can love God the way you can, in the expression and manner that you might choose to love Him. This loving is actually an art, and it is very individual. This goes both ways. God, the GREAT ARTIST, loves no one else the way He loves you. God is continually watching you, doting on you, causing things in your life to help you become you. The person God is creating you to be is a lifelong process. He is very involved with your “coming of age” and will be until you come home to heaven.

I’ve used a prayer journal to document my journey, and to write down words from God and to record what God is doing in my life. I just finished rewriting Writing from the Fire Within and in this book I described an experience related to my prayer journal. Even though it happened a long time ago, I learned how delighted God was in the very paper of my prayer journal.

The day the butterfly appeared, I had re-lived the experience because I had just finished writing about it. Then the Lord surprised me again with the same message: He still loves my prayer journal. I was on my way for a day of babysitting and thought to take along my prayer journal so I could pray and journal during my grandson’s nap time. As I was about to get into my car, a butterfly landed on the top of my prayer journal, pictured here. I noticed how its wings matched the design in the cover of my prayer journal. It was as though God kissed me on the cheek and said, “I still love your prayer journal.” The butterfly stayed long enough for me to fumble around in my purse, pull out my cell phone and take 3 pictures of it. Then it flew away. I knew immediately that God had sent it. I guess God not only loves the paper of my prayer journal, but He also loves the covers, too.

I think God often orchestrates things like this to show us His affection; you could say they are coincidences, but they are not that. Often we miss them because we aren’t noticing or looking for God in the events of our lives. I was thinking about prayer and journals, and how God loves any means we use to commune with Him. So, on this occasion, God sent a little messenger to remind me that He’s still watching closely for me to notice little favors, kisses,

He sends my way. He wants us to know His heart.

Soon, I’ll have two new books published:
1) The Gardens in God’s Story: Avows Divine Romance
2) Writing from the Fire Within: A Prayer & Writing Workshop

I’ll keep you posted when they are available.

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The Genius of Jesus

I saw this bit of a plant in the grass while walking my dog yesterday.  Whatever it is, it captured my attention. I brought it home and took this close-up picture of it with my cell phone. Look at the beauty and engineering, the artwork, that went into the design of it. It goes without saying—the Creator is full of wonders and all we need to do is “see” them.

If you click on the image a couple times you can see an enlargement of it. Wow!

Do you know what this is? A flower, weed, from a tree? It blew in from someplace and I’ve never seen anything like it. Please send me an email if you know because I am curious: [email protected]

 

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The Art of Loving God

I’ve considered writing a book by this blog’s title: The Art of Loving God. It sounds rather mystical and religious. I don’t think I’ve grown too worldly, however I know I’m more down to earth than I’ve ever been. Maybe it’s our culture. We western Christians, especially in America, are practical, dress comfortable, and speak directly and plainly.

We keep pace with our changing world  while keeping close to God. He’s made me tech-savvy. I lost my cell phone last night and realized how dependent I am on it. One can feel lost without it–without the ability to connect with others. There most certainly is a parable here.

We change with the times and seasons as God relates to us differently as we to Him. I’m in my sixties, so I’ve experienced a lot.  I’ve passed through many seasons with the Lord, and Holy Spirit movements that not only affected me, but the Church. The Kingdom of God is here and still coming.

Evangelism was the main focus going on worldwide during much of my childhood years. Christian missions translated languages into written form and spread the Gospel I believe to every nation during my life. As a child, I grew up in a traditional church and adopted what my family had for generations been born into. When Jesus showed Himself to me personally at age 30, that’s when my heart became new and alive in God. These were the days when Jesus swept through our families, churches, and communities. The Jesus Movement.

The printing and production of Bibles and translations exploded to peoples and tongues. God was reawakening the church in my young adult years, and all kinds of denominations and traditions of Christian faith caught the fire. Yes, surprise! The Holy Spirit began baptizing people anew. Speaking in tongues and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, with the manifestation of spiritual gifts, became a sweeping movement across all denominations. I was in it. I think it rather unified us but not without some controversy. For me, it was about 36 years ago–right at the height of what God was doing to many.

Soon after, I discovered the Lord’s love for His people, the Jews, and I dove head first into the Messianic “movement” that included trips to Israel, Davidic/Israeli worship dancing, and I learned much about the early church and the roots of our Christian faith. This was a worldwide movement of the Holy Spirit and Messianic congregations popped up in most major cities wherever Christians gathered, not to mention many in Israel. This was strategic in God’s eyes because now the church was coming full circle–at last!

That was not all–God had more for me and the Church. There began a rebirth of mystical love. This is best described as His revelation of a deeper relationship with Him and involved the prayer of love, devotion, contemplative meditation, and a rather mysterious, wonderful bridal love for Jesus, the Great Bridegroom. Many of us came to know Him as the Lover of our souls and of the Church–and it was, and still is, blissful and beautiful.

These days now, what is God doing? Well, I think He is giving us time to grow in faith, to realize we’re part of a larger Story, to be wise in Him, steady in patience, ready for the second coming of Jesus. I mean, the world is spinning out of control. Mega churches are coming to life globally. I’m in one and it is all God! See www.elevationchurch.org. God is using our talents and our passion for Him more fully than I’ve ever witnessed. Also, persecution and martyrdom is rising. The dark grows darker while the light grows brighter. We need to seek first God’s kingdom now more than ever.

Communication technology is reaching the far ends of the earth with the Word of God. Surely we are living in the end-time harvest and the days of the preparation of the Bride.

Jesus told us to be aware of the signs of the times. So, when I look what He’s done in my lifetime, including the birth and gathering of the Jews to Israel, and the ways He’s revealing Himself to us, well, we must be nearing the last days and his return. We are at last becoming a Bride in love with Jesus, knowing all God has done to win our hearts.

God is the Artist of our lives, the Author of our days. But it is also a collaboration; we need to respond to Him. I guess if I could describe the Art of Loving God it would be to pay attention and let God love us the way he chooses and return love for love.

As A.W. Tozer beautifully put it: “God is a Person, and in the deep of His mighty nature He thinks, wills, enjoys, feels, loves, desires, and suffers as any other person may. In making Himself known to us He stays by the familiar pattern of personality. He communicates with us through the avenues of our minds, our wills and our emotions. The continuous and unembarrassed interchange of love and thoughts between God and the soul of the redeemed man is the throbbing heart of New Testament religion.”

God reaches out to us individually, strategically, globally, spiritually, supernaturally, naturally, and continuously. We are the object of His desire and purposes. Let’s be aware and respond. That’s the Art of Loving God.

 

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I’m finally on Chapter 31 in the writing of Come and See.  I’ve reached the last days of Jesus’ earthly life. I’ve posted the current manuscript on a page here if you wish to read it. I’d love any feedback.

 

 

 

 

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