The Gift of Free Hearts
I’ve been writing The Art of Loving God and an image of two horses running free along a beach persists and just won’t go away. The symbolic idea has been with me since I first thought about this book idea. Today, I finally gave in and sought God to help me see whatever it is He is saying through it. In fact, going a step further, I thought I’d find a photograph of what I have been seeing and share it here. This picture I bought online matches and now I’m pondering deeply what God is saying through it.
I have been writing about the idea that God gave us free wills and what a tremendous power that is. Some call this free will, but the will is governed by the heart. The greatest gift our Creator has given each of us is a free heart. That gift cost Him. God values what freedom means because love, to be real, cannot be forced or manipulated. He knows our hearts lead us in the pursuit of what we hold most dear.
Most of us cannot wrap our minds around the idea that we are, particularly, most dear to God. Once we get it, God becomes most dear to us. Loving the Lord above all is more than obeying the First Commandment. Our hearts are like horses that run wherever they please, but when our hearts find God’s heart, well, think of two horses running and frolicking on the beach.
Read More
Our Weakness Can Be Our Strength.
My new writing project is stretching me out of my comfort zone but that’s good. I think because the topic of my book is about deep devotion to Christ and the creative pursuit of God, which is the highest form of art that arises from our soul. My main problem is that an overwhelming amount of content wants a place in my book. It is like a tsunami of living water that I’m trying to tame into a peaceful brook.
Yeah! Anyway, here’s a single quote that rose to the surface today:
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” A. W. Tozer.
While doing some research, I came across this artist, Paul Smith. He brings to life the meaning of this Scripture: “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10 NKJV).
This is such a moving testimony. Watch to the very end; God is being glorified through this artist. You’ll want to share it.
Read More
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.
Read MoreLive 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.
Read More
