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Finding — again — our first love

The Spirit gave me ears to hear yesterday morning, and I heard the Scripture from Revelations 2:1-7: “You have left your first love. Repent.”

But how do I do that, Father, Jesus, Spirit?

If you live in the same area I do and you saw the early morning sky this morning, I would like you to know that God did that sky just for me. Yup. You might have been a spectator this morning as the sky-message unfolded, but it was meant for me. He was reminding me, “I can do everything and anything I want … ”

Because, you see, the sky this morning was a month of beautiful skies rolled into one. Like an autumn cornucopia spilling all kinds of bounty, the sky pageant this morning included every imaginable cloud touched with dawn color. High, wispy mare’s tails; a few billowing cumulus; ridges of clouds, like mountains in the distance; clouds that wash across the sky like sand scattered by the tide; and even a trail of those cloud dabs, the ones that look like a child’s fingerprints across the blue — All those clouds, touched with rose and gold and orange in the east, blues and grays and yellow and white in the west.

Such a morning!

And it came after I asked Christ, “How can I love you more, love you better, always keep you as my first love?”

I asked that question this morning, then stepped outside and saw the sky. God, reminding me who He is.

This week, I’m determined to find some answers to my question. I’m going to ask, seek, knock. I want to know.

The first answer came as I walked under that sky-message. As I went east, something prompted me to glance west … and I saw the sun glowing in the western sky.

A water tower climbs into the sky in the center of our town. Almost a blemish against the beauty of our hills, it’s a drab gray-blue orb that looks like a UFO hovering overhead.

But at that moment, it was glowing orange. And I know this might be hard to believe for those of you who know that tower. But … seriously … it was a fiery ball, another sun rising above the trees!

And there was my first answer. I learn to love Christ more, my love for Him comes alive, when I position myself directly in the rays of His love.

That tower caught the sun because it stretches above the trees, stretches high. Below, the houses wore their usual white and brick, the trees green, the fence gray, all untouched by the sun. But the tower was glowing.

Those places or positions where we stretch and expose ourselves fully to God might be different for you than for me. For all of us, surely it is in prayer and Scripture. But I have learned there are also other places that open me up to God, like early morning walks, quiet times in nature’s hideaways, reading certain authors. For you, it might be in music, on your knees in a chapel, fellowship in a Bible study group.

If repenting is key to returning to my first love, then repentance means I need to change what I am doing now. In this case, I want to consciously change how I position myself throughout the precious minutes and hours of every day. Too many days slide by, full, busy, thoughtless, without my once stretching to catch fully the rays of His love.

I believe our faith is a gift from God and belief is begun and perfected by the Spirit. I believe He holds His children securely. But I also believe we have a choice in whether or not we cling to the Life-Vine. I cannot explain how those two things work together. But I believe both statements are truth.

We do have a choice how we spend our days. We do have a choice whether or not we position ourselves in the rays of God’s love, whether we stretch toward Him, asking Him to set us aglow.

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From God Alone

Sometimes, I wander along the paths laid out by the center column references in my Bible. Often when I do that, I am given another word that is even more comforting or convicting than the verse that started me on my search.

The verse from Isaiah about the eternal Rock (the comforting verse) led me to this, the convicting passage.

If you are walking in darkness,
     without a ray of light,
trust in the LORD
     and rely on your God.

But watch out, you who live in your own light
     and warm yourselves by your own fires.
This is the reward you will receive from me:
     You will soon fall down in great torment.

First, instruction for me when I do feel in darkness, when rays of gladness and hope are few and hard to find. There is one hope, one sure thing: the LORD my God. Trust Him. Rely on Him. That’s the answer to darkness.

This reminder from the prophet does not seem to be written to someone who is far from God, who does not know the Lord. It is more of an encouragement for those dark days, when this child of God forgets. I forget the only one who can be Rock; I forget the source of all strength; I forget His faithfulness and love.

No, forget is not the right word. None of us would say we forget God … rather, we fail to focus?

When we imagine that we are walking in darkness (I am beginning to doubt that a child of God ever actually does this, even if we think we can’t see! “Darkness” is a human term, a description only of our poor sight) … When we imagine that we are walking in darkness, how often do we fail to focus on the One who is trustworthy and reliable?

He is the One who gives us light to live by.

The first verse is a reminder. The second verse sounds a harsher warning. In case we did not hear the first statement, now we are told, If you’re trying to live by your own light, failure and torment await.

And, unfortunately, this verse is the one that smacks hard when I read it. To the first reminder I give head assent. Yes, yes, I want to live in the light of God; I want to trust and rely on Him alone; I know that all my strength flows only from Him. Yes. Amen.

But I don’t always live that out. Instead, I try to shine my own light. I build my own fires that I hope will keep me warm. My light is feeble and unreliable, and my fires soon die and I’m shivering yet again.

And yet, I am so “prone to wander,” as the songwriter put it. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit, who know me so well, know that I need many reminders, and need to be called back, again and again.

Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
     for my hope is in him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
     my fortress where I will not be shaken.
My victory and honor come from God alone.
     He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy 
          can reach me.

(I love that phrase — a rock where no enemy can reach me!)

Father, I want to live in your light alone. Trust in you alone. Find my life in you alone. Lead me there, Jesus. Keep me there, Spirit.

 

Scripture: Isaiah 50:10-11, Psalm 62:5-7 (emphasis added) (both NLT)

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Eternal Rock — For All Generations

Trust in the LORD always,
     for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock.

Brown and gold leaves crunch underfoot as I walk out the sidewalk to see Grandson and Granddaughter off on their first day of school. They are taller. Another summer ended. Another year gone by.

Born in 1900, my Grandma Kate lived over one hundred years. We often talked of all the changes she had seen in her years, things like microwaves and washing machines and jet planes and televisions and telephones. How much life changed for the young mother who did laundry with a washtub and board and lived without an indoor bathroom!

And already — although I am nowhere near one hundred! — I see how much life has changed since my early years. My grandchildren know nothing about rotary dial phones, LP records, manual typewriters, life before computers. (A black and white TV screen must surely be a sign that something is not working properly.) Just as Grandma never dreamed that someday doors would “see” her coming and open magically for her, when I was twenty, I never dreamed I would be skyping, texting, and driving according to directions from a talking black box.

So I cannot imagine what life will be like for my adult grandchildren.

I do know that they will have within them that which yearns for God. Just as my grandmother did. Just as I do. Just as blue eyes and temperaments and dimpled chins and body shapes continue to appear throughout a lineage, so every generation, since the beginning of time, carries also the need of God’s love, His strength, and His protective refuge.

Even when we cannot name what we seek, we look for

          quenching water
          everlasting love
          welcoming home

My grandma was losing her sight during her last years here. But she had eyes that saw the Invisible, and I believe that eyesight grew ever sharper as the years went by. No matter what was going on in the world around her, she depended on the strength, stability, and refuge of the eternal Rock.

When cell phones are unknown to teenagers and when travel from one place to another is by means not even conjured up by today’s science fiction writers and when handwritten letters are seen only in museums — for as long as this earth stands and beyond — the eternal Rock will still be there.

In every generation, His hand of love holds those who come to Him. His love endures forever. We can trust in Him always.

Scripture: Isaiah 26:4 (NLT)

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“A message to those in the battle”

I am disappointed. I have not yet figured out how to upload music here. So if I want to share a song with you, it loses some power because there is no music.

But these words are powerful and inspiring. And when I get the uploading gizmo conquered, then I’ll give you the whole package.

Here are the words to “He is Our Song,” written and sung by Tina Luce.

You have been wounded by those who have said that they loved you,
You have wept in the night when you thought there was no one to hear,
And your heart has been pierced by the thorns of doubt and betrayal,
And the call that you heard once before doesn’t seem so clear.
You have suffered the loss of loved ones and family,
You have witnessed to hearts on fire and to hearts that were stone.
You have heard the cry of the needy and those weak in spirit,
You have traveled the path of the one who is always alone.

But I’m here to tell you that your Lord and mine
Has a message for those in the battle,
That if we are weak we must cling to the Vine
And trust in the Lord who is faithful.

He is our friend when all others have failed us,
He is our strength when the road is too long.
He gently leads us beside the still waters.
And when all we can offer is silence,
He is our song.

Jesus was wounded by those who said that they loved Him,
And He wept all alone in a garden where no one could hear,
And His heart has been pierced by the thorns of doubt and betrayal,
As He watched those He loved deny Him and then disappear. 
Jesus suffered the loss of loved ones and family,
And He set many hearts on fire but some remained stone.
He answered the cry of the needy and those weak in spirit,
He traveled the path of the one who was always alone.

But He bore the sin of the whole human race
And on Calvary He suffered and died.
It was there on a cross that He died in place
So in Him I’ll forever abide.

He is our friend when all others have failed us,
He is our strength when the road is too long.
He gently leads us beside the still waters.
And when all we can offer is silence,
He is our song.

With permission from Tina Luce. http://www.eyesoffaith.com/

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Patience and Endurance

Today, Grandson and I plant on barren ground. Scattering seeds, leaving them to soak up sun and water, we hope for a sea of wildflowers next summer.

And I am reminded that I am an impatient person.

Chances are, these wildflowers will not be at the height of their glory for two or even three years. IF they germinate and take root. IF they are not choked out by other grasses and weeds. IF the mix of sunlight and shade is right. When it comes right down to it, I have no idea if I will ever see one blossom from these seeds.

But we scattered, hoping.

This morning, it was only wildflowers. But throughout my days, I plant many other seeds. I’m beginning to realize what an impatient person I am. I would prefer to see results now. I want guarantees. I grow weary of sowing, when I see nothing sprouting.

Do you grow tired of planting in hope on barren ground? Do not give up! The Scriptures encourage us.

We all know the admonishment, “Do not be weary in well-doing….” But sometimes, we do grow weary. Sometimes, we do want to give it up. Sometimes, we think all we do is in vain.

So how do we hang in there?

Willpower will not keep us in the race. Willpower is too easily convinced to quit. The only thing that keeps us hanging in there is hanging onto the Vine.

Patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit. He gives us the power to endure, even though we do grow weary, even though we might sometimes want to call a halt to the sowing.

Christ promises that His Spirit brings us the power to endure. I suspect that most of us have experienced only a tiny speck of the power and endurance that the Spirit can produce within us.

And — the strange thing that we know but that our human nature resists — it is only in the battle, in weakness, in struggle, that we learn to cling to the Vine, who builds our endurance and makes us strong.

I guess that’s why James tells us to Consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. (James 1:2)

But when you cannot see the joy, when you grope in darkness for encouragement, when it seems you have nothing left within you to continue to plant hopeful seeds, then cling to the Vine.

The Father says,

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
             (Isaiah 41:10 NLT)

When we hold onto the Vine, the Vine holds us. And He promises victory!

We pray also that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.   (Colossians 1:11-12)

May His power give us patience and endurance, fill us with joy, and enable us to live in our inheritance as His children.