Solace and Tumbling

I had a dream last night. It was scary at first. It was night, on a beach, with only the moonlight to give me sight. I was in the midst of slashing, pounding waves. I couldn't escape. When I made progress away from the dangerous water, I kept being pulled back. I was working toward a house. My new Christian friends were there. They were calling to me. Not in a panicked way. But in an encouraging way. 'You're okay! Just make your way back.' They were laughing and playing, and calling me to them. I was scared, but I felt loved.

This is what the church does for me. This is what a church family means. This is why God calls us to be part of a church. This is evidenced in the Cross. This is in every way the solace that God in His Grace gives us. This is LOVE.

John 17:21-23 (NIV)

21 That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:

23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

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Coolest - thing - ever! Many many mornings lately, I've been waking up with 'In Christ Alone' in my head:

"In Christ Alone"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck* me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

*John 10:28 (NIV) (asterick added by me)

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

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8 June 2008

(prayer of praise)

Thank You for everything. You are my Everything, so thank You for You.

Romans 11:36 (NIV)

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

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9 June 2008

Every day is new. Rejoice in this. Most of my life, I've complained of boredom. Nothing new going on in my life. But when I think about it, sameness is a form of stability. So why complain of boredom and no change, when it is, in a way, a form of stability? And what I claim to want most is stability! New perspectives...

Psalm 118:24 (NIV)

This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

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11 June 2008

God is moving forcefully in my life. It actually feels as though He's moving mountains inside of me. It is an actual tumble; re-arranging of my heart, my gut. I am blessed.

Psalm 95 (NIV)

1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.

3 For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.

5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Today, if you hear his voice,

8 do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the desert,

9 where your fathers tested and tried me,
though they had seen what I did.

10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways."

11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
"They shall never enter my rest."

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13 June 2008

TRUST

God is giving me chances to listen to Him more and more. By His amazing Grace, I am learning learning learning about His character.

Romans 8:28-30 (NIV)

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.