MAYBE I MADE IT ALL UP
My sister, Elaine sent me a Facebook birthday greeting. She reminded me of a couple of things we used to do together.
Marble races.
We would set up a ramp, line up two marbles at a time, and race them. Single elimination tournament. All the marbles til we got down to the final two. We would cheer for the winner of each heat as if they were human.
There would be one winner.
The world champion.
Magnattel dollhouse.
A one story dollhouse on legs with no roof. A mom, a dad, a girl, a boy, a dog, a cat, and a mouse all had magnets attached to their bottom side, or feet. There were wands that we would use to move the inhabitants through the house. They could open doors, move furniture, leave so the animals could have free run of the house.
We were the gods of this family. We planned their lives, arranged their circumstances, even gave them their words.
They were totally dependent on us.
There are four kids in our family ( well, we used to be kids) and my sister and I were the middles.
We had great imaginations and we spent countless hours together in her room, away from the other two, making up worlds and situations. We had cowboy and Indian figures that would have all sorts of terrifying circumstances to overcome.
All at our whim.
We controlled everything, every outcome.
Except that time when a bad guy captured my favorite cowboy, the one with the legs bowed so that he could ride his horse. I called him "Jim." (Good cowboy name, don't you think?) Anyway, the bad guy was trying to extract information from Jim and put him in his torture device, a gooseneck desk lamp. As the bad guy laughed maniacally, Jim's right leg melted off.
Nooooooo! He never rode a horse again.
There have been times in my life when I wondered if my imagination was the only reason I believed so strongly in God.
Except, I was never able to plan His moves, His words, His life.
I was the one under His power. He orchestrated my circumstances, the lessons I had to learn, the trials I had to endure, the joys I got to experience.
Maybe he gives us imagination so that we can begin to anticipate the unseen invisible world around us, and to receive visions and dreams to propel us forward into a LIFE of His planning.
Thanks, Elaine, for sharing that most important part of being prepared for what is yet to be.
Friday, November 18, 2016
Saturday, November 5, 2016
Hanging on
WHAT DO I HAVE TO GIVE UP?
Rich young ruler.
One time, a man who was highly favored in the community came to Jesus to learn about this "eternal life."
"What must I do?" he asked.
Jesus pointed out some commandments that he knew the guy had kept.
The young man was already feeling pretty good about himself. People had probably told him that he ought to go see Jesus, that he would really be someone that Jesus could use. That he was such a good guy.
With Jesus' first list, he checked them off, one by one. He thought, "I've got this. I have earned this."
Jesus looked at Him with a deep, deep love.
Jesus saw the one thing in his life that would always interfere with his devotion to the One who carried the LIFE.
The one thing that would constantly interrupt the communication that would come to him if he were following the One.
The one part of his life that would always pull him away.
Away from that meaningful conversation.
Away from that time of understanding.
Away from that trust in the only way to Life, the only way to Joy.
That one need that he had that could override any "command" from the Giver of LIFE.
"If you love me, you will obey me."
He couldn't give up this one thing, because it was his everything.
It was who he was.
It was the one thing that he didn't think he could live without.
He was important.
Who would he be without it?
Nobody.
He couldn't give it up.
The trust was not there.
What about you?
What are you hanging onto that you just can't live without?
The one thing that keeps pulling you away from the One that will fill you with Joy, with Life that has no bounds.
The one thing that you just can't believe that you can live without?
Rich young ruler.
One time, a man who was highly favored in the community came to Jesus to learn about this "eternal life."
"What must I do?" he asked.
Jesus pointed out some commandments that he knew the guy had kept.
The young man was already feeling pretty good about himself. People had probably told him that he ought to go see Jesus, that he would really be someone that Jesus could use. That he was such a good guy.
With Jesus' first list, he checked them off, one by one. He thought, "I've got this. I have earned this."
Jesus looked at Him with a deep, deep love.
Jesus saw the one thing in his life that would always interfere with his devotion to the One who carried the LIFE.
The one thing that would constantly interrupt the communication that would come to him if he were following the One.
The one part of his life that would always pull him away.
Away from that meaningful conversation.
Away from that time of understanding.
Away from that trust in the only way to Life, the only way to Joy.
That one need that he had that could override any "command" from the Giver of LIFE.
"If you love me, you will obey me."
He couldn't give up this one thing, because it was his everything.
It was who he was.
It was the one thing that he didn't think he could live without.
He was important.
Who would he be without it?
Nobody.
He couldn't give it up.
The trust was not there.
What about you?
What are you hanging onto that you just can't live without?
The one thing that keeps pulling you away from the One that will fill you with Joy, with Life that has no bounds.
The one thing that you just can't believe that you can live without?
TIME OR ETERNITY (Part 2)
TIME OR ETERNITY (Part 2)
God had opened the envelope every time He had given a prophet a glimpse of what was coming. Think about it. How could anyone accurately predict a future event, unless God, who exists in eternity, outside of time, revealed it to him?
He stepped out of eternity into time to give an old priest and his childless wife hope.
A child to an old couple. He was to be the one the prophets predicted, a messenger in the wilderness, one who announced the arrival of the coming savior.
His name was John.
A cousin of Jesus.
He would reveal that light that had been since the beginning, the One who carried the eternal life. The One who was in the world already, who had been born six months after John, miraculously in Bethlehem, as the prophets had predicted, even though his parents were from Nazareth, a town about 100 miles away.
John was out in the country, preaching to large crowds, telling them to turn their lives back to their God, to turn away from their wicked ways.
He told them that the eternal kingdom was about to be revealed.
How did he know?
The envelope had been opened.
John 1: 6-9
There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.
He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
God had opened the envelope every time He had given a prophet a glimpse of what was coming. Think about it. How could anyone accurately predict a future event, unless God, who exists in eternity, outside of time, revealed it to him?
He stepped out of eternity into time to give an old priest and his childless wife hope.
A child to an old couple. He was to be the one the prophets predicted, a messenger in the wilderness, one who announced the arrival of the coming savior.
His name was John.
A cousin of Jesus.
He would reveal that light that had been since the beginning, the One who carried the eternal life. The One who was in the world already, who had been born six months after John, miraculously in Bethlehem, as the prophets had predicted, even though his parents were from Nazareth, a town about 100 miles away.
John was out in the country, preaching to large crowds, telling them to turn their lives back to their God, to turn away from their wicked ways.
He told them that the eternal kingdom was about to be revealed.
How did he know?
The envelope had been opened.
John 1: 6-9
There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.
He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
Friday, November 4, 2016
TIME OR ETERNITY
TIME OR ETERNITY (Part 1)
WARNING: IF YOU ARE NOT A BELIEVER IN THE GOD OF THE BIBLE, DON'T READ THIS! IT WILL EITHER ANGER YOU ( and isn't there enough already to make you angry?), CONFUSE YOU, OR SEEM RIDICULOUS TO YOU.
My friend, Joni Sunderland, was sharing with me last week some insights on the "water into wine" episode in the book of John. (More on that, later.)
My thoughts returned to the days, before I was changed, when I was working my way through that very book. I think I will begin that journey again.
Slowly.
What Joni had shared, was that this time thing, time, that we base everything on was also part of the creation.
We, as beings of flesh and blood, are bound by time, controlled by time, limited by time, at the mercy of time.
Waiting for a meal.
Trying to pay off a loan.
Making a living.
Waiting for Christmas.
Elections.
Traveling.
Vacations....
Everything has a reference point. Time.
It doesn't stop. No matter how much you want it to, it just will not stop.
"I need more time!"
Sorry.
So, we are trapped in this progression of seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, decades, centuries....
Things wear out. Time.
We get older, we get old. We wear out. Time.
But, in the beginning, before time,
with God, was the Word,
the Maker of all things,
the carrier of life,
eternal life,
the life that would become the light for all mankind,
a light that would shine in a darkness,
one that would not be overpowered by the darkness.
He was not limited by time, because He was outside of time.
We couldn't see him, because we were enclosed in that envelope he had created.
Time.
The only way we could see Him,
He had to open the envelope.
John 1: 1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through Him, all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.
In Him was Life, and that Life was the light of all mankind.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
WARNING: IF YOU ARE NOT A BELIEVER IN THE GOD OF THE BIBLE, DON'T READ THIS! IT WILL EITHER ANGER YOU ( and isn't there enough already to make you angry?), CONFUSE YOU, OR SEEM RIDICULOUS TO YOU.
My friend, Joni Sunderland, was sharing with me last week some insights on the "water into wine" episode in the book of John. (More on that, later.)
My thoughts returned to the days, before I was changed, when I was working my way through that very book. I think I will begin that journey again.
Slowly.
What Joni had shared, was that this time thing, time, that we base everything on was also part of the creation.
We, as beings of flesh and blood, are bound by time, controlled by time, limited by time, at the mercy of time.
Waiting for a meal.
Trying to pay off a loan.
Making a living.
Waiting for Christmas.
Elections.
Traveling.
Vacations....
Everything has a reference point. Time.
It doesn't stop. No matter how much you want it to, it just will not stop.
"I need more time!"
Sorry.
So, we are trapped in this progression of seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, decades, centuries....
Things wear out. Time.
We get older, we get old. We wear out. Time.
But, in the beginning, before time,
with God, was the Word,
the Maker of all things,
the carrier of life,
eternal life,
the life that would become the light for all mankind,
a light that would shine in a darkness,
one that would not be overpowered by the darkness.
He was not limited by time, because He was outside of time.
We couldn't see him, because we were enclosed in that envelope he had created.
Time.
The only way we could see Him,
He had to open the envelope.
John 1: 1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through Him, all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.
In Him was Life, and that Life was the light of all mankind.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
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