We Shall See Him As He Is

1 John 3

3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

I was struck by this line today, "... we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." If this is true, (and it is,) then the closer we get to seeing him for who he really is, the more we will be like him. Sounds so simple. And it is. If we're talking about a painting or a flower. I can look at these and see what they are. Even another person, although complex, after studying a person for years (like my husband) I can pretty well have him figured out. But JESUS? That's another matter. He is the "fountain of living waters!" Fountains don't quit, they just keep spewing more water, you never get to the end of it. You can't exhaust it. Everything about Him is like a fountain.

"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!" (Rom 11:33)

So I guess that is why we have to wait for his return until we truly see Him as He is. We have to wait until we shed these half-blinded eyes and hardened hearts. In the meantime, though, I want a taste, I want to keep trying to get to the end of the water... even though I know I can't. It's like trying to satisfy that deep-down, heart-aching desire for your lover... the more you get, the more you want, and it never ends. But the desire is part of the fulfillment, part of the fun of it, right? Only it's never completely quenched.

One day, our Bridegroom will fulfill all of our deepest desires by fulfilling that One desire that these earthly desires only point to.

By the way, if you're married and you don't remember that kind of desire, you should nurture that feeling back to life... God gave it to us to point to our desire for Him and His desire for us. If marriage is a picture of Christ and His Bride, maybe a marriage without desire is not a very good picture.

"Father, keep me in the place where I am longing for the Living Water! The more I get, the more I want. But when I let other things overtake this desire, my heart gets hard, I don't care if I get it or not, and I find myself dehydrated and wondering why! It is you that has pulled me out of the pit, and you that keeps me. So I can only beg for more! Keep your Word in my heart, on my lips, and let the Living Water overflow into the lives of others."

Abiding

1 John 2

9Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

"Father, just teach me to abide in you! Let me see and long for Your beauty so that the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride in possessions fade away. Let me learn to love well so that darkness does not blind my eyes. You are so faithful, Lord, and I am so fickle. Teach me to walk as You walked and love as you love. Teach me to look to the eternal joy that you have set before me, rather than the cheap, imitation joy that I can make for myself here! I fall at your feet because of your sacrifice. I am amazed that because of You, I can have confidence and not shrink from shame at your coming!"

Things You Were Never Meant To Shoulder

All of your tears are the wages for things you've done.
All of those nights spent alone in the darkness of your mind.
Give it up, let it go. These are things you were never meant to shoulder.

Are you carrying burdens that have already been carried for you?
Are you running from a past that has already been wiped clean?
You don't have to. Look to the cross. The river that washed you clean is still flowing. Jump in. Remember how it rushes over you. Remember how clean it makes you feel. Remember that you can't clean yourself up enough that you don't need the River.




Psalm 38: 4-8
My guilt overwhelms me—
it is a burden too heavy to bear.
My wounds fester and stink
because of my foolish sins.
I am bent over and racked with pain.
All day long I walk around filled with grief.
A raging fever burns within me,
and my health is broken.
I am exhausted and completely crushed.
My groans come from an anguished heart.

Isaiah 61:7

Instead of shame and dishonor,
you will enjoy a double share of honor.
You will possess a double portion of prosperity in your land,
and everlasting joy will be yours.

Psalm 34:4-5
I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears.
Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces.

Light

1 John 1

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

"Father, as you prepare my heart for service, show me the light. I long to be warmed by it, but also to catch fire from it. I need the light to shine on my path, and I need it to blind my eyes to everything else. You are the Light, and You are the Consuming Fire, and I want to feel the heat! My heart's desire is to walk in the light, You are the light, so reveal Yourself to me yet again, Lord. Shine Your light on my heart, search me and know me, I am laid bare before You, cleanse me so that I can lay down my life for others."

God Of All Comfort

Well, I'm back... but my mind is being stubborn and indecisive! So I need your help... I can't decide what book of the Bible to pray through! Any suggestions? Pray for me, dear sisters! I desperately want to get back into routine, but I feel like I am fighting a losing battle here! Even for this one simple thing, I can't just make a decision and move forward. God has great things lined up, I just know it! And the Enemy knows it as well, but He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world and the Lord will prevail! I am reading 2 Corinthians this week for something else, so for today, I'll go with that...

2 Corinthians 1

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

The Lord has given me a wonderful illustration of these verses in the last month. For the most part, I have had very little affliction in my life,(maybe that's why I am not very good at comforting others!) Most of my affliction has been brought about by my own hands through sin and rebellion. But, even in those times, in those self-inflicted afflictions, my Shepherd has been so faithful to comfort me. At times, I have seen my sin and trembled and had to look away, and He has been there, holding my hand, and gently turning my gaze toward the cross. He has recently brought a dear friend into my life who has been afflicted in the past, at times by her own hands, and at times by Providence, and the Lord has used her to wrap me with His comfort in a way that I have never experienced! I was amazed to read these verses and think about how He is orchestrating every circumstance in our lives. How could this dear woman know that years later the Lord's glory and his Bride's joy would be multiplied by her afflictions? And now, I want to be her, I want to be the one to bring the comfort of God into the lives of others, and I believe that He is going to bless me with that opportunity!

"Father, I am so amazed at the way that you comfort your people! Afflictions I understand, we have earned those, and worse. But Your comfort, and love, and gentleness, and favor, I cannot comprehend. That our afflictions are not for punishment, but rather for our joy and for the joy and salvation of others is such a beautiful gift. Lord, make me more like you, give me the heart to comfort, give me the heart of a servant. Teach me to look beyond myself and my little life and use me for your eternal glory!"

Who Am I?

Who Am I/Grace Flows Down (click to watch)

Over time You’ve healed so much in me
And I am living proof
That although my darkest hour would come
Your light could still shine through
Though at times it’s just enough to cast
A shadow on the wall
Well I am grateful that
You shine Your light on me at all

Who am I
That You would love me so gently?
Who am I
That You would recognize my name?
Lord, who am I
That You would speak to me so softly?
Conversation with the Love most high,..
Who am I?

Well, amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I’m found
Was blind but now I see
And the more I sing that sweet old song
The more I understand-
That I do not comprehend this love
That’s coming from Your hand…

Grace, grace
God’s grace
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within
Grace, grace
God’s grace
Grace that is greater than all our sin…

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
Amazing love, now flowing down
From hands and feet
That were nailed to the tree
Grace flows down and covers me…

Instead of slamming me upside the head, which He has every right to do, (and sometimes does,) the Lord has spoken to me so gently and so softly in the last month! He has brought about the perfect circumstances and put the perfect people into my life to renew my hunger for His Word! I heard this song a couple weeks ago, and though it is one of my old favorites, it suddenly came to life! All this to say... Monday... I'm back.

Consumed With My First Love

Acts 2

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

I don't really know why I began reading in Acts this week. I usually have a rational thought process before deciding what to read. This time I just finished John (which I am reading for accountability with a new believer) and my eyes hit the next page, so I started reading Acts. When I read this passage in Chapter 2, my heart was suddenly filled with overwhelming desire. I have read these verses many times in books about church and discipleship, and I have heard them preached and I know the significance of them. But this time, I caught a glimpse of a scene where everyone was consumed with Christ the way we are consumed with a new lover... (Do you remember?) Something in me wanted to be immediately transported to this scene.

I want to be consumed with nothing else but God's Kingdom! I want to throw everything else away. This life is a vapor, a breath, and we have ONE mission here, to keep each other strong in our pursuit of Christ in order that we can see "the Lord adding to our number day by day!" There are endless distractions that keep us from this mission. We are constantly trying to get what we can out of this life, when Jesus promised us that if we would lose this life for His sake, we would gain EVERYTHING.

God help me not be satisfied with the petty toys and pleasures that are available to me here. Amaze me everyday with who you are, so that all of these other things just fade away and I continue to strive for the ultimate prize. I thank you that you have promised to keep me, and that nothing can pluck me out of your hand, because there are a whole lot of somethings giving it their best shot!