Praise the Lord!
I will thank the Lord with all my heart
as I meet with his godly people.
How amazing are the deeds of the Lord!
All who delight in him should ponder them.
Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty.
His righteousness never fails.
He causes us to remember his wonderful works.
How gracious and merciful is our Lord!
(Psalm 11:1-4)
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3: 13-18)
He may have no gift of writing, no gift of composing or singing, but each man has the gift of creativity in terms of the way he lives his life.
In this sense the Christian life is to be an artwork.
The Christian’s life is to be a thing of truth and also a thing of beauty in the midst of a lost and despairing world.
-Francis Schaeffer
Surprise us with love at daybreak;
then we’ll skip and dance all the day long.
(Psalm 90:14 The Message)
Kootenay Lake Dawn
The Eternal’s purposes will last to the end of time;
the thoughts of His heart will awaken and stir all generations.
The nation whose True God is the Eternal is truly blessed;
fortunate are all whom He chooses to inherit His legacy.
(Psalm 33:11,12 The Voice)
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness…
His Oath
His Covenant
His Blood
support me in the whelming flood.
(from Solid Rock by Edward Mote)
God is not a man—He doesn’t lie.
God isn’t the son of a man to want to take back what He’s said,
or say something and not follow through,
or speak and not act on it. (Numbers 23:19)
Wow! The little counter over on the left says this is my 500th blog entry. And I was worried I would have nothing to say after the first month.
I never knew, when I dared to overcome my technophobia to find an outlet for my poems, paintings, photos and musings, that God would have so much more to teach me than overcoming fear of computerese. I sometimes questioned the wisdom of writing about events of this annus horibilis before there was any evidence of it becoming annus mirabilis. And who knew it was going to be an annus horibilis anyway?
What if things don’t work out? What if I die of ovarian cancer? What if the depression comes back? What if our miracle grandbaby doesn’t make it to term? What if our son-in-love dies of necrotizing fasciitis? What if our son and his family never recover losses from the flood? Maybe I should wait before I write about them, to make sure God answers our prayers.
Then it occurred to me that I am not in charge of God’s P.R.. This is what it is like to walk in faith, not knowing how the cliff-hanger ends. (And honestly I did not make this stuff up. It has been a horrible time -and a miraculous time.) I have also noted that my anxious questions starting with “what if” seldom come in God’s tender voice.
So to celebrate 500 posts I have chosen not the five most popular blogs but five with the most meaning to me -some of them written in blood and some of them written in tears of joy. Five, because the number 5 is symbolic of grace, and Charis, my chosen name, means grace in Koine Greek, the language of the New Testament. (Psallo means song, and since I have lived a life full of songs it seemed appropriate.)
Right off the bat I’m going to cheat on my own rules because these two posts are part of one story that cannot be separated (and I can do that -my blog, my rules, and my bending of rules) This is about how God took something utterly horrible and turned it into something miraculously wonderful. These were written during the time many excellent doctors expected our son-in-love to die from multiple overwhelming complications after contracting an extremely severe case of flesh-eating disease. He has been restored to full health and the story is just too too too good not to tell over and over -so it goes first. Love is Louder and Love is Louder part II
For the second I am going back into history. After spending decades drowning in soul-crushing depressive mental illness, I was raised up out of the depths. Bluer than Blue
One of the hardest parts in co-operating with Jesus’ healing work and recovering from the prison of the past is the struggle with forgiveness. Letting Go is a poem about stepping away from practised anger and entrenched bitterness.
Red Button, Yellow Button is one of my favourites because the older I get the more I appreciate the insightful wisdom of children before we educate it out of them.
Finally, Night Vision, because Jesus Christ is the Lover of my soul and my greatest desire is to know him and live in his presence.
So now the beautiful, sorrowful, joyful, frustrating, exhilarating journey continues.
To borrow from The Proclaimers I would like to make a proclamation of my own:
But I would write 500 blogs
And I would write 500 more
Just to be the one who wrote 1000 blogs
To tell you God is good.
And yes, He will restore.
Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The Lord saw it, and it displeased him
that there was no justice.
He saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
then his own arm brought him salvation,
and his righteousness upheld him.
So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun;
for he will come like a rushing stream,
which the wind of the Lord drives.
(Isaiah 59:15, 16, 19)
But because Jesus lives forever,
his priesthood lasts forever.
Therefore he is able, once and forever,
to save those who come to God through him.
He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.
(Hebrews 7: 24, 25)
“It is not for us to predict the day – but the day will come – when people will once more be called to speak the word of God in such a way that the world is changed and renewed. It will be a new language, perhaps quite non-religious language, but liberating and redeeming—like Jesus’ language; so that people will be alarmed and yet overcome by its power – the language of a new righteousness and truth, a language proclaiming that God makes peace with humankind and that God’s kingdom is drawing near. Till then the Christian cause will be a silent and hidden affair, but there will be those who pray and do right and wait for God’s own time.”
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Thoughts on the Day of Baptism, Letters and papers from prison.
Morning Prayer:
How long will we wait here alone?
Return, O Eternal One, with mercy.
Rescue Your servants with compassion.
With every sun’s rising, surprise us with Your love,
satisfy us with Your kindness.
Then we will sing with joy and celebrate every day we are alive.
You have spent many days afflicting us with pain and sorrow;
now match those with years of unspent joy.
Let Your work of love be on display for all Your servants;
let Your children see Your majesty.
And then let the beauty and grace of the Lord—our God—rest upon us
and bring success to all we do;
yes, bring success to all we do.
(Psalm 90:13-19)
Charis: Subject to Change 