His Presence Is My Place Of Peace

There is peace in knowing and loving my place

A mind, heart, and soul secure in its place

Not constantly grabbing and grasping for more

Trusting that where I am is where I am meant to be

Trusting that I was put in this place by One who loves me

And will provide for my care by giving me all that I need

I know and love my place

I shall not want

I have no need

God is my Father and I am His child

That is my place

The Lord is my Master and I am His servant

That is my place

The Lord is my Shepherd and I am His sheep

That is my place

I know and love my place

I shall not want

I have no need

His love and His provision warrants my obedience

Not out of demand but out of delight and devotion

His commands are life giving and constitute my commitment

To Him and to His Truth and His Way

His yoke is easy and His burden is light

It provides rest for my soul and His Presence in my life

I know and love my place

I shall not want

I have no need

His Presence is my place of peace

God Is So Much More

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for

The evidence of things not seen.”

Hebrews 11:1 

Faith is required to know God

God is so much more than I can ever know

I limit Him to the Bible

I limit Him to the church building

I limit Him to my ideas

I limit Him to my theology

God is so much more.

The organism must remain free

Free to BE all it is meant to BE

Not captured in a form or a formula

Only then can He be properly praised

Only then can He be worthily worshiped

Only then can He be heart-fully honored

God is so much more.

The Power of LIFE Over Death

Ephesians 2

The power that raised Christ from the dead

The power that breaks open the seed

Causing a tree to grow

The power that causes a sperm to implant in an egg

Creating a child in a mother’s womb

That power lives within me

It is the power of LIFE.

The ruler of this world order has no power

The ruler of this world order can only offer illusion

Ideas of living but never real LIFE

His words are empty, void of meaning

Void of Truth, void of life energy, void of power

His words and ideas are but dust in the wind

They are the non power of death.

The Awe & Wonder of God

Unless the Lord builds the house

Human beings labor in vain

All man made golden calves

Will topple, fall and be no more

That goes for the world’s, church’s

And mine

What causes the tumble and fall

Human beings become

All knowing

All reasonable

All logical

All left brained

All masculine

All independent

All too big for our britches.

“My thoughts are not your thoughts

My ways are not your ways

They are much higher”

Ours is to fear God

Ours is to be in awe and wonder

Ours is to stand down and appreciate

Ours is to bow down and be thankful

Ours is to look up and adore

The Mystery

The imagination

The Masterwork

Of a great and wonderful God.

A Morning Chat

I was sitting across from the table, having coffee with my beloved life companion, as I have done ever since we got together.   It is my favorite time of the day as we silently sit and let the morning sun rise and slowly bring in the day.  I am not a morning person when it comes to communicating well, but I enjoy simply being together in the peaceful part of the day, sipping our coffee, reading, or just pondering life.

I had been reading a book for the past week and as interested as I was in the subject and as much as I liked the author, I found myself uneasy with what I was reading.  It was talking about all the changes in the world, our American culture, and the church.  It was talking about a new “enlightenment” and how things must completely change if the church wants to even exist anymore.  I am not in advocate of the Institutional Church or most Organized Religion so I kept reading the book hoping I would overcome my uneasiness.  I didn’t.

I put down my book.  I stared out the window for awhile deep in thought; then I finally looked across the table and said,

“Apparently there is no such thing as sin anymore.  People are basically good and if we just start acting good God will bless us with all good things.  Since there is no sin, there is no need for forgiveness or atonement any more, which is pretty much an “old school” concept anyway.  All of that “old fashioned religion” is not relevant to our culture or our world anymore so we need to move on and think up something new and more exciting.”

My partner looked up, smiled, and then said,

“So apparently, you and the rest of the world don’t need Me anymore.  So what do you think about that?”

“Well, I don’t know about the rest of the world or this culture or anyone else as far as that goes.  I love all you have done for me, I love being with you, I need you, and believe that you are more than relevant in my life.  After 43 years it still works for me.  That’s all I’ve got to say about that.”

Words Are Like Seeds

Words are like seeds

That get planted in my mind and heart

They will germinate and grow into

What I think about

What I speak about

And what I write about

What am I listening to

What am I hearing

What am I giving my ears over to

The words that enter will become the words

That will be expressed eventually

But first they will work and grow

In my mind and in my soul

They will grow roots and grow fruits

It is important to attend to the seeds

I am scattering within my being

Good seeds produce good fruit

Bad seeds produce bad fruit

There are an abundance of words

Zooming through the air waves

Filling the space with constant chatter

Most are unfiltered, unedited, and unsupervised

It is up to me to attend to my ears

And what I feed them

There are an abundance of words

In our bookstores, libraries, schools

And in our supermarkets wanting my attention

What am I giving my eyes over to read

The offerings run the gamut

From classics to crap

From literature to licentiousness

From learning to lusting

From encouragement to excrement

From delightful to disgusting

It is truly up to me to attend to my eyes

And what I feed them

Obedience Frees Me From Burdens

Obeying God’s laws is not burdensome.  It is actually freeing.  It is like running a train on a clear track; walking along a cleared path; putting one’s self in the natural flow of life’s energy. He shows the Way and when I walk in it I am free of obstructions, distractions, and temptations.  That makes my life so much calmer, gentle, and peaceful.

 When I am at one with God I am at one with all creation, in harmony with all creation, and at peace with all creation.  I can say with God, “It is good.  It is very good.” 

Life on earth may not be easy but I have help at every step.  This life on earth is currently under the power of God’s enemy, the evil one.  But it still remains under the control of God.  Someday the power of the evil one will be completely removed and I will be free of all its influence and temptation forever throughout eternity. 

Until then if I follow Jesus and walk with God I will walk in confidence, freedom, and hope along the Way He has prepared for me; His rod and staff will comfort me; His light will guide me.  I have no burdens to carry and I can walk free of cares, fear, and worries.

Who Will Listen & Heed?

God is slow to anger

God is compassionate

God is merciful

God is love

But

God is God

God is just

God is true

God will bring judgment

It is a tough paradox to hold

It is not a popular subject right now

It is not spoken in the world

It is not spoken in many churches

But

It is spoken by God the Father

It is spoken of by Jesus the Son

It is spoken of by the Prophets of old

It is spoken of in the Scriptures

God in His mercy wants all to repent

God in His compassion wants all to live

God in His love desires all to come to Him

God in His mercy is holding back the time

But

Soon time will run out

Soon the end will come quickly

Soon the wickedness on earth will be destroyed

Soon there will be no more time

Who will listen to the last warning

Who will hear the sound of the alarm

Who will arise and say “I repent”

Who will give heed to all that’s been said

By

God the Father

Jesus the Son

The Prophets of old

To Know Him is to Love HIm

This song from my teenage days popped into my head this morning.

“To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him.

Just to see him smile makes my life worthwhile

To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him.  And I do.”

Now this song has a new meaning for me.  Now it is a hymn to the God I know and love; the God that smiles down on me and makes my life truly worth while. The sad truth that everyone in the world doesn’t know Him or love Him continually baffles me.  I honestly don’t get it.

God has done nothing but good in this world.  First, He created a beautiful world then He created people to care for it and keep it beautiful, and then He let them live amidst all that beauty.  Then, they messed up.  But God has continually worked at fixing up what human beings continually mess up throughout history.  He has never failed in His faithful and steadfast love even though we have again and again.

God’s faithfulness shows His compassion, love, and mercy.  People see Him only as the Lawgiver who ruins their fun.  But God’s faithfulness in His compassion, love, and mercy began long before He established His Laws that in reality were established only for our good and our flourishing as humans.

God witnessed His benevolence in all He is and in all He does in the very things He created, all things in nature and all people.  God didn’t fail; nature didn’t fail, so that points the finger at us.  As a human species we are marring and destroying God’s witness in nature at an alarming rate.  Human beings are marring and destroying God’s image in their witness of Him at an alarming rate.  Without these two witnesses God is vanishing from the very world He created.

What kind of a witness to God are we when we rape and pillage the land He gifted to us?  What kind of witness to God are we when we neglect to show His compassion, love, and mercy and yet demand, in an often ugly way, that God’s Laws are to be obeyed?  God is not a malicious dictator who powers it over His people.  He is a lover who desires an intimate relationship with Him.  When people come to know that relationship obedience will be the fruit that grows out of that root of love.

Let us consider what we are to be a witness of God to others and let us consider restoring the beauty of the earth that reveals a loving and creative God who wants life to flourish.  To know Him is to love Him and to love Him is to love all that He loves and take good care of them.

Religion & Spirituality

My religion is the way I live my life.

Spirituality is the Spirit’s life giving me life.

Religion is my Practice. 

Spirituality is my faith.

Religion is like the kindling, tinder, and fuelwood laid out for a campfire.  Spirituality is the fire that comes from putting a match to the wood.  A properly laid campfire will burn well and last long.  It will cook food and commence fellowship.  It provides light in the center of a circle and an atmosphere of comradery around it.

A pensiveness comes as all else is eventually faded out into the shadows.  It invites a truth of soul and a sense of stillness.  A realness comes forth from the simple elements of wood and fire.  It is just you and the fire in the midst of others but not at the center.

The warmth overcomes the coldness and the heart is warmed with stories and songs and we begin to share the things that matter.  We are comfortable and content and wish to be no other place but here, watching the fire transform the wood, producing the quiet glow of the white embers of ash. 

The Spirit will always transform the religion.

But without the wood there would be no fire.

Be Still And Know That I Am God

I am tired of talk, I am weary of words

Too many, too much causing a lot of noise

That deafens my ears.

I feel inundated under a sea of seeds

Worthless until they are planted somewhere.

Encased in a hard shell until opened in the depth of the soil.

A world full of empty chatter void of any meaning

A world full of empty promises and temptations…Hush, I say

Stop, look, and listen to Nature that surrounds you every day.

Creation is silent and still yet it forever declares the essence of God

The seed have been planted and now silently speak forth with fruit

The very meaning and essence of life without one word being spoken.

The fruit are their words; are their teachings; are their sermons

Stop, look, and listen and we will hear God’s words, transformative words

Pure, unadulterated, full of creative energy causing all things to BE.

Our treasure is there, hidden in plain sight

For those who have eyes that are clear and ears that are open

Uncluttered and waiting to hear the silence speak and stillness share     

The Wisdom of God