Obedient Suffering

"…He learned obedience by the things which He suffered."*

My eyes turn an unfocused gaze to the opposite wall.
Little shafts of light dance bokeh-style.
My mind is far away.

Is this what makes men invincible?

To suffer and yet trust. To sorrow and yet sing.
To not understand and yet obey.

Is this? Is this the secret?

I think so. Because it says He was "made perfect." Entirely.

But oh, how hard it is to always accept the gift with outstretched hands, especially when it hurts.
Yet this obedience in the midst of suffering creates a beauty, a strength, a trust unlike any other.
And when we come forth, we are called sons and daughters, children of eternity.

"…He learned obedience [was perfected] by the things which He suffered."

May I never resist the fire.

* Hebrews 5:8

What Are You Doing Here?

Sometimes you just have those moments. Moments that slap you in the face and demand a reason why.

And you don't have one. 

Or if you do, it's an excuse that doesn't hold water. 

I've been there. Far too recently. Far too often.

The still small Voice whispers when you're finally quiet enough to listen.

"What are you doing here?"

My silence deepens. I have no answer. Because really, I'm the one who got myself into this mess. 

It wasn't His fault. And any defense I attempt to make will just look foolish.

I know why I'm here. Really, I do.

It's just difficult to admit that to Omnipotence. 

Because if I had just claimed Power, things would be different. 

Yet He offers me angel food and angel water. Heaven's fare. 

And I'm nourished. I can listen again. And hear the Voice. Still and small. 

He says, "Go."

And I return to the place where I last saw light, where I last had victory. And go forth to conquer. 

This love, this pursuing, amazes me.

I go.  

Consuming Love [The Making of Heroes Part II]

Love is no secret.
(Or at least that's what the world says.)

The only problem is that the majority of the population defines love by the wrong terms. 

The true meaning of the word has been buried beneath the fluff of changing emotion.

And I believe one of the reasons why the number of great heroes in our generation is on the decline is because we don't understand love.

I don't claim to understand Love. Far from it.
But this I know, our love tends to be shallow and the motives behind it, even shallower.




And so our generation is experiencing a critical famine, a deficiency of love, all the while surrounded by what the world labels affection.

It is no wonder that the world is in crisis. Desperate crisis.

The love that we are called to live? It's difficult. It's selfless. It's painful. 

That's why so few demonstrate it. 

Yet difficulty is never a reason to discard. 

Because this love is what will set the world on fire. Combined with prayer. 

This love is the material of the heart of God.
The love that hurts and gives and heals all at the same time.
The love that embraces utter self-abnegation.

The love that gives back a thousand-fold. 

This is the love we must learn. This is the love we must live. This is the love we must give.

False Accusations

{Jeremiah 37}

I turn page after page reading the fascinating accounts of undaunted individuals of the reformation; I trace the lives of countless faithful missionaries giving their all, even their lives, for the advancement of the gospel; I examine the servants of God through the ages, and I determine that the whole history of God’s messengers wears an almost unbroken line of sacrifice, of hardship, of false accusations, of misunderstandings. 

Jeremiah is no exception.

The devil is no ignorant bystander. He has had over six thousand years of practice to refine his tactics. He twists the minds of men into believing truth is error and error is truth, and most of them don’t even realize what has happened.

Yet when false accusations are shouted in our faces, we have a choice to make. And it all depends on the habits we have previous cultivated in our lives. If we have fostered the meekness, grace and humility of our Savior in little trials, they will also be manifest in the most difficult times.

It all depends on our surrender now.

Seventy Years

{Jeremiah 25}

Seventy. Perfection’s number plus a zero.

Yes, even this banishment evidenced greater love on the part of their Savior. 

Nothing He does is without purpose.

Yet because of the great knowledge He had given them, which they had spurned, their punishment must be in proportion.

What He longed for most was for this experience to act as a purging fire to purify them from all that has previously separated His adopted children from their Father’s side. For them to emerge from captivity rejoicing not only in physical freedom, but spiritual freedom in Him. 

He desired perfection for His people more than anything else…

And the same is true for us today.

There is nothing that God desires more than for us, as His representatives, to become perfect through His strength.

And it doesn’t have to take seventy years…

The Potter's Hands {Beautiful Vessel - Part I}

{Jeremiah 18}

Hands caked with evidences of pottery sculpting. Clay lining all the creases. 

Gentle fingers guiding a softened adobe-colored lump. 

His brow slightly furrowed in concentration. Eyes intent on the subject of expertise. 

Deft hands working for the perfect outcome.

A sigh escapes pursed lips. Defect detected. 

Doubtless it wasn’t the Potter’s fault. He is the Master.

No… the clay itself is flawed. Its original composition is altered. 

Carefully the Potter removes the deformed lump from the wheel and with His hands remedies the formula and places the reshaped clay again upon the wheel. Silence induced by concentration again ensues.

Finally, after hours of perfecting, a beautiful vessel begins to take shape. Perfect in symmetry, exquisite in appearance, practical in service and sturdy in character, this vessel is no ordinary work of art. Into each creation He pours equal effort, nevertheless they are all unique, individual and stunning in composition.

I may attempt to make myself beautiful, yet without the correct formula, I can never succeed. 

Only when I am pliable in the Potter’s hands, can any true beauty emerge.

And who would desire to be in another’s hands? His are the gentlest earth has ever known.

They are the Potter’s hands…

Reprobate Silver

{Jeremiah 6}

A metal of value and worth, instrumental in trade and commerce, the worldly “mark of a man,” the proof of his wealth—yet the children of Israel were likened unto reprobate silver? Spurned, despised, worthless?

Yes. Most definitely.

We, as God’s people, are the instruments of trade with the earth, the ambassadors of our King—to reveal to the world in our deportment, words and actions His character. Yet we have defamed His name, marred His reflection, defiled His character.

Only He can recreate us into an element of perfection and beauty otherwise we shall be cast away as worthless silver…

Oh, may I not be found as reprobate silver, but precious and purified gold…

Touched by God

{Jeremiah 1}

I cannot speak. I am just a child. I am unqualified.
Excuse. Excuse. Excuse.

When God touches your life, excuses hold no validity.

God says what He means.
His word enables.

"We are to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect, not by struggle and effort, but by the impartation of that which is Perfect." {Oswald Chambers}

“Be ye therefore perfect…”

Yes… Be.