HOPE

 There's hope for me yet, I'm sure, though consistency hasn't been my strong suit, I keep trying and one day, perhaps that will be a word that defines an aspect of who I am.  My hope is to post a weekly blog this year looking back at lessons God has taught me and pressing into the depths of what He's teaching me now. I invite you to come along for the ride - it might be rocky, some uneven ground, but I hear the Spirit calling me deeper, into a place of quietness, intimacy, a conversation with the TRIUNE GOD! 

 And so, I come.  Will you come with me? To gaze upon Him, get caught up and captivated in His presence, wrecked by His love.  This morning during worship at church, the beauty, glory and worth of Jesus caused me to weep in wonder, awe, love and humility.  I, so small and insignificant, have captured the heart of the Almighty - because He made me to captivate Him, commune with Him, live in and bask under the radiant beauty and merciful goodness of His love and nature in the midst of a life often fraught with uncertainty, pain, brokenness, confusion and fear - there He meets me and calls me higher. 

Do you have a routine? A quiet place and time to get away with God, to hear His voice and pour out your heart before Him?  If not, I'd recommend that as a starting point.  For me, it has to be early morning to happen at all.  I have to be intentional.  Grab a journal and write down your experience with God, your troubles and what God says to you.  My journals, since I was young, have been a series of letters to God sprinkled in with words He's said to me.  I've come to spend time each time I journal now, asking Him what He has to say and writing down His response.  Try it.  He might surprise you!

I don't know what it looks like for you - all of these look good to me! But the key is that He wants You and really KNOWING HIM and BEING KNOWN requires time and intention.  

One of my favorite authors of all time is Jeanne (Madame) Guyon.  She found an intimacy in relationship with God in prayer and through suffering that I find inspiring.  I was recently given another book recently: The Devil In the Castle that talks of faith (somewhat like Pilgrims Progress) as a progressive journey in which we can stay in the courtyard of faith, distracted by devil, things of this world or even ourselves and kept from entering the depths or we can progress steadily in our journey toward the ONE in the center of the castle who beckons us. "All Christians... have a special obligation to pursue intimacy with Christ through making personal prayer a part of daily life.  Personal or mental prayer is more than the mindless repetition of vocal prayers...Personal prayer is, above all, the welcoming of the Word of the Father into our hearts and allowing Him to dwell in us in the fullness of His sovereign dignity. This receptivity to ultimate meaning takes attentiveness, time, and silence.  The WORD MADE FLESH will act in our imagination, memory, intellect and affectivity in accord with the freedom that we grant Him, in accord with our obedience to His will.  Because His salvific power always heals and intensifies our humanity, even vocal prayer, to be a Christian, must be an exercise of an intelligence of heart bowed in obedient adoration."  "For every Christian, prayer is meant to be a journey into intimacy with the Lord, a drawing closer to His healing radiance...The same face-to-face awaiting us in glory is ours in the shadow of faith when we dare to draw close to the Lord, who has made Himself so close to us." And finally, "The demons know that, because of Baptism, the soul has a special pass to the TREASURE in the very heart of the castle, which is GOD HIMSELF." More on that later... Let's run after this TREASURE,  this PEARL OF GREAT PRICE.

Blessings upon you as you dive in and discover Him there - He's in the waiting. Let me know what you think, what you find.