HE calls me LOVELY

What??  Me?? Me in my brokenness, in my failure, in my weakness, He finds lovely? This thought has recently gone from a theological agreement of sorts to a heart's wonder.  As I sit and wonder about the loveliness of the Most High and Holy becoming flesh and blood, a vulnerable little bundle,  awe overtakes me.  How can this be?  The God of the universe who spoke and worlds spun into order, who breathed and dust became living flesh.  The ONE who holds all things in his hands and orders all things by His loving kindness and wisdom - He somehow confined His vast glory and omnipotence in the form of a crying baby.  And this PERFECT ONE, Prince of princes, Lord of life, Beauty beyond measure - He calls me lovely...
   I had a thought suddenly startle me a couple weeks ago, and I have been chewing on it since then. I was looking at the details of the tiling work and construction of a friend's bathroom and pondering the multiple imperfections in the work I had done in my own house but also realizing that this professionally done house also had little imperfections when one looked closely, but weren't noticeable when looking at the room as a whole.  Breaking into these thoughts, I almost heard the words.  "God delights in the imperfect."  Come again?  God delights in the imperfect.  Really?  But He delights in Himself and He is altogether Holy and Perfect.  He calls us to be righteous.  I didn't say He delights in sin, but in the midst of our mess and imperfection, He delights in us like a stained glass that when a light beyond itself shines through... beauty.  A broken picture made beautiful by Light, the LIGHT OF THE WORLD - shining on all the broken fragments and making beauty. Have you noticed a beautiful field of flowers or landscape, but if you got close, each individual thing has it's slight imperfections/brokenness/uniqueness.

   He delights in our imperfections because it's in our very imperfections - His strength, His beauty, His glory, His ability is manifested.  Without our broken, His light an shine through, piercing all the jagged fragments and giving purpose, hope, life and something whole - a picture not present without the brokenness.  So, the Magnificent One sees, He SHINES, He reveals.  As Paul says in 2 Corinthians, "But He said the me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast in my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."  I have a long way to go before I am able to see as He sees and delight as He delights, but I am so thankful that in my weakness, emptiness, brokenness- He is revealed.  For, if I was perfect, whole in and of myself, what need would I have of Him?  But I have all need and He is all sufficient!
  Wonder, awe not just in Who He Is but in His perspective!

What Child Is This

1. What Child is this who, laid to rest
   On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
   Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
   While shepherds watch are keeping?
   This, this is Christ the King,
   Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
   Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
   The Babe, the Son of Mary.
2. Why lies He in such mean estate,
   Where ox and ass are feeding?
   Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
   The silent Word is pleading.
   Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
   The cross be borne for me, for you;
   Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
   The Babe, the Son of Mary.
3. So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,
   Come peasant, king to own Him;
   The King of kings salvation brings,
   Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
   Raise, raise a song on high,
   The virgin sings her lullaby;
   Joy, joy for Christ is born,
   The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Song by Josh Groban

Beautiful and Awe-inspiring

Above all else

  It's that time of year again.  A time to intentionally stop, take a moment and give credit where credit is due.  To acknowledge that without a benevolent God in heaven seeing, knowing, intervening, holding the universe in His hand, we simply would not be.  The giving of Thanks, a verbal confession of our dependence, a recognition that who we are, what we have is all a gift. and the Maker of all the ends of the earth, the Lord of hosts, is the great Giver. 
   In a world where complaining is first nature, and often what we see and proclaim is our lack - internal and external.  Many of us are quick to see our faults, where we don't measure up to our own standards or someone else's.  We're quick to see what we need or want and the measure of that always seems greater than what we already have, more pressing, clouding all that is with what we want it to be.  It leaves a restlessness in the soul, unsettledness that leads to anxiety.  Everything does not seem all right in our world when our eyes are set on what is not rather than what is.  So, what's the solution?  Certainly, we all have room for personal growth and the refrigerator and pantry never seem to stay full by themselves, and Newton's law of degeneration is always at work.  We do have real needs and good dreams and desires.  Are we stuck?  Never arriving at a place of peace and settledness?  It seems to always  come back to vision, perspective - a continuous refocus on the Giver of all good things who knows that we need all these things and has promised to finish His beautiful work in us cause He doesn't start something and not finish it! 
   I was listening to a sermon yesterday and these three words have held my attention, given me cause to ponder deeply - "above ALL ELSE".  If there's something more important than anything else I can do, that is the business I should be about, but what is so singularly important?  Guarding the heart.  Not being overrun by our feelings or easily influenced by the things surrounding.  Why guard it?  Without intention, without constant vigilance, we could easily live out of our feelings and have our feelings influenced by every passing wind or word.  And everything we do - every word, every decision flows from this one thing.  What does it mean to guard the heart?  To not let every little external thing make waves, to dwell on, ruminate and continually revisit our lack, brokenness, or displeasure.  To guard the heart means to be intentional with every little thing that comes in our out and to continually refocus it on what is true, lovely, of good report  - to set our heart in an attitude of giving thanks for then out of us will flow joy, gratitude, and peace.  Guarding what comes in and goes out that life might be the outflow, the gift that you give to those around you. 

1. Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
   Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices;
   Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
   With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.
2. Oh, may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
   With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us;
   And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed;
   And guard us through all ills in this world, till the next!
3. All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given,
   The Son, and Him Who reigns with Them in highest Heaven—
   The one eternal God, Whom earth and Heav’n adore;
   For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore

Great story behind this classic Thanksgiving hymn

Song

Worship - waging war for peace

What do you think about when you hear the word "peace"?  Do you think of sitting by a beautiful mountain stream?  Taking a walk and reveling in the beauty and wonder of creation?  A bubble bath after a long day? What about a quietness of soul in the midst of pain, chaos or catastrophe?  Isn't that when we need it most?  Don't get me wrong, there is something very therapeutic - healing and centering about stepping away from the chaos of life and soaking in the beauty, setting our focus on something bigger, outside of ourselves, and I strongly recommend being regularly purposeful in this.  However, there's also a way to experience peace right in the midst of all the swirling, busy and painful life experiences.  How do we break through what's right in front of us, pulling in a hundred different directions at once, walk in peace when we feel alone, life hasn't gone as we anticipated and it's left us with a deep ache we can't run away from?
  Think of David - Samuel came to town to anoint the next king and called David's family together to discover which one was IT, but his family didn't even consider him as a necessary part of the family.  However, when he did get anointed king and was filled with the Holy Spirit to destroy Goliath, he was very quickly not just rejected by his family but rejected by King Saul and hunted down.  In his jealousy and fury, Saul soon had all of Israel, the Israel that David was anointed king of, chasing after him to destroy him.  Sometime later, having stayed with the Philistines with the 400 low-life ruffians that had banded together with David, he was headed to battle with the Philistines against his own people, but then was rejected by them and told to leave.  Even his enemy didn't want him and when he returned to his village to find it burned down and all the women and children taken, the only people he had left - his 400 men- were ready to stone him.  So, having received a glorious promise from GOD and subsequently having one person or group of people after another reject and seek to destroy him, right in the midst of the worst of the worst, what did David do?  I Sam 30:6 - he strengthened himself in the Lord his God.  He worshiped.  After that?  God gave him victory after victory and gave him back all that had been taken from him.  All the captives plus extra plunder were recovered.  Saul and his sons died in battle and David began the process of becoming King of Israel and subsequently became one of the most famous kings of all time and one of the most recognized Bible heroes.  But did it always look rosy?  Did he every have doubts?  Feel squeezed, worn out, alone and broken - yes, right before the breakthrough was the worst!  And Scripture is filled with examples of a person being brought to the end of themselves - and what they chose in that moment was critical.  Over and over, those who chose to worship in that moment, not declaring what was- as far as circumstances right in front of them- but declaring what they could not see - who God is and what He has done and can do.  And time and again this choice to set eyes on Him was the pivot point that brought them into breakthrough.
   Worship- our glorious warfare against the onslaught of fear, pain, chaos, uncertainty and all that life has to throw at us.  In those times that seem to most call us to action, to do something, fix something, our tendency is to ponder, think, worry.  We "fall into a trap of thinking we can find a solution by looking at a problem from every angle and letting it consume our world. But what happens is that the affections of the heart get drawn away from the Lord, to the point that we care more about the problem than about giving Him what He deserves.  We let other voices speak louder than His, and that is always irresponsible! I am responsible to Him first..." Bill Johnson  "Most of us are about 15 minutes away from discouragement if we make a series of wrong decisions.  Our goal must be to remain fundamentally connected in our hearts to God's affections and His nature.  Worship, then, is the family business. This does not mean that we ignore problems, but that we operate from the conviction that as we stay faithful to adore Christ Jesus in the midst of our trials, He promises to bring solutions that we could not derive within ourselves." David Bradshaw 
  It is not in our brilliance of thought, purposeful composure and strength of mind that we arrive at peace, unshakable peace - it is only by setting our eyes on Him and declaring who He is and what He has done that we can walk unmoved, unfrazzled, hopeful and glorious in joy no matter what life throws at us.

Peace, Wonderful Peace
Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight
Rolls a melody sweeter than psalm;
In celestial-like strains it unceasingly falls
O’er my soul like an infinite calm.

Refrain:
Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of love!

What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace,
Buried deep in the heart of my soul,
So secure that no power can mine it away,
While the years of eternity roll!

I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace,
Resting sweetly in Jesus’ control;
For I’m kept from all danger by night and by day,
And His glory is flooding my soul!

And I think when I rise to that city of peace,
Where the Author of peace I shall see,
That one strain of the song which the ransomed will sing
In that heavenly kingdom will be:

Ah soul, are you here without comfort and rest,
Marching down the rough pathway of time?
Make Jesus your friend ere the shadows grow dark;
Oh, accept this sweet peace so sublime!

Song
Story behind the hymn