God in...

Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. ~Galatians 3:19

This week is being cut a bit shorter, if you will, for the busy holidays, and for this 34minute-long video "Genius". It's been shared around a bit, and is supposedly about John Lennon, but really is more about Christianity in today's culture. Feel free to respond with questions and ideas!

End the evil of those who are wicked, and defend the righteous. For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God. ~Psalms 7:9

 

Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts.

~1John 5:21

Cut The Rope

The Lord said to Gideon, "You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. ~Judges 7:2

Even when things come up in our lives that we can fix ourselves, and we do so taking it for granted, thinking, "Well I won that battle with sin because I was disciplined enough and I knew my own limits...". No. It is always God working through us for good, whether he shows us that or not. He could very easily make it a miracle just by twisting the lines of truth to show us that we couldn't have done it on our own. But sometimes he doesn't. sometimes he works behind the scenes and helps us where we don't think we need it, even though we really do.

Where can this go wrong? One way is when we consider God's presence, look for it, and not find what we want. We call God weak. We blame him. However, it is simply a time of weakness for us, who cannot fathom the reality of how God works no matter the situation. Whatever is happening down here on earth, God is always sitting in the same position, so to speak, unaffected physically/emotionally as we are.

 If God had a weakness, it would still be stronger than the strongest strength of man. ~Corinthians 1:25 

Maybe the problem is in those around us. God is hard to see, after all, like a fly on the wall, and sometimes even harder to present. In that case, it's really just us who needs to change, to release the fear and doubt that hold us back.

So shine with a fire that will represent.

"They all said I lost hope, but I believe that you're calling me home, I believe your love has no bounds, I believe your heart is on fire, I believe my heart is uncaged." ~Darkspeed (song)

That will represent the working God you come to see all around you.

"Any script written could not contain you; true love is not like it's played in a movie; when I close my eyes, I fell you with me; because you bled for a love that is Holy." ~Santiam (song)

The Effervescent Act

"Sometimes hath the brightest day a cloud."

~Shakespeare

 

Opportunity never ceases, it's just sometimes covered up by whatever you let in. Happiness, joy, love--the big bad words that nobody likes to think about if they can get away with it--are really the makeup of satisfaction. Of course, there's always confidence, faith, will, and all that good stuff that get you going, but when you narrow it down...

 

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

~Lincoln

It's like a secret code or something, that sounds stupid until you actually get it. Didn't you know that happiness is an on-off switch in your brain and all you have to do is flip it!

 

Sometimes it doesn't seem that easy, and maybe it isn't. Takes a considerable amount of either practice for some, or simple truth for others. I'm probably right in between.

 

"The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity--it's envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can. But life leaps over oblivion lightly, losing only a thing or two of no importance, and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud." ~Life of Pi pg. 6

 

An interesting concept if nothing else. So if gloom is only ever temporary, then what is there to be joyous about on a sunny (metaphorically speaking) day? Well that's the real mystery. I find my joy in: life (in general), beauty (art, music, writing), creation (related to beauty and life), and a simple assurance of faith in Christ to help me through any situation the world has to offer.

 

"I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul."

~Psalm 31:7

 

People are going to show this joy in very different ways. One of my side-effects is jitteriness, which can turn into confidence, that can lead to the opening of my heart and mind, per se. The perfect solution would begin with a certain self-blindness, in that you become more aware of those around you. The typical idea or example of joy and/or happiness is perhaps seen as an act of effervescence. People jump up and down, offer hugs to strangers, run up and down the street in the middle of the night, whatever shows that you are not yourself, that you are not currently on your normal, human default mode when joyous.

 

Effervescent [ef-er-VES-uhnt]:

1. High-spirited; vivacious; lively.
2. Effervescing; bubbling.

Effervescence can be a good way of communicating love to others. Pray it over and figure it out. There's always a way :)

This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

~1John 4:10-13

The Harmonious System

"The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us — there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation as if a distant memory, of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries." ~Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan is basically a well known science communicator, an astronomer and cosmologist. He doesn't quite get it from this quote what the true mystery of the universe is (check out 1Corinthians 8:1-3), but it shows how people, even unbelievers, can see God working behind the scenes and the sciences of our world.

Here is a song from the album titled "Cosmos" by the band "The Send": The Fall.

 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. ~Romans 1:19-20

For those who would notice, this is similar to what I mentioned in Awesome #19, that God made us to experience his "natural beauty". As our good man Wiki and the title of today's post says, a cosmos is basically an orderly or harmonious system. God is that cosmos, and His Holy Spirit lives in us just as it lives in the world. And yet we are not of the world. Rather, we are not for the world, but praising its maker while continuing to live within it.

"All we know are the things that float between stars and our extremities, and when we die there are holes the size of the things we fear will be left behind."
~Song titled "The Light Beam Rider".

So I'll leave you now with some more scripture and another friend, my good man Peter.

"Because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world."

~1John 4:4

An Exhibition of Bravery

Bravery comes with maturity. Sometimes, it is the hard and desperate times in life that help our maturity grow, offering more chances for feeling and/or revealing said bravery along the way. Maturity most often comes with age. So what about children?

"I'm tired, and I'm hungry. And my tail's froze. And my nose is froze. And my ears are froze. And my toes are froze." ~Lucky

 

It takes a whole lot more to bring out the bravery in kids like Lucky. Why? Is it reliance? Insecurity? Uncertainty? Vulnerability? Whatever it is, it is obvious that God made children to be looked after, and gave them their insecurities so that they could learn from it and from those around them. In this way, everyone must learn bravery before they can show it. That's one reason why we should be good examples to others; so that who we are, in front of our friends and acquaintances, is how our friends and acquaintances will act in front of their own friends and acquaintances. And so on and so forth. Each child has the potential to live their lives in the dark, and will until that future is changed.

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it." ~Matthew 7:13-14

Is there such a thing as false bravery? Perhaps if the bravery you feel gets you only partway to your goal, then drops you dead...? The bravery you felt would not be bravery at all, but a drapery of softened lies that were intended to build you up; they were never from God.

Potvaliancy \POT-val-yuhn-see\ Brave only as a result of being drunk...

Only from God can true contentment be found. Without him there is nothing, so surely with him, we are able to accomplish anything; with bravery through trust, and trust by faith.

What is bravery? [breyv]
1) Possessing or exhibiting courage or courageous endurance.
2) Making a fine appearance. 

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/brave)

Why is bravery...bravery? Where does our bravery, as Christians, come from? I think that for most Christians, this should be obvious. Unfortunately I also think that it usually is not, nor is showing confidence of faith an easy thing to do.

How can we show bravery in our everyday lives?

"The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." ~Romans 8:26

Prayer and a tight communion with God, no matter the trial or situation, if true, will slowly eat away at the crumbs of doubt that encompass your heart. Fellowship with other believers will strengthen your views and activities outside of your comfort zone. Remember, bravery does not come naturally, but the confidence and faith you have in Christ can turn wonders.

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline."

~2 Timothy 1:7

What Is Worship?

For one: worship does not equal singing, or even some form of spiritual/emotional bliss directed toward our maker through music. Worship is service to the Lord.

"Thanksgiving worship is not based on what I feel. It doesn't matter what I'm experiencing, it matters what I know." ~Steve Hardy

 We are to show our love and thanks for God in the public places. "I am a symbol"

Have you ever done the dinner prayer when you were kind of out of it and you might have

simply..."blessed" the food? Asked for nourishment and strength from it? I have. The thing is, what if you were eating pizza that evening? Are you praying that it will suddenly become nutritious on the way down? No, we are to pray in thankful gratitude for provision of life's essentials, for everything the Lord is, has done, and will continue to do in our lives.

 Now, praise and worship can also be joyful, jubilant. Expression is everything; a laugh for that coming from someone like me, but it is true.

(Psalm 149:3) "Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp."

We are to be Tiggers. T-I-DOUBLE-G-R's. In comparison to, say, Eeyore, that would look like some pretty ecstatic worship right there. I confess, it is not in my nature. I have always been the Eeyore child. Praise with a couple of drooping eyelids is still praise, and though it may be a distraction, a missing tail won't stop me either!

So, even though it may not birth within the church building, praise with the form of expression that befits your awkward side (with reason and good sacrifice) is often the praise that most pleases God.

Let the giving of thanks to God mark your life as one of God's children.