"I am guiding you on the way of wisdom and I am leading you on the right path." Proverbs 4:11

Category: joy (page 2 of 2)

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For this is God, our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide even to death.
O LORD, You are my God.  I will exalt You,
I will praise Your name,
for You have done wonderful things;
Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
psalm 48:14, isaiah 25:1 

May this weekend bring you more and more of God Himself!

melting

“What do you want?”

…….

the accusations and temptations to do more/have more
and the accusations and temptations to do less/have less

who can know what it is they are to do?

i’ve been personally becoming aware of the whole identity thing….
and had a couple of meltdowns over the state of the lives of the 5 living here in this home
….and the state of this home
and some meltdowns over the state of the lives living outside of us, the state of this dying world.

this week in Matthew-we are in chapters 19-21

been also studying David and Saul and struck by (read: identifying with) Saul and his crisis of identity and battle with envy….and the picture of what he becomes-it’s not even human anymore.

……..

days go by and time alone to sit at the feet of the One who gives the best counsel and listens and knows everything…..the days go one after the other after the other and there is none.  and the world shouts in my ears and i forget what is true and meltdowns partner with striving and there is no peace inside.

until today.  and i sit with this question:

“What do you want?”

and i just don’t have a clue what the answer to that is.

but He does.

and so He shows me:

tho i have not seen Him, i love Him, and even though i do not see Him now, i believe in Him and am filled w/an inexpressible and glorious joy.  for i am receiving the goal of my faith, the salvation of my soul.

what do i want?  joy.  unspeakable, inexpressible and glorious joy. 

and all my striving and pining and trying to figure it all out what to do and what not to do and where to live and where not to live and how to live and how not to live
             is all a frantic search for this joy.   

it doesn’t come as i think it will. those words in 1 Peter were written to….

God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered…..who have been chosen (through the sanctifying work of the Spirit)
                for obedience to Jesus Christ.

i don’t like being a stranger.  i don’t like being scattered.  i don’t always like obeying.

melt me with Your beauty, melt me with the truth of who You are and who i am.  the truth of the real goal of my faith-vs. the lesser things i make it.  the real source of joy vs. the lesser things i’m pining for

Restore to me the Joy of Your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.  -psalm 51

for further melting….in a beautiful way:  

When Life has Taught You to Run Past its Best Conversations

Being a Closet Radical

slipping

 

 When your feet are slipping, may His faithful Love hold you up.  In the multitude of your anxious thoughts within, may His comforts cheer and delight your very soul.  -psalm 94:18-19

May God’s word be brought forth from memory to gird up the loins of your mind and may your hope rest fully on the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  -1 peter 1:13 

whatever comes, may you be granted power to grasp how high and deep and wide is His very love

for you.

 

~~~~~~***~~~~~~


inspiring reads from around the web:

from Becca over at TheStanleyClan on fear:

there are no guarantees. Life turns, not as we will it, nor how we prepare for it. Rather, God holds all of our futures in His strong hand, and in His perfect timing. That means we cannot protect against bullets any more certainly than we can protect against a broken heart, both literally and figuratively. Our children’s hearts WILL be broken, as will ours, whether we live in the city or the suburbs. And yes, we will find ourselves in pain and perhaps weeping through the night. But this problem cannot be relegated to simply living in a broken neighborhood. Because the truth remains that we live in an entire world broken in need of a Savior. 

from Ann over at AholyExperience:  (if i knew how i’d paste a photo of simon’s art, you’ll just have to click over and see)

Sometimes your art will only be seen from the sky, from the perspective of heaven.

The wind will come. Simon’s art will be blown away. Simon knows this.

He still makes art with everyday fallen grace. Simon still creates art knowing it could be gone the very next day.

from Emily over at TheHighCalling

Today a watercolor hangs in our kitchen, a rainbow turtle painted by small hands and offered as a gift. My son didn’t paint to impress, to win, or to compete. He painted as an act of love for me. His expression warms my heart, not because the painting is good but because the boy is mine.
…Perhaps the most beautiful work you can do today is to begin to accept your creative inheritance from God and learn to become yourself in the presence of others, moving into the world as the person you fully are no matter where you are, who you’re with, or what’s gone wrong.


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