Category: Courage

Home…

Leave a comment

Walking, stumbling, to a home I’ve never seen. This is the way I go, and the path that we are on together. The way of Christ is so unknown, unpredictable and yet unchanging. He IS. Only by looking toward Him are we able to see just who we truly are, who we are created to be. When we look at ourselves all we see is who the world has made us, or who it tells us we should be. It is only when we look to Christ, and God the Father that we can clearly see who we were made to be, who we aim to be and where that person should go. Maybe not where–God doesn’t always tell us that but He sometimes says how–we know how all we have to do is look at Christ.

So while we walk with Christ in sight, we are moving forward, but if we get distracted or carried away we may stumble. We don’t or won’t know where we’re going if we don’t keep our eyes on Christ. And how will we know? We are heading to a homeland that we’ve never seen before–none of us. All the more reason to look and follow after Christ. He knows the way. He IS the way. Only He can lead us home and give us the peace that our souls burn for. Only then can our sails be loosed and our anchors et–we will be home.

A Love-Hate Relationship

Leave a comment

So again, I’m still pondering the big things that happen in our lives, why they happen & when the heck it will stop! I’ve had a great week….truly, honestly it was a hard week, but I can also say that it has brought me some peace & clarity to my other days that weren’t so great. I’m sure you’re wondering now too, what is this love-hate relationship that this post is titled after…well, it’s a love-hate relationship I have with death & dying. Odd eh? I know….you’ll come to accept me as I am. On one hand, death really sucks. It does! For those of us who have to endure the after effects of someone close dying, it’s something you don’t want to face, let alone feel. Jesus felt the pain of friends dying, listen to this: “When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked. ‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied. Jesus wept.” (John 11:32-35) I know he knows our pain, our tears & the heartache one feels when someone leaves us here… Also, on the same thought, death is so uncertain. “Isaac said, ‘I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death.'” (Genesis 27:2) Part of me likes to think that God knows I’m having a hard time, and wouldn’t take my Grandma away right now, because it would basically kill me. But really, is that how death works? Can we control it? Can we find a “good time” for someone to die? Isaac knew this wasn’t true, and even Solomon did when he writes…”In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9) We cannot know what God’s plan for us is…when we’ll die or how. Alright, onto the Love part…so this is why I love death: That is when we will be joined together with our Heavenly Father, to eternally praise & worship together as a family of Christ. We will walk alongside the river of life & bask in the light of God’s glory. We will taste the fruits that were unknown to us & rejoice in the blessings God had poured on us during this earthly life. We will experience something not known to man, something so beautiful it is beyond our comprehension! My Grandpa is there, my friend Julie is there, the siblings I’ve never met are there, I believe my other friends & family too shall be there. In a sick & rather twisted way, I know that my Grandma would like to be finished with this torment, the pain and agony of each day passing without holding onto my Grandpa’s hand…I do not want to be selfish & pray for her to stay here for me, because I know she’s in pain….and wants to go. So…it’s a love-hate relationship….while I hate the effects of death here on earth, I know that for those who have put their whole faith & trust in Christ Jesus as their Savior will rejoice the second they have departed us. For that, I say bring it on. (But Christ, I’m trusting in you to be there when it comes….for I will need you.)

Boldness in the dark

Leave a comment

Current mood: Courageous

Tonight, I watched “Kingdom of Heaven”…for those of you who have not seen it, I would recommend it, but not if you get queazy by bloody war films. The ideas…not really ideas, but more points that are put forward, are upright & seem to be true to God’s character. The movie takes place during the crusades…Muslim’s and Christendom, one against each other’s purpose yet not against each other. It brings to the surface that men can be good despite the bad around them, that standing for a Godly purpose can bring Glory to God through all men.

Please read the quotes below to get a taste of the honest truth & beauty of the purpose behind this piece of art & mastery.

King: You see, none of us chose our end really. A king may move a man, a father may claim a son. But remember that, even when those who move you be kings or men of power, your soul is in your keeping alone. When you stand before God you cannot say “but I was told by others to do thus” or that “virtue was not convinient at the time.” This will not suffice. Remember that.

Nasir: Your quality will be known among your enemies, before ever you meet them.

Hospitaller: I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of god. I have seen too much religion in the eyes of too many murderers. Holiness is in right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness. What god desires is here
[points to head]
Hospitaller: and here
[points to heart]
Hospitaller: and what you decide to do every day, you will be a good man – or not.

Balian of Ibelin: What man is a man who does not make the world better.

Godfrey of Ibelin: Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath.

Balian of Ibelin: God will understand, my lord. And if he doesn’t, then he is not God and we need not worry.

Hope….and courage.

Leave a comment

So today I visited an old (literally old, as in age) friend in the hospital. His whole being is an encouragement to each person that he knows. It is this kind of person that I hope to be someday…but seeing him in the hospital shook me back to the memories of my own grandfather in the hospital. Some of you didn’t know me at that time, but it was a difficult time for me & my family. It was a deep time of uncertainty & disbelief. The quietness of the hospital room, being surrounded by a presence of peace & grace, yet shrouded with fear and pain. In the last few hours that I spent with my grandpa, I sang him some old hymns & read some scriptures…he was unresponsive for two weeks, yet when you held his hand he would squeeze so tight that you knew he understood my intentions were to show my love for him. Today, as I visited my friend, we prayed & he squeezed my hand the way my grandpa did…it brought tears out of my eyes, silently releasing the longing I still have to see my grandpa again. As I remember what God has told us & look back on how I have seen Him work, I know that through this, God IS STILL WITH US. Last night, I watched Martian Child, and the father says to the little boy who has been hurt, abused, abandoned & left behind, “I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER, ever….leave you.” As the child embraces the man who he knows truly loves him more than anything, you get a sense that this is how God reaches out & comforts us amidst our pain. In Romans 8:28 it says “Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God.” And Romans 8:38 says “So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. Think on these things & be comforted knowing that though men & women die, leave us, move away or forget us, God will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER….leave us.