opposition
the enemy will press...and he knows exactly which buttons. he will do anything to distract us from all that is good and worthy of our attention.
"he did not dare to let the enemy out of his sight for a moment...it was not like dealing with a wicked politician at all: it was much more like being set to guard an imbecile or a monkey or a very nasty child."
- Perelandra by C.S. Lewis
as intricate and twisted as the enemy's schemes may be, they are, at the same time, so blatantly childish and simple. he knows our weaknesses and he knows where to attack us. while his strategies have the appearance of deceitful complexity, they are really nothing more than him jumping up and down, waving his arms around, and shouting, "hey! look over here! look over here!" nothing more than smoke and mirrors...the unadulterated art of distraction.
distraction from what? from our focus. from our first love. from the adventure that our God has set before us in His unfathomable love for us.
our response should not be to give the distraction any of our time or attention, or even the effort to dispel it, but rather to recognize it, and, at once, turn our eyes back to the most beautiful good they could ever take in.
_______
something occurred to me this morning. last night, stephen and i were talking about how there are so many things in our hearts that need to be processed through with the Lord...it's overwhelming and we don't even know where to start. the desired end result is obviously that the Lord would fully hold our hearts and be the foremost object of our affections. i've been attempting to just snap my fingers and have that be the case. bad news, it doesn't work that way. so, in all His goodness, the Lord imparted something to me. because of that, my prayer for today is simply this:
"may we see You clearly, Lord."
may we be aware of the spiritual battles around us, may we see things clearly with His eyes...but MOST importantly...may we see Him for who He is. may we simply sit at the foot of His throne and gaze upon His face...may we see there His love, His glory, His holiness, His faithfulness, His goodness, etc. when we look at Him and really SEE Him, we will fall in love with Him for who He is. surrendering our hearts to Him will then be nothing more than second nature.
so...rather than be overwhelmed with the work in me that must be done...may i simply focus on and pray one thing:
let us see You clearly, Lord.
_______
"Paul in this Epistle counters the teaching that stresses that the way of holiness is through an asceticism that promotes only spiritual selfishness. He stresses that spirituality is not achieved by self-centered efforts to control the passions, but by putting on Christ, setting one's affections on Him, and so stripping off all that is contrary to His will."
distraction from what? from our focus. from our first love. from the adventure that our God has set before us in His unfathomable love for us.
our response should not be to give the distraction any of our time or attention, or even the effort to dispel it, but rather to recognize it, and, at once, turn our eyes back to the most beautiful good they could ever take in.
_______
something occurred to me this morning. last night, stephen and i were talking about how there are so many things in our hearts that need to be processed through with the Lord...it's overwhelming and we don't even know where to start. the desired end result is obviously that the Lord would fully hold our hearts and be the foremost object of our affections. i've been attempting to just snap my fingers and have that be the case. bad news, it doesn't work that way. so, in all His goodness, the Lord imparted something to me. because of that, my prayer for today is simply this:
"may we see You clearly, Lord."
may we be aware of the spiritual battles around us, may we see things clearly with His eyes...but MOST importantly...may we see Him for who He is. may we simply sit at the foot of His throne and gaze upon His face...may we see there His love, His glory, His holiness, His faithfulness, His goodness, etc. when we look at Him and really SEE Him, we will fall in love with Him for who He is. surrendering our hearts to Him will then be nothing more than second nature.
so...rather than be overwhelmed with the work in me that must be done...may i simply focus on and pray one thing:
let us see You clearly, Lord.
_______
"Paul in this Epistle counters the teaching that stresses that the way of holiness is through an asceticism that promotes only spiritual selfishness. He stresses that spirituality is not achieved by self-centered efforts to control the passions, but by putting on Christ, setting one's affections on Him, and so stripping off all that is contrary to His will."
- Intro to Colossians, NAS Hebrew-Greek Keyword Study Bible
posted by Tara Bussema @ 12:19 PM
4 comments:
"... all that is contrary to his will."
I had a friend who once said he wished the Bible were more explicit in its guidelines for day-to-day living. For example, he said it would be great if the Gospels said something like, "But Jesus didn't _______ (fill in the blank), because that would have been wrong."
I want to see God clearly. I want to see his will clearly. But if it were all spelled out for me, I think I would be missing out. That I don't always know what to do or where to start means I have a daily need to seek God for guidance. If I always saw him clearly, I would have no reason or opportunity to desperately search for him.
So, in a way, I'm thankful for the dark times, because they make the times of revelation so much more glorious and refreshing.
are you trying to contradict me? ;)
nah...i absolutely agree with you. there has to be some mystery in following the Lord, that's the beauty of it. the beauty of seeking Him and trusting Him for each step. i want to see the Lord more clearly...but not necessarily His will. i want to keep my gaze set upon His face. i think that sin...being outside of His will...is merely choosing to love something more than we love God...and i think that staying inside the Lord's will is just loving Him most in all things...it can look very different. i don't want a moment-by-moment play-by-play...we would definitely miss out on much...but, i do want to love Him most and keep my eyes fixed upon His face. i want to recognize His beauty and love Him for who He is, not because of what He does for me or anything else. i want Him to capture my affections more than anything in this life...so...yeah...to love Him most means staying in His will, whatever that may look like, and we will continually seek Him out in His mystery and beauty to find out what that means. :)
i'm thankful for the dark times...even though they suck. i'm even thankful for the times my heart is broken, because it reminds me that the Lord is the only One who will never fail me. it's hard for me to be thankful in the midst of trials...but it sure makes sense. :)
Non sequeter...
I have been reading "Red Moon Rising", a book about how the 24-7 Prayer movement started in England, and it is so amazing. Wow. God is on the move, and reading about it makes me forget all my restlessness and soothes the endless debates in my head, etc. It's definitely helping me desire to see Him. And know Him. For real.
Looked at your invisible children link... Looks interesting.
i am so glad. :) i know that God is moving you forward into great things and He will definitely take care of all the details!
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