Lord, help me to do that.
Explore with abandon those things that make you come alive. If your flesh begins to put the art ahead of the Artist, disappointment will bring you back around again. If you begin to pursue lesser, secondary things, you need not fret so much about it. Trust that your clenching of second things will never fully satisfy.
Let disappointment do its deep work--remind you that your true desire is found, not in God's ways or God's will or God's blessings, but in God himself.
The Great Artist--the Maker of stars and straw and soil--was not supposed to be a carpenter. He was supposed to be a king. To reign strong, not sweat blood. To be served, not be a servant. To live long, not die a criminal. If we stopped there, with his death, the story would be unjust and unfair--and unfinished. And that is precisely the point.
Perhaps living into the fullness of who you really are is partially about learning to see beyond what is to what could be. Could it be there is more to the story that we don't know yet? It doesn't mean that God is trying to teach us a lesson in our difficulty. Perhaps he is simply creating a masterpiece.
God made the world, we messed it up, and then he came down to make it right again. He isn't a principal, he's an artist. He doesn't condemn, he creates. But sometimes we stop too soon. And when we do, things seem unjust. Perhaps they are simply unfinished. When the world tries to change you with its painful, cutting ways, instead embrace the story, receive grace, turn around, and change the world by deciding to see things differently.
(Emily Freeman)
You are better than you think you are. You are a far greater benefit than you think you are. You have not failed. For, I am with you and I am guiding you. You are a blessed one. You are a royal diadem. You are a jewel in My hand. So, you've been through the fire, but the fire is that which makes the jewel strong; it brings forth the beauty of that stone; it releases the power of My kingdom. So, change your mind today. Do not believe what has been spoken of you by others or by the evil one, or even by your own reckoning. Believe in this moment that I know you. I have not forgotten you. You belong to Me, and I belong to you. So, change your countenance and become happy in My kingdom--full of joy, full of blessing, full of that which I have put in you. (Bill Burns)
"You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God."
~Isaiah 62:3
"For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship),
recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew]
that we may do those good works which God predestined
(planned beforehand) for us
[taking paths which He prepared ahead of time],
that we should walk in them
[living the good life which He prearranged
and made ready for us to live]. "
~Ephesians 2:10 AMP
Father, thank You for Your promises. For making us a royal diadem in Your hand. For creating a masterpiece with our lives. Thank You for that which You have put in us. Thank You for Jesus.
Keep CZECHING IN!
No comments:
Post a Comment