Red Hot Love

Written April 28, 2014

Sometimes I throw my head back and feast my eyes on the green grass and look up at the bursting crab apple blossoms on the tree. Life is full of beauty.

And life is messy. This world is too full of pain and evil. And I've asked often where God fits in. There are big questions. I ask them. I belive there are answers. 

One question...what about those old testament stories? Honestly, they have bother me. Love. Destruction. Mercy. Anger. How do they exist in one Being? A Being named Love?

I wrestle a lot with love. What does it mean? What is real love? How does it work? Is that really what it looks like sometimes? Can I trust it?

I'm not writing today to say I figured it out. I haven't. But I saw this today. And it helped make a little more sense of things. So I just wanted to share it with you...since we're on this journey together.

God assures me again that He is good in all He does. And it is love. He is Love.

Positivity

Positivity is a good thing. I think we would all agree on that. It is powerful. But positivity alone is not enough. Have you noticed one of the most optimistic people to have ever lived is also the most evil person who has ever lived?

The devil has touted for over six thousand years, against all evidence, that he will win this war. He even knows now that he will not, but he refuses to admit it or back down. He has optimism down pat. And he has convinced a lot of people that he is right against all the evidence through out history.

No matter how positive you are about something, if it is a lie your optimism will not make it right. You must be positive about truth. You must be optimistic about what is reality.

And one thing I know is truth is that the dragon has never ever, not once won a battle with the King. He lost the most important battle on the bloody hill of calvary. Now all that remains is for his kingdom and its effects to be irradiated forever.

Sure, we look around us, even inward to our own lives, and sometimes it appears as though God is losing battles, sometimes as if He is not even putting up a fight. But that isn’t true. His infallible Word promises that He is fighting and will win overwhelmingly. (The only thing the devil can win is a human heart that surrenders itself to him and doesn’t let God fight for it. Something to take seriously.) The war is not over yet. It may take a while for truth to be seen with our eyes. We live by faith after all. But when it is all said and done, truth will triumph and every story in which the enemy appears now to have won will have the last line written. They are only unfinished stories.

Every situation, every apparent triumph of the Serpent that is given to the Prince of Love and Captain of the Lord’s host will become a trophy of grace. Every one.

And that is something you can be positive about.

Above the clouds

Thursday, September 4, 2014

If I take the wings of the morning...even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. Psalms139:9-10 NKJV

Relaxed in my seat, I watch the arteries of earth flow below me. It's an early morning flight. Beginning in darkness, the sky slowly yet so steadily brightens into dawn. The sun is behind me, but I can see its light caressing the clouds beneath me. They are a deep pink, such as only a sunrise can make. It is beautiful.

As we wing westward the clouds billow and grow into mountains of white, each with unique and fascinating character. I try to read or rest, but my eyes crave the view. This is one of my favorite places - above the clouds. Early mornings or full moons are even more special. It is like a whole 'nother world. Peaceful and calm. Quiet. As if it is just God and me meeting halfway between His home and mine. If only I could go all the way. Someday.

Beauty above the clouds. Is it not so? And can my mind and heart not escape here even when life teams around me and cares and troubles press? There is a place of beauty, peace, calm - above the clouds. And there the soft light of His presence illuminates the darkness earth throws about me. There He is. Thither He invites me.

Though for now my lot is on earth, my heart can abide with Him above the clouds. And what better than to have the best of both worlds - in heart at home with Him, and yet still on earth, able to reach my fellow men and invite them to this place of peace. This is why I live. My passion - to reunite those I meet on earth with the One whom their hearts search for; to help them find the beauty above the clouds.

I feel the nose tip down. We descend into Denver airport. I take another look out the window as the pink hue of dawn touches the Rockies. Soon life will again team around me. There's a long day ahead of me. But my heart stays with God above the clouds.

If I ascend into heaven, You are there. Psalms 139:8 NKJV

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