In Memory of Rosa Parks, Born This Day 98 Years Ago

" People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in."

                 ~ Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks departed this world  on October 24, 2008 but her legacy lives on in the heart of this nation.  Her legendary boldness of standing up to oppression by refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white passenger, breaking current law, was a spark that ignited a fire that helped give birth to the civil rights movement.

Congress would later refer to her as "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement".

Let's find ourselves inspired today by this woman of courage and integrity. She risked much for standing against what she knew was wrong. May we all find the courage and boldness in Christ when we see humanity threatened to step up and raise a voice against oppression and cruelty.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for blessing us with beautiful individuals of courage and grace who help light a path for us to follow. May we, like Rosa Parks, follow the footsteps of Jesus and overturn the tables of moneychangers. Help give us the courage to raise our voices against the darkness in the world-the oppression, the cruelty and the chains that threaten to bind themselves around the hearts of Your children, threatening to prevent them from finding freedom in You. May Your Spirit guide us, with discernment, into bringing Your light and Kingdom to this place, often filled with chaos and suffering. Help us to bind the brokenhearted, bring good news the poor and free Your people from all forms of oppression.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. 

Amen. 

This Week's Moment in Time

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment you want to pause, savour and remember.

“This Moment” is a ritual found on Life inspired by the Wee Man adopted from SouleMama which was introduced to me by Sarah-Jane.

This is my moment!

Tasting God's Glory

"Our Heavenly Father, revealing his majesty [in the gospel], lifts reverence for Scripture beyond the realm of controversy."
         ~ John Calvin

There's something beautiful that happens when one opens their heart to God's reality. Their heart like a budding flower opens and blossoms, embracing the light of the Spirit. The "light of the gospel" is not just seen, as if by our mortal eyes, but experienced fully be the senses of the soul. When this happens, all the theological questions one might be struggling with fades away in the background, and the only thing that remains is the pure awe one has in finding oneself witness to being in the presence of God's glory.

Nothing else matters but the glory of God!

Jonathan Edwards describes he who is "spiritually enlightened" as one that does not "merely rationally believe that God is glorious, but he has a sense of the gloriousness of God in his heart."








Edwards goes on to say:

"There is a twofold understanding or knowledge of good, that God has made the mind of man capable of. The first, that which is merely speculative or notional...The other is that which consists in the sense of the heart: as when there is a sense of the beauty, amiableness, or sweetness of a thing...Thus there is a difference between having an opinion that God is holy and gracious, and having a sense of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace. There is a difference between having a rational judgement that honey is sweet, and having a sense of its sweetness...When the heart is sensible of the beauty and amiableness of a thing, it necessarily feels pleasure in the apprehension...which is a far different thing from having a rational opinion that it is excellent."

Has your soul broken open and allowed the light of the Spirit to flood the innermost sacred parts of your heart to behold the glory of God? To taste His glory?....


There was a time I let theological questions get in the way of experiencing God's glory. In fact, I let such questions create a boundary between experiencing God for I  started going about seeking His truth by means of man's knowledge and not God's Word. Man has much wisdom to offer eachother, but when it comes down to it, we are but a breath to God. True knowledge rests in God's Word and through the whispers of His Spirit that awakens us while reading His Word and opening it up to Him through meditation. 

What did I gain from seeking truth from man first and God second? Confusion, restlessness of spirit and an even thirstier soul that felt near to perishing. I learned, that God's glory is less to be understood by the mind but more to be experienced by the heart.

Let's be filled with the Holy Spirit today and savor God in all His glory, letting His light awaken the senses of our soul as we bring lift high our praises!

Heavenly Father,

We are beings created to bring You praise honor and glory. We pray that Your spirit awakens our hearts, letting them bloom so that the light of Your Spirit penetrates every corner of our souls. We seek knowledge of you, but even over knowledge, experience of you. We thirst to taste the glory of God and have its truth echo joyfully in the corridors of our hearts. Cleanse and purify our hearts, renew them as we come to You, laying down the essence of who we are, so that we can become more like who You are. Help us lose ourselves in Your love so that we may shine your light even brighter amidst the world's darkness, helping to vanquish it and bringing about a greater depth of love to those around us. 

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and forever will be. 

In Jesus' precious name,

Amen. 

Joyful Suffering

"A silkworm was struggling out of the cocoon and an ignorant man saw it battling as if in pain, so he went and helped it to get free, but very soon after it fluttered and died. The other silkworms that struggled out without help suffered, but they came out into full life and beauty, with wings made strong for flight by their battle for fresh existence."

              ~ Sadhu Sundar Singh, 20th Century Indian missionary

Sometimes when we struggle in life it can be easy to get wrapped up in ourselves, our own suffering, pain, frustrations and lose sight of the plans God might have for us. God wants His children to be strong men and women of character, our lives living testimonies of His glory. To do this, He has to shapen us and mold us to be more like Jesus. This is oftentimes an uncomfortable and painful experience. But if we endure, great fruit is born, and blessings pour into our lives, including the beautiful peace only He can provide.

 I found this quote a beautiful  illustration of how suffering is sometimes necessary not only  in the natural world but also in our spiritual and physical realities, for it oftentimes is catalyst for growth as well as a way of bringing about glory to God. 

I thought I'd look up some scripture verses to in hopes of providing some encouragement and to give us some insight into why sometimes suffering is necessary. So here's what I found. If you have verses you'd like to add, please add them in the comments section, I'd love to hear them!

God lets us suffer so that we learn to lean not on our own understandings but to be obedient and trust fully in His commands and laws. This brings glory to Him and helps move us towards holiness:

Psalm 119:67: ⁶⁷ Before I was afflicted I went astray,
   but now I obey your word.

Psalm 119:71 ⁷¹ It was good for me to be afflicted
   so that I might learn your decrees.

Hebrews 5: ⁸ Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered

Hebrews 12:7   Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?

Hebrews 12:10-11  ¹⁰ They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹ No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

So the Glory and Works of God are displayed. Oftentimes in our weaknesses and trials God's glory is revealed and we are made stronger:

Upon coming across a blind man, Jesus' disciples asked whether it was because of the man's sins or his parent's that he was afflicted. Jesus answered,³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him." (John 9:3)

2 Corinthians 12:10  ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

James 1:2-4  ² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

1 Peter 1:6-7 ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Jeremiah 29:11 ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

To inspire others to proclaim their faith and the glory of God despite their sufferings:

Philippians 1:12-14

¹² Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,^[a] that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. ¹³ As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard^[b] and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. ¹⁴ And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

What should we do when we suffer? Christ was the true example of this:

1 Peter 2:21-24 ¹ To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. ²² “He committed no sin,  and no deceit was found in his mouth.”^[a]

 ²³ When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted²⁴ “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

Heavenly Father,

Life is not always easy and sometimes the obstacles, trials and sufferings that are hurled at us threaten to take our focus off of You. Help us keep You soveriegn in every moment, seeking Your will and Your glory for our lives.

May we be instruments of peace and light and look through our sufferings and see You and may that produce in us great faith and hope and joy, that we are never forsaken. May we help those around us who  start to stumble, help us lift them up and share the hope that is in Christ.

May we enter into times of suffering with boldness and courage, knowing that we will endure and triumph for with God we have victory. Like the silkworm, let us struggle through our trials, through our painful dark nights and enter into the joy of a new morning, transformed in Your love, made new through Your Grace.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.

Amen.

Giving God Praise

 

 Psalm 63

 You, God, are my God,
   earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
   my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
   where there is no water.

 ² I have seen you in the sanctuary
   and beheld your power and your glory.
³ Because your love is better than life,
   my lips will glorify you.
⁴ I will praise you as long as I live,
   and in your name I will lift up my hands.
⁵ I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
   with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

 ⁶ On my bed I remember you;
   I think of you through the watches of the night.
⁷ Because you are my help,
   I sing in the shadow of your wings.
⁸ I cling to you;
   your right hand upholds me.

⁹ Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
   they will go down to the depths of the earth.
¹⁰ They will be given over to the sword
   and become food for jackals.

 ¹¹ But the king will rejoice in God;
   all who swear by God will glory in him,
   while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

Heavenly Father,

Whether we find ourselves in a church surrounded by walls and lined with pews, bordered by beautiful stained glass, a tribute to your glory...in a school cafeteria with fluorescent lights blinking overhead...or whether we find ourselves in a living sanctuary of pines and birch as we walk across the earth you laid out for us, may we praise Your name!

Inundate us with Your Love, surround us with Your peace, bless us with Your presence as we declare you Sovereign over our hearts and lives, kneeling before Your throne of Grace, yielding all we are to You.

May we lose ourselves so that we may be found wholly and utterly in You. Redefine us, as we strip off all of our attachments and illusions, redefine us so that our characters are not shaped by the world but defined by Christ.

Help us be attentive to the Whispers of Your Grace, help open our hearts so that we may treasure Your commands and find living out Your laws a living expression of devotion and love towards You.

We give you all glory honor and praise.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

The End of Self: John Piper

How shall this insidious motive of pleasure in being made much of be broken except through bending all my faculties to delight in the pleasure of making much of God! Christian hedonism is the final solution. It is deeper than death to self. You have to go down deeper into the grave of flesh to find the truly freeing stream of miracle water that ravishes you with the taste of God's glory. Only in that speechless, all-satisfying admiration is the end of self.

                  ~ John Piper

I was thinking this morning of this passage from Piper when in my mind I envisioned a scale and then did a little experiment, perhaps you might want to do it too. It's an interesting visual activity that helps us measure the priority God has in our lives.

Ok, here it goes...picture a scale....

You have stones of equal weight all around you.  On one side put the amount of stones that represents the time you think about yourself each day. Estimate how many thoughts you have and each thought is a stone. We all do it, we all daydream and have conversations and thoughts continually running through our heads. About our dreams, our desires, our plans for the day, what we are wearing, eating, conversations we've had, etc.

And then on the other side put the number of stones representing the number of thoughts you have about God each day. His plans for you, your praises and prayers lifted up to Him, time in His Word, reflecting on His laws and the beauty and gifts of His grace and mercy.

And then...see which way the scale tilts.

Are you more consumed with thoughts about yourself or are you consumed more with your passion and love towards God?

 Don't worry, only you and God know the answer!

I know there are times when the scale can tip either way for me. Some days I am transfixed with God, coming back to His Word again and again, lifting Him up in prayer, His peace penetrating my soul as I encounter Him in the present moment, wishing nothing more than to bring Him glory in word and deed. And then...there are those other times...the scale is dramatically tilted in the opposite direction. When I let my worries and fears, insecurities and bitterness consume me and I lose sight of God...kind of like Peter did when he walked out on the ocean's surface to meet Jesus. He looked away. And then started to sink.

When the scale is tilted in our direction that means we are sinking. Losing focus on the one thing that truly matters, the one supreme treasure that we are to hold dear above everything else ....God!

So it's important, at that point, when we realize we are sinking and losing focus, to come back. How do you come back after you've had a moment of groundlessness..when you feel you've stumbled and tripped? Do you turn to scripture first, prayer? I'd say that I turn to the psalms and then pray...and after that my heart is open enough for meditation. Whatever one's means, it's important to take the steps to get back on the pathway to God. Someone once told me, you can take a thousand steps away from God, but it only takes one step to come back to Him.

So let's take some steps today...away from ourselves and towards God.

Heavenly Father,

We thank You for Your great mercy and grace which makes eternal union with You possible. We pray that You help transform our hearts so that our strongest desire would be to dwell in Your presence, finding supreme joy and peace in you, and not in ourselves. As we learn to fix our eyes on Jesus, in the process may we also learn to lose our attachments to self and world. Shatter our illusions so that we may be inundated with the pure reality of Your presence and Love. 

May we bring You all honor, glory and praise.

In Jesus' unmatched and precious name,

Amen.

In Honor of Sanctity of Life Week

It would seem that with the advance and accessibility of contraceptives, coupled with public schools offering sex education to students, that abortion would largely be a thing of the past. This is not the case unfortunately. Statistics just revealed that New York City has an alarming abortion rate-41 percent of human life conceived in NYC is terminated through means of abortion. http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/07/41-percent-of-pregnancies-in-nyc-are-aborted/

I do not intend to judge those who have opted for abortion nor turn this blog into a political platform. I believe the loss of any life is tragic and it is important to take a moment to recognize this sad reality that plagues our country. No matter which side one finds themselves on, I think we can all agree that it is a sad thing to end a life before it has the opportunity to reach its full potential. That each human is uniquely woven into a creation that is amazing and the termination of that life is no doubt a painful decision by the women who choose that path.

To judge such women, I feel, is also a great crime. In Shane Claiborne's book, Irresistible Revolution, he brings up a good point with this issue saying that if one were to judge a woman who is getting an abortion, telling her not to, they should be willing to help her through that pregnancy financially and emotionally and help secure a future for her and that child. See, it's easy to judge someone, until you walk in their shoes. It's easy to tell someone not to have an abortion and then walk away, leaving a homeless teen suffering on the streets alone with a life now totally depending on her. We just never know a person's circumstances. I'm not saying every mother who makes the choice of having an abortion faces such dire consequences, but many do. Perhaps not homelessness, but many are stuck in abusive relationships, poverty, etc.

I remember driving by a Planned Parenthood where there was a protest going on against abortions. I felt saddened at the thought of abortions happening, and even angry but at the same time I also felt angry at those protesters. For sometimes it is easier to judge a situation and harder to help solve it. Let's be problem solvers not problem agitators. Let's extend ourselves with compassion to others, building a bridge to understanding and a bridge towards solutions.

Below is a video that I found a beautiful and touching tribute to the sanctity of life, complete with meaningful scripture verses. I hope you enjoy it.

Heavenly Father,

We grieve at the fact that Your Will for the life which springs up in the wombs of Your children is prevented from reaching fruition due to the tragic act of abortion. We know that all of life is sacred, woven by Your love and grace, planned out before the foundation of the world was laid out, and pray that Your light penetrates through our culture of darkness, bringing about a new awareness of the sanctity of life.

We pray for all those parents who have decided to end their pregnancies. Bind their broken hearts, heal their wounds and bring them freedom and restoration as they turn their hearts towards You. Penetrate the hearts of those who judge such parents with compassion and understanding.  We pray that You give them the desire to reach out in love, rather than condemnation. To find solutions to those who have difficult decisions to face regarding their pregnancies.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.

Amen. 

A Moment in Time

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment you want to pause, savour and remember.

“This Moment” is a ritual found on Life inspired by the Wee Man adopted from SouleMama which was introduced to me by Sarah-Jane.

This is my moment!