“We must reflect that, when we reach the end of “We must reflect that, when we reach the end of our days, our life experience will equal what we have paid attention to, whether by choice or default. We are at risk, without quite fully realizing it, of living lives that are less our own than we imagine.” William James

With the help of God, may we strive to become abiding and attentive people instead of distracted and defeated people.
The entire thing is He loved me first. And even wh The entire thing is He loved me first. And even when our surroundings are burning or when all we see is rubble, there is an unseen Kingdom to serve, a Family to be part of, and a powerful Love to give and receive. 

Every week it seems I’m inspired by a comment a friend and pastor made years ago — “Don’t be afraid to talk to someone about the truth of Jesus. Think of it as joining a conversation God might already be having with that person.” 

May we be conduits of that strong, courageous, welcoming, comforting, healing, transforming, sustaining, peacemaking, eternal Love. Or as Bernice King said, “Love puts in work.”
Call it ‘a Sunday stroll in Appling.’ Call it ‘a Sunday stroll in Appling.’
“God is always coming to you in the sacrament of “God is always coming to you in the sacrament of the Present Moment. Meet and receive Him there with gratitude.” Evelyn Underhill 

Such brokenness we see, such pain, such fear. Attend to Jesus — Lord, Savior, King — with all your honest thoughts and feelings, and let His power and love change you. Let Him form and re-form you into a help for the hurting, a bright spot for those in the dark, a presence for others to rest in. A ‘little Christ’ on the earth.

 ^ what I’m rehearsing to myself
Living life with the Holy Spirit — “you fulfil Living life with the Holy Spirit — “you fulfill the will of God through the inner influence of His Spirit instead of the outer influence of the law of God” (David Guzik).

This took me probably 15 years of following Jesus to grasp. It felt too easy, my willpower was my measuring stick, and the freedom was terrifying. 

But alas, God’s way is the best way, and there is no substitute for the Holy Spirit. I can’t muster spiritual fruit, but His goal, thankfully and marvelously, is vineyards and vineyards.

May we surrender this work to Him.
“The deeper our faith, the more doubt we must en “The deeper our faith, the more doubt we must endure; the deeper our hope, the more prone we are to despair; the deeper our love, the more pain its loss will bring: these are a few of the paradoxes we must hold as human beings. If we refuse to hold them in the hopes of living without doubt, despair, and pain, we also find ourselves living without faith, hope, and love.” Parker J. Palmer
I pose to you what the Holy Spirit posed to me rec I pose to you what the Holy Spirit posed to me recently: What if you made choices out of fear of missing out on God instead of fear of missing out on what others deem significant?

In all honesty, FOMO sneaks up on me not along paths of a friend’s travel adventures or home decor or even if friends hang out without me. My FOMO animal comes in the form of popular and effective Christian voices. Because of technology and social media, I have access, though not complete (because we’re not actual friends), to their lives and ministry, their work and the personality they choose to share online. While a good thing in many ways, it stops being good when it becomes an avalanche I can’t keep up with but am afraid to stop.

// new blog post: FOMO on God //
zoom zoom zoom zoom
Like Anna plays in my presence, like she comes to Like Anna plays in my presence, 
like she comes to me when she gets hurt,
like she wants to be held when she’s sick,
like she unashamedly + honestly feels any and every range of emotion with me, 
like she never corrects or censors or judges herself before coming to me, 
like she trusts me to love and care and accept her always... 
so it can be and is for me with God my Father. 

What a delightful way to be with Him! Don’t hold back — disappointment, confusion, happiness, sadness, longings. Give Him access to you, as you are right now, and find rest and love for your soul.
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faith · 09/26/2017

the Psalm (and God) that is changing me

1 I will extol you, my God and King,
    and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
    and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
    and his greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall commend your works to another,
    and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
    and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
    and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
    and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is good to all,
    and his mercy is over all that he has made.

10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
    and all your saints shall bless you!
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
    and tell of your power,
12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The Lord is faithful in all his words
    and kind in all his works.]
14 The Lord upholds all who are falling
    and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
    and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand;
    you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
    and kind in all his works.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
    he also hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord preserves all who love him,
    but all the wicked he will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
    and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Psalm 145

 


 

Why do I say it is changing everything?

This Psalm sheds light on the grander perspective, the framework into which I put my activities, choices, and passions.

Our pastor recently asked a question, What will your life declare?

With a gracious foundation like mine, knowing and believing Jesus for many years, I knew what I wanted my answer to be. But the thing that stopped me from penning it excitedly in the blank that followed was reality. And Holy Spirit nudging.

I knew what I wanted to be about, but I don’t think my heart, soul, mind, and body fully and completely grasp the big picture.

This Psalm rescues me from the chains of self.

One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. v. 4-5

This Psalm simplifies my purpose, and empowers me to look at myself in light of the great God in whose image I was created.

For Him was I even thought of in my mom’s womb. For His beautiful plan and purpose I was given life.

I was wired for awe, that awe of something sits at the bottom of everything I say and do. But I wasn’t just wired for awe. I was wired for awe of God. No other awe satisfies the soul. No other awe can give my heart the peace, rest, and security that it seeks. I came to see that I needed to trace awe of God down to the most mundane of human decisions and activities. Paul David Tripp

When Tripp’s book came out, I read it, skimmed it really, mostly because I loved the topic. He refers to Psalm 145 as being a pivotal Psalm for him also, but it didn’t strike me then.

It has created waves in my soul lately because I have felt maxed out, like I’m floating, searching for fresh purpose and grasping for new fulfillment. All the while fighting the natural inclination to be self-absorbed. To see God and my life in light of only me.

Seeing God and life in light of me leaves MUCH to be desired. It’s also tiresome, tense, and let’s be honest, terrible.

It falls flat, and I live anxious and unsure. But, seeing myself in light of my great, powerful, awesome, good God lifts my eyes from myself and other humans to a greater Person.

A displaced gaze produces fear, comparison, envy, worry, control, idols, negativity, laziness.

A wrongfully placed fascination, with self as opposed to God, handicaps the incredible life available for us, a life of amazement and worship of everything God is.

If I may also speak plainly, in my personal life, it makes my mind feel like it’s continually climbing over and sifting through garbage (lies I believe, idols I create, selfishness and pride) to get to Jesus and His Reality.

Like David and Goliath. David believed God was powerful and faithful enough to defeat anyone. He arrived on the battlefield in awe of God, and saw Goliath as the easy target. Saul’s army viewed the situation in light of their weakness, compared to Goliath, and lived afraid.

How beautiful is Psalm 145. How steadfast and wonderful is our God. In light of this, eyes on Him, we can walk through these days with courage, joy, confidence, zeal, and peace we could never produce on our own. 

I want to live the rest of my days fascinated with God above all else.

Meditating on His majesty and wondrous works, praising Him every hour, sing aloud of His goodness and righteousness, experiencing Him as gracious and loving and good, thanking Him, being satisfied by Him alone, knowing His kindness and strength intimacy.

May this be my legacy. My life’s grand perspective. May I see myself, and all around me, and every situation, in light of who God is.

His mercy and grace to cover my mistakes and failures. His strength and faithfulness to uphold me in all battles. His wisdom and majesty to direct my choices and thoughts. His beauty and greatness to capture my affections and my praise, more than any other lovely created thing.

Practically speaking, I’d like to cultivate a habit of taking minutes throughout the day to get out into the sunshine, or sing my favorite song, or meditate on a verse, and marvel at God. J teased me about calling them ‘smoke breaks’ but I think I need a better name.

How about you?

In: faith · Tagged: abiding, biblical truth, worship

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Comments

  1. chelsea jacobs says

    09/26/2017 at 1:48 pm

    This is so beautiful. Thanks for sharing what you’re learning!

  2. Chelsea B.E. says

    09/26/2017 at 5:45 pm

    Thank you for leaving your kind words, Chelsea! PS – I enjoyed your September books post. :)

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“We must reflect that, when we reach the end of “We must reflect that, when we reach the end of our days, our life experience will equal what we have paid attention to, whether by choice or default. We are at risk, without quite fully realizing it, of living lives that are less our own than we imagine.” William James

With the help of God, may we strive to become abiding and attentive people instead of distracted and defeated people.
The entire thing is He loved me first. And even wh The entire thing is He loved me first. And even when our surroundings are burning or when all we see is rubble, there is an unseen Kingdom to serve, a Family to be part of, and a powerful Love to give and receive. 

Every week it seems I’m inspired by a comment a friend and pastor made years ago — “Don’t be afraid to talk to someone about the truth of Jesus. Think of it as joining a conversation God might already be having with that person.” 

May we be conduits of that strong, courageous, welcoming, comforting, healing, transforming, sustaining, peacemaking, eternal Love. Or as Bernice King said, “Love puts in work.”
Call it ‘a Sunday stroll in Appling.’ Call it ‘a Sunday stroll in Appling.’
“God is always coming to you in the sacrament of “God is always coming to you in the sacrament of the Present Moment. Meet and receive Him there with gratitude.” Evelyn Underhill 

Such brokenness we see, such pain, such fear. Attend to Jesus — Lord, Savior, King — with all your honest thoughts and feelings, and let His power and love change you. Let Him form and re-form you into a help for the hurting, a bright spot for those in the dark, a presence for others to rest in. A ‘little Christ’ on the earth.

 ^ what I’m rehearsing to myself
Living life with the Holy Spirit — “you fulfil Living life with the Holy Spirit — “you fulfill the will of God through the inner influence of His Spirit instead of the outer influence of the law of God” (David Guzik).

This took me probably 15 years of following Jesus to grasp. It felt too easy, my willpower was my measuring stick, and the freedom was terrifying. 

But alas, God’s way is the best way, and there is no substitute for the Holy Spirit. I can’t muster spiritual fruit, but His goal, thankfully and marvelously, is vineyards and vineyards.

May we surrender this work to Him.
“The deeper our faith, the more doubt we must en “The deeper our faith, the more doubt we must endure; the deeper our hope, the more prone we are to despair; the deeper our love, the more pain its loss will bring: these are a few of the paradoxes we must hold as human beings. If we refuse to hold them in the hopes of living without doubt, despair, and pain, we also find ourselves living without faith, hope, and love.” Parker J. Palmer
I pose to you what the Holy Spirit posed to me rec I pose to you what the Holy Spirit posed to me recently: What if you made choices out of fear of missing out on God instead of fear of missing out on what others deem significant?

In all honesty, FOMO sneaks up on me not along paths of a friend’s travel adventures or home decor or even if friends hang out without me. My FOMO animal comes in the form of popular and effective Christian voices. Because of technology and social media, I have access, though not complete (because we’re not actual friends), to their lives and ministry, their work and the personality they choose to share online. While a good thing in many ways, it stops being good when it becomes an avalanche I can’t keep up with but am afraid to stop.

// new blog post: FOMO on God //
zoom zoom zoom zoom
Like Anna plays in my presence, like she comes to Like Anna plays in my presence, 
like she comes to me when she gets hurt,
like she wants to be held when she’s sick,
like she unashamedly + honestly feels any and every range of emotion with me, 
like she never corrects or censors or judges herself before coming to me, 
like she trusts me to love and care and accept her always... 
so it can be and is for me with God my Father. 

What a delightful way to be with Him! Don’t hold back — disappointment, confusion, happiness, sadness, longings. Give Him access to you, as you are right now, and find rest and love for your soul.
Just a girl bumping her New Years’ goal of wakin Just a girl bumping her New Years’ goal of waking up early to February as she reaches her 10th day of coronavirus quarantine.

I’ll keep the details to myself, but I do have to acknowledge the generosity and availability and kindness of our family and friends. They’ve brought us meals, groceries, medicine, and @maghjohnson, IN MICHIGAN, sent us a Door Dash gift card for a pizza. I could cry over the love. @audreyhealy5 @kgmartin521 @ansley.c.evans @nm_wilson @klb418

Also, even though today was the first day I had the energy to walk it, I’ve never been more thankful for our long driveway. Sunshine is the JAM. 

To everyone who has had COVID or will get it, our experience will of course be different, but— solitary, friends, solidarity. And grace upon grace.

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