It's Just a Stinkin' Shadow!!

So I recently bought Rebecca St. James' newest cd. The second track on it is her rendition of Matt Redman's "You Never Let Go". I have heard this song a bunch of times, even sang it. For some reason her version triggered an ah-ha moment.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I’m caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won’t turn back, I know You are near

It's like being back in school dissecting sentences.

'Even though'... Despite it all, I will!

'walk through'... you are going through... not staying there.

'the valley'... Valley: A low area of land between hills or mountains, typically with a river or stream flowing through it. So it's an area between two points. For some reason this image popped in to my head. This life here on earth is like that valley. When we are Christians we are between two points. The first one being when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. The second one being when this physical life ends and we go to Heaven.

'shadow of death'... IT'S JUST A SHADOW!! The enemy can only throw a shadow of death over us. Yes, he can take our physical life, but not our eternal life.

'Your perfect love is casting out fear'... Go God!!!

'And even when I’m caught in the middle of the storms of this life I won’t turn back, I know You are near'... Isn't that pretty profound too?? It's not if I'm caught in the middle of the storms, it's when. BUT I won't turn back. Not I might not turn back. Why? Because I know You are near. Not, I think You might be near if I'm lucky.

This was just really good for me as I'm looking towards what my call to full time missions looks like. At in all of this I admit there is fear. But God is good and patient and is slowly revealing His plan to me. Giving me ah-ha moments perfectly spaced so I have time to pray and meditate on them. This helps solidify it all in my mind.

Another one of those ah-ha moments was tonight at Bible Study. But that's another story for another time. I still haven't had enough me and God time on this one yet :-)

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For those of you who don't know the song, here are all of the lyrics.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I'm caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won't turn back
I know you are near

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/m/matt_redman/you_never_let_go.html ]
(Chorus:)
Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
We'll live to know You here on the earth

(Chorus)

Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Still I will praise You, still I will praise You

(Chorus 2x's)

I could go through the whole thing line by line. It's amazing. I love it when artists take Scripture and turn it in to songs. So Psalm 23 has definitely been brought in to a new light for me. It's definitely getting it from knowing it intellectually into really knowing it deep within myself. Now to live in it and act in that knowledge. Stepping in to the shadow....

God and the new puppy

This is a helpless newborn puppy. Barely 30 minutes old. It can't see or hear. It needed help coming in the this world. It's a tender new life.

This is an image that helped me grasp ahold of a spiritual concept this year. The concept is being able to COMPLETELY trust love, compassion, guidance and even correction of our Heavenly Father.

As I'm tying the umbilical cord here the puppy is wiggling around like crazy. I have to be careful not to catch a leg. Plus I need to not pull away from the abdomen too hard because I could create a hernia. If I tie the cord too short I could also create a hernia. If I tie the cord too long it has a higher risk of getting infected and causing peritonitis (internal infection) or something like that. This newborn is still all slimy and slippery from being born. So it's definitely a procedure that takes great patience. The puppy's safety and well being is COMPLETELY in my hands. So that is how I saw trusting our Heavenly Father... like this puppy has to trust me. The interesting thing is this puppy has to trust me, even though it doesn't even know that it does. It's completely dependent on me. You can't get mad at the puppy for wiggling all over and making your job harder because it doesn't know better. Acting out in frustration would damage it for a lifetime, possibly even kill it. You need to be gentle, yet firm at the same time.

I see this as how God is dealing with His children. When we are surrendered to Him, He knows that we are completely dependent on Him (or we should be). He knows exactly what we need, whether we know it or not. He knows just the right mix of correction and compassion that will help grow us without permanently damaging us.

My Utmost for His Highest- July 2nd Repost

The Conditions of Discipleship

Jul

02

2011

If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also . . . . And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me . . . . So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple —Luke 14:26-27, 33

If the closest relationships of a disciple’s life conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ, then our Lord requires instant obedience to Himself. Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person— our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a vast difference between devotion to a person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause— He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted bondservant motivated by love for the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not truly devoted to Jesus Christ. No one on earth has this passionate love for the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has given it to him. We may admire, respect, and revere Him, but we cannot love Him on our own. The only One who truly loves the Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit, and it is He who has “poured out in our hearts” the very “love of God” (Romans 5:5). Whenever the Holy Spirit sees an opportunity to glorify Jesus through you, He will take your entire being and set you ablaze with glowing devotion to Jesus Christ.

The Christian life is a life characterized by true and spontaneous creativity. Consequently, a disciple is subject to the same charge that was leveled against Jesus Christ, namely, the charge of inconsistency. But Jesus Christ was always consistent in His relationship to God, and a Christian must be consistent in his relationship to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to strict, unyielding doctrines. People pour themselves into their own doctrines, and God has to blast them out of their preconceived ideas before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.