Love on terms

It may be written down or maybe it's not, but sometimes you would like it to be.
It may be said or sung or maybe it's not, but sometimes you would like it to be.
It may be felt or given or maybe it's not, but sometimes you would like it to be.
Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. Or, is it all the time?
Yeah, that would be better, but, then again, sometimes is a much safer bet.
Is it possible to have love without terms? Is it possible to love without terms?
Sometimes is more the norm than is always. Doesn't it? 
Look around, observe, ask, read, listen and you'll discover.
No, ponder, examine, reflect on your personal experiences
and tell me what you discover. 
Sometimes is a much safer bet than always. 
Sometimes makes it easy to offer excuses.
Sometimes makes it easy to share or defer the blame.
Sometimes makes it easy to walk away.
Sometimes makes it easier than always.
Sometimes makes it easier to love.
It makes it easier to love on our own terms.
When we want and feel to love is better sometimes.
It is better sometimes than always. In always there is a commitment that  
encompasses feelings and thoughts. It is a commitment that moves thoughts 
and feelings to that place where love is not sometimes given but always. 
There has to be something inside of us that moves us to that place of always.
That something embodies love and always loves. 
It is that something that empowers, enables, and encourages us to always love.
For this something never fails to love. 
It loves on its own terms and loves us accordingly.
It loves us completely and perfectly.
That something is the Spirit of God.
Until that Spirit invades and inhabits us we will love on our own terms.
Until then, we will love sometimes, not always.
For in sometimes it is easier to love.
But in always love is being made full, complete, and perfect by God's Spirit in us.
So we love on His terms not ours. 
So, on whose term will you love?

Going Under

A spiral - out of control and furiously spinning
A moment - of despair that seems never-ending
A phase - out of sequence that feels unchangeable
A hope - once alive that's approaching unbelievable
A system - out of order that seems beyond repair
A fight - unwinnable and like a constant nightmare
A spark - out of oxygen so it won't start a fire
A mind - intelligent that fails to skillfully inquire
A dream - out of sight for it has faded away
A scene - lacking life and seemingly full of decay
A voice - out of air so the sound is distorted
A thought - bright & good is being aborted
A skill - out of work and feeling debased
A sign - scrambled and seemingly misplaced


Life has its dark and dreary moments. How do you keep hope alive?
Is your hope in God and His words? Or is it elsewhere?

God of heaven and earth

We stand afar and gaze upon Your creation,
even up close we are still amazed.
Your handiwork is awesome, and it points
to a majestic Creator, the Ancient of days.
You sit enthroned on high but You are also personal,
Yes, You are the God almighty who is very relational.
Strange? Interesting? Amazing!!!
Every living creature. Every plant.
Every thing in nature testifies of
how great You really are.
We look forward to what You have in store,
When everything is perfect and the imperfect is no more.
We will gaze on You in awe of Your splendor and majesty,
soaking it all in as we get lost in Your immaculate beauty.
In You all find immeasurable and infinite worth,
You are the Creator, God of heaven and earth.

A longing for the new

The groaning, the longing to put on a new body,
for we are burdened and troubled by its mortality.
This tent that houses our spirit is not its real home,
we feel so foreign, sometimes cold, and unclothed.

The groaning, the longing to put on a new body,
this mortality will be swallowed up, that's reality.
God has prepared a new house for us, it's not a rental,
a house not made of hands, it's a building that's eternal.

The groaning, the longing to put on a new body,
to be clothed for real in a dwelling that's heavenly.
We are always of good courage, yet still clothed in dust,
we desire and aim only to please God, and so we must.

The groaning, the longing to put on a new body,
to be away from this tent and home with the Lord.
Whilst we are here and in it we will do what is right,
God's Spirit, our guarantee, we walk by faith not sight.

What do you see?

He lost everything yet chose to be grateful instead of cursing His God.  Job
He was told to leave the familiar and without a plan to go abroad. Abram
He was seen as mother's boy and known to be a schemer. Jacob 
He was considered daddy's pet, a nuisance and a dreamer. Joseph 
She was past child bearing age and still childless was she. Sarah, Elizabeth
She was known as a prostitute by all on Jericho's street. Rahab
The last and least among his family, not considered kingly. David 
A people in a severe test of affliction and extreme poverty. churches of Macedonia 
A man past his prime going no where just stuck taking care of sheep. Moses
A man overboard and now in the belly of a great fish out in the deep. Jonah
A few guys mending their fishing nets after a fruitless night. Peter, Andrew, John, James
A tax collector sitting at his booth charging people what he thinks is right. Matthew
Another had it all together being a pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. Nicodemus
A baby born in a manger with shepherds having to spread the news. Jesus
A woman anointing Jesus' feet with oil that's worth a year's labor. Mary 
A man brilliant in the law and zealous in his role as the church's persecutor. Saul
A people fighting to control and rule their own destiny. All of humanity
A people who lost their lives for Christ so they can always live freely. All the Saints


When we look at ourselves and others on what do we focus? What do you see? Do we use God's truths or our standards (i.e., culture's philosophies and ours)? What do you do with what you see? May we ask God to help us see each other and ourselves the way He sees us. Then, may we trust Him to help us respond to what He causes us to see. 

Second Chances

In Adam and Eve we see ourselves for we too want to be our own god.
In their disobedience we see ours for we too are rebellious folk.
In their blaming we see our response for we too choose to blame others.
In Adam, Eve, in you and me mankind never had a chance,
for we are prone to wander from God, it's the same old song and dance.
But God chose instead to bring us back into the right relationship with Him.
Nothing we could do or earn or bargain, it was only by the God of second chances.
All through out the scriptures we see this from Adam and Eve to the early church,
and it holds true even up to present day.
Our blindness, arrogance, ignorance etc do not negatively impact 
or lessen this truth, because it is from God not a human decision.
Adam and Eve disobeyed, 
Abraham lied,
Jacob deceived, 
The children of Israel rebelled,
David counted, Solomon strayed,
the disciples fled, Peter denied, 
Thomas doubted, Paul persecuted,
you and I have and do sin too. 
But God gives second chances. 
He requires repentance, 
He offers salvation,
He commands obedience,
He works sanctification.
In His sanctifying work He
gives us second chances, not
so we could sin more but to
make us increasingly into the
people He purposed. 
Thank God for second chances!

Reason for Christmas

Sin:
The enslavement to destructive ways and habits of living
The attitudes of the heart oh so wicked and unforgiving
The idolatry that make people and things our "savior"
The ingratitude and hatred that exude from our behavior


Sin:
The poison and pollution that corrodes our daily lives
The rebellious nature that we sometimes disguise
The pride and arrogance we cherish and hold dear
The false humility whose stench is vile and severe 


Sin:
The iniquity we practice and do sometimes boast about
The darkness we love and crave for in it we can hideout
The inherent sickness that we view and consider healthy 
The intentions and motives done to be praised publicly


More could be said but the truth is that we all sin. God's answer was and is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Christmas (i.e., Jesus' birth) was the way God chose to declare war against sin and death, and thus later (i.e., Jesus' death and resurrection) establish victory over sin and death.


SALVATION !!!:
His name is to be Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins. [Mt. 1:21b]
Only in Jesus is salvation found, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved. [Acts 4:12]