Yes, you really are free

The Lord is so amazing. I went to Visions last night, and I wasn't definitely feeling God or people. I had a way busier day then I ought to have had Friday, and when I get subsumed in the cares and weirdnesses of the world of a college student, it's hard to press in like I ought. This makes it hard to connect with God and the people around me. (IE If I was weird last night, it was me, not y'all!)

The thing is, the LORD still doesn't care. He always approves and always loves. So often we put God's approval over our desire to love Him (Rachel Mac's insight-- not mine). Then, we don't accept or don't pay attention to the awesome Love of God, breaking God's heart. Maybe better put, we are God's heart! We are what He cares about and what makes Him wake up in the morning. We are the common love-thread, weaved in the motivation of all He does. We are our Beloved's and He is ours!

AMEN

More later as my roommate is asleep and I think the typing is waking him up......

Daniel

Uninterrupted Treasure or "The Way" in a nutshell

"Sell your life-li-hood, and give Mercy-Alms. Make for yourselves purses that don't grow old and uninterrupted treasure in the Heavens"--- Jesus (Luke 12:33) Daniel's translation

I love God. I think He's amazing. The preceding weeks have been a worldwind of God and life, future and destiny and the Heart of God. (Which is preeminently huge by the way) Such is seeking of the Heart of God. We need that and I'm starting to see that He and His heart are the only thing that matters.

At Visions last weekend, we had a Prophecy Conference and I was quite rocked by it, as the Lord showed Himself in this real and powerful way. To be honest, 4 days later, there's a lot here that I am still processing and this blog certainly won't be the definitive dissertation on the subject. I think God irrevocably redefined our relationship last weekend and I love it and want more. He kind of comes to me with this need for Him, setting my heart on fire with a dull aching for the Holiness of God and the rightness of His name (though it doesn't hurt-- hunger or thirst is probably a better metaphor-- frankly put I know what can fill my heart).

Ultimately, the biggest thing God stressed at the PC was just how much his heart beat for us. So much of our religious wondering gets in the way of just enjoying Jesus. He's a fan of us, He loves us and wants us to get together on a regular basis, not because we need religious points or need to secure our ticket to heaven, He wants us to hang around because He likes us. It's not nearly as deep as we make it, and God's motives are incredibly selfish in this regard. He thinks we are amazing and beautiful and mysterious and cool. Of all the things an omnipotent God could be doing, hanging out with humans is number 1 on His to-do list. I only hope I can say the same about Him.

More later, including the point of the verse above, it's not what you think....

Daniel

Running around

I'm trying run back to my true self.

Honestly, I haven't been where I needed to be with God recently. No, it's been no glaring sins or incandescent transgressions, but I've felt like the the Lord is calling me to go higher. Like He knows I can do better and He's baffled why I don't. This thing is, so much of why I don't seek God like I should is because I'm trying to find out what seeking God really means. What does He want from any of us? In the kindest, best way I can think to say it, what does life, done how He wants it, look like?

I know that the only thing that keeps us locked on God is His treating us far better than we deserve (grace) and His giving us more credit then we merit (trust). He give us grace and He trusts us and that terrifies the spit out of me. Ultimately, the only thing that keeps honest, today, in the here and now, is grace- a grace I feel like I abuse because every waking moment is not spent taking full advantage of the time and resources and abilities I have been given.

Now, you all know I believe in the Bema seat of Christ- the eternal punishment and the eternal reward are cornerstones of our faith. But the problem is, they aren't real to us. If they were, they would scare the crap off us and we'd never move from the path of Christ, ever again. I guess what I'm asking is this, can we make real the two greatest commands- loving God and loving people- while still living and loving and flirting and writing and homeworking and drinking coffee and being a bum? Is the human life exclusive of the spiritual life? Can we pursue God and still be human?

How?

Daniel

Playing with God in the rain

The other night at Visions, Mike had felt like God was telling certain people in the crowd that God wanted them to step up their relationship in the New Year. I definitely felt this applied to me. I go through the motions a lot with God, and I try to do all the right things, but, more often than not, it doesn't mean anything. I think we all have a tendency to forget that we do religious things out of duty or obligation instead of doing them because we are in love. God's way of thinking says, "Of course we want to read our Bible, or pray, or worship with believers. God is there and we are in love!" It's a joy because our love is there, not because we want to get religious points with other people, or make ourselves feel better, or even escape the fires of hell. God wants us to be in this adventure of Christianity because we are in Love and Love alone.

This means a lot of different things, but for me it comes to a head in what another friend mentioned from that stage the same night. She had mentioned that when she had started following Jesus, God used to tell her jokes and they used to play outside in the rain. She felt like she didn't have that trust and love any more and she wanted it back. I must confess, so do I. I want the kind of faith that I cannot help but dance in the rain with God.

I felt like the Lord showed me that kind of faith is a choice. This morning, before writing this, I took a walk outside and marveled at the rainy wet cool that is a Michigan winter. To be honest, The snow outside my house is mostly all melted, yet the sun isn't out, forcing that 4 or 5 month transitional period here that isn't quite winter but certainly not spring. It was beautiful, still, because there was life outside and I was beginning to forget what grass looked like. Even though it was bleak and wet and dank and damp, the Lord was there, thawing the world (and, God willing, bringing us an early spring). I think that what I'm trying to say is that we can choose to enjoy God, and that the only thing that keeps us from playing outside in the rain with the Almighty is whether we want to walk outside our front door. He's willing, but it comes down to our choice, not His.

Daniel