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All scripture is beautiful because it is God breathed.  Some scripture is melodic and rolls right off the tongue.  Some scripture is more difficult to speak.  Some scripture is easily understood.  Some scripture is only understood with prayer and revelation by God.  But, all scripture is beautiful because it was whispered by the One.

We recite scripture in our worship services, at funerals, at weddings, at anniversaries, at special events.  We memorize scripture for times of fear, anger, comfort, strength, exaltation, hope, honor,  praise.

One of the most widely recognized scriptures is the 23^rd Psalm.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:  he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul:  he leaded me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear not evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:  though anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

This is such a beautiful Psalm.  But to be flat out honest, usually when these verses are recited in unison, it is just downright depressing.  Could we be any less dramatic?  Any less enthusiastic?  Anyone else feel that way?  We recite it in monotone, as slow as we can possibly go.  It is just a dirge!  We certainly don’t make it sound like the breath of God whispered to His children.

If you carefully read the words, visualize the sights and sounds of David’s time, Psalm 23 is not actually a dirge, it’s a psalm of praise!  Check this out:

The Lord protects me!

He is all I need!

I find rest in him!

He is my strength!

He leads the way and when I am following His lead, He is glorified!

When I travel through tough times and my spirit is crushed,

I won’t be afraid because He is always with me!

His love, mercy and grace are constantly protecting me!

He shows my enemies how much He adores me!

He honors me, even when I’m not honorable!

His love for me is overflowing!

His mercy and love seek only

good for me every day!

And I will live with the

One True God in eternity,

forever!

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like praise to me.  That sounds like something we can call upon for comfort, for strength, for support, for blessing.  Our cup runneth over, isn’t that worth a little enthusiasm people?  What I have recently learned is that it is my attitude toward the Bible that really matters.  How I read it.  I’m learning to read the Bible the way I believe God meant for it to be read.  Reverently, respectfully, hopefully, joyfully, expectantly, instructionally. 

Are you a checkmark person?  I’m a checkmark person.  I love, love, love making checkmarks.  Any other checkmarkers out there?  Give me a list and I can go to town.  Check-Check-Check-Check-Check.  I used to be a Bible checkmarker.    When I read the Bible I would mentally make checkmarks.  Love your neighbor – check.  Be charitable – check.  Do not kill – check.  Do not steal (if that doesn’t include postits from my employer) – check.  Be patient – check(ish).  Be kind – check.  Love the Lord God with all your heart – check, check and double-check!  You too!?!

Flat out, I wasn’t reading the Bible the right way.  If I read it seeking the character of God and expecting Him to reveal his character to me, and not looking to make checkmarks of God, I will be making checkmarks like crazy. This is how it works.  If I’m mirroring His imagine, I will love God the way He loves me – check.   If I’m mirroring His image, I will love my neighbor – check.  If I’m mirroring His image, I will not kill, by hand or by heart – check.  If I’m mirroring His image, I will not steal, even scrap paper that doesn’t belong to me – check.  If I’m mirroring His image, I will be kind – check.  You get it, right?  It’s all about Him!

It is exciting to read the Word of God because all scripture reflects the character of God.  All scriptures are His whispers to us.  Yes, scripture can put us in our place, but instead of reading or reciting scripture as a dirge, we need to read and recite looking for his character.  In looking for His character, we will see His guidance, direction, encouragement, discipline, support and blessings.  The Creator of the Universe revealing himself to us!  Isn’t that worth a little enthusiasm people? 

We need to read the scriptures like they really matter, because they do.  Not like a dirge and not for the checkmarks.  Alistair Begg seems to say it best:  “The confidence of heaven is in the Word of God.  If you want to know God.  If you want to consider God.  If you want to know if God knows you, read the Bible.”

It’s a double — double the hope, double the promise, double the love. Sometimes the beauty is such a contrast with the hardness of the road, but He is always God.

And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. Romans 9:5

	When morning gilds the skies, My heart awaking cries: May Jesus Christ be praised! Alike at work and prayer To Jesus I repair: May Jesus Christ be praised!   To Thee, my God above, I cry with glowing love, May Jesus Christ be praised! The fairest graces spring In hearts that ever sing, May Jesus Christ be praised!
	Does sadness fill my mind? A solace here I find, May Jesus Christ be praised! Or fades my earthly bliss? My comfort still is this, May Jesus Christ be praised!
	When evil thoughts molest, With this I shield my breast, May Jesus Christ be praised! The powers of darkness fear, When this sweet chant they hear, May Jesus Christ be praised!
	When sleep her balm denies, My silent spirit sighs, May Jesus Christ be praised! The night becomes as day, When from the heart we say, May Jesus Christ be praised!
	Be this, while life is mine, My canticle divine, May Jesus Christ be praised! Be this th’ eternal song Through all the ages long, May Jesus Christ be praised!

You might have heard about my girls – my chicks – there are seven of them.  I love those stinkin things.  We do a lot of chicken watching at our house.  During the day they run a muck – they cover every inch of our 12 every day, and where one goes they all go.  They’re flockers.  They stick together unless someone’s sitting anest.

During the day they wander and at night they’re cooped up – it’s one of those two story jobs.  Settling in for the night is a process, which doesn’t voluntarily begin before darkish.  When dusk hits they instinctively head for their coop.   Settling in for the night is a process for them.  They take turns going in and out before the doors close.  They run in and think about roosting then they run out for one last bite.  In.  Out.  Bite to eat.  Drink.  Hop up.  Hop down.  Jostling.   They chase each other and squeeze each other out, jockeying for the best roost position.  If one tries to go up the ladder before another thinks they should, they get a peck or two on the head.  Maybe even a pluck.  Ouch Georgie Girl!  Poor Ethel is always the last to ascend she’s most often pushed, pecked and bullied.  It’s a tough crowd.

After finally ascending to the coop, the jockeying for position is not yet over.  They move, they ruffle, they peck, they squawk.  It’s constant.  I try to intervene, to restore calm, but I’m reminded that it’s what chickens do.  They’re animals – fowl, technically.  They have a pecking order.

One thing I’ve noticed is that we, me, I, have chicken-tendencies.  We, me, are not so different from them, really.  We do the same sometimes.  I know I do.

After watching the news the other day, I started thinking how very similar we are to my girls.  We treat each other the same way my girls treat each other, and it’s permissible and acceptable.  I wondered to myself – when did it get okay?  When did it get okay to be mean?  Push.  When did it get okay to call people names?  Squawk.  When did it get okay to degrade other people?  Bump.  When did it get okay to mistreat others?  Peck.  When did it get okay to speak our minds without care for others’ tender hearts?  Pluck.  When did it get okay to say what we want, regardless of the cost to someone else?  Scar.  When did it get okay to bully?  Jostle.  When did it get okay?

Clearly, my chickens have not heard about the Greatest Commandment.  Sometimes I act like I’ve not heard it either.

The most important commandment is this:  Hear, O Israel!

The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.

And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul,

All your mind, and all your strength.

and your neighbor as yourself.

Mark 12:29-31

According to Jesus, this is the most important commandment.  Notice He gives us a few directions before we are to love each other.  His directions are just that – listed in order of importance.  First, he gets our attention.  Then He identifies Himself.  Next, He tells us exactly what we must do.  He says:

Listen up folks!

I am the only God!

You must love Me with absolutely everything you have – heart, soul, mind, strength,

Only when you do that can you love your neighbor as you should.

Only by putting God first in our hearts, in our souls, in our minds, with all the strength that we have, can we love others as we should.  He knew we would struggle with love because we are human, that’s why he gave us the directions – He’s shown us how to work this love thing.

God did not tell us to love our neighbors if we want to, if they love us first, if they’re loveable.  He said love your neighbor as yourself.  Do we do that?  Do we love each other as we love ourselves – maybe.  Maybe that’s our problem.

Paul tells us living in the Spirit – heart, soul, mind, strength – produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  We can pretty much tell if we’re living in the Spirit or living in the world by the fruits we produce.   Will they know I’m a Christian by my love?  By my words?  By my deeds?  By my eyes?  By my life?  The fruits are not to be practiced occasionally, they are to be how we live our life.  They are to be practiced consistently.  What a wonderful world it would be if we all immersed ourselves in the fruits.

We peck.  We bump.  We shove.  We squawk.  We pluck.  We scar.  We jostle.  We act like animals.  We act fowl.  That’s the truth.  Ugh!  We need a Cross check.  We are sinners living in a fallen world but that doesn’t excuse our actions.  Because we are His we are to be of the world and not in the world.

When did it get okay to peck, bump, shove, squawk, pluck, scar, or jostle each other?  It didn’t.  It never did.  It’s just not okay.

So, I’ve started a new thing over the last two to three months.  Actually, it’s not brand new, let’s just say I’ve been encouraged, invigorated.  What is it you say?  Morning prayer walking, I say.  Oh, that’s it, you say?  No, that’s just not it, that’s ALL, I say.

You see, I had been taking prayer walks at lunchtime.  You know, a much needed break from the office, get outside, speak to God.  I’d meander through the streets of Martinsburg thinking and praying, sometimes with great distraction.  But, speaking to God nonetheless.

A few months ago I re-read a book we had in our library.  I’d read it many years ago and had completely forgotten the story line.  Heaven’s Wager, by Ted Dekker.  It’s amazing to me what an impact a work of fiction can have on the truths of our lives, especially a work of redemption and salvation.  This fiction work convicted me, right alongside with the directives of the Word of God to pray.

So, my morning walks, modeled after a devout character in the book, began.  I’ll not spoil the storyline for you, but one of the characters in the book prayer walked.  It started with walking and praying a groove in the carpet in her bedroom to walking eight or more hours a day on painful legs simply to praise God and seeking salvation for another, because He said so.  Praising and listening were the keys to the prayers.  I’ll tell you no more, you will need to read it for yourself, however, I wanted you to know my train of thought and how my journey into Paradise began.

The other morning I was on my prayer walk and I had a thought – this must have been what it was like for Adam and Eve, walking in the garden with God.  As I put one foot in front of the other at dark o’clock, up and down the road, I listened to all the garden sounds – birds, crickets, locusts, and peepers, by the dawn’s early light, I could only wonder if this was how it was for Adam and Eve to be in the Garden. Of course, there are nongarden noises every once in a while, someone heading to work up on Poor House, a plane overhead, deer hooves on asphalt (yes), but when the earth noises fade, the Garden voices start again and once again I think, is this how Adam and Eve lived?  Their communion with nature was important, remember they were given dominion over all, but what is even more important than their communion with nature was their communion with God.  God met them in the garden.  God walked with them and talked with them right there in the garden.  It is amazing to think that each and every step I take on that road, He is too with me in this Garden.

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden…Then the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:8-9

Another thought I had was that Adam and Eve could only be praisers.  You know, praising their Creator all the day long…their communion with the Lord was not wrought with whining, complaints, or gimmes or demands.  Their communion with the Lord in the Garden could only be perfect up until the fall.  To that point sin had not entered in.  To that point, the relationship with God and Adam and Eve in the Garden had been a deeply intimate relationship – Creator to created.   What a magnificent example of communion – union – unity with the Creator.  Praising their Creator all the day long…Maybe the very first modeled prayer can be found in Genesis, in the Garden.

Get out in a morning and spend some time in the Garden, in the twilight time, when the stars are still aglow.  Allow yourself to feel Eden.  As all creation bows at His feet, move your feet with thoughts of Praise.  Connect with God in His Holy Place.  Allow yourself to feel the Garden of Eden, the beauty of creation, but mostly the presence of the Creator.

I know it’s a little hard to see, but while walking the other day I noticed among the weeds, among the dullness of brown weeds, there was just a splash of color.  Can you see it?  Little eye treasures.  Purple, yellow, cornflower blue.  If you weren’t looking, you just might miss the color.  I thought of Joseph.  You know, the favorite son of Jacob who was gifted with a robe from his dad.  The coat of many colors.  Coats, cloaks or robes of that day were so important.   Robes were used for everything from swaddling a baby, a pillow for your head, as security for a loan.  They were usually colorless, short-sleeved, and knee-length, a pretty simple design, that was just downright bland.  Those Israelites could be a very practical group of folks.  These robes, coats, cloaks served a purpose.  There was no need for them to make a fashion statement.

However, there were some robes, coats, cloaks that were quite fancy.  The fancy ones would have been for folks of royalty.  Those would have had long sleeves, been ankle length, and full of color.  They may have had a sash or even a pocket.  But, your regular Joe(seph) – haha, get it – would typically have had a plain ole robe.  Not Jacob’s Joseph, though.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.  Genesis 37:3

Joseph’s coat caused quite a stir in the fam.  His brothers were ticked off.  Jacob showed favoritism to his very youngest son which eventually led to a heap of trouble for all of them.  Afterall, Jacob had 11 other sons and a daughter.  How do you think that worked out?

But, when I looked at the colors of these flowers against the brownness of the other weeds, I thought to myself – isn’t that what the Lord did for us?  Aren’t we wearing robes of royalty because the Lord favored us?  He made it just for us to show us his favoritism.  He favors us!  We live in a dark world.  A bland world.  A world without color.  But God the Father has chosen for us to live in this world with a touch a color.  If it weren’t for the dull, the bland, the barren around color, the color would not be so noticeable.

The Lord was with Joseph and blessed him greatly  as he served in the home of his Egyptian master.  Psalm 39:2

Well, Joseph got off to a rocky start with that robe as a result of Jacob’s favor.  We all know the story – his brothers were jealous, they plotted to kill him, one got cold feet, after some epic twists and turns, they sold him into slavery.  Exactly where the Lord wanted him.  Here’s the thing – The Lord had some major plans for Joseph which could not be accomplished had things not turned out the way they did.  It might not look like it, but the Lord showed favor on Joseph.  In the pit, in the sale, with his new master.

But the Lord was with Joseph there too, and he granted Joseph favor with the chief jailer.  Genesis 39:21

Favored.  As Children of God, with vital, meaningful, relationships with our Lord, we too can shine in the world around us – we too can be the vivid colors in a world that is broken, hurting, self-destructive, colorless.  Even in prison, a barren, colorless place, the Lord showed favor to Joseph.

We are royalty – we are Children of the King — does not our Lord show favor to his children?

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,
  the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy
  health and salvation!
    All ye who hear,
Now to His temple draw near;
Sing now in glad adoration!

Praise to the Lord, who o’er all
  things so wondrously reigneth,
Who, as on wings of an eagle,
  uplifteth, sustaineth.
    Hast thou not seen
How thy desires all have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully,
  wondrously, made thee!
Health hath vouchsafed and, when
  heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
    What need or grief
Ever hath failed of relief?

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper
  thy work and defend thee,
Who from the heavens the streams of
  His mercy doth send thee.
    Ponder anew
What the Almighty can do,
Who with His love doth befriend thee

Praise to the Lord! Oh, let all that
  is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come
  now with praises before Him!
    Let the Amen
Sound from His people again;
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

So a funny thing happened the other day at the office…we were tasked with a particular assignment officewide for which we all needed multiple reminders.  This was a particularly important task that needed everyone’s cooperation.  Throughout those reminders we were urged to “focus.”  In response to the last gentle reminder of the task came the following:

I’m sorry.  I lost focus.

I smiled at the apology but I belly-laughed at the explanation.  The more I read that simple statement:  I lost focus, the more I read that explanation, the more convicted I felt – I stopped laughing.  You know that nagging feeling about something in particular that makes you think.? It was creeping in. The kind of nagging that makes you know the Lord is speaking to you – that was happening to me right here.  As a Believer, a Follower of Christ, I am tasked to live out my beliefs.   The Lord gives many, many gentle (and not so gentle) reminders to me to focus.  I find myself daily having to say:

I’m sorry.  I lost focus.

Oh, good, I’m glad I’m not alone…  It should be so easy to follow Peter’s directive:  Be alert and think straight… but we just don’t consistently operate like that in this crazy world with the millions of distractions, do we?

The other morning I was getting ready for work.  I kind of have a process for getting ready – wash my hair, wash my face, brush my teeth, put lotion on my face, stick some product in my hair and I’m ready to roll.  I’m doing my thing, thinking about my day and what lies before me, and I notice that something is really wrong with my face – it’s super chapped and when I try to smile, where I can get my face to move, it feels like it’s cracking.  Ahhhh!!!  What in the world is going on – this is not  part of my daily routine.  Then it dawns on me – I had just moisturized my face with hair gel – yes, ooey, gooey hair gel slathered right on my face!  Ugh!  I was gettin’ it with my daily routine and I LOST FOCUS!!!   I was supposed to be focused on getting my hair gel in my hair, but I was focusing on the day ahead instead, the wrong thing at the wrong time!  As I rewash my face I think – How in the world can that happen?  Duh!  Beth lost focus. 

I note both of these focus lessons occurred within a couple of days of each other.  His gentle reminders… Beth, don’t lose focus.  He says the same to you.  So, exactly what should we be focusing on, there’s a ton of stuff happening out there, right?

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.  Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.  For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.  Colossians 3:1-3

Right there it is.  It could not be spelled out more clearly for us.  Ok, but if we have to live here for now, what does it look like, how do we do that?  We focus in on the eternal not the temporary, looking at everything we do and everything we are with Heaven’s eyes, with Heaven’s priorities in mind.  We look at our lives here, in the temporary, with God’s perspective, eternity.

We guard our hearts, watch our mouths, look straight ahead, follow the narrow road, and focus, lest we fall into sin.  Putting hair gel on my face is not exactly evil, but it’s a great example of what can happen when we lose focus – things can quickly get sticky when our focus takes a detour.  Who knew you could learn so much from hair gel?

So, how do we stay focused on eternity in the tasks of our daily lives?  We cannot will ourselves to focus, that obviously does not work, that’s relying on human power instead of on God’s power.   We focus on the only One who can give us all we need to protect us from the distractions of this world.  If Jesus is our focus, if we live for Him, if the Kingdom of God, eternity, is our primary concern, He will give us all we need.  Don’t lose focus!

Jesus was not perfect.  Check your pulse, cause that’s what I heard.  Is that true?  Would someone say that if it wasn’t?  I don’t know.  Who would say such a thing?  Hogwash.  Jesus was perfect, Jesus is still perfect, and Jesus always will be perfect.

I try to stay out of the news frenzy and stick to my farm frenzy, there’s enough feathers flying here to keep me busy, but sometimes we’re called to stand in the world.  Now’s one of those times.  I’m going to stand, but probably not for the reasons you’re thinking.  Not because I want to go toe-to-toe with a non-believer,  you can’t be a believer without believing…believing that Jesus Christ died as a substitute for your sins, for my sins, is imperative to the faith.  And since God is perfect, He cannot tolerate sin.  So if God sent His Dear Son to atone for our sins, His Son had to be sinless.   It’s really as simple as that.  But don’t take my word for it, get out your Bible and see for yourself, as a Believer that’s our responsibility – to know what we believe.  Not just to know what we believe, but to act on our belief, to live our belief.

Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.   He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.     James 1:17-18

Just in case you were wondering, God is not only good, but anything from God is perfect, including His Son.  The Bible says so.

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.         1 Peter 1:18-20

Back to why I’m taking a stand –  statements like Jesus was not perfect, assaults on our beliefs without provocation and frankly without accurate information, are dangerous for Christians.  At first I was like, wow, really, journalism gone amuck, and I moved to the next article.  As I thought about that statement – Jesus was not perfect – I started to get angry.  When you spread lies about my Lord like that, them’s fightin’ words.  I have to keep reminding myself that those who speak such words were too created by God and potentially Children of the Perfect God.  But the possible consequences of such a statement for the Believer is a clear and present danger.

You see, in this world today there’s a lot of information and we really have to figure out what is true and what is false.  It’s quite a chore, isn’t it, deciphering?  It’s just plain exhausting.  Does anyone else out there get downright tired of it and turnoff and tune out, or am I alone?  Should we just let the world say what it wants to say and frankly make excuses for them?   No, with unapologetic grace, we take a stand.  So, you’re probably saying yea, yea, yea, get to the point, Beth!  Here goes…

My biggest fear with statements like that is that we won’t be appalled, that we won’t be offended, that statements like that won’t make us flinch, that they won’t make us grieve for ignorance, that they won’t cut us to the quick, that we simply ignore them and move on to the next great drama of the world or that we curl into the fetal position clutching our Bibles to our bellies, either way accepting what is said and having no response.  The danger in that is that eventually we won’t care what’s said about our God.  We become desensitized to the world.  Desensitizing is acceptance.  We may say we disagree with the world, but we will come to accept the world’s positions on our beliefs.  If you think that is not true, simply look around you – look at our families, look at our towns, look at our workplaces, look on our streets, look at our governments.  Believing that the world cannot erode our beliefs is super naïve and downright deadly.

Of course, as Believers we know the battles belong to the Lord, but we also have to know that those battles are fought through us, with His power.  To be honest, I struggle with how to address those comments that offend me lest I be offensive.  Or is that an excuse on my part, and I’m content being inert?   I seem to have no trouble knowing how to address other things in my life, you know – work situations, family situations, friend situations.

Here’s my other problem with statements like that – people believe them!  If there are those out there who claim to be Christians believe that Jesus was not perfect, how much more will people who don’t claim to be Christians believe that Jesus was not perfect.  Scores.  Just ask them.

You don’t have to believe what I believe (but I wish you would), but don’t state my beliefs incorrectly, don’t get my beliefs wrong.   As Christians do we know what we believe?  Do we believe the Bible, the inerrant Word of God?  Do we believe parts of the Bible, you know, only the stuff that makes us feel good?  We cannot pick and choose.  It’s an all or none thing.  God is an all or none God.  We cannot serve two masters.  We cannot serve God and ourselves.

Frankly, I’m not exactly sure how to stand against such fallacy.  More likely I do and I’m just afraid to – if I’m honest, that’s really more like it.   I do know I cannot speak against such lies if I do not know the truth myself – that’s my responsibility, no one elses – not my husband’s, my parents’, my friends’, my family’s, my churches.  I must not rely on anyone else for information about my beliefs.  That’s on me.  And, I do know that I must stand on the truth and speak the truth.  But, the most important thing I know is that where I stand, I do not stand alone – where I go, I do not go alone – the Perfect One who was beaten, whipped, abused, crucified and hung on the Cross for my sins goes before me.  What wonderous Love is this, oh my soul.

Finally, build up your strength in union with the Lord and by means of his mighty power. Put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil’s evil tricks. For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age. So put on God’s armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy’s attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground.

So stand ready, with truth as a belt tight around your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate,  and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace. At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One.  And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you. Do all this in prayer, asking for God’s help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God’s people. And pray also for me, that God will give me a message when I am ready to speak, so that I may speak boldly and make known the gospel’s secret. For the sake of this gospel I am an ambassador, though now I am in prison. Pray that I may be bold in speaking about the gospel as I should.  Ephesians 6:10-20

Just for the record, the statement is patently false — Jesus was perfect, a Spotless Lamb to be exact.  Don’t ever forget that!  Don’t ever let anyone say different about your Savior, your Lord, without correcting them.  It could be a matter of eternity for them.

Pink and blue sky – raw sugar spun into cotton candy – pure gooey, sticky sweetness.  As the sun was rising on my praise walk this morning, I couldn’t help but notice how the sky looked like cotton candy.  Now those of you who know me well know that I can relate almost everything in life to sugar and this morning was no exception.  I looked up and saw the pink and blue swirling into purple and all I could think about was cotton candy.  Yum!  Just plain sweetness – some would say too sweet but I’d say no such thing. 

As I hike up and down the road, I start thinking about the sweetness of Jesus.  Frankly, I’ve never thought of Jesus as sweet, but the thought popped into my mind so I went with it.  I think of Jesus as powerful, strong, bold, in control, compassionate, caring, and loving, but never sweet.  I think of sweet as gentle, kind of delicate.  I mean think of cotton candy.  The wovenness of the spun sugar has a delicate texture.  But the word sweet means pleasing, satisfying, acceptable.

I bear my testimony that there is no joy to be found in all this world like that of sweet communion with Christ. I would barter all else there is of heaven for that. Indeed, that is heaven. As for the harps of gold and the streets like clear glass and the songs of seraphs and the shouts of the redeemed, one could very well give all these up, counting them as a drop in a bucket, if we might forever live in fellowship and communion with Jesus.    Charles Spurgeon

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.  Matthew 11:28

Come to me, commune with me, taste and see…  With all the bitterness of the world, is there anything sweeter than Jesus’s words to us calling us unto Himself?  Sweet, gentle, satisfying.

However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.  For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.  John 6:37

Again, come to me, commune with me… What would we give up to have sweet communion with our Lord, to taste and see?

…I rejoice to acknowledge, who will not be content with shallow logic.  They will admit the force of the argument, and then turn away with tears to hunt some lonely place and pray, “O God, show me thy glory.”  They want to taste, to touch with their hearts, to see with their inner eyes the wonder that is God.

I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God.  The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate.  The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire.  Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth.  Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to his people.  He waits to be wanted.

The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer

Wow, this dude is deep.  I love it!   Frankly, some (ok most) of this seems over my head.  It’s taken me a week or more to begin to grasp what Tozer was talking about.   I had to read and re-read to try to get a little bit of understanding.  As glimpses of understanding came, I wondered to myself “Do I want God?”  Do I want to taste, to touch, to see with the eyes of my soul, to experience God?  Some may say, we already do that, it comes with being a Christian.  But I say that if we do not continually examine and question ourselves about God, about who He is, about how He works, about what He expects, and just assume that because we are Christians, that that is enough, we miss out on the relationship and the experience of God, and then we fail to see the wonder of God. 

As David said during his time in the wilderness: O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1

Do we “earnestly” search for God?  Do we “thirst” for his living water?  Do we “long” for Him?  What does it mean to “thirst,” to “long?”  Are “earnestly,” “thirst,” “long,” parts of your relationship with God?

Do we long for God with our whole body? Mind, body and spirit?  Everything that we are?  Does our mind know God but our heart not experience God?  Do our bodies, by our actions reflect that we know God?  Do our hands, our feet, our hearts physically reach out to him?  Do we long for the Spirit of God to bubble up from within?

Further in Psalm 63, at verse 6, David says:  “I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night.”

Do we “meditate” on God other than when we have a request?  Other than when we need Him?

Fulfill your longing and your thirst by meditating on God.  Chase after him and you will see the wonder that He is. 

How about chasing after God by searching through the scriptures for verses that encourage us to thirst, long and meditate on God?  Make a note of scriptures that will encourage and remind you “to see with your inner eye the wonder that is God.”

Lord in Heaven, we run to you.  We want to know you.  We want to experience you.  Show us your wonder today.  Amen