The Complaints of the Saints

WOW! Talk about a crazy week. My heart is alive and kicking, but my regards to all of you insane folks who don’t drink coffee. I’m quitting and this is Day One. My head is currently about to roll right off my shoulders, so who knows if this post will be any good.

Something hit me yesterday. To preface, I’m the queen of complaining. There’s nothing like a good dose of realism to make everyone want to kill you, right? Whenever I am presented with a situation that has major implications, I basically consider any and all negative aspects involved. Unfortunately love “HOPES ALL THINGS”, so you can imagine the amount of conviction that comes when I get it in my brain that I’m expressing the opposite of love.

Simply Musing

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8) 

But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. (Psalm 115:3)

(This will sound like I’m in mid-thought, but that’s what musing is all about, right? They call it “charaz”, but this isn’t so much “wise sayings” as the definition of the translated word assumes. It’s more incomplete thoughts of a student who loves the Bible, so read on if you don’t mind that kind of scattered-ness). 

The Saved Depraved

I am so glad I’m saved. Trite? Maybe. But I cannot help myself. Having grown up in the church, it is easy to pass by the profundity of the bestowment of salvation from eternal torment. Even more so if you’ve become too religious for your breeches.

It struck me the other day in a way I had not considered. I was in the middle of a prayer meeting and as I closed my eyes it dawned on me that I should be staring afflicting demons in the face as they shred me apart in hell- and it would be a just sentence…

… but Ephesians 2:4-10 finishes the rest of the story…

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 

The Secretive Sunday Sit

Well, I’m back in my normal Sunday hiding place. Here’s hoping I don’t get kicked off the network in the middle of a profound thought again and then give up altogether like last week.

 I love the coffee here, but man, this place is ugly. Lame industrial modern decor makes me want to gag sometimes. I feel like I’m in a destist’s office. Put a few filter masks on the baristas and you’d never know the difference.

My latest findings on life this week have mostly been related to the importance of enjoying God outside the normal church setting. After being a workaholic for most of the last 5 years I’m finding the beauty of tasting life while not divorcing the experience from enjoying God in the midst of it. Though I love to work hard, I’m beginning to remember what it is like to play hard, and it’s much like taking a deep breath of fresh air after years of breathing through a plastic bag with a hole in it.

Butter On My Keyboard

My apologies for the slowness of my blogging this past week. My incredible dad was in town last week and my one day to write ended up being the day for getting kicked off the network in the middle of a thought. So opinions and discussion topics are coming your way as soon as I finish writing a manual, sermon notes for a class I’m teaching, coffee with a good friend from home happens, and enough quality time is spent with the new man in my life… well, maybe I won’t wait for that one because it seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day to soak up time with that guy *wink*. Cheers, Mr. Hensley. 

A.W. Tozer

The sharpest eyes of the holiest watcher in the blest company above cannot discover a flaw in the ways of God in brining [His plans] to fruition, nor can the pooled wisdom of seraphim and cherubim suggest how an improvement might be made in the divine procedure. “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before Him.”

Listerine

Two mornings ago I was having a dream about spitting Listerine out of my mouth right at the moment my alarm went off and ended up spitting all over myself. Awesome.

The Sound of God

Today is stormy. I thank God for thunder because it reminds me of the heavenly throne room. In Revelation 4:5 it says

And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices….

Revelation 15 goes on to talk about how the Sea of Glass before the throne of God will one day be a gathering place for the saints. One of my favorite things in the world is this Sapphire Sea, and when I think of that place, where raw power erupts to the exhilaration to all in close proximity to its electrifying surges of expression, my heart moves with the glory of it all.

This is why I love thunder. As the peels of glory break forth within the heavenly concert, I’m undone as I hear the shadow of things to come when one day I will stand before Him.

High King of heaven, when victory is won. May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s sun! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall. Still be my vision, O Ruler of all!

A Week in Review

• I managed to survive finals… except for my final project. That’s still in the works. It’s a theology paper on the Biblical perspective of women in leadership, which might make for a super fun post. We’ll see if I get around to that.
• Just sitting and telling the Lord that you love Him (without asking Him for anything) is something I’m discovering. I’m a lot more relaxed since I started doing this, which I think can be attributed to an increased gratitude.
•  After pondering for about .6 seconds, it dawned on me that Meat Loaf had to be an invention of a male. Why do I say this? Tip off #1: No woman in her right mind would say, “Hm… I have some meat here. Maybe I’ll squish it all together in a bread pan, throw it in the oven, and see what happens. Tip off #2: The name. C’mon! “Meat Loaf” (dead give-away).
• I found out that liking someone is more fun when you actually do like them. It’s even better when they like you back.
• Sometimes getting a package that you didn’t expect containing a book you’ve been wanting is enough to make your entire week!
• Driving back from trying to find a pair of shoes that didn’t cost me a years’ wages, I came across a chain link fence. Atop this fence was a possum. First of all, I didn’t ever really consider the fact that they could climb stuff. Second, I think this may have been the first one I’d ever seen alive, so that was a shocker. Then there’s the fact that his naked pink tail was helping stabilize him on top of the fence, which made me want to gag until I realized that he was chewing on the links of the fence- that’s when I chuckled.
•  Indian food has an ingredient that makes me thank God I have the sense of taste. I nearly cried eating Lamb Vindaloo.
• I’ve concluded that the vast majority of those who read my blog are too scared to comment on anything! *muttering bitterly under my breath*