Heaven on Earth

Soooo I haven't blogged in FOREVER, but with the unexpected death of Drake, the 12-year old at our church who drowned in a freak accident, I've had a lot on my heart and for the Walker family and just had to write it down somewhere..........

In times of trial and heartache especially, I think the most important characteristics of God to grasp and understand are His sovereignty, goodness, & grace, for the mysteries of life and of death are unexplainable and heart-wrenching. Confusing questions will remain torturous defeating cries if attempted to be answered with our finite minds this side of heaven. Instead, the only perspective that brings comfort and hope is trusting, resting in His arms of love, allowing His grace and unexplainable peace to wash over us and fill us with His mercy, ironically in ways that we would not experience or embrace if not faced with those unanswerable questions.

Life-altering cries, defeats, and despairs WILL turn into beautiful songs, rhythms, and dances one day soon as He continues to wash over us with His goodness, grace, mercy, and love. And as each new day bleeds into the next, the cries and aches WILL turn into blessings and beauty as the Kingdom is brought from heaven to earth, and life as we know it turns into even more of a blur between the line from here to there. For perhaps this is what Christ always meant when He said: "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Not one day will now pass by without being able to think or obsess over heaven, aching, longing to be there. And that is how He feels for us, aching, longing to be with us. Oh how He desires us. That we would know Him and live so that others will know Him. May one minute of life not pass by without having eternity in mind as we embrace the goodness and riches of his grace that He so desperately wants to lavish upon us. And He will do so in unexplainable ways until that day... when we shall see Him face to face.

Everyone please keep praying for the precious Walker family in the weeks, months, and years to come.

Just Girls.

Girls. They are just girls.

Young. Fun. Playful. Talkative. Energetic. Beautiful. Young girls. Just girls. Their excitement glows with beautiful expressions of unconditional love and affection. They love unwavering and without hesitation. Content. Happy. Free. They are children. 

Girls. Just girls. Innocent girls.

Slavery. We thought it ended in the 19^th Century. We were wrong. Extremely wrong. Girls. Innocent girls. Trapped. Caught. Scared. Confused. In danger. Hesitant. Upset. Crying. Beaten. Raped. Forced. They have been forced into slavery. 

SEX slavery. 

Stolen. Lost. Hopeless. Children. 27 million of them.

Girls. Just girls. Innocent girls.

Hope. Where is their hope? Change. Fight. Love. Redemption. Freedom. Embrace. Beauty. Girls. Young girls. Innocent and scared. They must know. They must be released. They must be freed. Who will stop this madness? 

New hope. New beginnings. New freedom. New beauty. New. Children. Young. 

 Girls. Just girls. Innocent girls.

Intermission of the soul.

Matthew 11:29-30

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; 

for I am meek and lowly in heart: 

and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

These two verses are the heart behind this blog. I pray for the words on these pages to be a resting place for those seeking to slow down and simply needing to find their hiding place. Life is too crazy at times; often the "tyranny of the urgent" overtakes the important aspects of life, inevitably replacing joy and vision with monotonous routine and stolen dreams.

I love God's Word. And along with that, I LOVE word studies. Hence I have done a little research in the Greek Lexicon and am amazed (yet not surprised) at the intricacy of just how specific God was when He breathed life into the words of His pages called the Word. Take a look:

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me... the yoke is a tool placed around the neck of cattle, enabling [cattle] to go through or around very considerable obstacles. How ironic that a bulky and heavy tool such as this was actually used to push through "considerable obstacles." This potentially means that certain aspects of your life that seem like nothing more than "burdens and bondages" (see below) could in turn be the very object(s) that God will use to bulldoze through even bigger obstacles. This does not seem to make sense, huh? God uses present obstacles to get you through future hard times? Yes. I believe He does. And on the flip side of this, once you give over those present burdens/bondages, they will seemingly weigh nothing, because (jumping ahead to vs. 30, "[My] yoke is easy, and [My] burden is light."

YOKE (transliterated "zugos"):

1. 1.     I.  A yoke that is put on draught cattle
   2.     II. Metaphor, used of any burden or bondage 
   3.         A. as that of slavery
      1.         B. of troublesome laws imposed on one, esp. of the Mosaic law, hence the name is so transferred to the 
      2. commands of Christ as to contrast them with the commands of the Pharisees which were a veritable 'yoke'; yet even Christ's commands must be submitted to, though easier to be kept
2.     III. A balance, pair of scales
   

For I am meek and lowly in heart... God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-wise, not to mention that He controls the universe, yet He carries a "mildness of disposition and gentleness of spirit/meekness." How is this possible? The Lord of Creation, the Alpha and Omega, Beginning and the End, and Sovereign Ruler of All is humble, gentle, and "lowly in heart." I think you would agree with me that of all beings, the Lord God, Yahweh is His Name, the Great I AM, would have EVERY right to be oh most prideful. In a way, it would almost make sense for Him to have at least a bit of pride. He in fact has the entire universe to show off! Yet no, He not only chooses not to be prideful (in the least sense of the meaning of the word), but He pushes aside all of that and grasps ahold of humility and complete servitude, becoming meek and lowly. Why? Because He wants to be. He chooses gentleness and meekness and lowliness so that He has the PERFECT balance of complete control, reign, and dominion combined with gentleness, meekness, and humility. And He wants us to experience the very same aspects of His nature. He wants us to learn from Him, taking His yoke upon us so that we can be meek and lowly in heart, gentle and pure.

MEEK (transliterated "praus"):

1.    I.  Mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness

   II. Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. In the OT, the meek are those wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend them against injustice. Thus, meekness toward evil people means knowing God is permitting the injuries they inflict, that He is using them to purify His elect, and that He will deliver His elect in His time.

1. LOWLY (transliterated "tapeinos"):
2.    I.  not rising far from the ground
3.    II. metaph.
   1.         A. as a condition, lowly, of low degree
   2.         B. lowly in spirit, humble
   
   
   And ye shall find rest unto your souls... REST. What an amazingly refreshing word in and of itself. Fresh Air. Breathe. Life. Beauty. Relaxation. Vacation. Retreat. Slow down. Do you ever feel the need to simply enjoy life, yet it is as if you have forgotten how? Or perhaps you think that there is not enough time in life to slow down long enough to simply rest, so then you keep going and going, just hoping that one day someone will push the pause button (and hopefully loud enough for you to hear)? Well, it is not going to happen. You can do as much wishful thinking or intense praying as you want for life to stop, and well, only you can choose for yourself whether or not you will pause for the moment. Time out. What does this mean? As stated below, "anapausis" is basically a big word for a "pause" in life. Intermission. Cessation of any motion, business or labor. I love that. Essentially this means that when you take God's yoke upon you, letting go of the burdens of this world and choosing to walk in gentleness and humility along with Christ the Servant, then you will find rest within your soul, in the depths of your spirit. Even when the "tyranny of the urgent" is going on around you, somehow life simply does not seem "out of control" anymore or overbearing and burdensome. You will know the joy of experiencing God's yoke as truly being light. Your heart will be at peace. You will be restful. You will be content. You will find recreation of the heart. You will know that an intermission of the soul awaits... And you will REST. 
   
   
   FIND REST (transliterated "anapausis"):
   1.    I.  intermission, cessation of any motion, business or labour
   2.    II. rest, recreation