Broken

There is so much pain and hurt in this world.  Some people are so broken that it affects the way they see themselves.  They have scars that hinder them from reaching out to others – even for help. 

I can’t put those broken pieces back together, but I do know someone who can.  And in the process, He can and will show His people how beautiful even scars can make their lives.

The Bible offers so much encouragement and help, if we only take God's words into our broken hearts.  Let's hear the words.

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds,

Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

So my friend, if you feel like a broken pot, you are not alone.  The writer of this Psalm felt the same way. 

Psalm 31:12  I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.

When I think of all the broken vessels in my world, I hurt for all of us.  But hurt is definitely not God's plan for the broken pots that inhabit His world - not hurt, but healing.

I recently found this article about Kintsugi and wondered if that is how God heals our wounds - not with Gold but with the blood - the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God.

Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, emphasizes the beauty of imperfection and the value of an object's history.  Instead of, concealing the damage, kintsugi highlights the cracks and breaks with seams of gold lacquer, creating a unique and often more beautiful piece than the original. This technique celebrates the object's history and transforms it into a one-of-a-kind work of art. 

The process 

Joining the pieces: Broken pieces of the pottery are carefully joined back together using a special urushi lacquer (made from tree sap).

The broken pieces of our lives can be joined together by Jesus, the potter.  He has sent His Spirit into this world to make of those pieces something beautiful.  It's impossible to repair that  brokenness without God's Spirit helping us to find out just where those pieces fit.  He knows the original plan for the vessel, because He/God is the potter. 

 

Next - Highlighting the cracks: The lacquer is dusted with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, creating a striking contrast with the ceramic material.

The blood of Jesus is the lacquer, mending those broken pieces.  His love is purer and more beautiful than gold or silver.  This lacquer doesn't erase the memory of the pain or betrayal.  Instead, if we put our broken pieces into the hands of the Master Potter, He uses them to create a life that, within the cracks, is more beautiful and exciting than it could possibly be without them.

Take a look at this picture and see the beauty created by the one who mended the broken bowl.  And then know that you can be just as beautiful, and useful in your new life, when you trust the true Potter.

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 

Looking in the Mirror

I've been looking in the mirror - Do you often  think about your “everyday shortcomings,” and see them as just that, “only shortcomings” – "not such a big deal?"  I know that sometimes I think that, but then - sometimes . . . 

I remember that they just might be a big deal - yes.  If I wish to be counted as a disciple of The Master; if I want to be His disciple - one who walks in the dust of the Master, I need to look at whose dust is covering my feet.  Walking in the dust - walking so close to someone that his dust covers my feet.

It’s so easy to accept and minimize my “shortcomings” if I walk through the day without a thought about how I'm living, or without wondering if my actions are a big deal to God.  So, before I greet one more day, I feel that I must personally look at the everyday things I call shortcomings and determine whether they are worth worrying about.  

In that vein, I want to look at the one I call Master – The only true God, Creator, Savior, King of the Universe.  And then I need to decide what I believe would be HIS view of the actions and thoughts that I see as only my “shortcomings.”

You may have your own list, but here are a few that I sometimes find myself struggling with.  Pride, envy, and anger – guess that’s a good start!

So if I take each one and dissect it in the light of God’s word, His purity, and His holiness, it may help me to see whether it is  serious enough to be too concerned about.

Pride – oh wow!  The Bible talks about that a bunch.

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.  Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from The Father but from the world.

It sounds a bit like Pride is not something that I should tolerate in my life.

Then there is Envy

Envy comes in the back door, and some of the time I don’t see it until God points it out to me.  That envy isn’t usually a desire for wealth or talent, or even the beauty that another has. Most of the time it just says, “I wish I was as important to (this group, this person, this situation) as another person.  It’s still definitely envy and it’s grounded in comparison.  I have come to the realization that, when this “shortcoming” haunts me, it’s because I don’t see myself in the light of my importance to God – which is the only importance that really matters.

1 Corinthians 12:4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant.

Galatians 5:21 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

As I look at these scriptures, it seems to attach envy to coveting  the importance of others in the world’s eyes.  That was a bit eye-opening to me.

And Finally Anger

Jesus makes it very plain that my use of the word "shortcoming" would not be the way He describes anger - it's a slippery slope from anger to sin. Words and actions around us make it so easy to be angry. We have opinions about everything, in the Church, and in the rest of our lives.  Anger seems to be always in the air, in the wind and in the dust.  I must remember that this is not the way of The Master.

Colossians 3:8 but now is the time to cast off and throw away all these rotten garments of anger, hatred, cursing, and dirty language.

Matt 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’  But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. . .

So to net it out

Galatians 5:19-20 The acts of the flesh are obvious: debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, , ,

God is Holy, Good, and Pure. I want to walk in His dust, and He is more than willing to walk with me and give me strength to follow.

Chronicles 16:9 The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

• In pride I put myself in center stage – But the King humbled Himself by entering into our world.
• When I envy another’s situation, wealth, or status – I forget the family status given to me by the grantor of every good thing.  
• When my anger causes me to sin, I forget that when Jesus spoke of anger in His sermons, He even covered it in His discussion about murder.

As always, my friends, I'm looking in the mirror - not at you, but at myself.  We all must determine how well we will follow God's plan in our own lives.

The Open Secret

 

1 Chronicles 29:11 (ESV)  Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.

Dear Friends, lately it has occurred to me that our Christian world's focus seems to be on what God will or can do for me.  But when I think about it, I seem to be drawn to discussions on the Majesty of God, so I've spent many hours pouring through this book with my Bible and notepad.  The book - The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer.  

In this chapter I focused on one thing particularly that the author reminds us of.  He states that, if we are to live as God's  people in this world, we must “Acquaint ourselves with God.”   We must get to know Him as He is, not as we’d like Him to be.  

Mr. Tozer says, “God is not a utilitarian God . . ..  whose chief claim to men’s attention is His ability to bring them success in their various undertakings and who for that reason is being cajoled and flattered by everyone who wants a favor.”

He goes on to say that “The God we must learn to know is the Majesty in the heavens, God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, the Only Wise God, our Savior.”  Tozer almost shouts about the power, the works and the wisdom of God.

He mentions a few things that we can work on in order to “Acquaint ourselves with God.”  Here is one that I want more in my life.  That suggestion is to invest a great deal of time meditating on God as He is - on the majesty of God as our KING. 
 

There is a King of this world, and it is NOT me, NOT my family, Not my country, NOT this earth, NOT science, intelligence or knowledge, NOT strength and NOT my local congregation, a hero or a group.

God the creator is KING, and to truly know Him, I must worship, I must bow, and I must make sure I’m submitting to Him, His will and His truth.

There are no words that can sufficiently describe the Majesty of God, simply because He is not simple.  He is so complex and unknowable that we can only just TRY to know Him better. 
 

Many of us know the truth that God loves us, and that Jesus came and paid an unbelievable price for our eternal salvation.  We’ve been assured that God listens to us as our Father.  All those things we can understand in some way, but His Holiness, His Omnipresence (always, everywhere), His Transcendence (superior, beyond anything we can see or imagine) are somewhat beyond anything we can wrap our minds around, aren’t they?

So my wish is that I can begin to understand a little more, and worship a lot more – that I can rest in His promise that He loves and forgives me, and yet be forever acutely aware of His Majesty.

Love, Diane

 

Wait and Rest

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
  for my hope is from him.  
He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; 

I shall not be shaken. 
On God rests my salvation and my glory;

 my mighty rock, my refuge is God.  
Psalm 62:5-7 (ESV)

I speak to my God as I lie here awake
in the silence, my heart knows He hears.

I speak, and I wait for a word from my Lord, 

trusting He knows all my burdens and  fears.

Soon my God will release a vast vapor of love

that will send all my worries to flight.

No clouds will obstruct the view of His care

as I wait in the still of the night. 

My soul,

it will wait for my God to come near

for He is my shelter from harm.

My soul,

it will wait for His answer tonight.

He’ll give me sweet peace in this storm.

In this world He is steadfast - 

my trustworthy Friend. 

I cannot be lost from his sight.

So I wait for a whisper

from His Spirit of calm

as I silently watch in the night.

Fidelity

Recently we heard a podcast featuring a social movement begun by Dr. Robert P. George, McCormick Prof. of Jurisprudence, Princeton University.  The following is a short synopsis of what he is calling Fidelity Month.

Dr. George writes, "You may have read about the rather disturbing recent WSJ poll indicating a precipitous decline in our fellow Americans’ belief in the importance of such values as patriotism, religion, family, and community—the values that used to unite Americans despite our many differences. There are a million things we can and should do to restore the faith of our people, and begin to heal the dreadful division in our country, but I would like you to join in one small one."

Dr George goes on to explain the steps a person, a church, or a group can take to espouse fidelity to our God, to our families and our country.  I believe that this could be a movement which may change the way we look at our lives, our politics and other people.

Fidelity means: faithfulness to a person, cause, or belief, demonstrated by continuing loyalty and support and allegiance.
 
In a biblical context, fidelity means unwavering faithfulness and loyalty, especially towards God, one's spouse, and within the Christian community. It's about being true to promises, commitments, and duties, reflecting God's own character and the importance of covenant relationships.  This faithfulness is something that I believe is important for us to focus on.

From the Fidelity Month website - "The official symbol for Fidelity Month is a wreath, particularly a myrtle wreath, representing God, His eternal nature, and family unity. The wreath is designed with specific elements: the open top symbolizes divine embrace, the branches and leaves signify family dependence on and union with God, and the star and stripe at the bottom represent America's union. The color gold in the logo symbolizes generosity and compassion, while blue (background) symbolizes truth, loyalty, responsibility, and peace."

Thanks for reading through this. 
I hope it gives us all some food for thought.

Love, Diane 

Love from the Throne

 John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Beautiful words from someone who had been face to face with Jesus.  They were written by a man who was so overwhelmed with his knowledge of Jesus that he continually rehearsed in his mind the fact that Jesus could love even him.

He often referred to himself as “the disciple that Jesus loved.”

I truly believe that it was John’s humility that created those thoughts and words. 

John sees Christ in a special way. John’s words speak of Jesus as “the One who made all things” and “the light of all mankind.” He speaks of Jesus as “the light that shines in the darkness” and cannot be overcome by that darkness.

Can you imagine the way John's heart would pound when he saw our Savior face to face - as he watched Jesus' actions of love for needy people each day?   Can your mind picture his confusion and concentration as he heard the words of God from the mouth of this perfect one?

And finally, can you imagine how he must have felt when Jesus gave him the responsibility to take care of Jesus’ mother – words from the cross?

John spoke of Jesus as the one
who brought the world to life.
He spoke of what he’d seen and knew.
He spoke of Christ who loved him too.

He spoke of Jesus Christ, “The Light”
whose love shown through the darkest night.

His name!
“Immanuel” “God’s Son” “The King”

His purpose!
“Ransom Payer” “Go-between.”

His Gift!
Eternal life for those who bring
a humble faith in offering. 

If I see John, “the one Christ loved”
as a man who looks like me,
a sinful one in need of love, I cannot help but see
a trait that I must strive to have -
it’s deep humility.

If I see me, in Jesus eyes, as I look to heaven above,
then I can say with John today,
“I’m the one that Jesus loved.”

Emotions

Using social media we’ve begun to stress emotions through emojis - hearts, smiles, thumbs up, tears, and several pages of little “meaningful” pictures. They truly are a lot of fun, but are they real?  Do they picture our true emotions?

When we spend time listening to people, I mean really listening to them, we can truly read their heart’s emotions.  And only then might we get an idea of just how we can be a real friend to them.

I heard your heart today my friend

as I listened to the story’s end.

I heard the sorrow in your life and felt the awful pain

that you’ve endured through failing health
or acts you won’t or can’t explain.

I heard your tears, 

they fell 

despite the way you tried

to keep them to yourself – to hide.

Those deep emotions left inside
your broken heart 

held only fears.

I heard your pain. 
I heard the fear.

But friend, I cannot know

enough to help you on my own

or tell you where to Go.

Except
to trust the One who does -

the One who’s always there, 

the One who holds you in His hand

and hears each hurting prayer.

My friends, I pray that I can always be a real friend to you.

Love, Diane