Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

Psalm 37:34 (The Message)

“Wait passionately for God.”

I think of it like this.

When you’re sitting at the airport to pick up a stranger, you just sit there waiting, thinking about many other things. You’re really not interested in the person coming, more just wanting the wait to be over so that you can go home.

But when you’re waiting there for a sister, a brother, a best friend, you can hardly sit still. You think about your cool memories, and all the things you’re going to do together and you can’t help but smile the goofiest grin. You can’t wait for them to come, not so that you can hurry up and go home, but so that you can be with them, because any place, any situation is made better with them there. You’re excited and expectant for the joy that is to come.

That’s passionate waiting. That’s how we should wait for God.

Carefree

1 Peter 5:7 (The Message)

“Live carefree before God; He is most careful with you.”

Also known as: “Cast your burden onto Jesus, for He cares for you.”

God’s got it all, so we don’t have to. He is strong so we can be weak. He is whole so we can be broken. He knows it all so we can let it go. He can fix it (yes He can!), because we tend to break everything. He never sleeps so we can rest. He never fails and always wins, so losers like us become winners like Him. He is most careful with you so you can become most carefree before Him.

Pump It

Psalm 37:31 (The Message)

“His heart pumps God’s Word like blood through his veins.”

I study commerce, not bio, but I do know (/think) that our blood pumps from our heart and carries oxygen to our muscles, giving us life. So whatever is in our blood, will flow around our bodies and affect our lives. I would love the Word of God to be so deeply inside my head and heart that God’s life would be pumping around my body, that His words would be sustaining me, and that if something had to cut me up to the core, a flow of something good and pure and true would come out of me.

Life & Death

Proverbs 10:21

“The lips of the righteous nourish many.”

Do the things I say nourish people and build them up?
Do I speak life or death?
Are my words filled with hope and life and love and joy?
If not, are my lips righteous?

The Arrows

Psalm 11:2 (The Message)

“The evil bows are bent, the wicked arrow aimed to shoot under the cover of darkness at every heart open to God.”

Satan hates God. Big call, I know, but it’s true. And therefore, the devil is not a fan of hearts open to God. His sole aim is to poison us against God. He continuously shoots poisoned arrows at our hearts. But thank the Lord for His armour. He gives it to us, but we need to put it on. We have the shield of faith to extinguish those arrows of evil and temptations. We need to put on the helmet of salvation to protect our head and its crazy thoughts, the boots of the gospel, to give us a purpose and mission, and pick up the Word sword of the Lord and fight. And as Eph 6 says, let’s be strong in the Lord and stand firm on Christ the Solid Rock.

Face-Plant

Psalm 25:15 (The Message)

“If I keep my eyes on God, I won’t trip over my own feet.”

When we spend our whole lives trying to plan and make things happen our way, we will forever fail and face-plant. The things we can do without God are lame; the things we do for Him and with Him are the furthest thing from lame. If we fix our eyes on Jesus, our Author and Perfector, He’ll guide our steps and lead us out of the uselessness of ourselves and into the awesome things He has in store for us.

More Than Halfway

Psalm 34:4 (The Message)

“God met me more than halfway.”

As Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas would say, “Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh, I can’t go any further than this.” Which is true, we can’t go very far in our own strength. But God waits for us to take just one little step, and He’s there like a bear, meeting us way more than halfway.

Life's A Party

Psalm 27:4-5 (The Message)

“…at His feet. That’s the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world.”

I’m not a fan of loud, crowded parties and places at all, and the world sometimes feels pretty much like one big, overcrowded, noisy party. Not ideal. But what is ideal is having an escape, a quiet, secure place to chill and breathe. When life gets too much, when the pain is too great, when my exhaustion is taking over my world, I can sit at the feet of Jesus, and find love and silence and peace, and I can breathe Him in and simply just be.

Forget Me Not

Hosea 2:13-14

“’She went after her lovers, but me she forgot,’ declares the Lord. ‘Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.’”

We forget about God daily. We spend so much of our time pursuing other lame things, and God becomes an afterthought, a prayer or a thank you a couple times a day. But He is so much more! And despite our disinterest in Him, He longs for us. He longs to woo us, to take us out into a spacious place and speak life and love and tender words over us. He wants to be our sole lover and the lover of our souls.

No Entry

Proverbs 18:19

“An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city.”

I know this feeling. Someone rebukes me or tells me I was wrong, and instantly my heart hardens and I shut them out. I become hurt and more unyielding than a fortified city. That’s quite a comparison. A fortified city has massive walls and guards that shoot whatever comes near. Unless you’ve got armies and shields and battering rams, there’s no getting in.

So when I let offence grab me, my heart becomes a lonely place. I’ll be alone, stuck in my offence, and my friends will grow tired of battering my gate. I need to get over myself and let the walls and the offence go, and let the Love in.

Love Love Love

Proverbs 19:22

“What a man desires is unfailing love.”

We want love, we long for it. We want to be loved when we’re doing well, and even more loved when we’ve screwed up. We want to be loved whether we’re kind or mean, when we’re happy and sad. We long for love when we’re in a crowded room and when we’re alone. We long to be loved when we’re young till we’re old. And only one can love like that. His name is Jesus.

Jesus Christ Is Coming To Town

Proverbs 15:3

“The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.”

Like Santa (just a million times more awesome, and God gives better gifts), God sees us when we’re sleeping, He knows when we’re awake, He knows when we’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake! 

You know those moments when you’re alone, tempted to do something stupid, and you think that no one will know and it doesn’t really affect anyone anyway? Well, the eyes of the Lord are always on you, and He always cares.

Gossip Girl

Proverbs 11:13

“A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.”

Why is it that we find it so hard to keep other people’s secrets? Is it because we feel cool knowing someone’s juicy secret, so we share it to show how cool we are? Is it because we feel honoured that someone would trust us, and we want others to share in that honour? Whatever it is, the bible calls it gossip. Personally, I don’t want to be known as a gossip girl. I want to be trustworthy, and treat other people’s secrets the way I’d like them to treat my own.

Extreme Makeover

Hosea 6:1

“Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but will heal us; He has injured us but He will bind our wounds.”

I love Extreme Makeover Home Edition. I love watching the families’ reactions of joy and disbelief, after "MOVE THAT BUS!" is shouted.  I love how they make such cool houses out of lame, broken buildings. Sometimes all it takes is some cleaning; a fresh coat of paint and some cool new gadgets, and the bus is moved. But sometimes more drastic measures are required. The house is torn down and rebuilt. Sometimes rotting floorboards and leaking roofs just can’t be fixed. They have to be broken down in order to be made new.

If a broken bone is left for too long, it doesn’t set right, and ends up being squiff, probably pretty painful, and a little bit useless. To get it back into place, the doctors have to break the bone and set it straight, and then allow it to heal in the right position. It’s not fun, but it’s necessary. 

The way we think and live is sometimes so screwed up that God has to break us, tear down walls and mindsets, to get us to where He wants us. But He’ll never leave us that way. He’ll heal us, rebuild us, and make us something new and beautiful. And when it’s over and the bus has moved, people will be amazed at the extreme makeover in our life. It’s what He does.

Osama Drama

Proverbs 12:20

“There is joy for those who promote peace.”

Twitter has been exploding with the news of Bin Laden’s death. We love drama. That’s how soapies and movies make billions. We like to watch people dying, hearts being broken and families fighting. If there’s no drama, there’s no intrigue; it’s boring. Drama’s more ‘fun’, more entertaining, but there is more joy, more real joy, in peace, in togetherness. The Bible says that the anointing comes where there is unity. If we want the anointing, we need to want peace too.

Pieces Of Me

Psalm 18:20 (The Message)

“God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before Him.”

A puzzle can never be completed unless you have all the pieces to work with. God only works with that which we give Him; so how can be whole unless we give Him everything? 

We can chose to stay in control, yet be broken in pieces, or we can give it all to Him - our strengths, weaknesses, triumphs, failures, hurt, joy, love, hate, everything -  and be made whole and holy. It’s our call.

Just Do It

Proverbs 6:3

“Go and humble yourself.”

Just do it. Don’t think about it. Don’t consider it. Don’t take time to deeply ponder it. Just get on your knees and humble yourself. Daily. It’s not an option, ‘cause if we don’t, God says He will.