I don't always know best...... hmmmm!  Really?

In quietness and trust you accomplish far more than you can imagine

A little over seven years ago I fare welled my eldest child at the airport as he embarked on his journey overseas, a young man standing in his own right apart from the familiarity and safety of our daily relationship.  It was a time of intense grieving at our separation as I watched with mixed emotions this precious and dearly loved Being, who I had nurtured and poured my love into for so many years, leave my immediate sphere of influence, chomping at the bit to give Life a shot his way, as he must.   

Over ensuing months I reflected on many aspects of our journey together including mistakes made in my parenting but nonetheless, held tightly onto the Hope in whom I place my Faith and Trust that I had done enough correct things to have prepared him sufficiently.

Six years on he had his 30^th birthday, a significant milestone, one I dearly longed to be with him to celebrate but it was not to be.   I became resigned to this after a time, a time that included dealing with some dark and nasty heart issues of resentment, resisting and overcoming bitterness, accepting that I am powerless over people, places and things which inhibited my ability to be physically present with my son. 

when you trust Me in all situations, 

you release that problem or person into My care.

 

It has taken another year of compounding circumstances that appeared in my perception to gang up to keep me away to become revealed as Sovereign Providence and Wisdom, which foresight could not have predicted, only hindsight can review and gratefully comprehend.

Three weeks ago I was notified by my son that he was scheduled for surgery on his spine.  He injured his back at work in June and subsequent investigations showed he  required a operation to remedy and prevent potential further damage.   

A week later, I was running from the domestic terminal to the international departure lounge to make the plane and got there with three minutes to spare, thanks to an airport buddy I conversed with while waiting for the shuttle who then helped me with unfamiliar changes to airport protocol implemented since I last travelled.  

Surgery two days later has been deemed successful and we are now in the healing, rest and recovery phase with a reassessment in one month. 

I am increasingly aware of how one year ago I easily could have stamped my feet just a little harder and entered into a destructive manipulative tantrum to achieve what my mother heart desired, but how in His greater Plan, and with immense Patience and abundant longsuffering, Father and my precious husband, thank you Don, let me pout and posture knowing my heart would eventually surrender to His Divine Will as He knew I was going to be needed on the ground NOW.

This unconditional Love that allows His children to wander, plot and ponder while attempting our feeble efforts at controlling Life, has brought me yet again to my knees in gratitude, humbled by Father’s everlasting abounding Love.  I entered into agreement with Him many years ago, giving Him the Position of Father in our lives and have seen evidence in many situations that He is fulfilling all His Promises, to ‘keep’ not only me, but also my children. 

 

What a wonderful Pappa. 

In quietness and trust you accomplish far more than you can imagine; when you trust Me in all situations, you release that problem or person into My care.

I am with you always, 

to the very end of the age.

                                                        

These were the last words I spoke before ascending into heaven.  

I continue to proclaim this promise to all who will listen.  

People respond to My continual Presence in various ways.  Most Christians accept this teaching as truth but ignore it in their daily living.  Some ill-taught or wounded believers fear (and may even resent) My awareness of all they do, say and think.  A few people centre their lives around this glorious promise and find themselves blessed beyond all expectations.

When My presence is the focal point of your consciousness, all the pieces of your life fall into place.  As you gaze at Me through the eyes of your heart, you can see the world around you from My perspective.  The fact that I am with you makes every moment of your life meaningful.*

As disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ we practice pursuing Him in all our thoughts and actions daily, just as a child is constantly mindful of a parents teaching, a servant to a master, employee to employer but with an added difference.  The consuming desire for Him, to involve Him in every thought, to not hide our shortcomings, lack of skill, comprehension or have any fear of reproach and correction leads us to experience His unbounded Love that we are immersed in, which constantly keeps us drawing from His River of knowledge, righteousness, truth and exercising the faith muscle resident in our very essence.

David was so affected by the Presence of God that all his other exploits pale in comparison to his abandoned heart for God. We know that he learned to see into God’s realm because of statements like, “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.” The Presence of God affected his seeing. He would constantly practice recognizing the Presence of God. He saw God daily, not with the natural eyes, but with the eyes of faith.**

The blessings that flow beyond expectation are found in the small things every day, such as the gift of access to the vast ocean, a windswept west coast with black sand displaying its own uniqueness in stark contrast to pristine white sands we enjoyed on Chatham Island or family sharing in a simple meal at a time when the world is stressed to the maximum with its hungry pursuit of the trappings of gifts, tinsel and other stuff at Christmas or Easter; relaxing in fellowship with friends as we mull over His significance in our lives with encouragement and exhortation to continue pursuing Him are just some of our many priceless memories and testament to the wondrous workings of Abba.

Every moment of life is meaningful.

      

     

We pray that as life’s journey continues you will ‘see’ many blessings with spiritual eyes, discerning His Truth and His ways that convey us into ever deeper intimacy with Him and into greater Freedom.

Don & Hannah 

Originally written 2012; edited for this reposting 

*Jesus Calling Devotions for Every Day of the Year: Sarah Young

** Bill Johnson

Consider the Lillies

(and the feijoas)

 

How often do we grasp tightly to what we have out of fear of what we may not have when our current supply is used?

I was sitting in the sun outside a couple of days ago; we'd just had a wee rock'n'roll earthquake that seemed to last for several minutes (no damage to life or property).  As I settled back into enjoying the moment, a light breeze blowing, birds tweeting nearby, a neighbour obliviously mowing a lawn, a bee flew past heading to a magnolia flower just beyond my shoulder.  Staying perfectly still, I watched it negotiate it's way into the petal then expertly do it's thing, busily working away before departing with a decent load of pollen strapped to it's legs.

 

It is only a few short years since we had nothing at all in our pantry.... in fact, only three years have passed since we were taken to the end of ourselves; our jobs were gone, finances completely exhausted with access to any credit permanently removed, and pride and self-sufficiency were given a thorough work-over on the anvil as we were hammered to a new depth of trusting while patiently waiting for Father's will to be revealed and obeyed. 

Looking in our pantry today, I'm astounded at the abundance contained within, gratitude and thankfulness overflowing.  However,  almost as rapidly a sense of sadness crept over me as I recalled the extent of trust we chose to tenaciously exercise often moment by moment, and yet the experience drew us in to closer total dependence on Father, to trusting and encouraging each other as we frequently sat hand in hand waiting for Him to provide.  

I suddenly had a yearning for just a dusting of those days to return to the present.  Such precious intimacy in relationship was established in the Three Strand Cord, such great joy, a simplistic, uncluttered state of being, and wholly consuming Peace beyond all understanding continually flowing through our veins are our daily witness. 

Nothing has been lost, everything has been gained.

Sit with the Creator awhile this day and let Him show you marvellous wonders.  They exist - all around you. 

Allow yourself ample time to be immersed in His Love.

You truly are the apple of His eye.

Cease striving to keep your pantry full. 

It already is.

 

No You Can’t, Uh Uh, No Way!

January 29, 2014 by breadforthebride

So there was Jesus making His way along the road. And there was the usual crowd, pressing, squabbling, gawking, chattering.  Seems a familiar scenario – Jesus and crowds go together, right?  No, not this day.  This day Jesus turns, faces the crowd and presents them with something they didn’t come for.

“You can’t follow Me” He tells them.

“He’s joking, right?  Here we are, right here, Jesus, right behind You.  You can plainly see we’re following You.”

“No, you can’t follow Me” He repeats.

Not “you should go home now and come back tomorrow”; not “I need some quiet time”; but simply “You are unable to follow Me!  To be frank you don’t have what it takes.”

Well, we know that Jesus was good at drawing crowds but we don’t always realize how good He was at dispersing them. This day He’s sure to do just that.  He continues, seemingly determined to spoil their party.

“You want to follow Me?  Well there are conditions.  Let me clarify. First you need to hate your family.”

“What did You say?  Have you been affected by the sun? We thought You were all about love.  What do You mean You want us to hate our families?

“Not only that, you need to hate your own lives.”  

“Huh?  There You go with that ‘hate’ talk again.  How can we hate our own lives?”

“And you can only come after Me carrying a Cross.”

“Did You say a cross?  You mean a Roman cross, those barbaric instruments of execution?  You want us to carry one?   Jesus, You’re not making sense here.  We came to join the Kingdom You’ve been talking about. Those Romans will be history, won’t they?”

“To follow Me You must utterly abandon all that you’ve accumulated, all your expectations of a normal life, all your plans and all your entitlements.”

“Come on Jesus, what are You getting so intense about?  We ‘re Your support crowd; we’re Your fan base.  Are you hearing us Jesus? This is heavy stuff You’re throwing at us.  How about some healings or demon thrashing instead?   You know we love You Jesus, but chill out a bit OK?”

“Would you begin a building project without first calculating if you had enough money?  I’ve told you the price of following Me. Do you really think you can afford Me?

Or would a king with limited resources contend with a far greater king, without considering first what he may lose? I’ve told you what I expect from you.  These are my terms of your surrender to My Kingship.  Do you still want to follow Me?”

(Luke 14:25-33, paraphrased by me).
===========================================================================

We can rationalise the cost of following Jesus as much as we like.  We can renovate the gospel by dumbing down His conditions of discipleship till it tickles our ears just nicely.  Over two thousand years of institutionalized Christianity we’ve done just that.  The loudest gospel being preached today is not the real deal.   It depicts the Cross as a church ornament celebrating a vague, historical event and remains silent on radical commitment to the Crucified One.  It courts the fickle, money wielding crowd and spurns the few who hunger and thirst for righteousness.  It mass produces believers but is barren of disciples.

But the truth is unless we believe Jesus means what He says and says what He means, our discipleship is a sham.  We can’t follow Him, no we can’t, end of story.

The truth is that true discipleship is costly, the Cross is a place devoid of compromise, and Christ demands all of our life in exchange for all of His.   The truth is when our hearts burn with love for Christ, others we love may feel hated in comparison and they’re not going to be happy about it.

The truth is when we truly follow Christ it’s not business as usual and anything can happen.   The truth is some days He’ll lead us to the mountaintop, other days He’ll lead us to Calvary.

The truth is there is a difference between believers and disciples:  believers merely agree, disciples follow.   The truth is it’s those who know they can’t follow who are enabled by Him to follow.

The truth is the Bride follows the Lamb wherever He goes.    The truth is the Bride is not a crowd, she is a remnant.

And the truth is, Lord, we don’t know what it will cost us to follow You unconditionally wherever You go, but this we do know and believe: You are more than worthy of whatever the cost.   Selah!


© Cheryl McGrath, Bread for the Bride, 2014   Copyright Notice: Permission is granted to freely reproduce any Bread for the Bride articles in emails or internet blogs, unaltered, and providing this copyright notice is included.     To permanently display an article on any static website please contact me for permission.

Reblogged with permission from author Cheryl McGrath, January 2014