The Making of You

We can be shaved down, sharpened, fine-tuned per se, and then be more useful for lovely (loving) works.  The hard layers removed do not lessen us, they set us free.  The willingness to be transformed by Him always leads to a greater good, a more potent message, a more beautiful outcome, though, like the alpine flowers and distant galaxies, He may be the only one who sees.  It is enough.  It is that precious place of being in direct contact with the hand of God who never abuses the vulnerability of our willingness to become what He envisions.  He is the master Artist and we couldn’t imagine what He will do if given time and space in our lives.

Photograph by Anita

Two Parts: The Vessel and The Filling

Perhaps each morning God views His people like the vessels that Elisha told the widow to gather.  He will fill up anyone who shows up to be filled with what He wants to provide for the real life needs of the day ahead, for the people who need a word of hope and encouragement, for some kind of practical provision, for the situations that can be responded to with outbursts or with wisdom, for our own provision and well-being.

He has much for us.  Be available and attentive.  Get what He wants to give you.  We can go into our day prepared by getting filled before we set out.  Then we will have something of greater worth to give.

Jesus has gathered us.  We start by being quiet and obedient, like the widow, behind the closed doors where no one sees; that’s where He does the filling.  We are the vessels in our communities for our time.  We are filled with oil, the anointing of His Spirit for the dryness that is so rampant.  He will not be stingy in the provision.

Don’t be discouraged if we are coming to Him totally empty.  That just means there is more room to be filled with Him, a better position than if we are so full of ourselves that there is little room for the things with what He would want to equip us.  So many times we miss the treasures of the better things we could be available to give.

Will the vessel of “you” be useful to His dreams today?

“We carry this precious message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives.”  A stunning opportunity.

Photograph from morguefile.com by Melodi2

The Colors of Trust

My reading this morning took me to Matthew 4.  Jesus was in His last moments of preparation before His ministry began, but it was a situation that fully counted on its own also.

He was spot on, even in these temptations where He could have easily fed His appetite, taken an uncalled step as a test of God’s care and abilities, and started His own kingdom at a hefty price (at a cost determined by someone who didn’t even own it).  He did none of it.  He knew that each moment stands on its own merit.

Each day is full of little vignettes that let us paint with the colors of faith and trust.  No Plan B option gains us enough that we should be careless with the moment we hold.  He is more than enough for us to trust right in the thick of this one.

I am not sure that His call to the first disciples would have held such power if Jesus had spent the week before distracted by secondary things.  Of course He was hungry and had come to build a kingdom.  But He didn’t get confused about how it would be built and what He was most hungry for.

In all things, keep your vision set, ears open, heart responsive.  He adores you. He will be faithful.  Trust Him and enjoy the adventure of what His faithfulness to YOU will look like--a unique and beautiful story, as you are formed into the beautiful image of God’s Son.  His vision for you is dazzling, no less passionate than when He breathed galaxies into existence or spoke rainforests’ fascinating details into being.  Trust Him for His timing and provision.  He is more than enough to bring the exact right hues at the perfect time.

Photograph from morguefile.com by lauramusikanski

Yes and No

“Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no’.”  It takes an equal amount of heart and courage and determination for both, and rare is the person who has the wisdom to speak the right one at the right time.  

Get wisdom.  It comes from both hearing and trusting.  If you have ears you are a good candidate. Go for it!

Matthew 5:37

Photograph from morguefile.com by GaborfromHungary

Woman at the Well

I stand at the edge of mystery.  I feel the fibers that wisp into vague.  I take one in hand, following its path to substance.  The mystery increases in the knowing.  There is always more, so much more.

He is not a God to pin down like a science specimen, to capture and analyze.  He is vast.  He is endlessly good.  He is living still and breathing His work forward like a waterfall of power and beauty that then runs into all the unexpected tributaries to feed and refresh every weary soul.  Start the adventure.   Explore Him.  You will never exhaust all the love and knowing that can be found.  A lifelong treasure hunt.  Wisdom, provision, delight to be discovered in what looked for all the world like a desert.  He is a deep well in every place of need.

Photograph from morguefile.com by lauramusikanski

Be Filled

There is so much more than we knew.  How full of Him can we become?  How much of His love can we discover?  How much can we share?  There are empty vessels all around us waiting for a cup of good news.

photograph from morguefile.com by pippalou

The Planting, The Harvest

The soil may look like just dirt, simply something to walk on to get to a better place, but it is the thing, when well tended and available, that can produce food for many, can support mighty roots of an oak tree in the years to come.  

Your heart is precious and powerful.  

Your life is a magnificent field.

Don’t let it be offered for just anything to be planted there.

Photograph from morguefile.com by miteshtake