it all depends on your point of view

word for the day:  view

start.

it was breath-taking. really. and as i looked at the water rushing down, out of the side of that jagged rock, i wondered on God's creation.

the roar of Your waterfalls... as deep cries out to deep...

that roar reverberated inside, like the soul's response to the vibrations of a tuning fork. i can feel His voice in the rushing roar. i can drink in His beauty with wonder at the details in His creation.

when He told moses to strike the rock and the water would pour forth... then He told him to speak to the rock and water would spill out... did it happen to look at all like this view?

i see beauty spill forth from the cracks in the rock, and He sees beauty spill forth from the cracks in my heart. what we see as broken, He sees as opportunity for beauty - for His creation to vibrate to the rhythms of His roar.

i guess it all depends on whose point of view you are looking from - ours or His.

and though i seem to think myself the expert on my life and my heart, perhaps i should trust the Creator to bring forth the rushing waters if He sees it fit.

stop. 

if you want to join in, the instructions are below.



5 minute friday rules:
1. write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. link back here and invite others to join in.
3. please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them.

if you write a 5 minute friday, let me know -  i would love to visit your blog and read what comes spilling out when writing against the clock!  

if you haven't liked this facebook page, you can in the upper right of this post.  you can also follow this blog or subscribe in a reader.  i would love to keep in better touch with you! 

charis

when you feel painfully alone

there are painful times in life when it seems that all we can do is grasp for some sort of encouragement to get us through the present moment. these times can either be full of a flood of excess emotion or the opposite absence of emotion. both are a sign of a heart in intense pain. it can be hard to tell which way is up, and time is blurry and abstract. it can be hard to have vision for the current day, let alone the grand scheme of life.

if you aren't in a time of life like this right now, chances are you have been or will be in not too terribly long. as believers, how are we to navigate through these dark nights of the soul when all our hearts want to do is shut down?

come and visit me at 5 minutes for faith to read more. i would love your feedback on how you have walked through one of these seasons.

thanks friends!
charis

simple thanks

such a simple post today - simply counting my blessings from God. when things get tough or even just overly busy, i need to take time to tell Him all the things i am thankful for so that my heart realigns. i want to overflow in thankfulness and gratitude to Him. my life is really so so blessed if i can have eyes to see it.

still counting gifts to 1000...

867 - 891:

867. the Cross is enough for all of my sin.

868. i do not have the pressure of being "good enough" - He died for me at my worst state.

869. having energy today after a couple days of feeling out of it - i take the simple gift of energy for granted so often.

870. beautiful sunny day.

871. a building for our house of prayer! it has been a long time coming... so glad!

872. God is completely trustworthy.

873. He is my Provider, not man.

874. the story of the book of hosea.

875. we have memorized the 1st 71 verses of psalms as a family - only by the grace of God.

876. monday mornings at starbucks, with coffee, my bible, excellencies of Christ teachings, and my knitting needles.

877. colorful self-striping yarns.

878. the hope of something that has yet to be.

879.being able to run 2 miles at a time without knee pain.

880. reading the book of romans.

881. beautiful days that i don't need to run the ac, but can open the windows.

882. learning the way of simplicity.

883. my back pain is getting less and my sleep is getting better as i have been exercising.

884. small tomatoes starting to grow.

885. the piles are shrinking!

886. selling things here and there - a couple dollars at a time adding up and clearing out the unneeded things from my life.

887. fresh fruit season.

888. peaches!

889. God knows what is coming when i don't, so i can trust Him to give me the grace to deal with each trial and each hurdle.

890. my sweet boys. i love them so much. they fill my heart.

891. my patient husband who has stuck with me this long.

i am linked up at a holy experience.



if you haven't liked this facebook page, you can in the upper right of this post.  you can also follow this blog or subscribe in a reader.  i would love to keep in better touch with you! 

please leave a link to your list of gifts in the comments and i will come visit your blog as well!  i love to give thanks together.


charis

what kind of song that will be!

word for the day:  song

 photo by heather armstrong

start.

our God is a God who loves music. have you ever heard the theory that creation was made during a song? i don't know if that is true, but i just love the thought of it. singing creation into being...

right now, surrounding Him on all sides in the heavenly throne room, Jesus has song. they could just be worshiping Him with words or with prostration, but it specifically says there is song. God could have created heaven however He wanted to, and He chose to have the heavenly beings sing to His Son day and night, without ceasing. i wonder what kind of melodies and harmonies they have come up with after singing together for such a long time. i bet it is just breath-taking.

i started studying the book of isaiah a couple years ago, and i was struck by this one messianic passage speaking of Jesus return, and how those from the coast lands would make their way to jerusalem to greet Him singing. maybe it is because i have lived my whole life in california, or maybe it is because of the hard earned music degree i hold, or maybe it just vibrates that chord in me that loves a good song. i just imagine those of us over here on the california coast journeying to jerusalem to see our God who has finally drawn near forever with a joyful song in our mouths and i wonder what the words will be that we are singing. i can hear the laughter in my mind already and the dancing... oh the dancing! i have never been able to stop thinking about that passage when i think about His return.

stop. 

if you want to join in, the instructions are below.



5 minute friday rules:
1. write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. link back here and invite others to join in.
3. please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them.

if you write a 5 minute friday, let me know -  i would love to visit your blog and read what comes spilling out when writing against the clock!  


charis

a confession

want to know a little confession? i personally avoid reading one of the all-time favorite books of the bible.

romans.

i have this inside rebel who doesn't want the commentary in my head of every sermon i have ever heard, coming at the same verse from various differing, often opposing angles, to crowd out the simple understanding of what is written. so i just avoid reading those books of the bible that are widely preached on.

i know. silly. 

well, i just finished up a 5 month study of the gospels and i felt the Holy Spirit urging me, romans. i tried to ignore it. at the same time i felt this fascination and deeper appreciate of the grace by which we are saved. i have been very aware that there is deep brokenness in me that can never earn my way into salvation, no matter how hard i might try. i had to face the facts - i needed a fresh reading of romans and to ask the Holy Spirit to speak to me through it louder than all the other voices in my head.

so here i am, reading romans and going against my inner rebel.

can i tell you that it is encouraging me so much? how could reading about abraham's faith not be encouraging? for "in hope against hope he believed..." and he was "fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform."

now i don't know what that does to your soul, but it bring mine to life! i have read the accounts of abraham in genesis, and this guy seemed to doubt the promises of God. this man cowered to the fear of death, giving his own wife to another man in some effort to save his life. he tried to make God's promise happen through the only way it made sense to him. he lied. he compromised. he made a big mess that caused conflict in the relationships around him.

and yet, God saw that glimmer of faith inside of him, He saw the desire to believe and obey - that only could be there if God Himself put it there - and He said, well done my son.

though we desire to obey God and really walk the way Jesus walked, not loving our lives unto death, we will mess up. we will lie. we will compromise. we will make big messes. but God sees down into our deepest parts to the desire He put in us to believe against all hope that He would be faithful and see us through this mess. He sees this desire deep inside to believe that God is good and is who He says He is, even when it is dark and cloudy and it is hard to make sense of how He will fulfill His word to us. God sees and He credits our faith - our trust - in Him as righteousness.

...and He is pleased with us.
 
as much as i desire to walk in holiness and devotion to Jesus, may i never put my hope in something i am able to give Him. may i only put my hope in the One who gave everything for me. may i come out on the other side of this mess leaning on my Beloved One.

it is because of my mess ups and failures that i believe. it is because all the sums of my worst days doesn't disqualify me for His kingdom, and He is able to take this broken imperfect person and make me into someone He wants to spend forever with. it is because He alone is faithful, even when i try to be faithful and fail again and again, i believe.

how about you? are there books of the bible you often avoid (or am i the only rebel in the bunch!)? 

are you aware lately of your own struggle and weakness to follow Jesus rightly?

charis