Texting (part one)

Every Page

"God’s holy, educating Spirit is in His word. A light, a new and precious light, shines forth from every page. Truth is there revealed, and words and sentences are made bright and appropriate for the occasion, as the voice of God speaking to the soul." Ellen G White – {COL 132.2}

"As the voice of God speaking to the soul..."  It is amazing that the King would speak personally to our hearts! He speaks great and marvelous themes, but He also speaks personally intimate ones too. "Words and sentences are made bright and appropriate for the occasion." I have seen Him do this. There have been times I have humbly read His word and had a burden on my heart and He relieves it by bringing to light things in the text I had never noticed before. He has made me recognize that every time I read His text there are personal and specific blessings in store for me. Because I want you to believe that the King is willing to text you about specific needs in your life I will share some of my experiences with God texting me.

Each morning after prayer I write in my journal and unburden my heart before my Father. Afterwards I go to my regularly scheduled Bible study. Here is an excerpt from a few weeks ago... I hope you will bring your burdens to Him and read the Bible looking for his personal texts to you.

June 14, 2012

A day of lasts. The last time I wake up in this house, the last time I walk through my garden, the last time I see the beautiful view out the window. What is in my heart this morning that I want to give to you Father? I guess it is mostly that I am surprised that you are interested in these last moments. That you want to walk through them with me. This is what I pray for that You walk with us and be noticeable to our dull senses.  We are pilgrims. This is a journey....

Please help us find the right place to live. Can you make finding a rental house easy? Should we even rent?  Are there other options?

2 Sam 7
V7 ...I have walked with all the children of Israel...

V10 Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; 

V11 ...Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house.

Thank you for speaking with me. Please give me awe and reverence. Help me not be tricking myself that it is really You texting me. When I realize I am in your presence and You are really engaged in communing with me all my other requests grow dim besides this one, I pray that You save my children.

V 12 I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

V15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him.

This is happiness in my heart, you are faithful, your mercy endureth forever. I can only respond to You as did David,

V18 Who am I, O Lord, and what is my house that thou hast brought me hither to?

I will depend on you. We are not worthy of your goodness, but you are a mighty God, whose name is love.

Racham. Plural (part 2)

For forty weeks and 24/7, love bathed each of my babies.  My lungs breathed so they didn't need to.  My heart beat to give them blood.  I ate things they were unable to digest.  Every cell in me; every thought, every feeling centered around the growing fetus.  I talked to it.  I sang to it. I prayed for it.  I lived my life for it.  A mothers love for her unborn baby is tender and deep.  I believe there may be no words on the planet to express it, yet in Hebrew God multiplies racham to denote that kind of love.  It is defined as "compassion (in the plural); by extension the womb (as cherishing the fetus)..."

Lamentations 3:22 says, "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions (racham) fail not."  God loves us with the same tender compassionate care that mothers have for their babies.  He breathed life into us.  His heart pumped blood to save us.  He drank the bitter cup because we could not do it and survive.  He speaks to us..."And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying,  This is the way, walk ye it in.." Isaiah 30:21.  He sings to us..."The Lord thy God...will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love He will joy over thee with singing."  Zephaniah 3:17  He prays for us..."I pray for them...which Thou hast given me."  John 17:9  He died and lives for us..."For in Him we live, and move, and have our being...for we are also His offspring."  Acts 17:28

There are no words in the universe to describe God's love for us,  it is racham multiplied by omnipotence!

Racham Singular (part 1)

Your father did it as did mine.  He stood over your infant bed and wondered at the miraculous gift he was given.  Inevitably with the back of a finger he fondled your soft cheek.  I have seen my husband do this and it would seem that his rough hands could bruise the tender skin, but they never did.  His touch, full of love and compassion, ran like water over a smooth surface.

That picture expresses God's tender compassion toward all His children.  The Bible says, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him."  Psalm 103:13.  The word pitieth in Hebrew is racham.  It means "to fondle; by implication to love, especially to compassionate..."  Because He is our Father, the Lord watches over us and marvels at the wonderful gift He has in us.  He fondles us with oceans of love and compassion.  In our infantile ignorance we do not recognize the touch, still it changes us.  We are surrounded by it; buoyed up by it, and it makes us live.

Take Up My Cause

Take up my cause and fight for me, Lord,

For I cannot wage this war.

See all the evil that hinders me,

And beats me down to the floor.

Strike with your mighty fists a blow,

Deliver my soul from disgrace.

Give me a faith that trusts in You,

And let me see Your face.

Take up my cause and fight for me, Lord,

Redeem me through Your prayers.

Plead my case, before Your throne

And drive out all my fears.

Fall upon enemies of my heart;

Drive them out to the sea.

Give me Your hand and lift me up,

And save me eternally.

Take up my cause and fight for me, Lord,

Starve out the sin in me.

Rend every thought that feeds my crime,

And teach me to be free.

Help Thou the unbelief in me,

Sustain Your peace in my heart.

Give me respite from the torments within,

And command the evil depart.

Take up my cause and fight for me, Lord,

For victory I plead.

Create a new heart within me, Lord

And this will be all I need.

Faith and Repentance

Faith and repentance must always be linked; when divorced neither remains.

Faith cannot be realized unless it's recipient is worthy of the trust.  We cannot trust a god who is less than holy and perfect.   Being in the presence of Holiness and Perfection highlights our sinfulness and yields repentance.

Repentance without faith is only shame.  Unless there is hope of healing, the sting of guilt and the sorrow for sin remains a galling weight.  True repentance highlights the forgiving character of the injured and yields faith.

"Whoever under the reproof of God will humble the soul with confession and repentance, as did David, may be sure that there is hope for him.  Whoever will in faith accept God's promises, will find pardon." P&P 9726.5)

The 1:05 to New York City

The loud woman is obviously on strong medication, her face is swollen with side effects.  At the gate she complains, "that other bus driver kicked me off the bus because I wanted to find a seat belt.  How was I supposed to know there are no seat belts on buses?"  Pulling her weight up the stairs she hitches her hand on her hip and jerks her head as she confesses to the young man in the front seat that she has motion sickness and would like to sit in the front as she expects to vomit.  Politely the young man gets up and answers, "I'll leave you to yourself.  I'll go find a seat somewhere else." All the way to Springfield she initiates conversation with others.  Her percussive laugh erupts into rapid fire at the end of all her comments. Her gestures are wide and sweeping. The tide of their strength shakes her shirt off her shoulder and unveils a huge American eagle tattoo. Her bra strap looks like a noose around the birds neck. This volatile woman scares me.

 At the transfer we get a new bus and a new driver.  He is tall, and has an almost military haircut.  His broad face and high cheek bones suggest strength and determination.  His gait is steady, long and slow. When he gives boarding instructions his well spoken English is carried on a Russian accented baritone.  I wonder to myself, "How will this former communist react to this wild woman." It seems to me they are type and antitype.  She is the embodiment of all the excesses of American life; too much food, too much medication, too few inhibitions; while he could be a walking poster child for the KGB.  He seems like a no nonsense, well disciplined party member.  His uniform easily adds to the illusion.

At first the loud woman continues her compulsive talking but after a little while she is subdued. I watch her studying the driver. A few blocks out of the station she turns to a college student and says, "Excuse me, can you stop talking so loudly on the phone I am going to take a nap." It is an ironic request, but the girl condescends. Then the Yuri Gagarin look alike picks up the overhead microphone and instructs, "All passengers are requested to refrain from cell phone use unless it is an emergency."  The Russian expatriot is now in league  with the American extraviganza. A strange turn of events! The loud woman now rises to her glory.  She is almost giddy.  Her stories are heady with laughter although they expose one tragedy after another.  The Russian listens and rarely comments, yet he seems genuinely interested.  I wonder if this is part of his special forces training.  Does Peter Pan bus lines have an  in-service titled "How to 
de-escalate loud, overly medicated women"?

As the hours pass the driver never changes, he is just as interested as in the beginning.  The loud woman talks, tells horrible stories from her past and laughs inappropriately.  Oddly enough I imagine the woman is starting to follow the drivers cadence - steady, long and slow.  Her volatile eruptions lessen, then become sporatic and finally the loud woman goes to sleep.  Peace and quiet reign.

The communist's regime was wise. He connected with the woman's heart and showed consistent concern for her until her wild dervishes slowed and she began following his march.  This was a gospel "snippet".  One of those interesting life moments that clarify how God works in our lives.  In God's bus we are the loud lady. Yet He stays by our side, never even hinting at the fact that we are an embarrassment. He listens interestedly and unperceptively in His audience we are changed; the riot gives way to peace.

The Carpenter's Hands, Fingerprints part 3

Mark 6:3 "Is not this the carpenter..."

A carpenter never has soft hands.  Sandpaper, saw dust and splinters leave His skin calloused and thick.  Tender embraces given by those hands will always scratch a face.  He was a carpenter, yet His touch never leaves scars.  It does hurt as He polishes our hearts.  But the pain comes from our resistance not from His hands.  After His work is done the heart gleams, and everywhere there are little circular patterns.  Like wheels within wheels, His fingerprints, stamped in our soul are our eternity.