The Plans

I wish I understood what magnificence he planned for me.

I wish too, I understood, what wonders planned for you.

If I could see where he has gone, and where he leads me to,

Then I might be what he will be, because he's taken mine.

What is it Lord that makes me look, at heavens so far out,

And yearns to know, how far they go, and what it’s all about.

I cannot see where you will lead, I cannot call your name,

Because you are so very high, and I so small, the same.

I cannot breathe, because your heights have taken breath away,

And yet I ponder still the word that calls me from them now.

You are so high, and lifted up, and rest upon that throne,

And yet you raise and lift me up, to sit with you alone.

From there I see more clearly still, the plan you made for me.

And know this journeys but a step into your own glory.

Praying is Permission

We went out last night to Ned Houk Park to see the star fields. 
The Milky Way is beyond amazing -
     so vast,  so many stars, so many galaxies. 
The God who made all those made me and lives within me. 

This morning when I considered problems that need solving,
He spoke to my heart and said,  "Give me permission".

This God of all Glory asked permission to bring heaven to earth. 

If I pray asking for the earthly things I need,  knowing that prayer

     is giving Him permission to do them, 
     then it is easy to pray believing. 

Now I understand why prayer is so necessary. 
He wants to be moved. 

The Lord of the Star Fields needs permission to move on earth. 

Jesus prayed this way. 

     "Our Father who art in heaven,... thy kingdom come, 

       thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,".

This request is of course the will of God.

Asking gives heaven permission to bring it into
       the garden of my life. 

I am sure that its the same for you.   Amazing Grace. 

So Grateful...

I am so grateful that God does not change what His word says for me...

And... I am also grateful that when I believe what His word says, 

He will prove what His word says to me.  

God is faithful.   Be grateful. 

Man and the Star Fields

I asked the Lord of the star fields, why are they there?

Why did you put so many of them there?

And he said, “Because I had the space to do it. “

They are so many stars,  all sorts and kinds.

Intricate things, unusual things, everything one can imagine.

Lord, weren’t we enough for you?

And he said, “I made you last.”

The focal point of the heavens,

The yearning of the heart of God,

All reaching across time and all space

To touch God’s man.

I think perhaps we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Forgiving River

I was tired last night, so wasted time watching TV, but there was a change in the usual condeming guilt that follows because of the unfinished tasks and the lack of time spent with important people, the Lord included.
This time I went outside and watched the heavens. I considered the vastness of the galaxies and the glory of God. There came a sense of forgiveness, not just mine, but like a river, one that overflows all the error and lack of this life. It was mine to immerse in, and of course, it also flows over all those I know.
Forgiveness is much more than being forgiven when we are sorry. It has a washing power that takes away the strength of the things  that come to overpower me. It diminishes them even when I have yielded to them. They have less strength against me.

Forgiveness gives me peace. It feels like love.

Love Listens

I am overwhelmed with the awareness of the love of God for people. Today in my office sat a tall man, in his mid thirties, having a broken heart and a rebellious attitude. He has lost more money, mostly thru his own foolishness and the corruptness of others, many of whom are church goers, than most people will ever earn. He had some land to sell. Katharine and I listened to his story.

He was foolish with his inheritance, and prideful. He bought everything he could, and gave away much. But his heart, angry and yet hungry, was still wanting to know the God of his creation.

As we talked and he bragged about his rebellion, his encounters with the sherriff and his in-laws, he seemed to want us to say he was an outlaw. But, we didn't. Every now and then we would talk about the reality of the life of God and the person of God. His eyes would redden and get misty. He bragged on his sufferings as though that would earn him a place with God, but we didn't let that pass. There is only one who has suffered to earn us that place, and it was a free gift to him from God alone.

Then, we told him he could hear God. He got a startled expression... is that true? Why hadn't he ever heard him before? Because of what we have learned, it was now easier to answer. He had heard him, but he wasn't listening for God. So we told him a little of how to be honest with God, and how to listen.

He left our office to go back about his business, but I expect to hear that something changed.
He came from no where, stayed a long time, and we kept seeing that God wanted to keep talking to him, wooing him, paying attention to him. We should have been doing other things, but the awareness that God loved him constrained us. I would not exchange what happens in our little office for all the church services in town.