snippets of wisdom

From A.W. Tozer’s “The Pursuit of God“

We have almost forgotten that God is a Person and, as such, can be cultivated as any person can. It is inherent in personality to be able to know other personalities, but full knowledge of one personality by another cannot be achieved in one encounter. It is only after long and loving mental intercourse that the full possibilities of both can be explored…

Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking…

How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers. Everything is made to center upon the initial act of `accepting’ Christ (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the Bible) and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls. We have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him we need no more seek Him… In the midst of this great chill there are some… who will not be content with shallow logic. They will admit the force of the argument, and then turn away with tears to hunt some lonely place and pray, `O God, show me thy glory.‘ They want to taste, to touch with their hearts, to see with their inner eyes the wonder that is God.

Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain.

Let’s not make Him wait anymore. Will we earnestly seek Him?

In someone else’s words…

I’ve found it quite hard to write these past weeks, but reading a post on Shawn’s blog I found that he had managed to express, albeit in his own words, what I was trying so hard to get a hold of. Here’s the excerpt so you guys can understand for yourselves.

What I have recently realized is that although I survived the transition from one season to another, I am not doing to well at navigating this new season. If you’re like me – and I imagine that you probably are – then you try to do the same things the same way when you move into a new season, only to find out that it doesn’t work that way. A new season in God often requires new disciplines and a new approach to encountering God.

Ultimately, as we navigate the ups and downs of life, we can come to a place where our inner man is in constant communion and fellowship with Christ within and the Holy Spirit. And that is precisely why this new season of mine is a gift from God. I have been massively challenged to encounter God in meetings and emails and isolated graphic designing.

The renowned Brother Laurence taught it best.

Our sanctification does not depend as much on changing our activities as it does on doing them for God rather than for ourselves.

He said that it was a serious mistake to think of our prayer time as being different from any other. Our actions should unite us with God when we are involved in our daily activities, just as our prayers unite us with Him in our quiet devotions.

It is the same resolve that Paul had: to count all things as loss for the excellence of knowing Christ. Our relationship with God cannot be based on external circumstances. It must become an inward reality that supersedes pressures, responsibilities, blessings and trials.

What more can I say really? All my empty promises lie broken at His feet, but He has never broken one… He gives beauty for ashes.

Who

do You say that I am?

just let my heart

be alive.

let it be living deep deep on the inside.

on my way to the oven… burn down, Father, burn it all down, up, around.

do what only You can do.

breakdown

immintent…

but kind of in a good way.

“oh, what a lousy excuse for a car
one mile to go, but i can’t push it that far
i think i’ve had enough
i think i’m, i’m giving up

saved all my money to buy a new guitar
then i got ripped off by the guy who fixed my car
i think i’ve had enough
i think i’m, I’m giving up

once again life’s thrown me a curve, and it blew up right in my face
once again life’s rattled my nerves
don’t you see that i’m stuck in the place?

all because, you’re giving me a …breakdown, breakdown ohh

stuck on the side of the road
emotional over-load.
He’ll seek and destroy
everything that I love more
I’ll be the one he takes down
I’ll breakdown in His arms.”

In my weakness He is made strong

*Lyrics from Relient K… but I modified some parts to match my overall beliefs

still standing

Oh but we are frail creatures.

It is too often we fall short of what is expected (Romas 3:23). There is a yes in our hearts, longing to fit into a mold of perfection. As we wake up each morning and stand before the mirror we see glimpses of many things. Who we are, what we do, where we’re from… who we are to become. Many times we loose sight of these things and just see what seems to be there. Weakness. Frailty. Broknennes. Reluctant and hesitant in nature. Those days are the best kind of day to see who you really are, but only if you pay attention closely.

As I stood last Friday, guitar clinging to my body, heart exposed on my sleeve I literally felt like I couldn’t remain standing anymore. As I felt the pressure on my knees, on my feet, on my back, I was seconds away from breaking out in tears. I felt completely incapable, for the first time I really felt and knew I had nothing to offer, my mind was blank, my heart pounding softly reminding me I had not slept more than 3 hours in the past 2 days. I was tired. The week’s roundabout had taken it’s toll on me. I could feel it and yet somehow, I was still standing. God spoke to me softly. My little fighter, stop fighting me.

When David wrote “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” (Ps 139) there is a connotation  implying he was, or had been, running away from God’s prescence.

I don’t know about you, but many times, stuck in the mundaneness of this world, I come to realize I myself am running away… lost in the to-dos, routines and habits.

However, at the end of the day, sitting in my room in prayer I come before my God with the obvious realization. “You have hedged me behind and before (Ps 139), you have hedged up my way with thorns (Hos 2:6)” and I’ve felt the pricks, and I’ve run into walls, and yet you hold me here, and in spite of me, I’m still standing.