Category: Glory of God

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Healing the Blind

Photo credit: Ole C. Salomonsen
http://www.articlightphoto.no

Some days reading the scriptures you are just struck by the power, and the insight. I read in Isaiah 29: 17-21 that one day “the blind shall see out of obscurity and darkness…”
I read those words and saw something I had not noticed before. The light of God’s glory bring clarity to our souls, our hearts, and minds. His light reveals the truth of His promises, and when He created the Light from darkness, it was not just a physical manifestation, but also an inner one. Who but God could bring sunlight, and Son-light into our reality to show the beauty, power and majesty of Light. This light opens eyes and souls to the wonder that is God and it is always present. When the Israelites left Egypt, God used His Light – a pillar of fire- to light the way and turn away the darkness of their fears. They experienced the power of His protection, the loving warmth of His embrace and faithfulness, and the regenerating healing of His spirit while in the wilderness. They also had the pillar of cloud-His cloak of protection which gave the perfect amount of covering from enemies, and elements.
Healing the blind is not just the physical, but also spiritual healing. We come out of obscurity and darkness into His marvelous light. With every step in our personal wilderness, God slowly removes the veil from our minds, hearts, souls and we experience true lasting healing.

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As the Deer

Photo credit: Denise L. White

“As the deer pants for streams of water,    so my soul pants for you, my God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.    When can I go and meet with God?” Psalm 42: 1-2 NIVThe desire to seek after the Lord should be constant.   Our lives never satisfied with material things, needless activities and experiences.  That’s why we consume more, fill our homes with stuff and go from relationship to relationship, because our souls are missing God.  We need the living water that only He can provide. By drinking of the life-giving, soul satisfying, spirit filling waters of God, we find soul satisfaction no earthly pleasure can match.

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All Things New

The film by Mel Gibson, The Passion of the Christ depicts the last 12 hours of Jesus Christ on earth.  If anyone who has seen the film can’t help but be moved by the gruesome, horrific scenes.  However, there are some poignant ones.  One in particular tugged at my heart.  Jesus’ mother running to get closer to Jesus as he’s carrying his cross.  Followed by a disciple and the other Mary, she stopped with tears dripping down her face, frozen in time as her mind floats back to a earlier time.  
Caught between two moments in time, she remembers,when he was a child and had fallen and she ran to comfort him, and now this moment her son now a man has fallen to the ground, bloody, bruised, beaten.  She runs to him again and gently touches his face when he speak to her in whispers, “See mother, I make all things new.”  Sorrow and hope wrapped in precious blood surrounded by sneers, taunts, whips, angry voices.  Abundant life slowly, straining with every painful step through Via Dolorosa to create a new, bright shiny life for the world-for you and me.

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A Soul’s Rest

This morning the skyline was gleaming with purple light, the whole world seems to be rising quietly, softly with the dawn. I began the day with Psalm 69: 6-36, but paused on verses 30-32[KJV].

“I will praise the name of God with a song, and magnify Him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull. The humble shall see this and be glad; And you who seek God, your hearts shall live.”

I arose with the dawn, and a song of praise upon my lips for the blessing of my Savior.  His wonderful gift at Calvary has restored me, and given me a new life.  My soul is at rest-secure in this knowledge.

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Life Eternal

Life eternal—eternal love. Nicholas of Cusa was a Christian mystic who lived during the 1400s wrote Vision of God. One quote that touched me deeply last night was “Life eternal is nought other than that blessed regard wherewith Thou never ceasest to behold me, yea, even the secret places of my soul. With Thee to behold is to give life; ’tis unceasingly to impart sweetest love of Thee; ’tis to inflame me to love of Thee by love’s imparting, and to feed me by inflaming, and by feeding to kindle my yearning, and by kindling to make me drink of the dew of gladness, and by drinking to infuse in me a fountain of life, and by infusing to make it increase and endure.”

To know love so completely that you glow with the radiant light of the Son. To feel the warm embrace of His loving arms around you in any and all situations. To see His loving reflection in your eyes, and know that all is well with your soul. That is life eternal.

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Trust God

Here is a question for today: Do we really believe God? This is one of those questions that should cause the believer to stop and think carefully.
Because if one truly believes God is who he says He is, then we should be okay with God running our lives. Right? After all God is our creator, the Father of us all, and He knows precisely why we were created. He gave us gifts, skills, talents and abilities. He knows our beginning, our middle and our ends. He was before us and holds eternity in His hands. He created everything and design this magnificent world for us to live in. So why don’t we trust Him enough to let go of the steering wheel, or enough to seek His guidance daily? It is an interesting question, because I know from personal experience I stumble around often because I failed to go to God and get the much needed help. Why this is so difficult? Why the hesitation and fear? God knows what best, and He certainly knows what’s around the next corner.

Proverbs 3: 5-6 states,
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.” [NIV]
Why is this so difficult? Maybe because we don’t truly believe God. Well, maybe today you and I can adjust our focus and take our hands off the steering wheel long enough to trust our loving, all knowing, all powerful Father to do what He does best-everything. Let’s trust God for the answers to all the questions. He can certainly do a better job of running things than we can.

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The Same Love

The Same Love by Paul Baloche

Isn’t it amazing what music can do to the soul of man? It can lift the soul, encourage the soul, and even drag it down.  A good melody can soothe a crying bady, and calm frayed nerves.  God created a love song; an epic sonnet composed of sunlight, and starlight, warm breezes, crystal blue waters, green flowing grasses.  This same love that created the universe, and each planet in perfect position, created you and me.

Sing a song of love to the creator of “this same love.”

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Opening Your Heart to God

Read any good books lately? Ones that stimulate, encourage, inspire, and uplifts you. I just finished a wonderful book by author Marilyn Brown Oden,”Abundance. Joyful Living in Christ.” It captures the inner work necessary to locate the source of abundant living. Ms. Oden skillfully leads the reader on the journey of discovering God through insightful stories and tidbits. One of the tidbits which jumped at me in the first chapter was an amazing quote from a Fifth century Spiritual leader, Abba Poeman. He said “Do not give your heart to that which does not satisfy your heart.” That quote alone was worth the cost of the book.

The quote is a true statement. We do give our hearts to all sorts of things that do not create light, and love, nor help us fulfill our destiny. The Bible calls them idols, and there are lots of them. These things never satisfy us.

God is the only source, the person who can satisfy our hearts. We are told to love Him with everything we have, to place Him first, to have no other gods before Him. And for those who do, something remarkable happens. We become sensitive and open to His call. And with that our hearts, our very souls experience true fulfillment.

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Light and love

Go Light Your World
A pastor in Detroit, Michigan asked the question during a sermon, “What does light mean in the life of women?” He went on to say that inner spiritual and moral transformation takes place when there is a single-minded commitment to the Lord and his will. So what does light mean and what does it have to do with love?
Well, here is my take on the question. We are called to do God’s will. This requires us to work according to our divine destiny. We are to radiate light and love in those dark corners we encounter each day. Our light and love must be seen and felt by those around us. As we do, a transformation takes place. Those hidden, distorted, crumbling, dark places of our soul gets the image and characteristics of Christ. Imagine it? A change – the true one – the real one unfolds into an anointed, sweet fragrance – a blessed altar motivating others to enter into the Holy presence of God. As a result, there is love for our neighbors( Matthew 22:39), and yes even love for our enemies (Matthew 5:44).
This “Lovelight” appear because we make a single-minded commitment to make it visible. In Philippians 4:8, scripture tells us to “Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things”. The world needs our “Lovelight” shining brightly, and not hidden under the rubble of today, the distractions, the chaos, or the constant dim of darkness. We need to remain focus on those things that bring light and love and stay connected to the source, so our light can shine all the more.

The world needs to see and to experience our “Lovelight” as it is connected to the source of all love – GOD!
So what does light and love mean to you today? Is your “Lovelight” showing? I hope so, because the world needs it.

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The “nature” of love

Psalm 91:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork”.(KJV) All nature shows the love of God. In the beginning, God created a world filled with His glory and His love. He loved us enough to fill the earth with beautiful things-blue skies, and blue oceans, green grass, and flowers in all sorts of color. Mountains, hills, rivers, trees – the firmament shows his handywork. Today was a beautiful day. The birds were singing, blue skies, blooming trees, and flowers, and I thanked God for sharing his love of nature with us.