sometimes i let my hunger rise,
and think of all You are,
You are the love of my life
_falling up "falling in love''
do you love Him?
how do you know?
something i've been pondering through the past few days is how the Lord will speak to me
in just a subtle, soft way to whisper "I love you!" now, nearly every single time this happens
to me i'm at work or with people and am so overwhelmed, my heart feels to bursting and so
whatever i am thinking or doing at that moment in time, i mentally and spiritually pause and
just LOVE Him back! (most people call this intimate moment worship) i guess this is a very
revolutionary thing for me, to worship without melodies or words even being sung. no one
is lifting their hands, there is no underlying rhythm of the moment, it is simple the Creator
and His creation, as one, in union, in a moment that is so beautiful it's past mere comprehension.
as i've worked retail more and more and learned new things, been exposed to different stuff
than years past, i had started to despise this time of year so many dub "the holidays". for
someone who works retail, "the holidays" means higher traffic in your store, typically crabbier
customers, really cheesy and almost too cheery tunes that should make you smile but instead
make you want to grumble when you first hear them. the store fronts are decorated with
"best sale of the season!" and "great black friday specials!!" "holiday fashions now in!" and my
favorite "warm up with great savings!"
not only do all of these things push and push and push the time of the year on us, but we are
bombarded by images of the "perfect" family holiday -- movies, photos, commercials, and
our expectations of each other rise. this only breeds disappointment and typically (in my
experience at least) arguments and fights that have no place at this time of the year.
the problem is very clear to me, yet it amazes me at how many don't see it.
as a society, we are using "the holidays" to try and create warm, fuzzy feelings within ourselves,
we're attempting to manifest joy and 'peace on earth' in a 'cup of good cheer' when really all we
need is Jesus! if we would just give our days and ourselves over to Him in all of their fullness,
none of these distractions would deter us from remembering the REAL reason for WHY we
have Thanksgiving, for WHY we have Christmas!! our AMAZING God came down in PHYSICAL form to this LOWLY earthly place, to be born in a body as we are, so that He could testify to
every good truth of God and to give us LIFE!
now, sure, those of us who are Christians do the "manger scenes" and "tell the Christmas story"
but our hearts aren't really in awe of Him and the actuality that the One who made EVERY
SINGLE THING in this life and the next left His PERFECT place to come among US filthy,
sinful and BROKEN... and He came in love. and He showed us what love IS. He taught us that
every good and perfect thing comes from Him, not our emotions, not our desires, not even our
good intentions to give during this time of year.
as i pondered all of these things at work today i began to be filled more and more with a passion
and a hope to LIVE more FULLY this year and this season than ever i have before!
in years past, Thanksgiving and Christmas to me would always be about the family time spent
together baking, and shopping and watching specials on tv. the bonding that occurred when we
would gift shop for each other was something that you couldn't just re-create....but still, on
Thanksgiving night, and Christmas night, i would go to bed and i couldn't help feeling that i had
missed out on something huge. ...maybe i hadn't sat close enough to my sisters, or maybe i
hadn't sung enough carols...but then again i knew that wasn't really it either.
when it all comes down to it, we are not loving Him as He deserves this time of year.
we aren't even seeing and knowing Him as He wants us to! we're letting the depiction
of Him that the world has offered us year after year, cloud our minds with images of
Him that may not even be true!
example: our american depiction of the manger scene is 3 wise men bringing gifts to Christ
as an infant when in actuality, we do not know how many wise men there were! indeed yes
they brought Him gifts of incense, gold and myrrh but no where in the Word does it say 3
of them.
to all of my blog readers, i challenge you to re-discover the Jesus you think you know.
is He who the world is painting a picture of or who He said He is?
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