There is only 1 way to experience full life!

We weren't designed to live in this world apart from our father. When we try, we get desperately lost. Our father invites us to walk with him, but will never force us. As long as we breath, he will never leave us or stop wooing us with his love. Living life on our own, apart from his guidence leaves us stumbling around in the darkness. We end up becoming slaves to sin, that so easily entangles, as it slowly destroys every good thing in our lives. Sometimes when we see that's not working for us, we search for programs, systems, rules to live by. We weren't created to live by the rigidity of a program. It only leaves us feeling frustrated and never measureing up. Jesus never asked us to follow a system, but to follow him. We were created for a relationship with our Heavenly Father. Drinking in his unconditional love transforms us. As we begin to awaken (yes, it's a process, a lifelong process) to that pure love, that grace that loves us and forgives us despite our ugly choices and reminds us of our incredible worth, we begin to love as we've been loved. When we experience unconditional love rather than harsh judgement, we can't judge others because we weren't judged at our ugliest. It's a fruit, not something we produce by self effort. It's the fruit of fellowship with a loving father. You've heard the expression, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree... Well if we see father as a harsh, angry judge that will punish us or withdraw his love if we disobey, that's the way we treat others. If we see him as a the loving father full of mercy and compassion that bends down and helps us up when we fall, not only do we begin to trust him and turn to him rather than trusting in our own ways, but we begin to reflect that kind of love to those around us.

We all know that hunger in our soul. That God shaped vacuum. It is there because we were designed for a relationship with him. Only his love can fill that hole and give us the full life that we hunger for.  If we fill it with sin, we will find pleasure, but only temporary pleasure followed by the natural consequences of our choices.  Often quite painful. When we fill it with a system, a programs, or meetings, we wonder why we still have that gnawing hunger. Sin and religious obligation are poor substitutes for a relationship with father. That hole was never meant to be filled by an "it", but only by a relationship with him. As we are won by his love and learn to tune into his voice and trust his guidence, he will help us navigate our way through this broken world. He'll show us the land mines to avoid and the way to experience the full life  he created for us to experience.

Self sacrificial love... the power of coming under...

As we simply love, without agenda or expectations, whoever God sets in our path every day, we begin to experience as well as manifest God's kingdom here on earth... The very thing our souls long for and crave. The lie that the world believes is that we have to grab for ourselves what we think we need because we don't trust that God is good and will provide... We live a frenzied life trying to get for ourselves, rather than trusting in his providence. We will begin to experience life to the full as we trust in Him. He created us. It only makes sense that he knows the best way for us to live. He gives us a free will, so he won't force us, but desires for us to follow Him. Follow Him so that He can lead us toward a full life and help us avoid the trap of sin that so easily entangles us and eventually destroys us. This video reminds me of how we are called to live... not trying to grab and hold onto as much stuff as he can, or greedily hoard more than we need, but living a simple life and sharing our overflow with others... being good stewards with whatever God has entrusted to us.

Mt 6:30-34 - If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

Choices...

I read a post from the blog of Dr. Jeremy Statton this morning and it prompted this post...

We all are given the gift of freedom.
Freedom to make choices.
Every choice we make carries with it a natural consequence.
Choices, and their natural consequences, add up over time.
Choices may seem trivial at the time, but in time, they determine our future.
What and how much we eat, whether or not we exercise, what we allow our minds to dwell on, how we spend our time and money, how we treat others...
God doesn't point an accusatory finger at us, shame us, or even punish us when we make certain choices. He simply warns us that our choices themselves carry natural consequences.
He doesn't leave us alone in this broken world, but offers to walk with us and talk with us.
He offers us His wisdom and guidance. 
To those who choose to open their eyes, he gives the gift of sight. 

email conversations...

I'm glad you've found a place that offers the structure that's helpful to you, and yet the freedom that allows you to set boundaries and not be controlled. Maybe we all thrive in different environments. Or maybe God calls us to different environments at different times because it's what we need at that particular time. For me right now, I feel like God is inviting me into a different space. I feel like I've been painting by numbers for so long and trying so hard to stay in the lines, that painting became an obligation rather than a joy. I'm now enjoying the freedom and messiness of painting freehand. It was scary at first, but now I can't imagine painting any other way. What's most important, is that everyone find the path that helps them walk closely with Him. What hinders one may be helpful to another.

   

 I believe God has a variety of ways to speak to his children. For me, I have been enjoying listening podcasts and reading books by Wayne Jacobson and Greg Boyd. God is using them to heal me in some areas I wasn't even aware I was broken in. They are helping me root out the picture of a scary God and replace it with a safe and loving God that I can trust. God is using them to minister to me how deeply I'm loved... warts and all. He used their preaching and teaching to open my eyes to the how my despicable judgement had kept me from truly loving people. God's also used my journey of adoption and just parenting in general to show me the incredible healing power of unconditional love. (L.R. Knost, Laura Markham, Bryan Post, Heather Forbes, and Karen Purvis are authors and speakers that have taught me so much about what unconditional love really is.) Tomorrow he may use a different messenger or speak a different message, one that untwists something else that I have twisted; or maybe take me deeper into his love and freedom. Who knows? He leads, I just follow. He constantly speaks to me through books, music, art, nature, my children, my neighbors, strangers... It's often unexpected, but quenches something deep inside my soul that I have been thirsting for. I'm learning to walk with him and listen to his voice and trust his guidance. I know that he will make available to me exactly what I need, when I need it. I've learned that what's helpful for me and where I am, is not necessarily helpful for another. But like you, I occasionally throw something out there that speaks to me, just in case it might minister to someone else.

Gotta run for now and get dinner started. As usual, I love our conversations...

I love email conversations that cause me to ponder...

When I have free time, there is nothing I enjoy more than gleaning wisdom from another. Every single person is a teacher and has something to teach me that I don't know. My kids teach me a ton! There are no filters with kids. 

In my late 20's and early 30's, I was pretty sure I knew everything. Sheesh! All I claim to know for sure now is... Hmmm, we'll I guess that I know nothing for sure. I do however believe with all of my heart that love is the most powerful thing in the world and trumps everything! So I make it my goal to live in love and strive to only have one opinion about every person I encounter... That they have unsurpassable worth. (It's my conviction and my goal, but I sure do miss the mark quite a bit!)

I believe that only our Creator knows each persons whole story, so He is the only one who can rightly judge. It seems to me that we all do the best we can at any given moment. Sometimes my best is pretty awful. I try to remember that when someone is hurting me or my kids. It helps me not get into the pay back evil with evil cycle. It was tough today because Emma was made fun of at school. I told her, "Honey, they are stupid. They just don't know any better!" Okay, well that was the best I could do at that particular moment... 

I think the idea of us having a weekend sounds awesome! Trey and I might actually have some interesting conversations too! Mom use to say I ought to be a lawyer. When I was growing up, I had some pretty solid arguments as to why I should get my way! Hahaha.

You lost me at Ducks... I've never heard that term??? It must be a political term. I don't keep up with politics because I never know who to believe. But as far as everyone being God's children! I'm with you! And as imperfect a parent as I am, there is nothing my kids can do to make me not love them! I am always for them and never against them. How much more extravagant is God's love and grace for His children! As far as God's children go, who are we to throw stones at each other? Who among us is so innocent that they can throw a stone? 

I agree with you, what a peaceful world we would live in if we would just do what Jesus said, "Do unto others..." I wish we would all treat each other as we want to be treated. Maybe God gave us that golden rule as a way to have heaven here on earth, but we think we know better. I was typing up an email to my boys just the other day, telling them that we can either view others through the lens of judgement and intolerance or through the lens of love, grace, kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. I said, view others the way you want to be viewed... model the respect you want reflected back to you. (But like a lot of my emails... I never did hit "send". It would have come out of the blue. Whenever a light comes on for me, I tend to want to share it with those I love, but I realize that out of the context of conversation, it could be quite offensive.)

I think one of the reasons we don't treat others with love and respect is because we often fear what we don't understand. I've read that all negative behavior is rooted in fear. The bible says perfect love drives out all fear, but seems to me, vice versa is also true... all fear casts out perfect love!!! If we could lay aside our fear, there would be nothing to block the love. Maybe we think if we withhold love, it will shame someone into changing their behavior. But creating more fear is not the answer. It's like throwing wood on a fire. Fear pushes away and causes people to go further into darkness and hiding, while love connects and heals and creates a safe place for people to bring things into the light. I could go on and on with my deep pondering... sometimes I get lost in it.

Gotta run for now... 

Love u