Psalm 119:32, 35

I run in the path of Your commands,
   for You have set my heart free. 

Direct me in the path of Your commands,
   for there I find delight. 

Yes, I am home...

I am home now, thanking God for His good gifts, and enjoying being able to catch up with my family and friends. It is such a blessing to have a circle of people who care about me to welcome me when I return home.

I still have a lot of stories and pictures to post, so I plan to back-date these posts in the next few weeks. Be sure to check for posts with earlier dates, as I want to keep everything in chronological order. :)

Blessed is the Lord, 

For He has heard our prayer;

Therefore our hearts dance for joy

And with our mouths we shall thank the Lord.

(from the L'Abri morning prayers liturgy)

Journal excerpt

I need to be constantly reminded of God's unconditional love for me; that nothing I do or don't do will ever change the fact that He accepts me as His child.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 8:38-39).

Psalm 27:4

One thing I ask of the Lord,
   this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
   all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
   and to seek Him in his temple. 

 

A quote

"The gods we worship will write their names on our faces; be sure of that. And a man will worship something-- have no doubts about that, either. He may think that his tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of his heart-- but it will out. That which dominates will determine his life and character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping, we are becoming.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, quoted in Heaven Is Not My Home, by Paul Marshall

Psalm 25

To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
 ² in you I trust, O my God.
Do not let me be put to shame,
   nor let my enemies triumph over me.
³ No one whose hope is in you
   will ever be put to shame,
but they will be put to shame
   who are treacherous without excuse.
 ⁴ Show me your ways, O LORD,
   teach me your paths;
⁵ guide me in your truth and teach me,
   for you are God my Savior,
   and my hope is in you all day long. ⁶ Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love,
   for they are from of old.
⁷ Remember not the sins of my youth
   and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me,
   for you are good, O LORD.
 ⁸ Good and upright is the LORD;
   therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
⁹ He guides the humble in what is right
   and teaches them his way.
¹⁰ All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
   for those who keep the demands of his covenant.
¹¹ For the sake of your name, O LORD,
   forgive my iniquity, though it is great. ¹² Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD?
   He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.
¹³ He will spend his days in prosperity,
   and his descendants will inherit the land.
¹⁴ The LORD confides in those who fear him;
   he makes his covenant known to them.
¹⁵ My eyes are ever on the LORD,
   for only he will release my feet from the snare.
 ¹⁶ Turn to me and be gracious to me,
   for I am lonely and afflicted.
¹⁷ The troubles of my heart have multiplied;
   free me from my anguish.
¹⁸ Look upon my affliction and my distress
   and take away all my sins.
¹⁹ See how my enemies have increased
   and how fiercely they hate me!
²⁰ Guard my life and rescue me;
   let me not be put to shame,
   for I take refuge in you. ²¹ May integrity and uprightness protect me,
   because my hope is in you.
 ²² Redeem Israel, O God,
   from all their troubles!

A few quick quotes:

What I am reading right now:

Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.
Philippians 2:12b-13

My heart says of you, “Seek His face!”
Your face, LORD, I will seek.

Psalm 27:8

It is hard to work out God's sovereignty with the feeling that life is not always as it should be or as I would like it to be. Romans 8:28, 31-32 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose....What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? When I think of "the good," I would like to see issues and conflicts consistently be fully resolved and dealt with. But probably, God's good is a lot bigger and diferent than I think. I am sure He has a lot of work to do in my own heart. When I feel out of control of situations, maybe that is where I need to be, in order for Him to be in control.

Lord, teach me to be grateful.

Teach me to see Your work in everything and to thank You for it.

.

Pondering...

As I study, I find that there are so many things I have not thought about before or that I was convinced I understood thoroughly enough. It is difficult and sometimes threatening to have my understanding stretched. My understanding of what it means to be a Christian is growing by leaps and bounds. Actually, I am realizing that my conception of a "good Christian" is too narrow. Fulfilling who God created me to be as a human and a bearer of His image is so much wider than that, and I feel like I am just beginning to touch the surface.

Some thoughts I have been pondering:

My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding—
indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
Proverbs 2:1-11

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31

What is our calling as those restored to a relationship with God? Is it to make God present to "practice the presence of God?" No. Is it to seek spiritual experiences to assure us of His love and power in our lives? No. Is it to pray, to go to church, to study the Bible, to evangelize? No, though it involves those things. Our calling is the same as Adam's was. It is to serve Him with our whole life, to love Him, to enjoy Him, to reflect His character. Every area of our life is to reflect spirituality, not just some special parts of it. Every area of our life in every day is to express the relationsip we have with Him. Because we have a relationship with Him through Christ, we can speak to Him simply at any time. We do not have to use any special techniques to make Him present or to feel His presece or to ensure our prayer is real. We can simply talk to Him as our loving Father.
Ranald Macauley and Jerram Barrs, Being Human: The Nature of Spiritual Experience

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
Stuart Townend, "How Deep The Father's Love For Us"