Living from Faith

Christmas morning 1994- Or maybe 1995- Anyway- As she came down the stairs my daughter Rebecca was trembling with excitement-

I have never-

Before or since-

Seen such pure anticipation-

It was a beautiful thing...........

Overwhelming me even now as I draw it up from my recollections.

She rounded the corner that opened into our Great Room- The room where Santa had left her Christmas Gifts- Funny thing is, I don't even remember what the gifts were- Maybe some Barbie stuff- But it doesn't really matter- What matters- What I remember- Is Rebecca's wide eyed expression of Joy- Her unabashed proclamation-

"Santa must have thought I was a very good little girl"

A child's belief in Santa is an incredible thing to behold-

Matthew 11:25-26 At that time Jesus said,

“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned,

and revealed them to little children.

Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

It amazes me sometimes how much time I spend trying to figure God out-

Trying to make Him fit into this system or that system of theology.

I have wasted so much time in Academic Pursuit of God-

And the worst of it is-

I have missed it-

I have been jaded-

I have missed what my Daughter at 4 or 5 years old had such grip on.

When will I come 'round that corner again-

All cynicism gone-

All skepticism gone-

When will I ever see the wonders of God again-

Forget about trying to explain it all-

And simply say-

Wow!

Maybe today

Hopefully in even the next moments.

Father in Heaven-

Open the eyes of my heart -

Move in me to live by Faith-

To stand in awe at the wonder of who You are-

The One and Only True God-

Beyond....... Totally beyond........

my capacity.

All Praise, Honor and Glory be to You.

Amen

A Song

The first song I can ever remember learning went like this-

Jesus Loves me this I know-

For the Bible tells me so-

Little ones to Him belong-

They are weak-

But He is Strong-

Yes Jesus Loves me-

Yes Jesus Loves me-

Yes Jesus Loves meeeee-

For the Bible tells me so.

I sang it, having no real grasp of what it meant-

Yet..........somehow.......... it felt Good-

Jesus Loves me

It made me feel Safe-

It made me feel Valued-

It made me feel Wanted

Deep in my heart-

I believed it.

Now- years later- I still don't really grasp it-

This Love of Jesus-

Oh, my theolgy is more sophisticated-

I have some apologetics down-

I can share the 4 Spiritual Laws-

I even teach Sunday School from time to time-

But in many ways I am not sure I feel it like I did back then.........

As a Child.

Now......... as I get a bit older-

As I deal with a bit more of my own cynicism-

As I endure a little more of the pain of this world-

There is even the temptation -

From time to time-

To question His Love.

You know what I mean, don't you?

Things run through my mind like-

"If God really Loves me then why............... "

You fill in the blank.

In many ways it was easier as a child.

Jesus Loves me this I know-

For the Bible tells me so.

Mark 10:14- 16 Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me....for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And He took the children in His arms, touched them and blessed them.

Lord Jesus, I pray that You might grant me the blessing of feeling Your arms around me today. Father take me back to those times when the reality of Your Love saturated me. Help me to live in it- to find my Life and Hope and Identity in Your deep deep Love.

Amen

On Seeing Jesus

I looked at Julie in amazement as the words tumbled from my mouth, "Are you kidding me?" I asked- "Did you really get me a Dentist appointment for 7:00 o'clock in the morning?". I really do love my wife, but this is pushing the limits! Okay- so upon arriving right on time- you got it- 7:00 stinking a.m.- a nice enough lady (Elizabeth) led me to my doom- I mean room. As I sit, I can't help but notice an instrument tray to my left filled with what looks like all sorts of torture devices. There were hook- like instruments and drills and well other shiny sterile looking metal things that might............. well let's leave all that to your imagination. Guys, I am not sure if it's been done, but a Psycho/Slasher movie with a Dentist in the starring role could be a real money-maker. Come to think of it- wasn't there a movie called the "Little Shop of Horrors" back in the 50's? As I sat back in the chair - Elizabeth- her face covered with a surgical mask- like I would imagine any good Psycho-Dentist's assistant would be-approaches with one of her "instruments". On the radio- What is playing, but the Cat Stevens song- MoonShadow. In the background-just above the sound of the drilling from the next room- I can hear those classic words,

" I'm being followed by a moon shadow- moon shadow, moon shadow- And if I ever lose my mouth, all my teeth north and south"!

God really does have a sense of humor doesn't He? However, when I pointed out the lyric to Elizabeth, for some reason she was not amused. Oh yes, there is one other thing I noticed as Elizabeth went about her business- Sitting in the window where a flood of light poured into the room was one of those word puzzle thingys- you know the kind of thing that if you look at it one way it appears as jibberish, but

If you focus your eyes just so- you can make out a word-

"Jesus" is what it said.

Isn't it amazing the places He shows up if we can just get our focus right?

I am reminded of the C.S. Lewis children's book "Prince Caspian". There is a scene in the book where the children think they see Aslan (the Christ figure) in the distant fog. Oh, but it couldn't really be Him- they convince themselves- as they go their own way- Only to get in all sorts of trouble. As they decide to turn and head back toward Aslan- they catch a glimpse of Him once again. He is beckoning them to follow.

Still not able to really make Him out in the mists, they decide by faith to follow anyway. The funny thing is-

Every step they take in following by faith- Aslan becomes more clear-

More real- until finally He is right there.

He was right there all along- just like He is right here with us- even in a Dentist Office at 7:00a.m.- All it takes is the right focus to see Him-

Looking through the eyes of Faith.

Hebrews 11:1 Now Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Lord Jesus I will look for You today. Holy Spirit help my vision to be clear- my focus right- and as I see my Jesus- fill me up with the Faith and Courage I so desperately need to follow Him- even as He goes places that I would not

Amen