created to love Him...

I LOVE the Old Testament! The lives of the people are like parables with hidden treasures and secrets to be found. Tonight, I'm a bit captivated by the life of Moses. Have you ever really stopped to wonder and dwell on the different ways that God Almighty revealed Himself to Moses? Who gets to see God in that fashion??? God BEGAN the revelation of Himself with an unconsumed blazing bush. That was Moses' beginning. How does it get better and more amazing than that? God had just set the stakes really high to continue moving Moses from glory to glory. Moses, at this beginning stage of His relationship with Yahweh, was a weak-kneed, mumbling wreck. He couldn't put coherent sentences together. He didn't feel equipped to live up to the task of what God called him to do. He was called to save a nation from the bondage of slavery and he knew he wasn't good enough. All he saw when he looked at himself was weakness, failure, inability. Yet...God called him. We know the story...

A little while back, I was sitting outside at a coffee shop downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was a beautiful night and there were so many people walking around that I had alot of fun on my perch watching them and hearing snippets of their conversations. Sometimes it's fun to do that because it reminds me of how big God's love is. All of those people are known and loved by their Father. He sees every detail of all of their lives. It's really easy to be so self-absorbed and think that God is only involved in what happens with ME! But, His love is so big. As I was reading and, of course, drinking my caramel-goo-coffee with whipped cream, I was approached by a man who appeared to be homeless, begging on the streets. He asked me for $.50. I told him that I didn't have any change but he could have a dollar. His face lit up at the prospect of getting double what he asked for, and then he turned it around and asked if I'd give him $2.00! I kind of enjoyed his persistence...

Luke 14:15-24 What am I really invited into when invited to the Wedding Feast at the end of this age? The Banquet comes at the end of something. What? war, struggle, death, self. It's the victory celebration of all that has been conquered. Accepting the invitation means accepting a temporary life of war, struggle, death, the end of me. This must happen before victory...it's the mountain of myrrh mentioned in Song of Songs. Jesus, silence all of my excuses for not having intimacy with You, because my excuses are just as absurd and ludicrous as the people in this parable. Nothing is more important than You, Your plans, Your Kingdom. Come and remove everything that keeps me from loving You. Altogether beautiful You are. Make me more like You. Give me undistracted devotion for Your face and Your ways. Celebrating with You in love at the wedding makes this fight worth every second, every day. I yield myself to You. You've won. You've conquered my heart. I love You and at an...