They will dance and sing, "All good things come from Jerusalem (Zion)!" (Verse 7)
Every good action and perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon and stars, Who does not change like their shifting shadows. God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things He made. James 1:17
I was talking with my daughter, Vanessa, last night about how challenging this world is for the collective "us." We know many people in distress right now, people we love. And there seems to be no explanation nor any way we can actually help make their pain easier. It's called life. There are times of great rejoicing and then there are the times of struggle. But what I have learned from having lived sixty-four years now is this. Struggle can also be a gift. And a good one. Because it refines and maybe even defines us.
The thought is choking me up right now because it was in my most intense struggle with God that I fell most deeply in love with Him. I learned we can fight with Him with gut-wrenching tears and clenched fists. He would rather I scream my pain at Him while I'm in my car driving aimlessly around because it's the only place no one but He will hear me than have me run away from the issues. My Father can take it. He listened to Job and the poor man's friends until He'd had enough. But answered! Talked Job through the pain. And, evidently, finally let His child know what was up since we have the full story of Satan's challenges over Job in heaven. There are times when we can't know why. Maybe never will. But if God has us on our faces, pouring out our hearts to Him, we are in a very safe place. And a place of blessing. We are the most important of God's created beings. Nothing can separate us from His love or His presence. Not even our darkest hours.
It is why Zion is so desirable. Vanessa asked me last night if we are just here to live our lives waiting for heaven. That's a good question. Christ is our foretaste of home. Here is what Paul said in Romans 8: These sufferings that we have now are nothing compared to the great glory that will be shown us. Everything God made is waiting with excitement for God to show His children's glory completely...We know that everything God made has been waiting until now in pain, like a woman ready to give birth. Not only the world, but we also have been waiting with pain inside us. We have the Spirit as the first part of God's promise. So we are waiting for God to finish making us His own children, which means our bodies will be made free. We were saved, and we have this hope. It's not that God expects us to live only in expectation of heaven, but what a gift to know this existence isn't all there is. What a miracle to realize that even our crooked paths on this daunting earth lead to Zion, where we were born. And if born there, we belong there. Not here.
That is the ultimate good and perfect gift, our salvation. Come to us from above. Costly and thoughtful--transportation home when the time comes. When the tent is left behind and we reach the gates of Zion it will matter what we did with the dusty roads on Earth. It will matter that we allowed our God to be Lord of the whiplash as well as the smooth, straight roads that sometimes lift us up. We are in the womb of life right now, awaiting birth into Zion forever. Born out of flesh, flying into spirit, renamed and fresh. I don't think we live our lives only for our entrance through the gates our Lord loves so much, but I believe that is why they are so dear to Him. We come through them one day. Our Father must feel as I do when the kids come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas and we are all together again. Everyone eating, joking around, hugging and kissing. Home. Yeah. I think we should be living to go home. It makes perfect sense.
Every good action and perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon and stars, Who does not change like their shifting shadows. God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things He made. James 1:17
I was talking with my daughter, Vanessa, last night about how challenging this world is for the collective "us." We know many people in distress right now, people we love. And there seems to be no explanation nor any way we can actually help make their pain easier. It's called life. There are times of great rejoicing and then there are the times of struggle. But what I have learned from having lived sixty-four years now is this. Struggle can also be a gift. And a good one. Because it refines and maybe even defines us.
The thought is choking me up right now because it was in my most intense struggle with God that I fell most deeply in love with Him. I learned we can fight with Him with gut-wrenching tears and clenched fists. He would rather I scream my pain at Him while I'm in my car driving aimlessly around because it's the only place no one but He will hear me than have me run away from the issues. My Father can take it. He listened to Job and the poor man's friends until He'd had enough. But answered! Talked Job through the pain. And, evidently, finally let His child know what was up since we have the full story of Satan's challenges over Job in heaven. There are times when we can't know why. Maybe never will. But if God has us on our faces, pouring out our hearts to Him, we are in a very safe place. And a place of blessing. We are the most important of God's created beings. Nothing can separate us from His love or His presence. Not even our darkest hours.
It is why Zion is so desirable. Vanessa asked me last night if we are just here to live our lives waiting for heaven. That's a good question. Christ is our foretaste of home. Here is what Paul said in Romans 8: These sufferings that we have now are nothing compared to the great glory that will be shown us. Everything God made is waiting with excitement for God to show His children's glory completely...We know that everything God made has been waiting until now in pain, like a woman ready to give birth. Not only the world, but we also have been waiting with pain inside us. We have the Spirit as the first part of God's promise. So we are waiting for God to finish making us His own children, which means our bodies will be made free. We were saved, and we have this hope. It's not that God expects us to live only in expectation of heaven, but what a gift to know this existence isn't all there is. What a miracle to realize that even our crooked paths on this daunting earth lead to Zion, where we were born. And if born there, we belong there. Not here.
That is the ultimate good and perfect gift, our salvation. Come to us from above. Costly and thoughtful--transportation home when the time comes. When the tent is left behind and we reach the gates of Zion it will matter what we did with the dusty roads on Earth. It will matter that we allowed our God to be Lord of the whiplash as well as the smooth, straight roads that sometimes lift us up. We are in the womb of life right now, awaiting birth into Zion forever. Born out of flesh, flying into spirit, renamed and fresh. I don't think we live our lives only for our entrance through the gates our Lord loves so much, but I believe that is why they are so dear to Him. We come through them one day. Our Father must feel as I do when the kids come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas and we are all together again. Everyone eating, joking around, hugging and kissing. Home. Yeah. I think we should be living to go home. It makes perfect sense.
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