Monday Night Ponderings from Journal Entries

Do You Journal?

 

In the course of a day, you have many thoughts.

Some matter much, matter more, matter enough to remember. If they should,l be remembered, might they not be written down somewhere?

May they not even be shared at some point?

Here are a few of my thoughts over the last fifteen years.

What they have in common in April 8.

That is when I wrote them down.

 

 

Doubts in the Midst

Even Moses doubted in the midst of the mission.

Even while performing signs and wonders, having seen what he had seen and having experienced what he had experienced, he doubted and questioned God.

But he dealt directly with God about the matter. He did not skirt the issue or complain to others. He took the matter to YHWH Himself and this was also a part of that later reflection that he would speak to God like no other had before, face to face.

When he brought the matter to the Almighty, he was heard and he was answered. Greater glory would come by letting the process play itself out.

"Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, 'O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.'"

"But the LORD said to Moses, 'Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.'" -
(Exodus 5:22-6:1 ESV)

Forgiveness and Getting By

God does not let us get by with our sins; He forgives them. That is two different things.

 

Being forgiven is not "getting by" with something.

 

It is a mystery that, for the follower of Jesus, makes sense in the drama and reality of the cross and which always leads to awe and worship.

" O LORD our God, you answered them;

you were a forgiving God to them,

but an avenger of their wrongdoings.

Exalt the LORD our God,

and worship at his holy mountain;

for the LORD our God is holy!"

(Psalm 99:8-9 ESV)

 

But As for Me

 

"But as for me ..." It is my response to truth for which I am either culpable or commendable. I am not in charge of anyone else's opinions or choices. I can care, but I cannot control. I can converse, but I cannot coerce. I can seek to convince the mind, but I cannot convict the heart. Neither need I be swayed by the resistance of another. I need not the validation of peers in order to believe that which resonates truth in our hearts. We can relax in this because trust is resting in God and waiting for Him.

 

" But as for me, I will look to the LORD;

I will wait for the God of my salvation;

my God will hear me."

(Micah 7:7 ESV)

 

Justify, Why?

 

The longer we live in and with faith, the less we feel compelled to justify, prove, or vindicate God for being God. We come to rest, not only in God's goodness, but in the unshakable reality of the truth God embodies and exercises. Truth shall been known and shall not be tilted nor shifted by our words or opinions.

 

Sometimes we just need to wait until it is made known and not be rattled by the rantings of nations or pseudo nations.

 

" Why should the nations say,

“Where is their God?”

Our God is in the heavens;

he does all that he pleases."

(Psalm 115:2-3 ESV)

 

 

There is more to do than can be done.

A smorgasbord of fun.

The race is longer than can be run.

Face it; we are under the gun.

So ... do what you can while you can.

 

"As long as it is day, I must do the work of Him Who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” - John 9:4

 

"Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind.

Sight, riches, healing of the mind, yea, all of these in Thee, I find.

Oh Lamb of God, I come."

".... waiting not ...

To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot .... I come."

I come.

"Just as I am. Thy love, unknown has broken every barrier down.

Now to be Thine, yea Thine alone, oh Lamb of God, I come."

I come.

 

We fall; we rise.

We are adjudicated and found guilty and then ...

The Judge steps down from the bench to plead our case.

It is as if we cannot lose; every loss becomes a win.

" Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;

when I fall, I shall rise;

when I sit in darkness,

the LORD will be a light to me.

I will bear the indignation of the LORD

because I have sinned against him,

until he pleads my cause

and executes judgment for me.

He will bring me out to the light;

I shall look upon his vindication."

(Micah 7:8-9 ESV)

 

There is so much more abiding I must learn and practice, so much more.

 

" Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:4-5 ESV)