I've come to see something in this Surrender/Receiving lifestyle I've come to live in with God. He really is everything one needs or could ever want. It's from here that we begin to appreciate all the other things given to us. Receiving all as gifts instead of using someone or something to get what we need out of them.
Sitting in the Peace and rest that is God. I'm starting to see why He said it is not good that man be alone. Because what woman is, is the ultimate gift! She is the final Good of creation. And to her, man is her Good gift, to know the Father more intimately. Man shows woman the gentle but unwaivering Truth that God will never leave you nor forsake. He has given you a spirit of power, love, and self discipline, not timidity or fear. The pairing of two in marriage is more than just a celebration. It's a declaration, that "so long as I live, I will receive the gift that you are as well as give the gift of myself to you. I will Love you the best I can and learn each day to Love us better." This is the Beginning of God Love. Fully given to God. Wow. What is True Satisfaction? When all else fades and you're perfectly Ok with the least. Because it's in the Least you remember you have the most, and even when you have the most, you don't fear using it for personal gain because it has been added to You, in your fullness. So I can see why marriage is kind of difficult. When we enter it, I think it's normal to say both parties are bringing their 100%. But what if both parties brought infinity? Brought their complete lack of nothing and simply desired to add to one another, Love and affection, and bring up a family in this complete lack of nothing? This is God. He, fully in Himself, is complete. He needs NOTHING. But He desires US. The Trinity is the only completely autonomous Being known. He lacks nothing and He requires nothing to remain the same way. This is mind numbingly hard to understand. So instead, lets look at this. We, being creatures of immense need, must not only have our needs met but also our lack filled. Any level of deficiency must be met. Emotional, psychological, spiritual. But what would it look like if You entered into a relationship, lacking nothing and needing (emphasis on the word needing) nothing from whomever you're with, but desiring them in your life and desiring to give to them?! That's the level that Jesus longs to fulfill our every desire. He longs to be our every desire and fulfill them and from there, add unto us, more. This overflowing is an automatic response to our fullness. This is I think the height of our walk with Christ. That we would be so filled with Him that all other things added to us, are not just given to Him, but effectively Loved and honored and protected and appreciated. As our relationship with Jesus should be protected, so should our other relationships. This is a wild concept that I'm barely scratching the surface of. But I must say, it is well with my soul. Child Jesus, who lacking nothing, needed his Mother and Father, teach us, today, how to receive the fullness of Who You Are, and let you fully and completely fulfill our every desire, from now and throughout all eternity. Let us consider all things added unto us, a gift to be stewarded correctly. Amen and Alleluia.
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The more I Pray, the more I'm seeing a pattern. Let me know if this is any on you.
God, who hears every prayer, has fullness of Free Will, and desires to Love and care for all of His creation, is the Answerer of these requests, or the recipient of the praise and worship and thanksgiving we give. Take a look at David, in Psalms 25. To You, O Lord , I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust, Do not let me be ashamed; Do not let my enemies exult over me. (v 1,2) Verses 1 and 2 show David freely giving himself to God, and then asking for something. Does he say his motive for asking? No. Does he give an explanation for why he needs God to do this? Let's read on. Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed; Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. Make me know Your ways, O Lord. Teach me Your paths. (v 3,4) Here, David qualifies the Truth of what he just prayed. That,"those who "wait" (to remain inactive or in a state of repose, as until something expected happens, in a state of readiness, faithfulness, derived from the Old High Germanic for "wake") on the Lord, will NOT be ashamed..." And those who deal "treacherously" (characterized by faithlessness or readiness to betray trust; traitorous, deceptive, untrustworthy, or unreliable) WILL be ashamed. THEN, David asks God for more! "Make known Your Ways, O Lord, and teach me Your paths!" Here, we can safely assume David does NOT know the Lord's ways or paths. Let's continue. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day. Remember, O Lord , Your compassion and Your loving kindnesses, For they have ever lasted from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; According to Your loving kindness remember me, For Your goodness' sake, O Lord . Good and upright is the Lord ; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way. (v 5-9) David keeps asking for more! Here, he's hungry for God to give him help. This could be called Intercession. Ever the orator of his Heart, David continues to qualify Truth that he knows of God, and David still chooses to do what he said he would at the beginning; Wait. But hold on. David switches up! He then calls God to remember His own Goodness. David asks God to think about God!!! Saying,"Remember, Your compassion and Your loving kindness...", and then uses that as leverage in his prayer for God to answer,"do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to YOUR loving kindness, remember me." Then to round it off, David once again proclaims Truth. "Good and upright is the Lord ; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way." These are just the first 9 verses. I encourage you to read the rest of the chapter. But what have we seen?! I saw David, a man after God's Heart and Love, broken, yet trusting that God desired to answer him. So David, approaching God boldly, states his request. But, revering God, and humbling himself, David responds to his own boldness with humility and appeals to the Truth of God. David asked, but he NEVER demanded. He respects God's Will to answer him in a way he may not be accustomed to. Hence,"...make me known to Your ways...teach me Your paths...lead me in Your Truth and teach me..." David assumed NOTHING with God, rather, He stated his desire, and said,"You, O Lord, who are able to do things greater than my understanding, hear my request, but do what YOU desire to do..." Is this not how Jesus prayed? In the garden,"...Father, if this cup should pass...but NOT My Will, but Yours be done..." The point of this is to call us to prayer in a concerted effort to request boldly our desires and at the same time, humble ourselves and receive God's Answer, timely and completely. This is the essence of Intercession. How does this work for me? It's taught me to view God as a Father, who loves His children, and at the same exact moment, instructs them in ways beyond their comprehension, in order to grow their understanding of Him, that they may grow in deeper relationship with Him, and also that they may find even more of their identity in the journey as God reveals Himself. There's no getting to the end of God, because there's no place from which to begin with Him. We start and end, but He always was, always is, and always will be. Constant, steady, ever unchanging. St. Anselm said of God, He is,"That, than which, the Greater, cannot be thought." He later stated, that even that maxim pales in comparison to Who God really is. It barely begins to scrape the surface. Let us proceed onward toward effective Prayer. State our requests, humble ourselves under His Glory, and ask Him to do His Will, regardless of how it makes us feel, because ultimately, His Will is only for our Greatest Good. Let this bless You today. Negant esse eum illuminatum in pace et requiescat. |
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