The Night Writer http://thenightwriterblog.powerblogs.com/ Illuminating fun, faith, family and foolishness. en-us 2008-04-01T03:04+00:00 Picture this: getting out of the way http://thenightwriterblog.powerblogs.com/posts/1207021238.shtml ... The Night Writer 2008-04-01T03:04+00:00 Great testimony from King David over at The Far Wright today. It reminded me of a song we sang in church yesterday that goes, in part, "God will make a way, where there seems to be no way."

What I saw in that song is that when there seems to be no way it really means that there seems to be no way to me. God always knows and sees the way — and usually I'm bogged down right smack in the middle of it (the way, that is).

We all have had the experience of trying to do things "our way" (thanks, Frank), the "worldly" way. If we're blessed, or not too stubborn, we get hooked up with a good church and start to see God move and do things in our lives (He was doing them all along but we usually didn't recognize them for what they were). We get a new idea of God's power and mercy and we believe it and experience ... yet we get comfortable or when a new challenge comes we still put ourselves in the position of saying or deciding what God can, or cannot, do. Even though we've seen that there were things we didn't know before that have since changed our lives, we may yet assume that now we know it all ...

"Oh yeah, God will do that, but He wouldn't do this" or ...

"If I do this, then God will do that, ...

or the reverse, "God can't do this because I didn't do that..."

"God no longer speaks to us...or heals...or delivers...or opens doors that no man can close..."

Maybe it's because our fear trumps our faith; we fear our faith is not even as big as a mustard seed, or we're afraid that God won't come through, or we're afraid we somehow haven't "earned" His grace — even if we've had hours, years, even decades of sound teaching that tells us His grace is a gift that no one can earn...

We cling to our doctrines and our own understanding, lovingly polished over the years, and fail to see or remember the underlying Word that they were based on. We're afraid to just let go and put it in His hands, as if His plan isn't sufficient for our needs, as if our senses are the sole arbiter of what makes sense.

God still speaks. He still heals. He still provides. If you don't believe me, go talk to King David. ]]> Picture this: Yes http://thenightwriterblog.powerblogs.com/posts/1203289389.shtml ... The Night Writer 2008-02-17T23:02+00:00 Saturday morning we had our Inside Outfitters men's meeting with men from a couple of other churches and a large contingent from Minnesota Teen Challenge. During the worship part of the meeting we sang with an abridged version of the song "Yes" by Shekinah Glory.
Will your heart and soul say "yes"?
Will your spirit say yes?
If I told you what I really mean,
would your heart and soul say "yes"?
It's a song that moves slowly and deeply, giving one a chance to either sing along or meditate on the words as they minister.
There is more that I require of of you,
Will your spirit still say, "yes"?
For such a long time in my life my answer was always "No."

Later I came around to where I said, "I don't know."

Eventually, in many areas of my life I said, "Yes" — to great effect.

Why then, in too many other areas, do I say, "Yes......but"?
]]> Picture this: What the heart sees http://thenightwriterblog.powerblogs.com/posts/1201458079.shtml ... The Night Writer 2008-01-27T20:01+00:00 Here's some of what we were singing today:
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
open the eyes of my heart,
I want to see you; I want to see you...

See you high and lifted up, shining in the light of your glory,
Pour out your power and love as we sing holy, holy, holy!

What caught my attention was the reference to the "eyes of my heart" as opposed to my eyes themselves, and being able to see Jesus. Just what are the eyes of my heart, and what do they "see"? And it occurred to me that sometimes we sing about seeing God and Jesus glorified in the world, or think that the songs are about them being glorified in the world around us, when the change in the world begins with a change in our own hearts.

After all, will the way I go out into the world and go about my business change once I've truly seen Jesus high and lifted up and shining in the light of His glory in my own heart? What power and love might pour out as I sing, "Holy, holy, holy"?]]> Picture this: Light http://thenightwriterblog.powerblogs.com/posts/1200867567.shtml A little while back our pastor said during a service that we shouldn't just sing the words during Praise & Worship time, but be sensitive to the Spirit and open to... The Night Writer 2008-01-20T22:01+00:00
The first time it was kind of neat. The next week it happened with another song, which in turn reminded me of the week before. Then another week, another song, another picture. It kept happening, and sometimes I would share these pictures or revelations with the congregation and other times I'd keep it to myself and ponder it. What I also found happening, however, is that these images would fade as the week went on unless something specifically reminded me of them. Even then it could be just the sketchiest recollection; I'd remember the general sense of what I'd seen but not the quickening I felt when it first coalesced in my mind, kind of like having a dream and then trying to describe the next day over lunch.

What I've decided to do, then, is to try and write these down as soon as I can and since I'm doing that I might as well post them here for whatever it's worth. Frankly, I don't know if this will help me remember or apply what I've seen, or if it will bring the whole thing to a halt. Or maybe it's what I've supposed to have been doing all along.

Today in church we did something very different and didn't sing, but last week I had made special note of what I'd received and wrote it down and held onto it while I decided whether to start sharing these pictures. Here goes.

"He wraps himself in light,
and darkness tries to hide..."

The song had many more lines than that but these two were what stopped me. I pictured what happens when a light is turned on in an empty room; immediately the darkness clears out, looking for a place to hide. It can only exist where there's something that blocks the light, so it goes to the corners as if trying to find a narrow space. If the room has boxes or furniture in it, though, it will "hide" on the other side of these, appearing as a shadow.

Then I saw that the "room" is our lives and Jesus is the light that comes in, and the darkness tries to hide from Him. Great parts of the room are illuminated, but the shadows still exist behind the stuff in the room. Some of that stuff in my room are things that I've carried in there, and some are things that others might have deposited. Regardless, there are things in my life — things where my mind hasn't been completely renewed, things where I still prefer to lean toward my own understanding or my own plans — that come between me and Jesus. Though the room is lit and much brighter than before, and the shadows aren't as dark as the dark itself was, certain things in my life have a dark side that doesn't want the light to come in.

So. Can I let the light shine on me in these areas? The light is all around, it wants to be where I am. But it's cool in the shade and sometimes the light hurts my eyes so that I don't want to look at it. What do I do? If it's something I've brought in — some comfy furniture, for example, or abstract art that I thought made me look sophisticated — I should just carry it outside. If it's baggage that someone else has dropped I should carry that out like garbage as well, or if it's too heavy, at least step out from behind it rather than using it as an excuse. Perhaps I am like a chastened puppy, hiding under the couch that just needs to come out and let restoration and transformation begin.

Can I, will I, crawl out?


Psalm 89:15 "Blessed [is] the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance."

John 8:12 "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

Ephesians 5:8 "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now [are ye] light in the Lord: walk as children of light..."
]]> Picture this: Joy to the world, indeed http://thenightwriterblog.powerblogs.com/posts/1196831341.shtml We were singing "Joy to the World" in church the other day. I've always like that Christmas carol, but as with many familiar songs, I sometimes gloss over the words... The Night Writer 2007-12-05T05:12+00:00 "Joy to the World" in church the other day. I've always like that Christmas carol, but as with many familiar songs, I sometimes gloss over the words without thinking about them.

So anyway, we started rollicking through the part about "the glories of His righteousness..." and I suddenly had the thought: "Just what are the glories of His righteousness?" Certainly his righteousness would have to appear pretty darn glorious when stood up next to my righteousness since mine, when left to my own devices, is a pretty rickety framework with a veneer-thin coating not big enough to cover all the gaps I'd like to hide so I have to keep shifting it from place to place as the wind blows.

And then the revelation returned to me that MY righteousness is worthless, but the righteousness of the sinless Christ is so great and glorious that it covers me and makes me righteous in God's sight, and not because of anything I did but because of what Jesus did. In fact, because of what Jesus came to do.

Then I thought of the next line in the song: "...and wonders of His love, and wonders of His love..." for it is a wonder that God's love is so all encompassing that He would send His son, and the son's love would be so great that He would endure all for me.

And I sang with a great, sounding Joy. ]]>