Magnetic Attraction

“I am counting on the LORD; Yes, I am counting on Him. I have put my hope in His word. I long for the LORD more than sentries long for the dawn…”—Psalm 130:5-6 NLT

When the dark is especially dark in the wee hours of a morning at your local all-night convenience store, the conservations with customers can be more interesting than usual....

Looking at a bible near the cash register, presumably the property of the cashier, a slightly-staggering patron asks a jolting question: “So, why should I go to church in the morning?” There are a million long-winded things the guy behind the counter could have said in reply, but even to his own surprise, only one word came out:

“Hope.”

As the first, faint glimmer of a new day started to appear outside, greeted by the distant sound of early-rising songbirds, the customer didn’t argue, didn’t swear, didn’t do anything but pause, smile, and head out into the emerging sunrise....

What is this magnetic attraction to see the sun rise over the horizon—a sandy beach, a mountain top, a back yard, or from an all-night convenience store? It might just be exactly what the guy behind the counter said. Because God has implanted the magnetic attraction of His creation into everyone’s heart, to enjoy for sure, but even more in hopes that what we see around us every day might draw us to the loving heart of God Himself.

The singing birds are not chirping something totally random, either. It's a heaven-sent symphony, with a rhythm of joy, to the tune of: "A new day is dawning! Hope is rising anew! Dude, guess what? A clean slate awaits you! Your hopeless, lonely darkness has been exposed by glorious light! And not only that, the faithfulness of God’s presence is about to manifest in new and surprising ways, so get ready! Look Up!"

Even the Mourning Dove, in her own way, sings of hope: "The deepest pains may linger through the night, but joy greets the soul with the smile of morning. Look Up!" 

In spite of all that, on any given day, I may not be feeling the songbird/sunrise love, or I may have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed with an unexplainable gloomy mood and grumpy back. Then what? There is only one good choice: get in agreement with David's faith-filled "Lord, it's a new day and I'm counting on You one more time!," and with what the songbirds know about God and His heart for us, and with God's magnetic attractions that are all around us, and especially with the heart of what the store clerk declared in one simply powerful word to someone in the dark night of their soul...

 "Jesus leads us into a place of radical grace where we are able to celebrate the hope of experiencing God’s glory. And that’s not all. We also celebrate in seasons of suffering because we know that when we suffer we develop endurance, which shapes our characters. When our characters are refined, we learn what it means to hope and anticipate God’s goodness. And hope will never fail to satisfy our deepest need because the Holy Spirit that was given to us has flooded our hearts with God’s love." — Romans 5:2-5

"As we gaze upon the wonders of creation, we look Up towards the heights of a God who is merciful in His ways and magnificent in His deeds. The life of worship always points us Upwards."— Matt Redman

As we gaze upon the wonders of creations, we look up towards the heights of a God who is merciful in His ways and magnificent in His deeds. The life of worship always points us upwards.
Read more at: http://www.azquotes.com/quote/724711

As we gaze upon the wonders of creations, we look up towards the heights of a God who is merciful in His ways and magnificent in His deeds. The life of worship always points us upwards.
Read more at: http://www.azquotes.com/quote/724711

Awakening Hope

“What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true.”—John 4:36-37, NLT

Peter was all over the map and was forever putting his foot in his mouth.

John could be leaning on Jesus’ breast one minute and the next wanting to call down fire on all that is wrong.

Philip was with Jesus for three years and still didn’t “get it” until the very end.

Nathaniel was skeptical and cynical.

Matthew came over from the dark side of the tracks.

James (and his brother) lobbied for celebrity status, forgetting humility.

Thaddeus seemed to quietly watch everything from the background.

And, as observed last week, Thomas had more questions than usual and often needed extra proof to be convinced.

It’s good to remember that, just like us, the first followers of Jesus were about as imperfect as you could get. And yet for our example, it was to this same "who picked these guys?" group into which Jesus poured His life and entrusted to follow in His footsteps, and to whom He said: “… I’m telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what’s right in front of you. These …fields are ripe. It’s harvest time!”—John 4:35, Message

Right in front of us? Sometimes, when we read things like that and realize that it is a timeless call,the enemy of our souls will try really hard to convince (lie to) us that our many imperfections and inconsistencies are a disqualifier, or tries to remind us how tongue-tied we can get when talking with others, or attempts to cast doubt on whether we even have the Biblical chutzpah within to really bring it home for someone. The adversary's end game pretty much comes down to this: “Who can do that? Not you. Be kinda like Thaddeus and just watch someone else try harvesting, and maybe you can see what you can do to help afterwards.”

To which we can counter with this Truth: In Jesus’ kingdom, everyone gets to play! And that every Perfect harvest began with an imperfect seed-planter. Which means no planted seed is too small or inconsequential, even...

That person we invited to church who hasn’t come…yet…

That friend who said “no thanks” when we offered them a bible…

That person who slammed the door or hung up the phone and yelled “you’re crazy, man!” after we said we’d pray for them…

That job or local gathering place that seems to continually put random people and their situations continually before us, and a word of Hope from our mouths in return.

Lord, helps us to remember that, as with Your first 12, what matters most about loving You and following You isn’t about having it all together, but rather being found faithful in all the seemingly small seed-planting opportunities that You drop in our lap each day. Even the ones we think wound up being an epic fail. Because they probably weren't. And we'll be humbled and grateful and excited if they will be used for one of the greatest awakenings of thousands in history...but it will also be more than enough if they are simply for one person who is greatly awakened by Hope in just the nick of time, whether we're there to see it happen or not.

 

"God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Your part is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.”— Oswald Chambers