Three Fires

The fire that burns on earth
lessor fire indeed
Passion, lust, greed, romance, hatred
little fires controlling only humanity
A greater fire is unquenchable, yet limited
The third has no bounds
It burns in the heart of uncreated power
It could be whatever it deemed, but it chose love
Unstoppable, it stops at nothing to illuminate us
Seeking to awaken us from lessor fire's deadly flame
One flicker of unbounded flame scorches the heart
A holy scar of earthly indifference
Nothing here now rules
Only the unbound fire can now warm the heart.

Endless Quest

Life is more than an endless quest for purpose
Only He is worthy of such devotion
Not ourselves
Living life with Him opens our ears
Our eyes see and we understand the next step
In Him is life
Devotion, focus, passion are not life
Life is deeper than created-ness
Life is a mysterious reality
To find yourself is to loose yourself
To live you must die, and you must be found
Not in ourselves, but in Christ
The mystery of living hidden in Christ
Endless Quest

Grow Deep in Love

I want to say that life is not fair, but the truth is that I don't want life to be fair. I don't want to stand with the masses of humanity and be compared with them. I don't even want to stand with the "Americans" (North and South) and be compared with them.

What do I deserve? What should I expect? How much stuff should just be give unto me, provided by my friends and family?

I want to post that life is hard right now, but that would be posting a lie. Life is not easy, but it is not that hard. Having no money, having no hope of money; that is not like having no God, no friends, no family.

I remember going to college and getting a room. I remember how that room made me feel so secure, so settled. I knew I had a home for the year! I did not need to find a place to live, I had a permanent place. Where is my permanent place now?

My permanent place is in me. Although I still panic, have boughs of fear and shame, I know that God has chosen me and that He will guide me. I don't know how easy or hard it will be, only that I will not be alone. I do not deserve God in me, but I have Him. In all my needs, He is my ability to suffer, to endure, to be patient and to prosper.

Wisdom from above

Wisdom tells us to pay attention to the way we live. Most of us can labor quite earnestly to be worthy of the Lord, and this is good. Yet we can also keep our mind on things above and trust in the Lord's ability to be Lord.

It is a form of pride to be your own Master. When we are the primary party for our salvation and maturity, the Lord is removed to a place lower than "first" and we most often fill the void we created when we lowered Him.

"Filling", "maturing", "perfecting", "empowering" are just a few of the words describing what God does. He is the "judge" and is full of justice. Yet because He is not a man, He both works on His creation to perfect it, and judges what He has done. It takes God in us to be changed, it is not by human effort or desire.

I trust the Lord to move on my little desires, which He stimulated in the first place, and work in me for His good will. When I find myself alone, isolated, and threatened, I will keep myself under His rule and live as though I cannot do anything apart from Him, yet, in His will and rule, I can do all things.

Christ working in me is more than an idea, it is a reality.

Why Is It?

Why is it that you are criticized if you give yourself wholeheartedly to God, yet if you give God a good effort and still maintain worldly pursuits, you are OK?

Why is it that if it cost you something to follow or serve God that is questioned, but if you get something out of serving or following, your are "blessed"?

Why do people who call themselves leaders get mad if you do not follow them, shouldn't they just lead and let us follow?

Why is it that having a title of position makes one successful and powerful, did the person change with the name plate? Did they improve or mature when given the title?

Why is it that people worship ease and delight in the good time, are they unaware of the beauty of the cross and the power and authority gained in suffering?

Why is it that the deep things of our lives are so easily suppressed by a little music, a little entertainment and a little sleep?

Why is it that the most powerful being in the universe asks us for permission?

In this moment with God

Life can be lived a moment at a time
Yet I choose not this, but another state of mind.
I choose to avoid the present to ponder the past.
I choose to loose my peace by fearing what is to come.
If I were a smart man, I would be happy with God now
Now with God
Happy just to be with Him
No matter the state.

When ever I stop living in the shame of the past
Or the concerns of the future
I find great emotional delight of walking with God
My heart burns with the pleasure of being near Him
My burden is light

Who will help me live in the now with God
Who will remind my wondering thoughts to surrender to the moment
To live where they should and refrain from where they should not
I think I will, I will help myself

This self help is driven by love
I want to live in love
Yet loving self is worthless
Loving Him, My Master is allowed each moment, each now
So now, I am happily in love

Hated

This world hates you if you do not serve it. All the systems of this world tend to be against God, against creativity and against life. If you desire to follow God in this world you will be going against the crowd and against world leaders. This does not mean we hate them or even talk bad about them, we just live our lives going in the opposite direction.

The thing or a thing that offends and brings out the hate is "living without systems" and living by relationship. If the world can keep us living by systems than we keep eating from what we know is good and evil. Satan is very skilled at helping us justify all we eat there. If we live by having a real and authentic relationship with God, not even we get to control, rule and dictate.

Presently most of the Spiritual leaders I know trust more in a system then they do in a relationship with God. Even the most basic parts of that relationship, faith, they turn into rules and laws. It is as if they cannot have relationship and fellowship with God and like the people of Israel in the wilderness, just want the rules, let another have a relationship.

I remember why they chose the rules and not the relationship. They were afraid of God and wanted to be distant from Him. Too bad they believed in that false hope. How many of us also love the false hope of our systems, rules and personal theology rather than the voice of God, the leading of the Spirit and the conviction of truth. Better to live by our personal basis of scripture, our self justification of who God is and our selfish revelations of a man centered gospel than to live by obedience to the God who is there.