A Beautiful City
A beautiful city ...
Imagine a beautiful city
Imagine a magical story. A story with an ending unfathomable in this lifetime, and more majestic with plentiful sparkles of green than the land of OZ. At road’s end, no man creates images with a robot. Instead, you will meet a glorious God that loves you.
Yes, extraordinary, and you can’t imagine how wonderful the feeling will be when you run straight into His arms. It will be too profound for words, better than the best present, the most amazing dream, or your greatest earthly desires. Take a minute, close eyes, think. Release pain and pressure. Imagine peaceful love.
You need to receive this feeling of faith. Faith, that God is God, that He died for you, and that your sins are His burden and His yoke, easy. He’s exceptional, and higher than any imagined perfection.
Now you may need to attack these statements, but that’s okay, and even though your attack is “not of God,” I love you, and I will listen to your points because you believe in them. You and I deserve the same respect God gives. He hears even when He disagrees.
A Father and parent, navigating life’s chaos. There He is beyond the curtain of this pestilent world. Not a scared little man; He is the lion’s roar, the Great I Am! And God loves us; no matter what.
The Emerald City
Why not take a leap of faith?
What harm is there in trusting in His promises? After all, in this life, we trust less. We believe we can do things independently, but do we? We trust people will not disappoint. However, we should understand that they will. We love the people in their imperfections because loving one another means sharing the same grace given to us. Still, we can be very stingy in our deliverance of grace to others.
We trust things like bungee Chords by taking a flying leap off a bridge and parachutes as we jump from planes; however, we hesitate with accepting that there is a God that loves us. How profoundly sad is that? Take a leap of faith, just in case. I am guessing it will be the best thrill you’ve ever had, but maybe you’re not a risk taker?
This leap, a leap of faith, won’t leave you alone. You would share in His abundant grace, encouraging others, always leading those lost back to the golden path leading to Christ, who is more significant than any OZ.
God makes all things possible in our tomorrow, and today’s, using everything in every circumstance. Hard to believe, but true. Even tough times have a purpose. We’ll look back and see the blessings.
I’ve always heard, be patient. When something or someone of this world comes to you in a damaging attack, close your eyes and imagine being held safe and sound in the arms of Jesus; why not jump? He ready to catch you? Come just as you are.
Free yourself from personal flaws, for He sees only the beauty of His creation in you. Our weaknesses allow teaching points in life; without them, we may become too prideful. These personal imperfections are humbling factors, reminding us to remove our plank carefully, not to cloud our vision, or, worse, throw a stone while blinded.
We forget God is our teacher and healer, and we need to remember to bring Him into our city with every conversation. We know the latest slang, fad, news, and gossip, but we stumble to recall His word and message. I suppose it’s a time issue. Where do we spend our time? Do we lead with His love or assume the first position? We would surely benefit from following His lead in all situations, no second guessing.
You may say," He isn’t real," well, what if you’re wrong? What if everything you love is going to be there? How about now? Are you sure you don’t want to be there too? I am sure everyone you love will sing “I Wish You Were Here.” Maybe leap. It will be a beautiful leap.
Like a bungee jump, you will want to share that thrill repeatedly; go for it! After that first leap, you can join the construction team, assisting the building with your unique talents because you’re important, and needed to make this city whole—every sparkly bit of you shining as only you can for the glory of God. So friends, please let go, and trust there is a great and powerful GOD!
Leap of faith
No second guessing
When we have faith in God, there will be no second-guessing. You will need no courage, for it will be yours in His promises. A heart made plastic is unnecessary with new enthusiasm. No longer will wisdom be lost to you. Instead, it will be extreme and abundant in His word. Draw will be higher than earthly desires, finally you’ll be home. Everything you love and know will fail in comparison. Joy will abound, unimaginable excitement as the reunion will be spectacular. Are you getting excited?
I don’t know how others react, but I’m excited. The ground is shaking beneath our feet with the sound of revival. Suppose we can navigate through the tumultuous trial of contradictions in a world bathed in negativity, always seeking the yellow brick road. In that case, I believe NO! I know it leads somewhere over the rainbow, worth the thought.
We must learn to navigate with a purpose unlike our own—a sense of surrender to the glory of God’s plan. The hardest part may be that we limit God, not allowing Him to do work beyond our measure entirely.
We try to keep a robotic control, not trusting in His power, and sadly not appreciating the tiny miracles that come together before our eyes. We close ourselves off and miss the big picture. We are so full of contradiction. Summer is here, awesome… but it’s hot, ugh! That statement is confusing, huh?
How unnoticed our diminishing thoughts, how dejectedly we are constantly spewing our “not of God, thoughts.” We praise and worship harmoniously, yet we change our tune easily falls into the bath of negatives; it’s not very cleansing, but we repeatedly dipped in the dirty water.
Negative aspects often receive more attention than positive ones. Negativity leads to learned behavior. Let’s be better. Something worth having is worth the effort. We can be better at displaying and delivering a similar grace. God so freely gives grace to us, even with our indiscretions.
We are not perfect in our walk, and we slip off the yellow brick road, sometimes daily or more often than we care to admit. Falling allows us to get back in the game. We are reaching out in love, laughing together, and forgiving. When we recognize our human flaws, we give them less power, which helps us seek God’s grace and glory together.
In a recent message, I am in awe of God’s abundant love for us, from the words of Philippians Chapter four, with the heading, “Closing Appeal for Steadfastness and Unity” (New International Version); I affirm in God’s word, Philippians (New International Version), has a fantastic recipe for life. Follow it, together. When this world attacks that belief, we can link arms and walk the road together, uplifting and affirming one another in His promises.
He is the great and powerful
Philippians a recipe for life
Phil 4:7 ~ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ.
Phil 4:8-9 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is praiseworthy- think about such things. Whatever you have learned, received, heard, or seen in me, put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Phil 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Jesus Christ.
The verses from the Philippians blessed me, and I felt compelled to share the grace given in me. His word is all I need; my words fail in comparison, yet He wants us not to be stingy with His word, sharing for all to hear. He has given us a world of possibilities to share in His glory. He has provided an army of youth and adults and the wisdom of working together in unity to become that revival of His word and not our own.
He is our portion, and we need to share His given. He needs all of us to trust in Him and have faith in His promises, always knowing we are not worthy but willing because He made us in His image, and we are His. Our God is no robot! He's not hiding like the great and powerful Oz! Our Father is not living in an imaginary Emerald City. He is the great I Am in paradise. It will all make sense if you go beyond the curtain. On the other side of the rainbow, He waits for you to come home.