Category: personal comments

You Are Complete In Him

“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the  basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”  

Colossians 2:8-10

I’ve heard about how accessories can complete a look.

Lord, thank You for completing us!  And here’s a simple poem . . .

All the Fullness

We are complete in You                                                                       
for that is what You do
coming to us who are unfinished
and filling us with truth.

We are complete in You
it’s not something we can do
for nothing else can fill us
but the fullness of You.

By Debbie, her link should be a blessing, http://iftodaywehear.wordpress.com/

Getting to Know Your “Sheepiness”

I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. 

–John 10:14

The shepherds of Israel have a custom of marking their sheep to make them distinct from each other.  Each bears a unique notch or brand that makes them distinguishable from their companions.  It is not done for aesthetics, but recognition.  Christ gives each person who follows Him a certain recognizable characteristic.  He “knows His sheep.”

He recognizes their faces.  All have a common demeanor, a family resemblance.  No matter where they go, they are marked as His follower.  The Prodigal fed the pigs from his abject poverty, yet he belonged to his Father.  Our voices also mark us, they are recognizable by those who are aware.  When we speak there is a heavenly inflection and tone.  I have a dear friend from Tennesee, and he couldn’t pretend to be from Boston.  You might say we have a believer’s accent that IDs us as His own.

Last of all, He knows us by our hearts.  Peter was one who not only betrayed his Lord, but he betrayed himself.  He was not quite Peter the Rock, but Peter the weak.  Jesus sees our hearts, the flaws and weaknesses are quite obvious to Him.  We may feel like we are damaged goods.  But His power to transform is legendary and without peer.

Jesus knows His sheep, He just does not tend the best, but seeks out the least.  All who are weak and pathetic are cared for with a tender love.  Those of us who are flawed and lame are given preferential treatment, but all are loved, all needs are met.

We have no power without Jesus as our Shepherd to lead  us.  We cannot manage on our own.  Solitary sheep are nothing more than a wooly snack for predators, or they will fall desperately seeking pasture.  I encourage each to merge with a local flock, a group of imperfect believers who are following the Shepherd of love.

“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
       he leads me beside quiet waters,

 3 he restores my soul.
       He guides me in paths of righteousness
       for his name’s sake.”

 Psalm 23:1-3

ybic, Bryan

Christian, Where is Your Umbrella?

Sometime ago there was a town which had experienced a prolonged and difficult drought. There was no water to be found for crops and livestock, and hardly enough for the people of this once prosperous village.

There was nothing to be done, and is often the case the town fathers finally turned to the churches for help. This usually happens when no other solution can be found.

 The pastors met and after much discussion came to a decision on a course of action. They decided to call together the people of faith to come in one place and beseech God to send rain. The thinking was if they could get all the people in a single spot, and if all of them combined their prayer, God might move, and turn on the spigots of heaven.

 A time was set and promptly announced throughout the town. The pastors requested that everyone who gathered at the town square should bring with them some item of devotion. When everyone gathered–en masse, they filled the square to overflowing. The pastors were amazed and blessed, not only by the great turnout but by all the crosses and crucifixes, the icons, the rosaries and Bibles that the people brought with them.

 At the appointed end of this gathering, the speaker implored the Lord for mercy. In that very moment, it started to thunder. All of a sudden, it began to rain. The people shouted, and waved their crosses and beads, and their holy books. Some danced and leaped for joy. In the middle of the crowd, one item held up by a nine year old boy gripped the attention of everyone. He lifted up his umbrella.

………………

 I honestly don’t know if this story actually happened. But I do know faith is a powerful thing. It is that utter confidence that God is going to do something, and then being rewarded when it actually happens.

As people who struggle with mental disorders or other chronic illnesses, we need to know that our God is alive and that he wants to get involved in our lives. Those family and friends who support us also need that assurance.

 We must approach God by faith (Hebrews 11:1) and believe is going to reward us (v. 6). Being a person of faith is to be audacious and daring. It is to live life as if it were an adventure of faith. You may continue to be ill and struggle, but you will live life bold and free.

ybic, Bryan

 

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The Scream

You’re probably familiar with Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream— yesterday it sold at auction for 120 million dollars. It is a profound painting, but do you know its inspiration? From the venerable Wikipedia, a quote from Munch’s own diary, written January 22, 1892:

“I was walking along a path with two friends—the sun was setting—suddenly the sky turned blood red—I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence—there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city—my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety—and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.”

“… an infinite scream passing through nature.”  That’s quite terrifying.  With this message, from those who know how things shall be.  We have to realize that ‘The Scream’ is a manifestation of a hellvalot of emptiness and confusion.  Once understood, we will try to move forward.  But the image of a man screaming on a pier, has ‘cut the nerve’ of our attempts to move ahead.

‘The Scream’ is like a razor blade, that is wielding an agenda that opens us up, and drives us to this place of desperation.  Rather than turn from the pain, we turn to the place where “we think we understand”.  But the panic and frightfulness are not easily subtracted out of our lives.  We try to advance, but are shackled by our own confusion.

Looking at this painting, we can identify with the ‘frozenness’ of the image.  We turn in refusal, for we understand the darkness.  We come to the place that we fully intend to open ourselves up.  But the captivity of our hearts becomes open and something that is available and accessible. It seems the ‘horror’ has an influence on our mental health.

‘The Scream’  becomes to be incredibly predictive.  Any strength we might have has become empty and hollow, we are left with confusion and disorientation.  The emptiness and desperation of being alone on the pier, puts us in a sense of lostness.  But this painting can lead us to God.  Jesus has taken our horror and absorbed it in Himself.

 

ybic, Bryan

 

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