Hammer and nail theology

It was refreshing really, to have light shine on my depravity completely awakening me to a truth that I had almost forgotten. I was thinking yesterday about the glory of God and how you and I were created for just that, to bring God glory in everything that we do and to push everyone around us in this direction as well. Sometimes however we feel like nothing more than a tool in the hand of God… There are days when we are the hammers in the hand of God building the kingdom one blow at a time, beating things into place and being completely confident in who he has called us to be. Other days are much different, there are some days in which we play the role as the nail and are beat upon. The weight of His glory bears down on us with relentless beauty causing us to surrender the idea that any of this is about us. The hammer seems prestigious in nature compared to the nail… but really they both hold the same weight of Glory. They both hold up that which is being built. That is why today I am ok with being a nail. It seems as though the beating is worth is when all those around you who you truly care about have in some way been pushed, carried and laid at the feet of Jesus. In this you find whether you be the nail, the hammer, or whatever you rejoice in it knowing our Father is receiving all the glory.

Those hands

I finally have a moment to myself and am enjoying every moment that I sink more into this couch. It has been days on days of being surrounded by people, singing, waves and so many hours in my truck. Here in the solace of my grandmother’s living room I am almost lulled to sleep by the roar of the ac and the sound of my dad talking in the background. There are so many things that I want to share with you, so much truth. God has spoken so much. He has whispered, roared and embrace me with some of the most beautiful revelation.
He was here before beginning and will be here long after the curtain closes on this life, as we know it. He is God as Maker, Jesus as Image, and Breath as the Holy Ghost. He is the all-satisfying, unshakable God. In his hands he holds the power to create and to destroy, to build up and tear down, to heal and to strike dead. He is soul regenerating and sin pardoning… He is all you will ever need. I knew all of this a week ago but today this truth burns more violently than ever before. Why? … The hand that holds all the power, all the beauty, and all the mercy man has ever know was willingly laid on a cross and nailed there for my redemption. Those same hands picked up a cross that belonged to me. Those lips that could speak one word and silence the earth…stayed silent for my forgiveness and the redemption of all mankind. Though He was silent for the trail and crucifixion the sound of the whip still rings in my ear with a loud resounding assurance that by His stripes we are healed…the slap of the soldier still rings in the street for those of us who dare to believe that He was bruised for our transgressions and praise God that the clap of hammer and nail still ring in my soul as a reminder that there is liberty to the captive. Please hear me, quiet your soul…listen for the sound of your Savior… He may whisper or he may roar but find grace in this. He is closer than you know… so close.

You are the constant in my sometimes shifting life

I am convinced that God is longing and desiring to reveal Himself to His creation in the most beautiful ways. There are so many things that God has whispered into my spirit in the past few weeks it seems a bit daunting of a task to even start typing. However, it is with joy that I write this piece to you in complete confidence that you will today have blinders removed from your eyes.

I was riding down the road a few days ago and I began to talk with God… it’s never really formal, I just start talking with the surety that He is near… so close. From time to time He answers with such heavy words that I feel as if I have to tell someone quick or they will crush me with the weight of their beauty. This day was one like that. I was riding and asking God why he came to me in waves… You know what I mean? Like we have an awesome experience in Gods presence or in our devotional lives and for a few weeks or days or months we feel like we could just reach out and feel His hand reaching back… then at times it feels like He is a million miles away doing His own thing with no care for His creation. I know, though you know it’s not true you have felt that way… and from God none of our thoughts or emotions are hidden. So I found myself in one of those moments driving down the road speaking to God asking why he comes in waves close then far, close then far, far then close…then all of a sudden He hit me with sobering revelation… It’s as if God in some way whispered… “You do! I am unchanging, constant and longsuffering. I have been here from before time began and will be here when it is no more”. God showed me in just a few minutes that He really is constant in our lives. That he is right where we left Him last. We are like the waves of the sea and he is the shore. He never moves from loving us and desiring intimacy with us. We on the other hand take the role of the waves as our way of life. We flood into God with all of our might and then when we have had enough, when we are at the point that he asks our lives from us. We rush back out into the ocean of a world and blend back into the vastness, into our same ole way of life… where everything is as it always has been. Some on the other hand decided not to be as waves of the sea tossed to and fro but to cling to the grace and mercy of God so richly demonstrated on the cross. Some may be familiar. Paul, James, John, Mathias, John the Baptist, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon. I an convinced the list is not as long as God would like it to be… He wants to add your name. What will be your resolve? I would that everyone who reads this find themselves face down today praying this “God make me still, make me constant, make me yours… free me from my life of coming to you in waves…flood me now in such a way that I can’t escape… I love you”.

Simple, honest and real are the prayers He loves the most… I’m sure of it.