Truly being fully know by a holy God is a terrifying thought. It means that the dark places of my heart are revealed by the light. To ask the Lord for that is a difficult first step but you are right it is so worth it. It reminds me of the scene from Indiana Jones when he is faced with the leap of faith only to find after he leaped that there was a walkway right in front of his face it just took a little faith and it all worked out for the best. In the same way we if we trust God what is honestly terrifying to do at first becomes the greatest comfort as the spirit works to sanctify us.
On another note the beautiful nature scene you share creates a longing in me like no other. It makes me wish that I did not live in a city.
Wonderful insights, Jacob! I suppose the scripture, "perfect love casts out fear", is itself a bit of a paradox, since fear, or at least a perception akin to fear (holy awe perhaps) is the first step that takes us further into divine Love.
I'm truly sorry that you and Matt aren't surrounded by natural beauty, man--that can be a soul-crusher for me as well. Although, rest assured, these photpgraphs are easy to look at, but the places aren't easy to get to. Even this week I've been frantic, pining for some time away, wishing everyday to get to the mountains for a spiritual detox, but work beckons, and the kids are rowdy, and Megan is exhausted, and greater priorities require my attention. God is so good though, and I'm blessed beyond measure; but the days I resort to hiding in the pine grove at my church--even if it looks like an oasis to you--is a letdown compared to where I'd hoped to be haha.
One of these days--i mean this--I'm gonna meet you and Matt somewhere in the BlueRidge Mountains and show you some gorgeous scenery; as long as you're willing to throw on some goggles abd help me chase the fish!
To be fair, we do live in Southern California. So similar to you, there a numerous lovely places to venture, finding the time to go to them is the struggle hahah.
That prayer from Psalms is scary. I assume this is from later in David's life, just because it is toward the end of Psalms. It brings to mind that great section of Romans 7 -
"For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So, I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Your bear story brought one of mine to mind. In ~2000 my wife & I went to Yellowstone & the Tetons. In Grand Teton Park we were watching a moose, whose stroll through the swampy meadow was ruined by the bees who took umbrage at the moose's presence. We were ~100 feet away behind some trees, filming, and I accidently stepped on a stick & broke it. The moose immediately forgot about the bees & focused his eyes exactly on us. He began slowly walking our way. I asked Deb if there was anything she could climb; there was an elephant-sized rock, but we decided to slowly, then rapidly, move on down the trail.
Always appreciate your added wisdom, Travis! Yes, Paul's words in Romans 7-8 provide much needed encouragement often. So grateful for how down to earth and humble a leader he was.
Wow, what an amazing moose story! I envy you, goodness. My moose story pales in comparison but it's still pretty neat. I hiked up Abbey Pond Trail in Vermont to a pond at the very top of a mountain, and when I got there, a female moose was swimming in the water about 35 yards from me, and she didn't even seem to mind my presence.
I’ve heard bear spray is the way to go. That way you can at least tick off the bear before it eats you. That is an amazing story, good sir. Looks like a peaceful spot.
Jokes aside, today’s reading reminded me of a sermon excerpts I heard years ago from John Piper. It talks about the perils of letting life shrink down to the size of our problems, which in turn makes us oblivious to the goodness and provision of God that surrounds us, as well as apathetic to the needs of others. I have been guilty of this far often than not, so thank you for the reminder to stay the course.
No way, did you just make a joke about tick spray?? That's my favorite topic to jest about!
Thank you for the kind word. Man, I haven't read Piper in so long, but his energy in preaching the gospel really impacted me during my college years when I saw him at a conference. Funny you mention about being guilty of tunnel-vision, because that was me just yesterday, all day pretty much, before I wrote this meditation and got a little stung with conviction myself.
Truly being fully know by a holy God is a terrifying thought. It means that the dark places of my heart are revealed by the light. To ask the Lord for that is a difficult first step but you are right it is so worth it. It reminds me of the scene from Indiana Jones when he is faced with the leap of faith only to find after he leaped that there was a walkway right in front of his face it just took a little faith and it all worked out for the best. In the same way we if we trust God what is honestly terrifying to do at first becomes the greatest comfort as the spirit works to sanctify us.
On another note the beautiful nature scene you share creates a longing in me like no other. It makes me wish that I did not live in a city.
Wonderful insights, Jacob! I suppose the scripture, "perfect love casts out fear", is itself a bit of a paradox, since fear, or at least a perception akin to fear (holy awe perhaps) is the first step that takes us further into divine Love.
I'm truly sorry that you and Matt aren't surrounded by natural beauty, man--that can be a soul-crusher for me as well. Although, rest assured, these photpgraphs are easy to look at, but the places aren't easy to get to. Even this week I've been frantic, pining for some time away, wishing everyday to get to the mountains for a spiritual detox, but work beckons, and the kids are rowdy, and Megan is exhausted, and greater priorities require my attention. God is so good though, and I'm blessed beyond measure; but the days I resort to hiding in the pine grove at my church--even if it looks like an oasis to you--is a letdown compared to where I'd hoped to be haha.
One of these days--i mean this--I'm gonna meet you and Matt somewhere in the BlueRidge Mountains and show you some gorgeous scenery; as long as you're willing to throw on some goggles abd help me chase the fish!
Oh man I would love to see those mountains Matt is right we would jump on a plane tomorrow.
This needs to happen, no question! Tomorrow might be a stretch though haha
Brother we’ll hop on a plane tomorrow.
To be fair, we do live in Southern California. So similar to you, there a numerous lovely places to venture, finding the time to go to them is the struggle hahah.
“Faith is a leap, but it’s a dance as soon as it hits the surface.” - Some guy who writes really cool stuff
;)
Well, it was more of a stumble-turned-barrel roll. I just played it cool and called it a dance so that all the angels would stop laughing at me ;)
That prayer from Psalms is scary. I assume this is from later in David's life, just because it is toward the end of Psalms. It brings to mind that great section of Romans 7 -
"For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So, I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Your bear story brought one of mine to mind. In ~2000 my wife & I went to Yellowstone & the Tetons. In Grand Teton Park we were watching a moose, whose stroll through the swampy meadow was ruined by the bees who took umbrage at the moose's presence. We were ~100 feet away behind some trees, filming, and I accidently stepped on a stick & broke it. The moose immediately forgot about the bees & focused his eyes exactly on us. He began slowly walking our way. I asked Deb if there was anything she could climb; there was an elephant-sized rock, but we decided to slowly, then rapidly, move on down the trail.
Always appreciate your added wisdom, Travis! Yes, Paul's words in Romans 7-8 provide much needed encouragement often. So grateful for how down to earth and humble a leader he was.
Wow, what an amazing moose story! I envy you, goodness. My moose story pales in comparison but it's still pretty neat. I hiked up Abbey Pond Trail in Vermont to a pond at the very top of a mountain, and when I got there, a female moose was swimming in the water about 35 yards from me, and she didn't even seem to mind my presence.
😅hilarious! Good read this morning 👍
Thank you, Everett! Really appreciate the kind word :)
I’ve heard bear spray is the way to go. That way you can at least tick off the bear before it eats you. That is an amazing story, good sir. Looks like a peaceful spot.
Jokes aside, today’s reading reminded me of a sermon excerpts I heard years ago from John Piper. It talks about the perils of letting life shrink down to the size of our problems, which in turn makes us oblivious to the goodness and provision of God that surrounds us, as well as apathetic to the needs of others. I have been guilty of this far often than not, so thank you for the reminder to stay the course.
No way, did you just make a joke about tick spray?? That's my favorite topic to jest about!
Thank you for the kind word. Man, I haven't read Piper in so long, but his energy in preaching the gospel really impacted me during my college years when I saw him at a conference. Funny you mention about being guilty of tunnel-vision, because that was me just yesterday, all day pretty much, before I wrote this meditation and got a little stung with conviction myself.