Saturday, March 31, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
meek trust
It is a safe thing to trust Him to fulfill the desires which He creates.
-Amy Carmichael
You put it there, You'll come through. Help me to trust that You'll come through.
-Amy Carmichael
You put it there, You'll come through. Help me to trust that You'll come through.
Monday, March 19, 2012
St. Joseph//Trust//Father
St. Joseph! Happy Feast Day!
St. Joseph has always had a special place in my heart. I have been blessed to have my middle name and confirmation name shared with his. He's taught me quite a lot.
One of those things he's taught me is trust. I believe that St. Joseph's witness of trust is one that is often overlooked. When it's said that Joseph was going to "divorce her quietly", it seems like plenty of people interpret that and judge Joseph wrongly. But put yourself in his shoes. Here is your wife that you're betrothed to, you're married to, and within the coming months she will be invited into your home, and now she's pregnant.
What would we think? Mary had an affair. Surely that's what WE would assume. But when the angel appeared to Joseph, he had the truth spoken to him and he trusted what was told to him. That's quite a large leap of faith. He's being quite vulnerable when he accepts and trusts the Will of God.
Joseph has taught me to trust. To trust and say yes.
That's just the beginning. He is a beautiful witness of father.
Pope Benedict XVI has spoken some beautiful words about Joseph, so I will let him speak.
St. Joseph has always had a special place in my heart. I have been blessed to have my middle name and confirmation name shared with his. He's taught me quite a lot.
One of those things he's taught me is trust. I believe that St. Joseph's witness of trust is one that is often overlooked. When it's said that Joseph was going to "divorce her quietly", it seems like plenty of people interpret that and judge Joseph wrongly. But put yourself in his shoes. Here is your wife that you're betrothed to, you're married to, and within the coming months she will be invited into your home, and now she's pregnant.
What would we think? Mary had an affair. Surely that's what WE would assume. But when the angel appeared to Joseph, he had the truth spoken to him and he trusted what was told to him. That's quite a large leap of faith. He's being quite vulnerable when he accepts and trusts the Will of God.
Joseph has taught me to trust. To trust and say yes.
That's just the beginning. He is a beautiful witness of father.
Pope Benedict XVI has spoken some beautiful words about Joseph, so I will let him speak.
"His humble and sincere love for his betrothed and his decision to join his life to Mary’s attracted and introduced him, “a just man”, to a special intimacy with God. Indeed, with Mary and later, especially, with Jesus, he began a new way of relating to God, accepting him in his life, entering his project of salvation and doing his will. After trustfully complying with the Angel’s instructions “Do not fear to take Mary your wife” — he took Mary to him and shared his life with her; he truly gave the whole of himself to Mary and to Jesus and this led him to perfect his response to the vocation he had received."
To Christ through Mary,
Tyler
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Your praise is good.
Lately this is what I've been feeling.
Just those words being spoken to me, to us. Not only am I (and you) good, which I'll blog at a later time, but our praise is good. I've felt at some times, well quite often actually, that no matter what, God was always above my praise. He was always above what I could give Him. Well He spoke directly to that.
Our praise is enough for Him. When I say enough, I don't mean just enough to get by. No. It's enough. It is sufficient. It is competent. It is satisfacory. It satisfies Him, the Lord of Lord's! ...Humbling, right?!
Who am I, a wretched, broken sinner, to be able to give sufficient praise to the Creator of the Cosmos? Well he says we have what it takes. We're good. Our praise is good. What we offer to Him is good.
Not only is it good, but He delights in what we give Him. He delights in our praise, in our adoration of Him. It makes Him happy. He smiles when we bow and bring all we are to exalt Him. When we're truly present to Him in praise, I am confident that He can rest with us. The Bride, us, desires to rest in the safety and warmth of the Bridegroom, right? The Bridegroom also desires to rest with His bride. I'm confident that He tells we have what it takes and He rests. Mmm.
Now, He never expects us to give Him praise. That isn't quite how our Daddy works. He longs for us to give Him praise, yes! Most definitely He longs for praise from us! But our Daddy will NEVER expect praise. He only hopes and yearns for our praise.
He takes our praise and receives it with outstretched arms. He receives our praise that is good and loves our praise. And He thanks us for the praise we offer. He smiles with gratitude. :)
This is the song that has really helped this message of our praise being good enough.
Just those words being spoken to me, to us. Not only am I (and you) good, which I'll blog at a later time, but our praise is good. I've felt at some times, well quite often actually, that no matter what, God was always above my praise. He was always above what I could give Him. Well He spoke directly to that.
Our praise is enough for Him. When I say enough, I don't mean just enough to get by. No. It's enough. It is sufficient. It is competent. It is satisfacory. It satisfies Him, the Lord of Lord's! ...Humbling, right?!
Who am I, a wretched, broken sinner, to be able to give sufficient praise to the Creator of the Cosmos? Well he says we have what it takes. We're good. Our praise is good. What we offer to Him is good.
Not only is it good, but He delights in what we give Him. He delights in our praise, in our adoration of Him. It makes Him happy. He smiles when we bow and bring all we are to exalt Him. When we're truly present to Him in praise, I am confident that He can rest with us. The Bride, us, desires to rest in the safety and warmth of the Bridegroom, right? The Bridegroom also desires to rest with His bride. I'm confident that He tells we have what it takes and He rests. Mmm.
Now, He never expects us to give Him praise. That isn't quite how our Daddy works. He longs for us to give Him praise, yes! Most definitely He longs for praise from us! But our Daddy will NEVER expect praise. He only hopes and yearns for our praise.
He takes our praise and receives it with outstretched arms. He receives our praise that is good and loves our praise. And He thanks us for the praise we offer. He smiles with gratitude. :)
This is the song that has really helped this message of our praise being good enough.
to Christ through Mary,
Tyler
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
dwell
The world is...busy.
Actually, that's quite an understatement. The world doesn't stop. It doesn't allow us to stop. It doesn't allow us to breathe. We're often consumed by work, school, obligations, etc. But that's normal, right?
That's a huge part of our problem. We don't know how to stop. either we're incapable of doing such a thing, due to our workload, or we're scared to do so. Most people don't have the time to stop. Well, the truth is, none of us have the time. We have to make the time. The time just won't magically appear out of thin air. That'd be nice.
Prayer should involve silence to some certain degree. Personally, quite a bit of prayer contains silence. I'll often begin and end with silence, as well as dwelling with silence for a prolonged period of time within my prayer. We need to give Him the time to delight in us. He longs to have time with us. He wants and yearns to delight in us. Don't get me wrong, He will take us and delight in us no matter what, but wouldn't it be nice to give Him time in silence? For us to be quiet, to stop talking, and just be. Just be and let Him love on us. Let Him love us where we are. We don't need to move, to go anywhere, but where we are is good enough. He'll reach. He'll get it. Always.
This is dwelling. Dwell. Dwell in silence. Dwell in Love Himself. Mmmmm!!! Love! Dwell in Love, in Peace, in Hope, in Rest, in Freedom, in Truth! He allows our sould to rest and breathe when we dwell.
The thing is, we don't dwell enough. We can dwell in quite a number of places. I've been turning off the music in the car recently and just enjoying the silence. We don't get silence often. We have to fill the void. We fill that silent void with just noise. Subliminally we fill it with noise. I encourage you to embrace silence. Embrace it in a new way. At first, it was a bit uncomfortable, but now, I yearn for that silence I know I'll get when I drive. I know it's a place where I can rest in Him and where He can love on me.
So dwell. Just be.
Be, and let Him love on you in silence.
Actually, that's quite an understatement. The world doesn't stop. It doesn't allow us to stop. It doesn't allow us to breathe. We're often consumed by work, school, obligations, etc. But that's normal, right?
That's a huge part of our problem. We don't know how to stop. either we're incapable of doing such a thing, due to our workload, or we're scared to do so. Most people don't have the time to stop. Well, the truth is, none of us have the time. We have to make the time. The time just won't magically appear out of thin air. That'd be nice.
Prayer should involve silence to some certain degree. Personally, quite a bit of prayer contains silence. I'll often begin and end with silence, as well as dwelling with silence for a prolonged period of time within my prayer. We need to give Him the time to delight in us. He longs to have time with us. He wants and yearns to delight in us. Don't get me wrong, He will take us and delight in us no matter what, but wouldn't it be nice to give Him time in silence? For us to be quiet, to stop talking, and just be. Just be and let Him love on us. Let Him love us where we are. We don't need to move, to go anywhere, but where we are is good enough. He'll reach. He'll get it. Always.
This is dwelling. Dwell. Dwell in silence. Dwell in Love Himself. Mmmmm!!! Love! Dwell in Love, in Peace, in Hope, in Rest, in Freedom, in Truth! He allows our sould to rest and breathe when we dwell.
The thing is, we don't dwell enough. We can dwell in quite a number of places. I've been turning off the music in the car recently and just enjoying the silence. We don't get silence often. We have to fill the void. We fill that silent void with just noise. Subliminally we fill it with noise. I encourage you to embrace silence. Embrace it in a new way. At first, it was a bit uncomfortable, but now, I yearn for that silence I know I'll get when I drive. I know it's a place where I can rest in Him and where He can love on me.
So dwell. Just be.
Be, and let Him love on you in silence.
to Christ through Mary,
Tyler
Monday, March 5, 2012
Voids//Cracks
In a lot of ways our hearts are filled with plenty open spaces, yearning to be filled with something. Unfortunately, we often turn and try to fill these voids with things that will not satisfy us. Not only will these things the world feeds us not satisfy us, but often they hurt us. They hurt us bad. We're now left with a wound, whether it's a wound inflicted upon us with another, by another, or by ourselves. The wound is there.
So now not only do we have a void, a void that already hurt because there was empty space, but we have this empty aching void and all around that void in our heart are cracks. These cracks run deep. These cracks are our sin.
First, we need to learn how to fill the void. That void can only be filled by the Lord. He is the only thing that will ever satisfy us. Until we acknowledge this, we'll continue to search for things to try and satisfy the void. Trust me, the Lord will fill the void. He'll satisfy. He'll come through. He always comes through.
Cracks.
Oh, cracks. Unfortunately, these cracks are wounds. Most wounds are wounds that leave a scar. Now this doesn't mean that they can't be made better, but scars tend to stay to some degree. What God can do is He can fill the cracks. He can fill these cracks, and He will fill these cracks with his tender love and mercy. He wants to fill the cracks. If you allow Him to fill the cracks, He will.
Not only will He fill the cracks, but He'll pour a whole new foundation over the cracks. This new foundation will be filled with hope. He'll cover the cracks to where they can no longer be seen. He can, and He will. He'll make it better. He'll make you new. He wants to make you happy - to fill you with joy.
He looks upon us with love and joy. He wants this for us. He wants what's best for us - always. He's in it for our good.
So now not only do we have a void, a void that already hurt because there was empty space, but we have this empty aching void and all around that void in our heart are cracks. These cracks run deep. These cracks are our sin.
First, we need to learn how to fill the void. That void can only be filled by the Lord. He is the only thing that will ever satisfy us. Until we acknowledge this, we'll continue to search for things to try and satisfy the void. Trust me, the Lord will fill the void. He'll satisfy. He'll come through. He always comes through.
Cracks.
Oh, cracks. Unfortunately, these cracks are wounds. Most wounds are wounds that leave a scar. Now this doesn't mean that they can't be made better, but scars tend to stay to some degree. What God can do is He can fill the cracks. He can fill these cracks, and He will fill these cracks with his tender love and mercy. He wants to fill the cracks. If you allow Him to fill the cracks, He will.
Not only will He fill the cracks, but He'll pour a whole new foundation over the cracks. This new foundation will be filled with hope. He'll cover the cracks to where they can no longer be seen. He can, and He will. He'll make it better. He'll make you new. He wants to make you happy - to fill you with joy.
He looks upon us with love and joy. He wants this for us. He wants what's best for us - always. He's in it for our good.
to Christ through Mary,
tyler
Sunday, March 4, 2012
On the Prairie
So rest and peace has been a huge part of my spiritual life in the recent weeks. I come to realize that I don't spend enough time resting WITH the Lord. He brings me peace when I'm able to rest.
Where can I rest? Well, the silence is usually the best place. In the silence I'm able to just be physically still. I'm able to prostrate myself in a position of receptivity where whatever He is saying is very clear to me. In the silence is peace. There is room for me to breathe.
That's been the main thing. Whether God Himself is bringing me the peace, or He's using a particular person to allow me to rest, breathing has been key. In this rest, my chest has place to rise and fall. The weight and burdens of the world are gone for once. I can breathe without that weight on my chest. I'm free! Free to rest and breathe!
There's this place where when I rest, I wanna go. It's the prairie. It's wide open with nothing to stop me from running. It is where I wanna be to rest. I want to be on the prairie and just run. I want to run with the fresh breeze giving me air. I want to run through the soft grass and over the rolling hills without anything holding me back.
Silence. Rest. Peace. Mhmmm.
Where can I rest? Well, the silence is usually the best place. In the silence I'm able to just be physically still. I'm able to prostrate myself in a position of receptivity where whatever He is saying is very clear to me. In the silence is peace. There is room for me to breathe.
That's been the main thing. Whether God Himself is bringing me the peace, or He's using a particular person to allow me to rest, breathing has been key. In this rest, my chest has place to rise and fall. The weight and burdens of the world are gone for once. I can breathe without that weight on my chest. I'm free! Free to rest and breathe!
There's this place where when I rest, I wanna go. It's the prairie. It's wide open with nothing to stop me from running. It is where I wanna be to rest. I want to be on the prairie and just run. I want to run with the fresh breeze giving me air. I want to run through the soft grass and over the rolling hills without anything holding me back.
Silence. Rest. Peace. Mhmmm.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Desolation
There's definitely a bit of beauty to be found in desolation. Unfortunately, our lies most likely won't always be lived on the peak of the mountain (spiritually), but when we are desolate, when we feel far, there's good there.
We feel far because we know there is another. We are longing for the other. We're longing for satisfaction! If we didn't know of the other, most likely, our desolation wouldn't be quite as bad because we wouldn't have anyone to miss. Yes, we'd be lonely, but we wouldn't even know about being alone WITH.
Even when we're alone, we're not really alone. We're alone with. He's always there. He's always waiting patiently. He's always gazing and just watching you. When in desolation, that's the greatest thing I can - watch Him gaze upon me.
It isn't so bad then. He's delighting in me. And I have a certain hope placed in me that He WILL come through. He always does. He'll raise me up and out.
Find the beauty in the desolate places. It's there.
We feel far because we know there is another. We are longing for the other. We're longing for satisfaction! If we didn't know of the other, most likely, our desolation wouldn't be quite as bad because we wouldn't have anyone to miss. Yes, we'd be lonely, but we wouldn't even know about being alone WITH.
Even when we're alone, we're not really alone. We're alone with. He's always there. He's always waiting patiently. He's always gazing and just watching you. When in desolation, that's the greatest thing I can - watch Him gaze upon me.
It isn't so bad then. He's delighting in me. And I have a certain hope placed in me that He WILL come through. He always does. He'll raise me up and out.
Find the beauty in the desolate places. It's there.
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