Teachable

"Show me Your ways, O Lord, teach me Your paths." Psalm 25:4

"Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes." Psalm 119:12

"Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord, and teach Your law." Psalm 94:12

"Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe Your commandments." Psalm119:66

It has long been the desire of the righteous man to learn wisdom. Those who pursue God pursue His heart, His ways, His teachings, His commands, and, yes, even His discipline. They cry out to understand Him more clearly and to walk with Him more closely.

Teachable humility is not a natural attitude for us poor humans. Arrogance is a more common reaction coming from our fallen natures. We attempt to put our best side forward and cover our flaws so no one will notice. We react violently if anyone points out an imperfection hollering about how judgmental they are, or complaining that they are just too hard on us. We excuse our own sin problems because we have an oh-so-good reason to be just like we are, and we expect others to excuse us as well. After all, no one is perfect...

But, in doing so we stunt our growth. We can not be changed "from glory to glory" until we finally let go of our incorrect belief in our own goodness and let God remake us into what is truly good and really righteous.

I read the Proverbs and see a pattern - a hungering cry for the wisdom of God. I read David's heart through the Psalms and notice his dedication to becoming daily more like his God. I see Daniel studying, Joseph giving himself to training, Samuel with an attentive ear, Timothy the apprentice apostle, even mighty Paul spending his 13 years relearning the Law he knew by heart.

I notice a trend: the best Christians are those who love to be taught in the school of holiness. They are transparent before their God, allowing Him to put His finger on whatever weakness He sees. They are willing for Him to train them as He deems fit. They let Him to use the circumstances and the people He chooses in that training. They do not shrink from even the hardest lessons or the most painful of discipline. They love to learn by whatever means possible. They embrace instruction. They are TEACHABLE!

"My son, if you receive my words,

And treasure my commands within you,

So that you incline your ear to wisdom,

And apply your heart to understanding;

Yes, if you cry out for discernment,

And lift up your voice for understanding,

If you seek her as silver,

And search for her as for hidden treasures;

Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,

And find the knowledge of God.

For the Lord gives wisdom;

From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;

He guards the paths of justice,

And preserves the way of His saints.

Then you will understand righteousness and justice,

Equity and every good path."

Proverbs 2:1-9

Those Who Dwell...

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty...Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence..." -Psalm 91:1,3

He who lives, abides, finds his home in deep and real companionship with God will be covered by the protection of the God whose strength greatly exceeds all His enemies. He will be safe, sheltered, comforted, kept under the jurisdiction of the Commander of the Hosts of Heaven - the One who thunders from Heaven to respond with fiery anger to wreak havoc on any that would harm His beloved.


He will deliver that child, that close friend who dwells near Him from the snare of the fowler.
Hunters would hide traps in tall grass to catch the feet of birds as they walked through unsuspectingly. Our God keeps us from falling into the iniquities that we might fail to foresee, or the harm that could come to us when we can't notice the danger ahead. He watches over us to direct us around the devil's traps that trip us up, and cause us to fall when we aren't aware.
The one who is close, who lives daily, hourly in the God's presence will know God's voice as He directs Him carefully through the minefield the enemy of his soul has laid for him. He will be kept safe because he is familiar with the voice of God and is quick to obey that leading.

God will deliver His own - His friends - from the perilous pestilence. He will come between the fearsome plague that come to cause great destruction. He guards us from the things we can't overcome. He keeps death and destruction at bay. When cultures fall around us, when society is drenched in wickedness, when we aren't sure how to keep ourselves or our children safe from being swept into the tide of evil, our God comes to be our great and mighty protector.  The one who makes his home at the feet of God can be sure He will never be overcome by an irresistible evil. Though ten thousand fall at his right side, it can not come near because the Almighty God is his protection.  The friend of God knows his God is greater than any and every wickedness, so he does not fear. He knows evil is the enemy of His God, so he will not succumb to it.

Stay close to God today. Remain near Him tomorrow. Learn to live - not just visit - His presence. Don't make an appearance in His secret place, stay there! This is more than a daily Bible reading plan, or a quick prayer before work. This is stopping to make His voice priority. This is halting in the madness of life to push everything else aside to just listen. This is not just being a servant of God, this is being His FRIEND.

Butterfly

Are you torn, little friend?
Torn between two realities.
Torn between who you were and who you've been declared. One clutching at you from the drudgery you called life, and one beckoning you from ahead.
How do you make it?
How do you stick it out?
How do you handle the transformation process?
Are there days when the end result seems so near you can almost taste it, then days when you're not sure if you have the courage to wait out the pain?

Was before so bad?
Open fields and springtime skies. Colorful blossoms and companions to share it with. Sure, there were hard times...you were fair game for the bigger and stronger. Sure you were worms, eking out a living on the ground. Sure you knew you were made to become something better.

Do you know what's coming?
Did you know the promise? The promise for all your ugliness to be turned to beauty. Do you remember trying to find fulfillment and satisfaction, to be full, only to find that everything was tough and tasteless just like always? Did you ever look longingly at one who had been transformed and realizing that they could soar, while...you only crawled.  They were able to draw the sweetness from life and soak in every beautiful moment. Is that hope what gives you patience now?

And now this.
This dark, cramped prison. No sunlight, no hope except the promise. No companions. No freedom to do what you want when you want. This pain, this  longing, this impatience, this struggle with your own self to just  stay put until the right time.

This prison is a chrysalis.

This prisoner: a caterpillar.

This impatient one: destined to be a butterfly.

This example: set here for me to learn from.

So I can learn that my waiting is not useless.

I, too, am in a cocoon of becoming. My present is not my future any more than a chrysalis is a butterfly. But the chrysalis is vital in the making of a butterfly. Like the little caterpillar, if I break out of my confinement too soon, all will be lost.  Like the caterpillar I will, in the end, realize just how worth it the waiting is.

In light of all this, there is courage to wait it out a little longer. There is the realization that this chrysalis time is not my prison, it is my launching pad. And this pain that transforms me is my best friend.

Soon everything will be different. I will be who I was proclaimed to be from the beginning of time.

Soon, like my friend the caterpillar, I will be able to soar

Lost

The clang of garden gates behind me

The flame of the angel's sword, it blinds me

Stain from the fruit yet upon my face

A coat of skins hiding my disgrace

Run fast and hard before death finds me

Before death binds me

And death maligns me

The mind deceived by the serpent's hiss

The scars I bear from his unholy kiss

Go unnoticed in these crowded streets

Among well-scrubbed masses just like me

Unknowingly we march to the abyss

Ignorant bliss

Deadly ignorant bliss

Still inside my spirit thirsts

A groaning, a craving inside me stirs

I feed my lusts but my lusts leave a yearning

Nothing soothes my soul, I am learning

Is there no defender of us cursed?

For the sting of our curse

Grows only worse

Oh, for a redeemer to pay the price

Oh, for a hero to save my life

But my own heart of darkness thwarts my purpose

Deafens my ears to Love's sweet opus

The chasm between God and I

It is too wide

So I cry

They pass me by on either side

These Children of God with light in their eyes

Would that one stop and give me ease

My face rejects you, but my heart still pleads

For a taste of that glory that you hide

Don't deny

Please, don't deny

Saints and warriors, bearers of light

You know the bridge across the divide

Yet you ignore the the cries of these lost

Hoarding the mercy of Jesus' cross

Would you hold back what's freely given?

Would you bar the path to heaven?

Did you forget what Christ forgave you?

Did you brush off the mission He gave you?

Do you value His commands so lightly?

While holding comfort so dear and so tightly?

Sit safely inside your American dream

Over streets littered with the unredeemed

Who shall we send, who will go for us

Who will take up heaven's own cause

Who will run to the wounded and crying

Who will bind up the broken and dying

Who will hear the cry of the lost

And draw them from the grave to the foot of the cross