It is not activity which glorifies God -

. . it is character, it is what you are, and the way you react to a situation. 

Abba, Help me to be a woman of character, like that of Jesus.  I cannot in my own strength.  I know this all too well.  Each day I allow some situation to get the upper hand and my attitude shows just how un-like Jesus I can be.  The phase "acceptance with joy" comes to mind. So rather than anger, resentment or frustration, gives me eyes to see the blessing in the raindrops and the tears - Your mercies in disguise.

Nearness is likeness - excerpts from Tozer

The sense of God being remote – rule out the concept of space.
God is not here or there but carries here and there in His heart.  He fills heaven and earth as the ocean fills the bucket that is submerged in it, and as the ocean surrounds the bucket so does God in the universe He fills.  God is not contained: He contains.

God created us as living souls and gave us bodies through which we can experience the world around us and communicate with one another.  When man fell through sin, he began to think of himself as having a soul instead of being one.  It makes a difference whether a man believes that he is a body having a soul or a soul having a body.

We tend to be body-conscious and the concept of near and far seem quite natural to us. The Lord said of Israel “Their hearts are far from me”.  Here is the definition of far and near in our relation to God.  The words refer not to physical distance, but to likeness.  It is dissimilarity that creates the sense of remoteness.  Two creatures may be so close physically that they touch, yet because of dissimilarity of nature be millions of miles apart.

For the moral unlikeness between man and God the Bible uses the word alienation.  The truth is He is nearer to us than we are to ourselves.  What we cannot do, Christ did. The new birth makes us partakers of the divine nature and the work of undoing the dissimilarity between us and God begins.

So when we feel a sense of remoteness: It may be temporary, so trust God in the dark until the light returns. And/or look to your inner life for wrong attitudes or evil thoughts, confess them and put them away.  God was never away in the first place.

"For love, we will climb mountains, cross seas, traverse desert sands, and endure untold hardships . . .

Without love, mountains become unclimbable, seas uncrossable, deserts unbearable, and hardships our lot in life." ― Gary Chapman, The Five Love Languages

I know Chapman is focusing on marriage, but I think this is true for us all, including those who are single – to find that the love of Christ (His for us and ours for Him) is just as real, even more so, than that found in marriage.

We were not designed to live alone but were made for relationship but I believe it must start with our relationship with our Father – and that this is all that is needed to find fulfillment in this life.  From that relationship we find the capacity to love others and to be loved by others.

I know of those who are married but are still alone because they have settled for less.

Our souls will always be restless (and unfulfilled) until we first find our rest in Him.

Journaling

Journaling – a way of tracing the hand of God upon one’s life  . . . to celebrate the power of God in the midst of my own weakness. . . a testimony of the faithfulness of God in my life. . . to perceive the divine whisper, to transform into print, the still, small voice of God. (MacDonald)

I am and have been for years – a journalner.  I can’t image a day without it.  I have decades of spiral notebooks filled with my most inner thoughts and conversations with my heavenly Father, times of such sweet and intimate communion with my Lord that I can hardly believe they're real – but I know they are, because I’ve written them down.

So when I came upon MacDonald’s section on Journal keeping as a way to listen to God, of bringing order into our private world – something inside me reacted with sheer joy and a shout of Amen!

So if you’re looking for a way of drawing closer to Him, take some time alone, grab a notebook and something to write with and just tell Him what’s on your heart by writing it down.  And in the in-between times, when you’ve said what’s on your heart - be still and listen, don’t get rushed but wait expectantly.  It may take some time but His desire is to be in communion with us, to tabernacle with us.  He just needs a willing and receptive heart and time to speak.

Not sure where I'm going with this but . . .

I was thinking this morning of all the conflicting noise that surrounds us today, that divides us today. Everyone has an opinion and feels the need to express it to the rest of us . . . myself included.  God is NOT the author of confusion but our enemy sure is and he is exploiting it to the max.  We don’t have to agree to get along, we just have to be willing to be gracious to one another, to listen and try to understand what is being said.  No one gets it right all the time.  We are, after all, all sinner who have fallen short of the glory of God.  So let’s not villainize those who see things differently.

Sometime, however, we just have to part ways – when our opinions and values become more important than a relationship.  That sounds a bit harsh, but there is a level of differences, extreme differences, which I find are a barrier to any real relationship.  (Keep in mind that I’m an introvert and can only handle just so many relationships to start with.)  I wish these folks no ill will, nor do I think any less of them, but if I find no common ground I say it’s time to just move on. To be at peace with others sometimes requires separation.  Boundaries and fences do make for good neighbors.

For me, personally, the common ground that most often keeps me in a relationship is Jesus.  While I may not agree with their views and opinions, I can accept them as a fellow follower of Christ.  Acceptance does not mean agreement – it just means a willingness to remain – one beggar telling another beggar where to find food. We are to pursue peace (Heb 12:14) and if it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. (Rom 12:18).

In the midst of all the noise, take a moment to stop, be still and listen for His voice  - and where He leads, follow.

About a garden

That inner spiritual center – a garden, a place of potent peace and tranquility, a place where the Spirit of God comes to make self-disclosure, to share wisdom, to give affirmation or rebuke, to provide encouragement, and to give direction and guidance.  A quiet place where there is the absence of busyness, the defiling noise, of confusion.

This quote is from a book I am currently reading called Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald and it reminded me of the following:

Many years ago at a conference the speaker asked us to image our inner lives as a garden. We were to ask Jesus to come in and to allow Him to pull out the weeds.  It has always stuck with me, the image I had of Him joyfully, and with get abandon, pulling out the weeds and tossing them aside.  As I remember there was quite a lot of work for Him to do, and He was tireless in His efforts.  There was such a sense of rejoicing.  He and I both found such pleasure in uprooting and getting rid of the weeds so that my garden could produce the fruit for which it was intended.

Today, while there is still work to be done, there is that place of peace and tranquility, a place of quiet confidence and rest.  I am so very blessed in knowing that my life is in His hands. That my garden is being tended to by The Great Gardener.

A memory

Several times lately I have been reminded of a time, a long time ago, when I hit the wall and broke down in tears, deep soul wrenching tears as I sat on the floor of the chapel at Holy Comforter Church.  I remember one of the things I was aware of was to avoid false Jesuses.  I became aware that many would “come in His name” but there is only One true Jesus and I wanted desperately to make sure He was the one I followed. 

I remember too at that moment recalling a scene in Hinds Feet, where Much Afraid is climbing the mountain, alone. It’s storming around her and she’s clinging to the cleft in the rock.  The Shepherd comes to her and asks something like – what if all the promises weren’t true, would you still follow me?  And her response is “yes” and I realized that would be my response as well.  Because He is so much more that the promises.  He is love and all that is good and right, it’s not about what He gives, but Who He is.

I know I’m not all that He has called me to be, at least not yet, but I am so confident in His love that I can keep climbing.  I have come to know that His Spirit is strong in me – that has nothing to do with me but all because of Him.  I don’t know why He has chosen me, there are so many who are so much “bigger” than I am, so much “more” than I am but that doesn’t seem to matter to Him – He just loves me and I am so very grateful and will continue to rejoice in His amazing love.