All the paths of YHWH are grace and truth
To those keeping His covenant and His testimonies.
Psalm 25:10
"Why me, God?"
The question was thrust heavenward countless times throughout my younger years. As a child, as a youth, as I entered adulthood, life piled distress upon insult upon injury, over and over. And though I resolved to ever avoid causing pain to others, I nonetheless failed on countless occasions. And I wondered why I'd been cursed, oblivious to the curse upon every one of us—oblivious to the Grace available.
And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
~ John 1:16-17 (NKJV)
Truth rushed into my life when the Bible I'd only known as "The Good Book" was personally introduced to me as the Word of God. I knew at once, in the deepest core of my soul, that no Truth I'd ever heard was truer. Grace became visible a few years later, when I surrendered myself to the Lord and His Holy Spirit entered my life in a big way.
"There, but for the grace of God, go I."
~ Unknown
"Why me, God?"
When the Lord got a hold of me twenty-four years ago, I started asking the same question with a completely different perspective. Why did He reach out to me? Why did He enable me to know Him? Why was The Way revealed off the path of destruction and onto the path of life?
"He who smiles rather than rages is always the stronger."
~ Japanese Proverb
The world is filled with the injured and the injurers, none of us wholly escaping being both. Seasons of distress and insult and injury return. What makes the difference between the abused who becomes abuser, and the abused who becomes healer? How does any person choose between taking all they can get, and giving all they are? Where is the path to the place that the deed intended for evil is transformed into good?
Grace is the only answer; Grace provides the response to all that has gone by, and the assurance of hope through all that is yet to come.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
~ John 1:14 (NKJV)
By New Year's Day, Christmas gifts have been folded into the ordinary fabric of our lives. But The Gift celebrated by Christmas—the fullness of Grace and Truth that is God Himself become a Man of flesh so He might dwell among us—becomes ordinary in the new year only if I fail to worship, only if I fail to give testimony of Grace.
Thank You, Father, for sending Jesus to Earth, and for keeping Him here through Your Spirit. For Your name's sake, my Lord, please keep Him most extraordinary in our lives, worthy of all worship and testimony.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – use @gmail.com *after* buildingHisbody
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Showing posts with label My Testimony. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Testimony. Show all posts
Monday, December 31, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
What I've Learned, the First Fifty Years
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
~ Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)
Today I complete fifty years of drawing breath. I don't feel fifty years old unless I look back at all I've lived through or look forward to all I wait for, so I simply try to live in the present—to "seize the day" while remembering to plan for the future and see the past as no more than my schooling in life.
Here is a handful of some random things I've learned in my first fifty years.
The more I learn, the more I realize how ignorant I am of all there is to know, and the less I want to say.
The less you speak, the more likely people are to listen to what you have to say.
Strive for excellence and leave perfection to God.
Kindness is more important than efficiency.
Unkindness is never justified, however necessary or difficult the truth.
Force, even painful force, is necessary to authority and most effective with absence of anger or malice.
Neither debtor nor the one owed a debt is truly free. Forgiveness means living free of debts.
A good physician facilitates cures, but healing comes only from God.
(Likewise …) Any one of us can be an agent of rescue, but deliverance comes only from God.
There's no better place to be than the center of God's will.
Comfort can sometimes be purchased, but peace is a gift of God.
Joy is the product of expressed gratitude.
Money is a problem if you have too little or too much. If you have adequate food and clothing, you don't have too little.
Jesus died to save sinners, of whom I am chief, and there is no cause to look down on anyone.
The most important thing I will do today is express my great love for God in my love of neighbor.
Love doesn't eliminate sin, but it does cover a multitude of sins, and that's enough for mortals.
The Lord's Prayer covers everything. Pray it often and slowly.
There' s nothing in this world truly new—
That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
~ Ecclesiastes 1:9 (NKJV)
God makes all things new (Revelation 21:5), every day—
This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
~ Lamentations 3:21-23 (NKJV)
Finally:
God is good. ALL. THE. TIME.
Gracious Father, if I have found favor in Your sight, please grant to me:
humility without defeat,
joy without pride,
peace without complacency,
faith without presumption,
hope without expectation,
passion without impatience,
and love without constraint,
for Your glory alone.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – use @gmail.com *after* buildingHisbody
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
~ Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)
Today I complete fifty years of drawing breath. I don't feel fifty years old unless I look back at all I've lived through or look forward to all I wait for, so I simply try to live in the present—to "seize the day" while remembering to plan for the future and see the past as no more than my schooling in life.
Here is a handful of some random things I've learned in my first fifty years.
The more I learn, the more I realize how ignorant I am of all there is to know, and the less I want to say.
The less you speak, the more likely people are to listen to what you have to say.
Strive for excellence and leave perfection to God.
Kindness is more important than efficiency.
Unkindness is never justified, however necessary or difficult the truth.
Force, even painful force, is necessary to authority and most effective with absence of anger or malice.
Neither debtor nor the one owed a debt is truly free. Forgiveness means living free of debts.
A good physician facilitates cures, but healing comes only from God.
(Likewise …) Any one of us can be an agent of rescue, but deliverance comes only from God.
There's no better place to be than the center of God's will.
Comfort can sometimes be purchased, but peace is a gift of God.
Joy is the product of expressed gratitude.
Money is a problem if you have too little or too much. If you have adequate food and clothing, you don't have too little.
Jesus died to save sinners, of whom I am chief, and there is no cause to look down on anyone.
The most important thing I will do today is express my great love for God in my love of neighbor.
Love doesn't eliminate sin, but it does cover a multitude of sins, and that's enough for mortals.
The Lord's Prayer covers everything. Pray it often and slowly.
There' s nothing in this world truly new—
That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
~ Ecclesiastes 1:9 (NKJV)
God makes all things new (Revelation 21:5), every day—
This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
~ Lamentations 3:21-23 (NKJV)
Finally:
God is good. ALL. THE. TIME.
Gracious Father, if I have found favor in Your sight, please grant to me:
humility without defeat,
joy without pride,
peace without complacency,
faith without presumption,
hope without expectation,
passion without impatience,
and love without constraint,
for Your glory alone.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – use @gmail.com *after* buildingHisbody
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Change, Part III: No Such Thing as Normal
As I conclude three posts to explain some changes in my life, I beg your indulgence for today's extra words.
normal : adj 1 conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected
There is no such thing as a normal life. We and our lives are unique, extraordinary, and filled with the unexpected.
When events in life turn our routines upside down, we adjust to what we call "the new normal"—as if life will now become "usual, typical, expected."
For most of my Christian walk, I expected change and even sought it, because I understood that becoming more like Jesus meant continual change away from my B.C. life. Aside from some "still learning the ropes" resistance during early years, I came to roll with the punches, accepting that whatever life threw at me was allowed by God, and His plans are always good.
Then life started throwing some serious punches. Slander. Persecution. Oppression. Personal attack from people who matter. Relationship losses. Injuries to myself and my loved ones.
I knew the right response was a balance between asking for accountability and extending grace and forgiveness. I expected things to turn out okay if I did these things. But my expectations weren't met, while the punches came harder and faster.
By spring of 2010, depression dogged me. My health suffered. I overcame the darkest depression in December 2010-January 2011 through purposeful Bible-reading and prayer (though depression still licks at my heels).
I thought I'd adjusted to stresses of "the new normal."
Then life threw its hardest punches yet. I can't say I've suffered more than anyone else. Cancer (and its debilitating pain) snuffed out the life of my bright sister-in-law and left behind her three young children. Christians are badly tortured for their faith in greater numbers than ever before. Atrocities prevail across the globe and in my neighborhood. Who am I to complain?
My precious sister reminded me that it never works to compare our circumstances to the good or bad of others. No matter how much someone else suffers, it doesn't mitigate our own suffering.
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
~ 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (NKJV)
The punches, for now, have mostly relented. My physical health has yet to bounce back. My cardiologist is working on ways to ease discomfort, but my characteristic stamina and drive remain at a fraction of what they were three years ago. (Good thing they started out so high, LOL!) My new reality is that I can accomplish less in a day than to what I'm accustomed.
Something had to go. The time is fitting for God to close the door to all entailed with a publishing deal for my biblical fiction. A book contract seemed within reach—my skill is polished, my writing clean, my story well-crafted, my publishing agent highly regarded. But I write real-life-messy and carve out the Bible's not-so-neat solutions. An editor dangling a book contract requested I change my style. Readers want escape and entertainment, after all. I apologetically offered, "I'm not [well-known author]." Editor replied, "Why wouldn't you want to be?"
The blow of the question didn't hurt nearly as hard as everything else I've been through. In hindsight, I see that the sting necessarily stiffened my spine.
I've written plenty about the need to die to Self for the name of Jesus Christ, and (please, Lord!) may I never refuse that invitation. But I must also be true to the person God calls me to be.
So after four-plus years with a publishing agent, I am exiting publishing circles—at least for now. Temptation suggests that my battle-weary soul go one step further and withdraw from all public activity to simply rest.
But online ministry is a door the Lord holds firmly open. I once posted and tweeted daily, and now struggle to post to my blog once or twice a week, to dialogue with the readers I dearly love, to make it over to Twitter at all.
It is sufficient.
By God's grace and strength, I will continue extolling Him and edifying His body, whether online or wherever I step, however not-normal life gets, for as long as I draw breath.
: : :
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I
may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
~ St. Francis of Assisi
normal : adj 1 conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected
There is no such thing as a normal life. We and our lives are unique, extraordinary, and filled with the unexpected.
When events in life turn our routines upside down, we adjust to what we call "the new normal"—as if life will now become "usual, typical, expected."
For most of my Christian walk, I expected change and even sought it, because I understood that becoming more like Jesus meant continual change away from my B.C. life. Aside from some "still learning the ropes" resistance during early years, I came to roll with the punches, accepting that whatever life threw at me was allowed by God, and His plans are always good.
Then life started throwing some serious punches. Slander. Persecution. Oppression. Personal attack from people who matter. Relationship losses. Injuries to myself and my loved ones.
I knew the right response was a balance between asking for accountability and extending grace and forgiveness. I expected things to turn out okay if I did these things. But my expectations weren't met, while the punches came harder and faster.
By spring of 2010, depression dogged me. My health suffered. I overcame the darkest depression in December 2010-January 2011 through purposeful Bible-reading and prayer (though depression still licks at my heels).
I thought I'd adjusted to stresses of "the new normal."
Then life threw its hardest punches yet. I can't say I've suffered more than anyone else. Cancer (and its debilitating pain) snuffed out the life of my bright sister-in-law and left behind her three young children. Christians are badly tortured for their faith in greater numbers than ever before. Atrocities prevail across the globe and in my neighborhood. Who am I to complain?
My precious sister reminded me that it never works to compare our circumstances to the good or bad of others. No matter how much someone else suffers, it doesn't mitigate our own suffering.
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
~ 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (NKJV)
The punches, for now, have mostly relented. My physical health has yet to bounce back. My cardiologist is working on ways to ease discomfort, but my characteristic stamina and drive remain at a fraction of what they were three years ago. (Good thing they started out so high, LOL!) My new reality is that I can accomplish less in a day than to what I'm accustomed.
Something had to go. The time is fitting for God to close the door to all entailed with a publishing deal for my biblical fiction. A book contract seemed within reach—my skill is polished, my writing clean, my story well-crafted, my publishing agent highly regarded. But I write real-life-messy and carve out the Bible's not-so-neat solutions. An editor dangling a book contract requested I change my style. Readers want escape and entertainment, after all. I apologetically offered, "I'm not [well-known author]." Editor replied, "Why wouldn't you want to be?"
The blow of the question didn't hurt nearly as hard as everything else I've been through. In hindsight, I see that the sting necessarily stiffened my spine.
I've written plenty about the need to die to Self for the name of Jesus Christ, and (please, Lord!) may I never refuse that invitation. But I must also be true to the person God calls me to be.
So after four-plus years with a publishing agent, I am exiting publishing circles—at least for now. Temptation suggests that my battle-weary soul go one step further and withdraw from all public activity to simply rest.
But online ministry is a door the Lord holds firmly open. I once posted and tweeted daily, and now struggle to post to my blog once or twice a week, to dialogue with the readers I dearly love, to make it over to Twitter at all.
It is sufficient.
By God's grace and strength, I will continue extolling Him and edifying His body, whether online or wherever I step, however not-normal life gets, for as long as I draw breath.
: : :
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I
may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
~ St. Francis of Assisi
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Water and Fire Enough
My family topped off a trip to the Washington DC area with a visit to Virginia Beach this week. Our children had never seen the ocean (I've only set foot in the Pacific briefly myself), and we could hardly be so close to the Atlantic and not let them taste it.
Perhaps our many visits to Great Lakes beaches lulled me into thinking I understood waves and tides. Perhaps we simply met Madame Atlantic in one of her more tempestuous moods. In any case, she introduced herself with less than genteel hospitality.
I planned to simply wade into a comfortable depth with my seven-year-old Daniel, since we're both very marginal swimmers. We were no more than thigh-deep when we suddenly found our feet pulled out from under us and salt water filling our mouths and noses. Before we could find our footing, another wave tossed us about and then merrily ran off. We sputtered and scrambled beachward as the older kids swam on in.
Daniel and I stuck to the shoreline in knee-deep water. Daniel leapt up into each wave with delight, I braced myself in the sand and hung onto him, and the Atlantic rolled us under every few minutes.
The day wasn't quite hot enough for us to enjoy the breeze which chilled us between waves. About the time Daniel's shivering was starting to concern me, I noticed the red flag on the lifeguard stand warning "DANGEROUS OCEAN."
I think the two of us could have handled any one of the numerous challenges we faced. But I finally decided that we simply faced too many, and that we'd experienced enough ocean for the day.
A person has to know how to say "enough" before becoming overwhelmed.
There are three things that are never satisfied,
Four never say, "Enough!":
The grave,
The barren womb,
The earth that is not satisfied with water—
And the fire never says, "Enough!"
~ Proverbs 30:15-16 (NKJV)
I've learned how to say "no" when a situation isn't for me. Nonetheless, I've lately found myself in several situations that each has numerous challenges. Any one fire might not be too much. For a while now, I've been wrestling with knowing when to say "enough."
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
~ Isaiah 43:2 (NKJV)
It's good to experience the gifts God puts in our paths. I'd rather look at a challenge as a stepping stone than as an obstacle. I don't like to admit defeat. I trust God to accompany me through the waters and fire in my life.
But sometimes, when I ask Him, He also grants me the option to say "Enough!"
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Perhaps our many visits to Great Lakes beaches lulled me into thinking I understood waves and tides. Perhaps we simply met Madame Atlantic in one of her more tempestuous moods. In any case, she introduced herself with less than genteel hospitality.
I planned to simply wade into a comfortable depth with my seven-year-old Daniel, since we're both very marginal swimmers. We were no more than thigh-deep when we suddenly found our feet pulled out from under us and salt water filling our mouths and noses. Before we could find our footing, another wave tossed us about and then merrily ran off. We sputtered and scrambled beachward as the older kids swam on in.
Daniel and I stuck to the shoreline in knee-deep water. Daniel leapt up into each wave with delight, I braced myself in the sand and hung onto him, and the Atlantic rolled us under every few minutes.
The day wasn't quite hot enough for us to enjoy the breeze which chilled us between waves. About the time Daniel's shivering was starting to concern me, I noticed the red flag on the lifeguard stand warning "DANGEROUS OCEAN."
I think the two of us could have handled any one of the numerous challenges we faced. But I finally decided that we simply faced too many, and that we'd experienced enough ocean for the day.
A person has to know how to say "enough" before becoming overwhelmed.
There are three things that are never satisfied,
Four never say, "Enough!":
The grave,
The barren womb,
The earth that is not satisfied with water—
And the fire never says, "Enough!"
~ Proverbs 30:15-16 (NKJV)
I've learned how to say "no" when a situation isn't for me. Nonetheless, I've lately found myself in several situations that each has numerous challenges. Any one fire might not be too much. For a while now, I've been wrestling with knowing when to say "enough."
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
~ Isaiah 43:2 (NKJV)
It's good to experience the gifts God puts in our paths. I'd rather look at a challenge as a stepping stone than as an obstacle. I don't like to admit defeat. I trust God to accompany me through the waters and fire in my life.
But sometimes, when I ask Him, He also grants me the option to say "Enough!"
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Disclaimer
Last Wednesday, Sarah Bessey published a list of some two dozen "Wise Women Over 50." Being included on the list was a most unexpected and deeply appreciated honor for me.
My jubilee year isn't actually complete until this December, but I'll allow credit for more age than I've earned. More difficult to wear is the label "wise." Although I pray for God to use me as a vessel of His wisdom (and rejoice in answered prayer), I also know that being a vessel of wisdom doesn't necessarily make a person wise. Solomon evidently carried more wisdom than anyone else, but he didn't allow wisdom to carry him.
Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding …
~ Proverbs 10:13 (NKJV)
The invisible Creator has hidden Himself only so that He will be sought and found. (See "God of Hide-and-Seek.") Not once have I earnestly sought the Lord without discovering another precious nugget of knowledge or understanding or wisdom. I've not nearly enough time or words to share more than what amounts to gold dust from my mining the richest vein of gold in the universe. The offerings of this blog are woefully inadequate to the mercies of God.
The problem is that so much of me gets mixed into what I write. On a good day, I manage to share mostly Him and veil most of me. On my lesser days, far too much of me comes through. My prayer is that either way, His Spirit will overcome and use the words printed here in each reader's life.
"He must increase, but I must decrease."
~ John 3:30 (NKJV)
It's been said that my blogging voice is authoritative. God forbid that I speak with authority! (I was happy to do Bible Q&A, when it was hosted on the now inactive blog "Bullets & Butterflies," only because a respected Christian of authority endorsed me.)
But God permit that I speak with assurance. In myself, I have less assurance with every passing year. In my Lord, assurance deepens with every blessing and every passing trial. What gets shared here is confident testimony on behalf of Him.
Jesus affirmed that "by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." As I say to my children, I hope you'll listen to me, but please don't believe what I say simply because I said it. I am fallible. I am weak. I am still learning.
Go back to the Bible for yourself. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you Himself. Measure the words of whomever you hear in accordance with the spiritual fruit of their lives.
Thank you for reading this far, and for allowing me to turn off comments today.
My jubilee year isn't actually complete until this December, but I'll allow credit for more age than I've earned. More difficult to wear is the label "wise." Although I pray for God to use me as a vessel of His wisdom (and rejoice in answered prayer), I also know that being a vessel of wisdom doesn't necessarily make a person wise. Solomon evidently carried more wisdom than anyone else, but he didn't allow wisdom to carry him.
Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding …
~ Proverbs 10:13 (NKJV)
The invisible Creator has hidden Himself only so that He will be sought and found. (See "God of Hide-and-Seek.") Not once have I earnestly sought the Lord without discovering another precious nugget of knowledge or understanding or wisdom. I've not nearly enough time or words to share more than what amounts to gold dust from my mining the richest vein of gold in the universe. The offerings of this blog are woefully inadequate to the mercies of God.
The problem is that so much of me gets mixed into what I write. On a good day, I manage to share mostly Him and veil most of me. On my lesser days, far too much of me comes through. My prayer is that either way, His Spirit will overcome and use the words printed here in each reader's life.
"He must increase, but I must decrease."
~ John 3:30 (NKJV)
It's been said that my blogging voice is authoritative. God forbid that I speak with authority! (I was happy to do Bible Q&A, when it was hosted on the now inactive blog "Bullets & Butterflies," only because a respected Christian of authority endorsed me.)
But God permit that I speak with assurance. In myself, I have less assurance with every passing year. In my Lord, assurance deepens with every blessing and every passing trial. What gets shared here is confident testimony on behalf of Him.
Jesus affirmed that "by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." As I say to my children, I hope you'll listen to me, but please don't believe what I say simply because I said it. I am fallible. I am weak. I am still learning.
Go back to the Bible for yourself. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you Himself. Measure the words of whomever you hear in accordance with the spiritual fruit of their lives.
Thank you for reading this far, and for allowing me to turn off comments today.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Time to Press Pause
As you might guess from the scant smattering of recent posts, I have been busy. I actually took a little vacation from blogging not too long ago, knowing I needed a little more time to catch up.
The juggling act has yet to calm down.
Please excuse me from posting for a little while. My plan is to devote some more time to prayer, and ask the Lord to help me see what I need to put down BEFORE anything crashes. You can be assured that I'm grateful if you'll uphold me in prayer as well.
I hope the Lord will clear the way for me to be back with more posts very soon.
With love to all,
~ Anne
Images by Dr. Suess, © 1957, 1985
Saturday, December 31, 2011
The Problem with Optimism
2011 has been one of the best years of my life. Our five children have each achieved remarkable accomplishments. My husband has finally moved on from a job of incredible pressures. We've received new material blessings that are enriching our lives. The Lord has proven His faithfulness and love for me in innumerable ways, and I love Him more than ever.
2011 has also been one of the worst years of my life, personally, emotionally, and physically. Amid numerous trials, I've been forced to learn the problem with optimism.
optimism : noun 1 hopefulness and confidence about the future or success of something. 2 [Philosophy] the doctrine that this world is the best of all possible worlds.
The first part of that definition lines up perfectly with the way Scripture paints hope:
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
~ Romans 8:28 (NKJV)
"For I know the purposes which I am weaving for you," says YHWH, "purposes of peace, and not for evil—to give you a future and a hope."
~ Jeremiah 29:11 (author)
But optimism tends to go beyond the first definition—beyond the hope provided by faith. Optimism wants to go on to define success in terms which are clearly seen, and seen sooner rather than later. While optimism doesn't deny God's promise that the next world will be the far better one, it nonetheless expects life in this world to come close.
God operates on a timetable that defies any schedule. He specializes not in successes the world recognizes, but of the unseen, in realms of the human heart. The effects of His work cannot be hidden, and will bear testimony of His presence at some point. Yet like the tip of an iceberg, what is seen is but a hint of what lies beneath the surface.
If optimism goes far enough to become presumptuous about either the goal of God's work, the method of God's work, or which person achieves God's work (Him or me), optimism may encounter that iceberg with a horrific crash.
No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.
~ 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NRSV)
Though the French roots of 'optimism' stem from the Latin 'optimum,' the two should never be confused.
optimum : adjective most likely to lead to a favorable outcome. : noun the most favorable conditions for growth, reproduction, or success.
The Lord creates optimum conditions for His goals to be achieved, His methods to be successful, and His glory to be seen. The Bible describes God's "optimum conditions" with words like:
suffering
poor
mourn
trial
tribulation
persecution
death
I think maybe optimism can be a presumptuous and worldly substitute for true faith in the unseen and true hope in God's sure promises. Maybe. I'm not sure yet.
What I do know is that my lifelong optimism has been shaken to its core, while my hope is strong and my faith is undiminished.
And faith tells me that it may be a good thing to let go of optimism and simply stick with hope.
"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
~ John 16:33 (NKJV)
Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Darkness
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
~ John 8:12 (NKJV)
We humans become well-acquainted with darkness before we come to know light. Even our conception is wrapped in months of darkness before we are thrust into the world of light.
And so it seems fitting to peek at Darkness before examining Light—even if doing to discloses more than one might prefer to know.
But when I looked for good, evil came to me;
And when I waited for light, then came darkness.
~ Job 30:26 (NKJV)
My personal experience with Darkness began during 23 years of wandering through a spiritual haze, in search of the God Who hovered just outside my reach. My meeting with the Word of God was love at first sight, but three more years of flirting with Darkness prevented me from really knowing Light. The Lord does not tolerate divided allegiances, and waited to reveal Himself until He had all of me.
Since my surrender to God, His Light has dominated my life. I've remained well aware of the presence of Darkness in this world, and have made every effort to fearlessly be the Light of Jesus to everyone around me. In my lack of trepidation, I even prayed to better understand the Darkness against which we battle.
Be very careful of what you pray for.
God granted my prayer. My single, face-to-face encounter with the power of Darkness remains the most horrifying experience of my life. Though I emerged the victor, I'd swear that Darkness still nibbles at my heels, hungry for a rematch.
Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain.
~ Revelation 16:10 (NKJV)
In the last couple of days, I've studied the 220+ references to darkness in Scripture. Here are some notes.
Several verses make clear that God separates light from darkness on various physical and spiritual levels. God has even veiled Himself in darkness when separating Himself from unholiness. The phrase "shadow of death" occurs 19 times, usually accompanied by references to the dark.
The plague of darkness in Egypt is described as "darkness which may even be felt" (Exodus 10:21). When Revelation describes darkness descending and people gnawing their tongues in pain (above passage), I can imagine a deep darkness so horrific as to cause pain all by itself. The line which divides physical darkness and the power of Darkness is a fine one indeed.
Lastly, here are words and phrases associated with darkness in the Bible.
void, vanity, futile, foolish
gloom, blackness, silent
forsaken, alienated, desolate, wilderness
blindness, obscurity, hide, cover
wander, grope, stagger, bow down
stumble, slippery, unstable
scattered, forgetfulness, unfruitful
woe, sorrow, trouble, anguish, tribulation
sickness, pestilence, lays waste
disaster, destruction, curses, calamity
tempest, overflowing flood, utter end
hatred, persecuted, wrestle, bound in affliction
anger, thief, evil, way of the wicked
beasts creep about, consume
chased, overtake, pursue
captivity, prison, chains of darkness
crushed my life, long dead, cut off, grave
lowest pit, in the depths
bottomless pit, hell, smoke of the pit
outer darkness, weeping, "gnashing of teeth"
haunts of cruelty, power of Satan
horror, terrify, terrible
Next time: Light.
Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
~ John 8:12 (NKJV)
We humans become well-acquainted with darkness before we come to know light. Even our conception is wrapped in months of darkness before we are thrust into the world of light.
And so it seems fitting to peek at Darkness before examining Light—even if doing to discloses more than one might prefer to know.
But when I looked for good, evil came to me;
And when I waited for light, then came darkness.
~ Job 30:26 (NKJV)
My personal experience with Darkness began during 23 years of wandering through a spiritual haze, in search of the God Who hovered just outside my reach. My meeting with the Word of God was love at first sight, but three more years of flirting with Darkness prevented me from really knowing Light. The Lord does not tolerate divided allegiances, and waited to reveal Himself until He had all of me.
Since my surrender to God, His Light has dominated my life. I've remained well aware of the presence of Darkness in this world, and have made every effort to fearlessly be the Light of Jesus to everyone around me. In my lack of trepidation, I even prayed to better understand the Darkness against which we battle.
Be very careful of what you pray for.
God granted my prayer. My single, face-to-face encounter with the power of Darkness remains the most horrifying experience of my life. Though I emerged the victor, I'd swear that Darkness still nibbles at my heels, hungry for a rematch.
Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain.
~ Revelation 16:10 (NKJV)
In the last couple of days, I've studied the 220+ references to darkness in Scripture. Here are some notes.
Several verses make clear that God separates light from darkness on various physical and spiritual levels. God has even veiled Himself in darkness when separating Himself from unholiness. The phrase "shadow of death" occurs 19 times, usually accompanied by references to the dark.
The plague of darkness in Egypt is described as "darkness which may even be felt" (Exodus 10:21). When Revelation describes darkness descending and people gnawing their tongues in pain (above passage), I can imagine a deep darkness so horrific as to cause pain all by itself. The line which divides physical darkness and the power of Darkness is a fine one indeed.
Lastly, here are words and phrases associated with darkness in the Bible.
void, vanity, futile, foolish
gloom, blackness, silent
forsaken, alienated, desolate, wilderness
blindness, obscurity, hide, cover
wander, grope, stagger, bow down
stumble, slippery, unstable
scattered, forgetfulness, unfruitful
woe, sorrow, trouble, anguish, tribulation
sickness, pestilence, lays waste
disaster, destruction, curses, calamity
tempest, overflowing flood, utter end
hatred, persecuted, wrestle, bound in affliction
anger, thief, evil, way of the wicked
beasts creep about, consume
chased, overtake, pursue
captivity, prison, chains of darkness
crushed my life, long dead, cut off, grave
lowest pit, in the depths
bottomless pit, hell, smoke of the pit
outer darkness, weeping, "gnashing of teeth"
haunts of cruelty, power of Satan
horror, terrify, terrible
Next time: Light.
Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Dust in the Wind
This time last week, I was attending that writers conference in St. Louie I mentioned.
Was that really only a week ago? It seems like it's been a month. I've been working hard since then, following up conference business, catching up home chores, going to dinner with my husband, homeschooling the kids, shopping for a new car (yay!), writing blog posts, writing fiction, falling into place on the church drama team. (That latter group is a class full of class clowns.)
Where is my calling? Where do I belong?
Everywhere. Anywhere. I'm forever running late, because I live too much in the moment. Wherever I may be, there I am. Wherever I may be, I want to drip Jesus (even if I fail or forget), and I sometimes hesitate to move on.
I breathe
I eat
I dance
I die
And yet I never live
You can feel me
But cannot touch me
Although your heart may hold me
Nothing with life survives without me
And nothing of heaven and earth will survive me
I am Fire
("I am Fire" © 2010, 2011 Anne Lang Bundy)
The fire in my heart for the Lord is as mysterious to me as the fire I just put in our wood stove for these first chilly hours of October. How does the tiny flame ignite and convert heavy chunks of tree into ash, which disappears into the wind when I dump the ash bucket—leaving behind peace and warmth inside?
The fire in my heart for the Lord reduces me to nothing some days. I think I've finally been reduced to ash, nothing left but dust in the wind.
That's okay with me, as long as I leave behind a little peace and warmth of the Lord in the process.
Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Was that really only a week ago? It seems like it's been a month. I've been working hard since then, following up conference business, catching up home chores, going to dinner with my husband, homeschooling the kids, shopping for a new car (yay!), writing blog posts, writing fiction, falling into place on the church drama team. (That latter group is a class full of class clowns.)
Where is my calling? Where do I belong?
Everywhere. Anywhere. I'm forever running late, because I live too much in the moment. Wherever I may be, there I am. Wherever I may be, I want to drip Jesus (even if I fail or forget), and I sometimes hesitate to move on.
I breathe
I eat
I dance
I die
And yet I never live
You can feel me
But cannot touch me
Although your heart may hold me
Nothing with life survives without me
And nothing of heaven and earth will survive me
I am Fire
("I am Fire" © 2010, 2011 Anne Lang Bundy)
The fire in my heart for the Lord is as mysterious to me as the fire I just put in our wood stove for these first chilly hours of October. How does the tiny flame ignite and convert heavy chunks of tree into ash, which disappears into the wind when I dump the ash bucket—leaving behind peace and warmth inside?
The fire in my heart for the Lord reduces me to nothing some days. I think I've finally been reduced to ash, nothing left but dust in the wind.
That's okay with me, as long as I leave behind a little peace and warmth of the Lord in the process.
Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Saints Alive
(I'm on "vacation" for a week. Details below.)
If I have any obsession in life, it is the Bible.
This living Word of God is life to me. Its words speak to me. Its pulse stirs my blood as surely as my own heart pumps.
If I spend precious hours studying something, it is most likely Scripture-related. Better comprehension of Hebrew and Greek means a clearer comprehension of what an original writer was communicating. Better knowledge of history, geography and archeology gives me better knowledge of context. Better understanding of culture means better understanding of the people, their motives, their actions.
At some point, as I studied the Bible, a funny thing started to happen. The Bible's saints came as alive as His Word. Reading about people such as David and Abigail and Mary (sister of Martha) and Joseph (husband of Mary) and Samuel and Jeremiah started to feel like reading a Facebook status of one of my family members—remote, but with an immediacy that puts me right there with them.
Just as I'm always excited to connect in person with people who are family in Christ, whom I meet via the internet, I started looking forward to the day I would meet these brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Like the internet, the Bible has become a door through which distance and time diminish. The wind of Israel from 3000 miles and 3000 years away is not stale when I breathe it. To know these people whom I shall soon meet, I study the connections between various passages of Scripture. Combined with other biblical studies, and a little conjecture, I am able to fill in details of genealogy and life events and personality.
If I have any obsession in life, it is the Bible.
This living Word of God is life to me. Its words speak to me. Its pulse stirs my blood as surely as my own heart pumps.
If I spend precious hours studying something, it is most likely Scripture-related. Better comprehension of Hebrew and Greek means a clearer comprehension of what an original writer was communicating. Better knowledge of history, geography and archeology gives me better knowledge of context. Better understanding of culture means better understanding of the people, their motives, their actions.
At some point, as I studied the Bible, a funny thing started to happen. The Bible's saints came as alive as His Word. Reading about people such as David and Abigail and Mary (sister of Martha) and Joseph (husband of Mary) and Samuel and Jeremiah started to feel like reading a Facebook status of one of my family members—remote, but with an immediacy that puts me right there with them.
Just as I'm always excited to connect in person with people who are family in Christ, whom I meet via the internet, I started looking forward to the day I would meet these brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Like the internet, the Bible has become a door through which distance and time diminish. The wind of Israel from 3000 miles and 3000 years away is not stale when I breathe it. To know these people whom I shall soon meet, I study the connections between various passages of Scripture. Combined with other biblical studies, and a little conjecture, I am able to fill in details of genealogy and life events and personality.
"Jesus told stories.
We are part of the body of Christ—
the part that tells stories."
~ American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW)
One day, my imagination started considering what the lives might have been like of these people I've come to love. I started writing down the possibilities, like the script of a movie. Without ever planning it or considering what it might mean to be a novelist, I wrote a compelling story in a voice that sounds to me not unlike the NKJV Bible I've read cover to cover, over and over.
Writing biblical fiction has crossed over from something fanciful to serious work. Publishing industry professionals have given me encouraging nods. And despite a number of pleas from me to let this go, the Lord seems to keep prodding me forward.
I cannot presume that those prods mean I will someday be published. But for now, I continue to step through the open doors which the Lord puts before me. This next week I will once again attend the ACFW writers conference, hosted this year in St. Louie.
My prayer is that the Lord will not allow me to miss His best will for me, whatever that might be.
Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Gift of Hunger
If you are a visitor from the Blog Carnival, I ask your forgiveness and indulgence for submitting this second post. I realized that I failed to share the more important truth I've learned about Treasure in recent days: We treasure what we desire more than what we have, and the two don't need to be mutually exclusive. (late edit:) Hunger makes the heart value more highly and yearn for more earnestly that which we treasure.
When I first met the Word of God in the Bible, I fell head-over-heels in love with the beauty of pure Truth. I hungrily read it at every opportunity in search for more Truth.
For four years I struggled to understand what my new Christian life should look like. When a cross country move and new church removed me from the little teaching I'd been getting, I became hungry for a teacher. No one was there for me. I'd open my Bible and beg God to help me understand it. I didn't recognize the Person of the Holy Spirit when He became my Teacher. I knew only that I hungered after His illumination like I might hunger for air after 60 seconds of holding my breath. I breathed Him in deeply and eagerly.
Seven years elapsed. I'd realized long before that time that I was hungry for discipleship—for mature Christians teaching and modeling Christianity to me. God brought me to a church strong in biblical principles where my eyes were opened to elemental lessons I'd missed by Bible-reading alone. I attended every service and meeting with a soul longing to be fed.
After five years I saw what was missing. Critical and judgmental spirits among legalists cursed and crushed the spirit of praise wherever it appeared without conformity to their standards. For another five years I praised God with exuberance only when away from them. My soul ached for the freedom to exalt Him. He honored my desire and brought our family to our present church, where worship ministry flourishes.
For three and a half years I've feasted on the fellowship of loving saints against a backdrop of solid biblical teaching. Our choir, orchestra, drama team, kids choir, and occasional dancers uplift my God and bring me to tears often.
My hunger has always been the opportunity to share God. The online community of blogging, Twitter, Facebook has satisfied it as never before.
Enough to quell the hunger pangs.
I understand now yet another reason God allowed the intense suffering of the last couple of years. It kept me in fellowship with Him so I might experience hunger for relief and be driven back to Him with new fervor.
And now, as life becomes calm, I once again need the gift of hunger.
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
~ Jesus, Matthew 6:21 (NKJV)
Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Image source: crossroadsinitiative.com
When I first met the Word of God in the Bible, I fell head-over-heels in love with the beauty of pure Truth. I hungrily read it at every opportunity in search for more Truth.
For four years I struggled to understand what my new Christian life should look like. When a cross country move and new church removed me from the little teaching I'd been getting, I became hungry for a teacher. No one was there for me. I'd open my Bible and beg God to help me understand it. I didn't recognize the Person of the Holy Spirit when He became my Teacher. I knew only that I hungered after His illumination like I might hunger for air after 60 seconds of holding my breath. I breathed Him in deeply and eagerly.
Seven years elapsed. I'd realized long before that time that I was hungry for discipleship—for mature Christians teaching and modeling Christianity to me. God brought me to a church strong in biblical principles where my eyes were opened to elemental lessons I'd missed by Bible-reading alone. I attended every service and meeting with a soul longing to be fed.
After five years I saw what was missing. Critical and judgmental spirits among legalists cursed and crushed the spirit of praise wherever it appeared without conformity to their standards. For another five years I praised God with exuberance only when away from them. My soul ached for the freedom to exalt Him. He honored my desire and brought our family to our present church, where worship ministry flourishes.
For three and a half years I've feasted on the fellowship of loving saints against a backdrop of solid biblical teaching. Our choir, orchestra, drama team, kids choir, and occasional dancers uplift my God and bring me to tears often.
My hunger has always been the opportunity to share God. The online community of blogging, Twitter, Facebook has satisfied it as never before.
Enough to quell the hunger pangs.
I understand now yet another reason God allowed the intense suffering of the last couple of years. It kept me in fellowship with Him so I might experience hunger for relief and be driven back to Him with new fervor.
And now, as life becomes calm, I once again need the gift of hunger.
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
~ Jesus, Matthew 6:21 (NKJV)
Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Bible Nerd
(My Bible—click to enlarge)
Oh, how I love Your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
~ Psalms 119:97 (NKJV)
Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
~ Psalms 119:97 (NKJV)
Do you ever have a situation sneak up on you slowly and you don't realize how intense it's become until it's too extreme to change?
I'm not sure why this was the week that it hit me. I've known for a long time that I'm sort of fanatical about the Bible. Sort of. I freely admit falling in love with it long ago and never recovering. I suddenly realized what a severe case I still have the other night after I stayed up til nearly 2 am, obsessively sorting out a maze of genealogies from the book of Chronicles like it was a Sudoku puzzle.
Our family reads the Bible every night before bedtime prayers—either a Psalm or a chapter of Proverbs. We also do Bible study most days as part of homeschooling (presently Ezekiel), incorporating studies of history, math, science or language as those topics become relevant. For the last year or so, we also spend a few moments a day working on memorizing Psalm 119 as part of the kids' memory work.
I get up early with my husband on the days he works and read Bible to him while he gets dressed (Exodus). I decided to go through the whole Bible in a year for myself again (haven't done it in a decade) and am also doing that in the mornings (Isaiah). I'm doing some work on Hebrew names of God at the request of a Christian art small business (more study which includes lots of dictionary work). After the house is asleep, I write biblical fiction most nights. And once a week I do study for Question of the Week.
How on earth did I wind up so immersed in the Bible? How did I wind up simultaneously reading out of seven different parts of the Old Testament, when I also read the New Testament plenty? (Besides my random study, John's Gospel is presently Sunday a.m. church, Mark's Sunday p.m.)
How do I not tire of it? I still find every bit of Scripture marvelously fascinating, utterly beautiful, and surprisingly powerful.
I think my husband and kids have seen this for a long time and are so used to it that they just accept it. I'm so grateful that they still love me the way I am.
But most of all, I'm amazed that the Lord would put such an intense love in my heart for His Word.
Why me, Lord? What did I do to deserve this blessing? I thank You for it.
Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Winter Ailments ~ A Question
"We looked for peace, but no good came;
And for a time of health, and there was trouble! ..."
Is there no balm in Gilead, Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no recovery
For the health of the daughter of my people?
~ Jeremiah 8:15-22 (NKJV)
And for a time of health, and there was trouble! ..."
Is there no balm in Gilead, Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no recovery
For the health of the daughter of my people?
~ Jeremiah 8:15-22 (NKJV)
It's been one exceptionally long winter.
Back home in Colorado, winter's arrival isn't entirely certain until the occasion when you step outside, inhale, and every bit of moisture inside your nose freezes. Before then, winter teases with snow from the first dusting on mountaintops in September until the last of it disappears in July—while sunny days prevail the entire time, and 70 degrees plus can show up in January.
Here in Michigan, winter steals in slowly but surely, wrapped in clouds, settling in with a dampness to penetrate places in your body you didn't know existed. You're never quite certain that the cold has departed until heat and humidity descend in full weight and finally slam the door on it.
The heat may not bother me this year. I'm usually healthy enough to sidestep winter sickness, and rarely get even a cold. But I've been run down from emotional stress for many months, and for the first year in decades I've been dogged by respiratory illness all winter long. I avoid pharmaceuticals (especially antibiotics), relying mostly on natural methods to treat sickness. But back to back ailments finally got the best of me, and I'm now on the third Rx in as many weeks, for different problems.
I've wondered if there's any connection between my recent groans to God that I feel like I'm carrying too much in one matter and the body aches that settled in my shoulder for several days. Or between re-emergence of spiritual attack and a strong allergic reaction. Might all the respiratory sickness be connected to a struggle to breathe with the strength of God's Spirit rather than my own?
It wouldn't be the first time body and spirit suffered together. Two or three times in past years, when I was being stubborn about something the Lord wanted of me, I wound up with a bad kink in my neck, and then remembered that the Lord calls stubbornness being "stiff-necked." I wasn't surprised when I heeded Him and the neck pain immediately disappeared each time.
Throughout childhood and into adulthood, I suffered incapacitating migraines. It wasn't until sometime after I gave my life to the Lord that I noticed their disappearance. I'm aware that many headaches are a result of toxins in the body. I've never stopped wondering if mine had a association with toxins in my soul.
There's no question that ailments in body can result from not only strictly physical causes but also the condition of mind and heart. Yet the Bible also has several references to connections between sickness and spiritual matters, which makes me curious about how often that happens.
If you're willing to share, have you noticed any clear links in your life?
Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
"Following"
"One of life's greatest challenges will always be
in knowing which voice has a right to our time."
~ Susan Lenzkes
in knowing which voice has a right to our time."
~ Susan Lenzkes
As much as I appreciate them both, I spend just enough time visiting Facebook and Twitter to not be a stranger.
Facebook has been a tremendous blessing, allowing me keep up with my large, faraway family, whom I deeply miss. I'm also grateful to stay in touch with people at our moderately large church. I think of Facebook as a semi-private locale, like talking with friends in a restaurant.
I've been declining friend requests from people I don't know at all, who are "friends" of "friends" in publishing circles. But what I really need to do is maintain a separate Facebook page for my professional life, where a different type of communication takes place. The thought of maintaining two Facebook pages does not appeal, but I've come to terms with the fact that publishing has entered an era where an author is no longer permitted the luxury of seclusion, even the quasi-privacy of Facebook.
What an experience Twitter is! I appreciate the wealth of information exchanged, though I rarely have the time to indulge in conversation. My Twitter posts are exchanging hello's and thanks, promoting blog posts of myself and others, and most especially sharing quotes. While some people may think me unoriginal, a 140-character snippet can clearly and concisely share a compelling perspective with the potential to change the way we approach life.
Twitter is the epitome of an etiquette challenge, where surely even Emily Post would throw up her arms in resignation. I don't care for the game of "I'll follow you, you follow me back, and we both get to pump our egos by watching our followers numbers increase without ever actually paying attention to one another."
Some Twitterers follow just long enough for you to follow back as a courtesy, then delete you to enhance only their own numbers. I've started waiting a week to follow back, unless it's someone I know. About two thirds of the people who follow me have un-followed by the end of that week, which implies that they are more about inflating numbers than interested in what I have to say.
The other third? If they're not inappropriate or obvious spam, I usually follow back and send a personalized DM to make contact. I'm ready to engage them, however much communication we actually accomplish.
However naive or unrealistic I might be, I'd like to try and emulate my Lord Jesus on even social media. He had wider circles and inner circles of associations. He distinguishes between those who simply wish to be numbered as followers and those ready to listen to Him. And in each contact, His desire is to express love and glorify the Father.
Care to share your approach to the mixed blessing of social media?
Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
No Regrets
Meet my writing space.
Our house holds too few square feet for an office. (If it did, the space would be a music room anyway.) I count myself blessed to have a corner to call my own.
We once lost a computer to a virus. The internet can be a distraction to getting serious work done, and my five kids are distraction enough. So the lesser-used laptop has internet access, while my desktop writing computer is clean of it.
The homemade banners (upper left) are "pictures" of God I selected from Old and New Testaments. The art on the right depicts the era when the Lord chose to be visible. (More on that this week.) Stacks of books framing the monitor are oft-used reference materials, plus the to-read (to-watch) books and DVD's up next in the queue. (An overflowing shelf of to-read books is behind the camera.) A mug holds either cold water with lemon, plain hot water, or black coffee (if I'm having a cup of it today).
Dotting the landscape are random kid gifts, family photos, a trash bin (for 86% cacoa Ghirardelli chocolate wrappers), notes with either recent Bible insights or historical details and thoughts for my fiction, strips taped to the monitor with Hebrew alphabet and keyboard shortcuts (I do NOT like ANY mouse), and a dog tag reading "FEAR NOT."
The scattered quotes?
You will keep in perfect peace
The one fixed upon You
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the LORD forever
For YAH, the LORD,
Is the Rock of Ages.
~ Isaiah 26:3-4
Come and hear, all you who fear God,
And I will declare what He has done for my soul.
~ Psalm 66:16
"March toward the sound of guns."
~ Army mantra, via Russell Holloway
(reminding me that somewhere, a battle waits for support)
"Hope is to be alive in this moment."
~ Maureen Doallas, author and cancer survivor,
(reminding me on bad days that hope is not only for eternity)
"I want to read a book that changes me."
~ Chip MacGregor, Author and Publishing Agent(reminding me to stretch beyond excellence)
For this quote, the photo is sufficient explanation:
Finally, there is this, author unknown:
NO RESERVE ~ NO RETREAT ~ NO REGRETS
It took me a good while to figure out how to live a life of no regrets, because there's so, so much I would do differently if the ctrl+Z key existed on life. What's more, I'm sometimes guilty of retreats and half-hearted effort.
But I trust in God to use my every mistake for good, and every injury to me for blessing. Only by such faith can I allow that last quote to stare me in the face every day with this reminder: give God my all, stay with Him through all, and accept all He allows—with no regrets.
Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Despair Part II: Inevitable Renewal
"Despair is the damp of hell,
as joy is the serenity of heaven."
~ John Donne
as joy is the serenity of heaven."
~ John Donne
One definition of spiritual battle might be external and / or internal bombardment with lies, especially in the face of loss.
A particularly fierce spiritual battle entered my life in June 2009. The resulting despair is described in "Despair Part I: A Chronology" with these words:
Nearly incapacitating depression is a daily battle ... I am overwhelmed with belief in my failure of the past, having fallen out of God's favor in the present, and utter futility for the future.
Medication for depression is effective treatment for some people. A counselor suggested it last spring and I declined. By December my dark outlook moved me to reconsider. But I feared that numbing the depression might also numb my passion for God and for people. And I sensed that the Lord had an alternative treatment.
That alternative proved to be Truth immersion.
A well stocked home library, trusted friends, and Google offer plenty of information. But only one source contains Truth that leaves no room for question: the Holy Bible.
Though I spent time in Scripture for study, for wisdom, and for the pure pleasure of discovering God, intentional immersion in God's Word effected changes in me. The lies I'd swallowed were dissolved with healthy doses of God's Truth. I felt worthy to approach God with more consistency and boldness.
Renewal became inevitable.
"If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
~ John 8:31-32 (NKJV)
By January 4, I felt increased spiritual strength. But I still suffered physical symptoms of stress, I had to concentrate on some sort of intellectual challenge to head off a PTSD attack, and profound sadness continued to bring on random crying episodes.
I went to sleep that night sorrowing over numerous personal attacks I'd experienced. The next morning, "groanings which cannot be uttered" pleaded for relief. As I prayed, I understood that I sought some sort of vindication or compensation for the injury I've suffered.
I also realized that I would have no hope of offering adequate vindication or compensation for all the injury I've caused. Sadness for myself was transformed into sadness for others.
My prayer became a poem, "Damages." As I finished composing the poem, I felt release. Release brought profound peace—profound peace as intense as the profound sadness which dogged me.
Now, a month later, the peace has prevailed. Despair has fled. What I have experienced is not a makeover, but a renewal which only the Lord of life could give.
You will keep in profound peace
The one whose mind is fixed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the LORD forever,
For YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.
~ Isaiah 26:3-4
Prince of Peace, You only allow us to know affliction so we might more fully know Your peace. Thank You for renewal. Please make me Your channel of renewal to others. Please bless hundredfold every person who has supported me with their prayers to You and kind words to me.
~ : ~ : ~ : ~
This post is part of a blog carnival hosted by Peter Pollock. You're invited to visit his site and see what others are saying about today's theme: Renewal.
Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Image source: ihatecommuting.wordpress.com
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Despair Part I: A Chronology
2006 – 2009:
growing tension in life circumstances becomes noticeable
April 2009:
intense grief over estranged brother
June:
spiritual attack occurs during medium burnout; prayer time becoming sporadic
July:
intense Bible study and prayer; brief revival
August:
intense personal/spiritual attack on two fronts amid distraction from prayer
September:
stress symptoms, see doctor
November:
crash #1; depression settles in
January 2010:
crash #2; stop daily blogging, Bible time becomes more sporadic; begin seeing counselor
Spring 2010:
personal/spiritual attacks on more fronts; PTSD symptoms become apparent; anti-depressant medication suggested by counselor and refused
June:
crash #3; stop seeing counselor, fast and pray for a week
July:
personal/spiritual attacks from without cease; spiritual attacks from within are still relentless
September:
blindsided by an attack from without; relative peace obtained with prayer
November:
nearly incapacitating depression is a daily battle; I feel the Lord drawing me to my prayer closet—and my resistance; I am overwhelmed with belief in my failure of the past, having fallen out of His favor in the present, and utter futility for the future
TURNING POINT, DECEMBER 2010:
During the months of battling depression, I've repeatedly cried out to God that I just want to return to where I was before. The last time I experienced sustained depression was in the 80's, just before I surrendered my life to the Lord. The fire in my heart for Him has not dimmed, but I don't know how to draw close to Him when feeling so worthless.
Throughout this trial, I've believed my life wears a "DETOUR – LORD AT WORK" sign. But I've reached the point of believing the sign will not come down this side of Heaven.
Then on December 1, these words speak to my soul with assurance that the trial may have an end:
But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (1 Peter 5:10, NKJV)
Within a week I read a blog post by Lyla Lindquist titled "The Work of an Adjuster." Lyla closes with these words:
Because I know, when He did what He did to make me whole, the farthest thing from His mind was putting me back in the same position as I was before.
The words Lyla speaks—both through her article and to me personally—bring hope.
As part of regular Bible reading and study, I have read through the Bible in a year, seven times during the 90's. By the third week of December, I decide I need to do so again. Unwilling to wait even a couple more weeks for the new year, I lay out a schedule which will begin on the winter solstice. I determine that as more sunlight fills each day, my life will also hold more Light. (December 21 post: "Darkness & Light")
By the end of the month (year), I have begun spending mornings in my prayer closet again on a daily basis.
Despair Part II: Inevitable Renewal will appear on Tuesday.
Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
growing tension in life circumstances becomes noticeable
April 2009:
intense grief over estranged brother
June:
spiritual attack occurs during medium burnout; prayer time becoming sporadic
July:
intense Bible study and prayer; brief revival
August:
intense personal/spiritual attack on two fronts amid distraction from prayer
September:
stress symptoms, see doctor
November:
crash #1; depression settles in
January 2010:
crash #2; stop daily blogging, Bible time becomes more sporadic; begin seeing counselor
Spring 2010:
personal/spiritual attacks on more fronts; PTSD symptoms become apparent; anti-depressant medication suggested by counselor and refused
June:
crash #3; stop seeing counselor, fast and pray for a week
July:
personal/spiritual attacks from without cease; spiritual attacks from within are still relentless
September:
blindsided by an attack from without; relative peace obtained with prayer
November:
nearly incapacitating depression is a daily battle; I feel the Lord drawing me to my prayer closet—and my resistance; I am overwhelmed with belief in my failure of the past, having fallen out of His favor in the present, and utter futility for the future
TURNING POINT, DECEMBER 2010:
During the months of battling depression, I've repeatedly cried out to God that I just want to return to where I was before. The last time I experienced sustained depression was in the 80's, just before I surrendered my life to the Lord. The fire in my heart for Him has not dimmed, but I don't know how to draw close to Him when feeling so worthless.
Throughout this trial, I've believed my life wears a "DETOUR – LORD AT WORK" sign. But I've reached the point of believing the sign will not come down this side of Heaven.
Then on December 1, these words speak to my soul with assurance that the trial may have an end:
But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (1 Peter 5:10, NKJV)
Within a week I read a blog post by Lyla Lindquist titled "The Work of an Adjuster." Lyla closes with these words:
Because I know, when He did what He did to make me whole, the farthest thing from His mind was putting me back in the same position as I was before.
The words Lyla speaks—both through her article and to me personally—bring hope.
As part of regular Bible reading and study, I have read through the Bible in a year, seven times during the 90's. By the third week of December, I decide I need to do so again. Unwilling to wait even a couple more weeks for the new year, I lay out a schedule which will begin on the winter solstice. I determine that as more sunlight fills each day, my life will also hold more Light. (December 21 post: "Darkness & Light")
By the end of the month (year), I have begun spending mornings in my prayer closet again on a daily basis.
Despair Part II: Inevitable Renewal will appear on Tuesday.
Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Confessions
This post is part of a blog carnival hosted by Bridget Chumbley at her site "One Word at a Time." You're invited to see what others are saying about today's theme: Reconciliation.
"Find the Lord before you need Him."
~ Randy Travis
Please don't hold it against me if I confess that I genuinely like math. It is objective, absolute, and reliable. In a fallen world, math holds true. I notice symmetry in art and architecture, in poetry and even prose, whether overt, subtle, or hidden. I had to quit Sudoku when it became addictive.
And I enjoy old-fashioned checkbook reconciliation, neatly reconciling my manual entries with the bank to the penny.
Years ago we had fewer dollars, so account balances were closely watched. But now, unless a large expense necessitates knowing our exact balance, I simply stay aware of roughly how much money is available rather than keep a running balance. So checkbook reconciliation done every month or two also determines if we have as much money as I think we do.
It is quite rare, but I also confess to occasionally receiving a Transfer Notice from the bank, when I've become distracted and had a skewed perception of our balance. I'm seriously annoyed with myself if that happens. But we've never had problems (thank You thank You THANK YOU, Lord!) because we maintain a savings cushion, however thin it gets.
"Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance..."
Seek the LORD while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
~ Isaiah 55:2,6 (NKJV)
I don't like making this next confession: I reached a point of trying to get away with roughing it in my spiritual life. Jesus and I connected 25 years ago, and I've stayed faithful to maintain my spiritual life, replenishing my cushion of spiritual strength so that it rarely got anywhere close to beaten down. I attached myself to my Father's leg like a toddler in a crowd or a storm.
Then I got sloppy. I'd like to think I didn't take my Father for granted. Perhaps asking for conviction and then repenting became routine, and I wasn't going as deep. I know I got distracted. I started out by holding onto my Father, then gradually started to just maintain an awareness of His whereabouts to grab onto Him if something big necessitated it.
When the big storm did hit, I realized I wasn't exactly where I thought. My Father hadn't moved, and I managed to grab onto the solid, absolute, and reliable Rock which has always supported me. But I hadn't adequately replenished the spiritual cushion I'd been drawing from. I landed on that Rock with a painful thud. I hadn't accurately perceived my spiritual condition.
You will keep in perfect peace,
The one fixed upon You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the LORD forever,
For YAH, the LORD, is the Rock of Ages.
~ Isaiah 26:3-4 (author)
Jesus reconciled us to the Father with His blood. Reconciliation is also a matter of being fixed upon the Lord, daily taking account of our closeness to Him, and asking how His assessment compares. Getting distracted or sloppy results in skewed perceptions of our spiritual condition. The time to find the right place with the Lord is most definitely before you most need Him.
Lord, I love You more than I can express and less than is adequate. I shudder to think of how I've taken You for granted. Please let me not grow complacent. Please give me strength and desire to follow hard after You every day of my life, without growing weary.
I appreciate hearing from you. Questions are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments or e-mail me—my address is
buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com.
Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Image source: lakesfcu.com
"Find the Lord before you need Him."
~ Randy Travis
Please don't hold it against me if I confess that I genuinely like math. It is objective, absolute, and reliable. In a fallen world, math holds true. I notice symmetry in art and architecture, in poetry and even prose, whether overt, subtle, or hidden. I had to quit Sudoku when it became addictive.
And I enjoy old-fashioned checkbook reconciliation, neatly reconciling my manual entries with the bank to the penny.
Years ago we had fewer dollars, so account balances were closely watched. But now, unless a large expense necessitates knowing our exact balance, I simply stay aware of roughly how much money is available rather than keep a running balance. So checkbook reconciliation done every month or two also determines if we have as much money as I think we do.
It is quite rare, but I also confess to occasionally receiving a Transfer Notice from the bank, when I've become distracted and had a skewed perception of our balance. I'm seriously annoyed with myself if that happens. But we've never had problems (thank You thank You THANK YOU, Lord!) because we maintain a savings cushion, however thin it gets.
"Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance..."
Seek the LORD while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
~ Isaiah 55:2,6 (NKJV)
I don't like making this next confession: I reached a point of trying to get away with roughing it in my spiritual life. Jesus and I connected 25 years ago, and I've stayed faithful to maintain my spiritual life, replenishing my cushion of spiritual strength so that it rarely got anywhere close to beaten down. I attached myself to my Father's leg like a toddler in a crowd or a storm.
Then I got sloppy. I'd like to think I didn't take my Father for granted. Perhaps asking for conviction and then repenting became routine, and I wasn't going as deep. I know I got distracted. I started out by holding onto my Father, then gradually started to just maintain an awareness of His whereabouts to grab onto Him if something big necessitated it.
When the big storm did hit, I realized I wasn't exactly where I thought. My Father hadn't moved, and I managed to grab onto the solid, absolute, and reliable Rock which has always supported me. But I hadn't adequately replenished the spiritual cushion I'd been drawing from. I landed on that Rock with a painful thud. I hadn't accurately perceived my spiritual condition.
You will keep in perfect peace,
The one fixed upon You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the LORD forever,
For YAH, the LORD, is the Rock of Ages.
~ Isaiah 26:3-4 (author)
Jesus reconciled us to the Father with His blood. Reconciliation is also a matter of being fixed upon the Lord, daily taking account of our closeness to Him, and asking how His assessment compares. Getting distracted or sloppy results in skewed perceptions of our spiritual condition. The time to find the right place with the Lord is most definitely before you most need Him.
Lord, I love You more than I can express and less than is adequate. I shudder to think of how I've taken You for granted. Please let me not grow complacent. Please give me strength and desire to follow hard after You every day of my life, without growing weary.
I appreciate hearing from you. Questions are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments or e-mail me—my address is
buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com.
Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Image source: lakesfcu.com
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
My Snow Day
"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say,
but what we are unable to say."
Anaïs Nin
: : :
... my own vineyard I have not kept.
~ Song of Solomon 1:6 (NKJV)
My pen (computer) has produced much about the Bible—church documents and Sunday school lessons, devotionals and sermons, non-fiction and fiction in prose and in poetry.
The fiction has been only in recent years, and came as a complete surprise to me. It's proven to be a more
And so the time has come for me to devote more writing time to the biblical fiction for which I have Rachelle Gardner's representation and a waiting editor, in the hope I might also obtain a publisher.
Having followed through on the study of Revelation, I plan to break from daily blogging indefinitely. I relish the challenge of Friday Q&A far too much to quit contributing posts for Bullets & Butterflies. I'll likely continue to post here at Building His Body on Tuesdays, and perhaps on an occasional Saturday.
I paused blogging earlier this year when things were not well, until they were better. I now take a lesson from Billy Coffey's Snow Day, taking off work in one place to "call in well" and walk in other places.
My prayer is that what's here draws you to stay in God's Word, pray without ceasing, and seek unity with others in Christ's body.
May the Lord bless and direct you as you rely upon Him. All of you, my friends and readers, remain in my prayers.
Much love,
I appreciate hearing from you. Questions are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments or e-mail me—my address is
buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Nearing Journey’s End
Many a time I've read through the Bible in a year. In January of this year I began a trip through a single book, Revelation, to see what it might reveal not about end times, but about the Person of Jesus and His bride.
And the spiritual battle was on. By late January, overwhelmed by circumstances, I retreated.
I'd already been embroiled in a spiritual battle which began in the summer of 2009, sharply escalating in August. (Was it only a coincidence that I began work on a book dedicated to the names of God in August?)
: : :
"Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near."
~ Revelation 1:3 (NKJV)
The book of Revelation is unique among Bible books in this declaration. The book is ducked by many churches, and altogether forbidden reading in some countries which permit the rest of the Bible. Some people have objected to its inclusion as Scripture.
I began the study afresh July 26th, when I felt strong enough to battle again. And it has continued to be a battle. I have pushed forward without retreat this time. I'm no expert in spiritual warfare. But I know without doubt that every component of spiritual armor is critical—truth, righteousness, preparation with the Gospel, faith, the salvation of Jesus' lordship, deploying God's Word, and prayer. I know that satan will go to any length to make us curse God rather than bless Him. I know that God neither leaves nor forsakes His own.
Tomorrow, God permitting, I will conclude the study with the last chapter of Revelation, and of the Bible. I have prevailed.
: : :
"Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."
~ Revelation 21:3-5 (NKJV)
In this second to last chapter, nearing journey's end, we have come full circle from perfect creation, through rebellion and Calvary and Hell, back to perfection.
I wonder at the phrase, "God will wipe away every tear." Does it mean no tears? Or that we are permitted only tears of joy which the finger of God gently wipes away? And what would it feel like to have Him wipe away tears with His hand rather than with His words, as He does now?
Peeking ahead, to tomorrow's last chapter, I think about one day knowing Him as He knows us now. And I think of us being already sealed with the Holy Spirit.
And I think of saints casting down their golden crowns before the throne, because we shall wear upon our heads something of infinitely greater worth than even a golden crown of Heaven:
They shall see His face,
and His name shall be on their foreheads.
~ Revelation 22:4 (NKJV)
I appreciate hearing from you. Questions are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments or e-mail me—my address is
buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com.
Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
And the spiritual battle was on. By late January, overwhelmed by circumstances, I retreated.
I'd already been embroiled in a spiritual battle which began in the summer of 2009, sharply escalating in August. (Was it only a coincidence that I began work on a book dedicated to the names of God in August?)
: : :
"Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near."
~ Revelation 1:3 (NKJV)
The book of Revelation is unique among Bible books in this declaration. The book is ducked by many churches, and altogether forbidden reading in some countries which permit the rest of the Bible. Some people have objected to its inclusion as Scripture.
I began the study afresh July 26th, when I felt strong enough to battle again. And it has continued to be a battle. I have pushed forward without retreat this time. I'm no expert in spiritual warfare. But I know without doubt that every component of spiritual armor is critical—truth, righteousness, preparation with the Gospel, faith, the salvation of Jesus' lordship, deploying God's Word, and prayer. I know that satan will go to any length to make us curse God rather than bless Him. I know that God neither leaves nor forsakes His own.
Tomorrow, God permitting, I will conclude the study with the last chapter of Revelation, and of the Bible. I have prevailed.
: : :
"Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."
~ Revelation 21:3-5 (NKJV)
In this second to last chapter, nearing journey's end, we have come full circle from perfect creation, through rebellion and Calvary and Hell, back to perfection.
I wonder at the phrase, "God will wipe away every tear." Does it mean no tears? Or that we are permitted only tears of joy which the finger of God gently wipes away? And what would it feel like to have Him wipe away tears with His hand rather than with His words, as He does now?
Peeking ahead, to tomorrow's last chapter, I think about one day knowing Him as He knows us now. And I think of us being already sealed with the Holy Spirit.
And I think of saints casting down their golden crowns before the throne, because we shall wear upon our heads something of infinitely greater worth than even a golden crown of Heaven:
They shall see His face,
and His name shall be on their foreheads.
~ Revelation 22:4 (NKJV)
I appreciate hearing from you. Questions are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments or e-mail me—my address is
buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com.
Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
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