So in my devotions lately I am reading the letters from Paul to the Romans. And throughout these I hear a lot of talk about righteousness. And I keep thinking about what the true deffinition is:
Righteousness: Morally upright; without guilt or sin
And as he talks about this he also mentions about how the law is not always needed. Not necessarily that we shouldn't have laws but starts to define the point where law ends and righteousness begins. This idea of righteousness is actually really cool. It, in my opinion and translation, is a little like saying, " You have a clear idea of what right and wrong is and you choose the right one, so you don't necessarily NEED to have laws." This idea of being morally upright and knowing what you should do and actually doing it. It says that this righteousness is a righteousness of faith. By believing that because you spend daily time with God and are in him as he is in you, that you can have a fairly clear idea of how to live your life. As great as laws are for you for structure and good living, they many times end up in arguing, loopholes, and bogus court cases. Paul talks as though he were wishful thinking but in reality could be done. Think about if the whole world had this righteousness and worked on it really hard. You wouldn't even need laws technically because then everyone would consider it common knowledge. Like how it's not a law to breathe everyday but we all still do it. It's like common sense. But rather a common sense of what you should do and then doing it. But let me clear one thing up; this is not a blog to say that rules are not needed and we should fight the system or anything even remotely around those lines. This is to introduce the idea of righteousness and realize that if we reach this level we won't have to worry so much about staying in between the lines, but rather spend our time loving and helping bring people to the amazing love of christ.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
.Forest.
Seruptitious leaves drop like feathers as the wind contacts them, blowing them off the original course. Drip, drop, small bombs of liquid drop off the leaves as the rain comes in like an untold event. The wind whistles, almost as to sing me a song. The birds are composers of unwritten symphonies of which I desire to become accompanied with. Sound; what is it that makes this indescribable event affect us in such unique ways. Touch, as I lay my finger upon the soft blanket shell of the caterpillar. Smell; the cotton freshness of mountain trees, and nature as its finest. Evergreen armies marching and staking their claim upon the land. Vast; everywhere I look: green. Sight; colors, patterns, abstract, WAIT, watch. Motion. Taste; of life coming into me as I sip down my soup. Ah, the warmth. As if to say my soul is at peace.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
"My potential plan"
Today instead of my normal reading the bible for devotions I think I'm just going to try to express in the most detailed writing how great my God is and how much I love him. Here goes:
Where to begin. You are the beginning technically. How do you begin to describe the beginning. Well, I could always start off with grace. Wow. Grace; to me an amazing blanket that protects me from the cold truth of how far I fall sometimes from what I need to be. Grace; and the astounding thing is, he can show it through others towards me and I know it's from him. No human being could have so much grace without having been in a relationship with him. How about love? Love; the comforter that catches my breath every time. Every time I worry or am at discomfort or just can't be at peace with my surroundings, that smile; the love, comes and takes my sorrow away. "I'm trading my sorrows, I'm trading my shame, I'm laying it down for the joy of the lord." Old song, old message, still great in the same. Now for some figurative language shall we. The love that drips ever so slightly from his character overflows my cup to the point where I ask, "Could I have a bigger cup" if only to understand for an inkling how much he truly loves me. For I can't even begin to grasp this, even after all the time I've been given to scrutinize, analyze, and ponder. I can't wrap my head around it. The vessel. The many different ways to amaze my being. How about amazing. The ability to truly and earnestly amaze and astound me because of "coincidences" that just so happen to be your plan. You have such a complex plan I can't help but try to think of how you did it, the beginnings of the master plan. But I then begin to get frustrated. But you say, "Just listen, I will explain your part." How about mercy. To have the mercy for me to bear all the things I can't bear in a lifetime in the span of about maybe 3 hours. To take the woes, sins, bad desicioning, and whatever else I get into and take it all upon his back as a bookbag, and then be able to have strength to not get so angry as to kill the hypocritical mob that drove him to this point, who only several days or weeks earlier; shouted hosana in the highest as he rode down the street. I want to dip my finger in the lake of your what seems to be infinitive love that spreads across, ripples, and affects. I want to be of your mindset. I know i've been given insight. Give me open doors, or rather allow me to have courage to open my own doors. I want to be given more, but I have a feeling I won't be given more unless I use these "beginning allowances" for your good. I love feeling the spirit move like a small tickle throughout my body as I am engrossed in your presence. I love the peace of mind that happens when I surrender all my mindset, all my agendas, all my opinions, all my judgements; and get into your mindset; where justice and knowledge are waterfalls overflowing with incredible wisdom, where pastures and meadows of compassion and understanding stretch as far as the eye can see. "Dancing with my father God in fields of grace."
Speak to me.
"Alright what would you like me to say?"
Give me vision.
"You have vision."
Give me open doors.
"You have open doors. Don't ask for things just because they might take a little effort on your part. Ask for things you have no control over."
Give me unexplainable wisdom; far beyond what you've given me.
"There you go. For you can attain certain wisdom on your own; but spend some time with me in my word like you have been and I will reveal things to you that you have never noticed before, passages that you have read over and over a million times with become new to you, with different aspects and angles which I know you love to ponder over. And do. Ponder. Null. For I enjoy when you take that talent of mine I gave you to understand things deeply and use it on me once and awhile. BE IN ME. As I will be of you. I am great. I will make you great. You will reach to the ends of the earth. My potential plan.
"For as you saw; and I showed you at camp. You will reach as many people as there are dots on the carpet floor. Just follow after me."
You lead I'll follow.
I love you. More than anyone.
"I know. I love you more than you know. But I continue to try to show you and have you wrap your head around it. And I know how much you love doing that. You are making an identity for yourself; but it is built around strong character and myself. Good. Discover your identity; more than you already have. For you need to be confident you can lead yourself before you lead others. Have a great time. Enjoy. I will give you constant creativity. I will help you balance. But you are doing a fairly good job for now. I am so proud of you."
Goodnight God. I love you so much.
Where to begin. You are the beginning technically. How do you begin to describe the beginning. Well, I could always start off with grace. Wow. Grace; to me an amazing blanket that protects me from the cold truth of how far I fall sometimes from what I need to be. Grace; and the astounding thing is, he can show it through others towards me and I know it's from him. No human being could have so much grace without having been in a relationship with him. How about love? Love; the comforter that catches my breath every time. Every time I worry or am at discomfort or just can't be at peace with my surroundings, that smile; the love, comes and takes my sorrow away. "I'm trading my sorrows, I'm trading my shame, I'm laying it down for the joy of the lord." Old song, old message, still great in the same. Now for some figurative language shall we. The love that drips ever so slightly from his character overflows my cup to the point where I ask, "Could I have a bigger cup" if only to understand for an inkling how much he truly loves me. For I can't even begin to grasp this, even after all the time I've been given to scrutinize, analyze, and ponder. I can't wrap my head around it. The vessel. The many different ways to amaze my being. How about amazing. The ability to truly and earnestly amaze and astound me because of "coincidences" that just so happen to be your plan. You have such a complex plan I can't help but try to think of how you did it, the beginnings of the master plan. But I then begin to get frustrated. But you say, "Just listen, I will explain your part." How about mercy. To have the mercy for me to bear all the things I can't bear in a lifetime in the span of about maybe 3 hours. To take the woes, sins, bad desicioning, and whatever else I get into and take it all upon his back as a bookbag, and then be able to have strength to not get so angry as to kill the hypocritical mob that drove him to this point, who only several days or weeks earlier; shouted hosana in the highest as he rode down the street. I want to dip my finger in the lake of your what seems to be infinitive love that spreads across, ripples, and affects. I want to be of your mindset. I know i've been given insight. Give me open doors, or rather allow me to have courage to open my own doors. I want to be given more, but I have a feeling I won't be given more unless I use these "beginning allowances" for your good. I love feeling the spirit move like a small tickle throughout my body as I am engrossed in your presence. I love the peace of mind that happens when I surrender all my mindset, all my agendas, all my opinions, all my judgements; and get into your mindset; where justice and knowledge are waterfalls overflowing with incredible wisdom, where pastures and meadows of compassion and understanding stretch as far as the eye can see. "Dancing with my father God in fields of grace."
Speak to me.
"Alright what would you like me to say?"
Give me vision.
"You have vision."
Give me open doors.
"You have open doors. Don't ask for things just because they might take a little effort on your part. Ask for things you have no control over."
Give me unexplainable wisdom; far beyond what you've given me.
"There you go. For you can attain certain wisdom on your own; but spend some time with me in my word like you have been and I will reveal things to you that you have never noticed before, passages that you have read over and over a million times with become new to you, with different aspects and angles which I know you love to ponder over. And do. Ponder. Null. For I enjoy when you take that talent of mine I gave you to understand things deeply and use it on me once and awhile. BE IN ME. As I will be of you. I am great. I will make you great. You will reach to the ends of the earth. My potential plan.
"For as you saw; and I showed you at camp. You will reach as many people as there are dots on the carpet floor. Just follow after me."
You lead I'll follow.
I love you. More than anyone.
"I know. I love you more than you know. But I continue to try to show you and have you wrap your head around it. And I know how much you love doing that. You are making an identity for yourself; but it is built around strong character and myself. Good. Discover your identity; more than you already have. For you need to be confident you can lead yourself before you lead others. Have a great time. Enjoy. I will give you constant creativity. I will help you balance. But you are doing a fairly good job for now. I am so proud of you."
Goodnight God. I love you so much.
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