Day 29: Believing Is Seeing

I LOVE summer.

I LIVE summer in winter.

Probably silly when I refuse to wear socks in winter,

but my toes just can't do it.

Because

I LOVE SUMMER.

SUMMER to me is JESUS coming ALIVE inside of me.

On the dark cold nights in winter,

as I wiggle my toes,

I smile

as JESUS embraces me with HIS LIGHT

that sends chills down my spine,

but GOD CHILLS.

I LOVE SUMMER.

I want to keep it ALIVE.

I have to make the CHOICE to keep it ALIVE.

Just like with JESUS. Oh JESUS is ALIVE in me,

yet I can treat HIM like winter,

when I get FOCUSED

on those things that

keep me trapped inside

with no where to gom

because it is way too cold to venture out.

Can you relate?

When your eyes are FIXED

on those things that aren't changing,

yet you want them to change with your whole heart.

When my eyes are  FIXED

on the things of the PAST that I wish could be changed.

But what about when your eyes are s FIXED

on the NOT SO GOOD circumstances that wash over

your life,

so many in this world,

that are so devastating,

like the floods of Texas.

Traumatic.

And when you wonder and even question,

WHERE ARE YOU GOD

when the winter moments come?

Is it okay to QUESTION GOD,

or are you QUESTIONING HIM

or just INVITING HIM into your LIFE?

David QUESTIONED GOD~

"My GOD, my GOD, why have you forsaken me? Why are YOU so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?"

(Psalm 22:1)

JESUS QUESTIONED GOD~

My GOD, My GOD why have YOU forsaken Me?”

(Matthew 27: 46).

And WHERE IS GOD when the winter moments of life come?

Right where HE ALWAYS IS.

Leaning in.

LISTENING to you.

HEARING you.

Where was GOD when the floods took the lives of so many.

HE was

EMBRACING every child that HE welcomed in HIS arms.

HE was

EMBRACING ever grief stricken parent who lost their precious child.

HE was

EMBRACING those who are still awaiting to find those who are lost.

Is GOD GOOD?

Oh yes.

Is the world filled with NOT SO GOOD?

Oh yes.

BUT GOD

sent HIS SON to conquer all the trauma and devastation that comes upon our world.

Where is GOD?

HERE.

Is it GOD's fault?

Ask Adam and Eve.

Did GOD say

"PLEASE EAT THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT SO YOU WILL DIE".

Hmm.

SHAME on them.

BUT GOD did not leave them standing in SHAME.

HE clothed them, as they had apple juice dripping from their mouths,

even though Adam blamed GOD for creating EVE,  

for she gave Adam the apple.

But Adam chose to take a bite.

Oh this world will pass away, just as we all will.

 BUT because of JESUS,

one day

there will not be no grieving parents,

 grieving over the trauma of losing their precious little children,

whose lives were consumed by the flood waters.

But for the time being,

we are still HERE.

But so is GOD.

And so is JESUS.

And so are HIS PROMISES. 

"And GOD shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;

and there shall be no more death,

 neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:

 for the former things are passed away"

(Revelation 21:4).

What is LOST today will be RECOVERED FULLY

when JESUS returns,

again.

But as we wait,

how do we

LIVE IN SUMMER?

With our eyes

FIXED

on

THE SON,

who gives us all that we NEED 

in every moment that washes over us.

For JESUS connects all the dots,

even when all the dots don't make sense.

Do you need a

CHRISTMAS IN JULY,

where

THE LIGHT OF JESUS

bursts into those dark spaces and places

that are so surreal at times,

with

HIS LOVE

that meets you right where you are,.

Does LIFE hurt?

Oh yes.

Is GRIEF real?

Oh yes.

Is TRAUMA real?

Oh yes.

But so is JESUS.

What would I be without JESUS?

I don't want to even question that,

for

HE is has to be the  SUMMER of my heart

when the NOT SO GOOD

comes visiting,

and when the GOOD comes visiting.

For HE is CHRISTMAS 

that births

 NEW LIFE in every dead space.

For our GOD is a GOOD GOD,

in GOOD times and in not so GOOD times,

because

JESUS is FOREVER!

Let's have a CHRISTMAS in JULY~

"Therefore we do not lose heart

 Though outwardly we are wasting away,

 yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving

for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,

since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal"

(2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

JESUS IS BORN AND THERE IS NO TURNING BACK,

therefore

"TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS"

(listen to the song below)