meandean

living in california, the smog can get pretty thick sometimes. but if you drive up to the mountains above all that mess, you can actually see for miles and it's all sunny and bright blue.you might not be able to see down, but up and across are wide open. and in redemption, god took me out of that mess,and put me in a place where i could see and understand.living in the mess day after day, i wouldn't have known the difference.nothing would change or even have to change. now that my eyes have been opened to see this, i don't want to return to the old me. i will have to go back into this mess, but not as the same person. nor do i have the same outlook, he shown me all i need to do is look up and rest.

his love is so much more than we can grasp in our puny brains. i sure glad he didn't say here's your salvation, now be off and quit bothering me,and oh yeah, have a nice day. no, he is very passionate about having a deep relationship with us. this should be our confidence, that he didn't leave us alone and to ourselves.

i think holy and blameless are sort of the salt and pepper of our conscience, the one and two punch if you will, which god declared and jesus provided by the cross. when we believe in jesus, we are declared innocent and clean. we start from the finish line.god sees us as pure, we see ourselves as dirty as can be. we must learn to walk in his spirit and grow up in our faith, which he provides as well.this comes from being transformed by the renewing of your mind through the word of god.

misrepresenting god's call, trampling and neglecting his sons offering and rejecting his holy spirit. this is to me very scary.but what is comforting to me is that he has covered everything, past,present and future and all i had to do was respond to his call. i just had to believe that he did this... even for me. and i think paul knew that no personal achievement could ever come close [ philippians 3]but he also knew that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of god. this was his calling, woe is me if i preach not the gospel, and it really must of encouraged him greatly to hear of the ephesians grasping the gospel.i believe it is one thing to comprehend the message but a whole different one to apprehend it.

for me, it's like being in the middle of the ocean. i can't see the shoreline on either side of me, there is no telling what could be swimming underneath me, and i can't see or reach the bottom, and all i can do is look up. yet the only fear that grabs me is his love. even though i know his love sustains me and draws me close, it scares me as well. his love is so much more than i can ever imagine, so i will rest in him as he works through me.