"The Holy Grail"

"'Gaily bedight, a gallant knight 

In sunshine and in shadow;

Riding along, singing a song,

In search of El Dorado.'

Edgar Allan Poe

What is the first petition of the Lord's Prayer? Jesus said, 'Then this, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven ...( Matthew 6:9 ). The first line of the prayer is not a petition. It is a form of personal address. The prayer continues: 'hallowed be your name, your kingdom come' ( Matthew 6:9-10 ).

We often confuse the words 'hallowed be your name' with part of the address, as if the words were hallowed 'is' your name. In that case the words would merely be an ascription of praise to God.

But that is not how Jesus said it. He uttered it as a petition, as the first petition. We should be praying that God's name be hallowed, that God be regarded as holy.

There is a kind of sequence within the prayer. God's kingdom will never come where His name is not considered holy. His will is not done on earth as it is in heaven if His name is desecrated here. 

In heaven the name of God is holy. 

It is breathed by angels in sacred hush. Heaven is a place where reverence for God is total. It is foolish to look for the kingdom anywhere God is not revered. 

How we understand the person and character of God the Father affects every aspect of our lives. It affects far more than what we normally call the "religious" aspect of our lives. If God is the Creator of the entire universe, then it must follow that He is the Lord of the whole universe. No part of the world is outside of His lordship. 

That means that no part of my life must be outside of His lordship. His holy character has something to say about economics, politics, athletics, romance, - everything with which we are involved. 

God is inescapable. 

There is no place we can hide from Him.

Not only does He penetrate every aspect of our lives, but He penetrates it in His majestic holiness. 

Therefore we must seek to understand what the holy is.

We dare not seek to avoid it. There can be no worship, no spiritual growth, no true obedience without it. 

It defines our goal as Christians. God has declared, 'Be holy, because I am holy.' ( Leviticus 11:44 ) To reach that goal, we must understand what holiness is." 

RC Sproul, "The Holiness of God," quoted from Chapter 1  

Ephesians 5:1 tells us, "Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children." And I've come to realize that it is impossible for me to imitate my Father, if I don't know what He is like. So I've embarked on this journey of knowing God, and although God dwells in all of His children, still he invites us to draw near to Him, powerfully promising He will in turn draw near to us. ( James 4:8 ) This is the joy of our relationship with God given to us by Christ. ( John 15;11 ) 

I've also found that when we struggle with a certain weakness or sin or suffering, if instead of finding a Bible verse to conquer the trouble, although there is nothing wrong with that at all, but I've found if I focus instead on the attributes of God through the Scriptures, as overwhelming at times as they may be, I find a deeper meaning embedded in my wrestling that begins to transform into a richer understanding of who my Father truly is, knowledge of the Holy One I am dealing with, and a new desire and strength to be like Him. 

Happy New Year, Friends. May our eyes be opened wider and our hearts enlightened greater this coming year to the holiness of our Father in heaven and all that this knowledge entails. 

💜

Silent Night, Lonely Night

Silent night, lonely night
All but calm, all but bright

Darkened clouds have hidden God's face
Deepening doubts have veiled His grace

Have You heard our cries?
Have You heard our cries?

Silent night, lonely night
Wearied by many trials

Clinging to the promise foretold
Peace and comfort for our souls

Lord, we long for You
Lord, we long for You

Jesus, You entered our night
Bore our sorrows, laid down Your life

Conquered the darkness and rose up in light
All of our hope is in You

Silent night, lonely night
Yet there's peace at Your side

Covered by redeeming blood
Sheltered in Your arms of love

Christ, the Savior is born
Christ, the Savior is born

Jesus, You entered our night
Bore our sorrows, laid down Your life

Conquered the darkness and rose up in light
All of our hope is in You

Silent night, holy night
All is calm and bright

Sovereign Grace Music 

💜🎄

Son Light

"For God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." ( 2 Corinthians 4:6 )  

Not a day seems to go by out on the land that I'm not confronted with these words of Paul and also his words in Romans 1:19-20: 

"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." 

In other words, man isn't going to know God unless God reveals Himself to us, and he has the Scriptures tell us in four ways. 

In creation. ( Romans 1:19-20 ) 

In our hearts where He's written His law. ( Romans 2:14-15 ) 

In his written Word. ( 2 Peter: 1:16-19 ) 

and in the life of His Son. ( John 14:9 ) 

On the mount of transfiguration Matthew explains that Jesus was transfigured in his glory before Peter, James, and John, and his face shone "like" the sun. ( 17:1-13 ) 

In other words, if we didn't have this brilliant star the perfect distance from us, not too far or we'd freeze to death, not too close or we'd burn alive, in real time though we could never exist to begin with, but not only does the sun make life a reality for humans, but it gives us a brilliant, working visual of the face of Christ! 

We scramble for words to describe such majesty and greatness, but God has helped us out. 

We see something of Christ's eternal power and divine nature in the sun. God has given us something to help us understand in our small minds of what His Son's glory is truly like. 

The creation imagery John uses to describe Christ in Revelation is breath-taking: His hair was like white sheep's wool, His eyes were a flame of fire, His feet were like burnished bronze, His voice was like the roar of many waters.

"His face was like the sun shining in full strength." ( Revelation 1:12-20 ) 

When I see the truth of our Lord Jesus in this way, I can hardly wrap my mind around him taking on flesh in the most vulnerable human form of all, sleeping in a manger surrounded by livestock. I think of this truth too as I feed and water my cows and sheep in the bitter cold and putrid stench of rumination that floats out of their mouths and nostrils. 

I see who God is, and I'm reminded of who I am. A sinner thankfully saved by grace. 

What a tender and gentle love God the Father has for his children. We see this in the life of his Son. In the parables Jesus told and his teachings, in his compassion and miracles, in his willingness to save sinners and gather them to Himself. In his suffering. That he ever lives to make intercession for them. ( Hebrews 7:25 ) What a comfort. 

All because I saw the sun. 

"For God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." ( 2 Corinthians 4:6 )  

💜

Her Knight In A Muddy Mahindra

Once again he has humbly consented to tend her critters while she escaped to refresh and regroup, taking leave of her usual sensibilities.

Rolling up his flannel sleeves and wondering when she had managed to acquire such a menagerie right under his nose and forging a mental note to keep a closer eye on her dealings in the future, he awoke in the wee hours of the morning to play nurse maid to her fragile bottle fed lambs, midwife to her goats swollen with their young, servant to her impatient and demanding felines, repairer of her windblown chicken coop, and recipient of all the big white doggies’ lovable, wet kisses and roaming shenanigans, all before caring for his own sounder of swine and herd of cattle, which he may add, but never would, actually paid the bills.

No matter, he had long since bent his knee to knighthood in her fairytale when he stole lone possession of her benevolent and vulnerable heart. 💘

I wrote this back in 2018, but realized I never published it. I was going through a wanting to write a memoir stage. lol