Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The Point of a Pillow

It is the cherry to your sundae.
It is the necklace to your outfit.
It is the bird song to your day.
It is the cream cheese to your bagel.
It is the pillow to your couch.

It is the lipstick to your face.
It is the smirk to your comment.
It is the period to your sentence.
It is the headboard to your bed.
It is the pillow to your couch.

It is the wool to your chill.
It is the lemon to your salmon.
It is the silly to your fun.
It is the photograph to your memory.
It is the pillow to your couch.

It is the landscape design to your house.
It is the lights to your Christmas tree.
It is the ketchup to your burger.
It is the air freshener to your bathroom.
It is the pillow to your couch.

It is the Paris on your trip abroad.
It is the Mac to your computer.
It is the the braces to your future smile.
It is the stilettos to your wife's evening gown.
It is the pillow to your couch.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Just a comment I'm commenting.

I loved the sunshine today. It was so refreshing! So nice too. I need more vitamin D. Just a comment, like I was saying.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Romans, the Garbly Garbled Garble

"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that is was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." Romans 8: 1-4

For some reason I have always struggled with Romans. It didn't make sense... it was a bunch of words stacked together like steaks on a table 3 feet thick. My mind always tuned out.... or just didn't want to spend the energy to figure it out, or listen perhaps. But the past few weeks I've really been trying to cut off a little chunk at a time and chew on it; aka: I'm trying to memorize and meditate on it.

So let me take a look at these four verses as leisure, if you don't mind.

"There is therefore NOW no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus..." (my paraphrase: Since you are born again, claiming life in Jesus, there's no finger pointing, no judging, no reason for guilt anymore.)

" who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
(paraphrase: as you are claiming to be born into new life in Jesus, then I [Paul] am assuming you are truly a christian and are not living/walking like the old person of the world, who lusted and longed for fulfillment in those things that are material.

"for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus"
(paraphrase: the explanation being that the absolutely required natural state of the Holy Spirit in you, being new existence in
Jesus)

"has made me free from the law of sin and death."
(paraphrase: has unchained me from the absolutely required natural state {and the regulations set out for humanity to follow} of the disease of constant wrong doing and the certainty of my soul being separated from God forever through eternity.)

"For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh"
(paraphrase: in other words, what the requirements set out by God for humanity to follow could not do because as humans we could not complete these requirements perfectly, which is God's standard for righteousness)

"God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin;"
(paraphrase: God saw fit to give a solution to fix our problem, and that solution is His own Son sent in disguise as a human, being fully human, because of our constant wrongdoing)

"He condemned sin in the flesh"
(paraphrase: Jesus pointed a finger at our disease of wrongdoing to judge it as a perfect human and Son of God)

"that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
(paraphrase: so He beat the absolute requirement of the human law so we, with the help of the indwelling Spirit of God, could beat the absolute requirement of the human law, because of His righteousness in us who are letting the Spirit lead our lives instead of the pull of worldly materialism and lust.)

Hmmm.... looks like I wrote a commentary on the whole shabang! Lol! Well, that's my thoughts on the matter. Though I have to add one more thing. If my paraphrases are pretty accurate, mind you, I am not above fault, then isn't the grace of God an amazing, incomprehensible thing? I mean, He left his throne, to come save us for Himself. Seriously, when I make something, paint something, take a bad photo, or anything that fails, I usually don't bother trying to make it better- I just throw it away and start over. No mess, no fiddle, no sweat. But God didn't do that! Well, He didn't completely do that. There was the flood, but he gave humanity a second chance through Noah. So, he saves us and then reassures us through this passage that we can overcome that sin that we used to be in bondage to, because we have Him to cling to. Ah... it's a beautiful thing, I have to tell ya, completely beautiful.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Why not me?

I have a question that keeps coming up... I guess it's more of a life question that will always be there. It is this: While the rest of the world experiences massive earthquakes, floods, disease, bondage, starvation, anguish, and many other things, why am I not experiencing that? Why is it that God saw fit to allow me to be born in a safe zone? I know the big reason to cover and answer my questions on the deepest levels, which is the ultimate glory of God, His will I do not understand yet, etc. But I still question. I know I am small and don't understand very much at all, but really? a 7.0 earthquake? I don't know. All I do know is this: I am going to set this question aside and pursue the heart of God with all my strength. And when my strength fails me, I will push forward with faith that He will give me more. That's all I can do. Because if I didn't, there would be no reason, no goal, no clue. It blows my mind. So, that's what I had to say.