Jesus – Page 2 – David Andrew

January 3, 2012

Recall

It all started with waking up. The threads of consciousness, woven and spun into the glory fall, worked their way into me, seeping into the dreams lingering in my mind yet being steadily dispelled by the constancy of activity in the physical domain. Stillness.

I had a thought upon waking up, profound and personally meaningful. Yet the wording and phrasing of the thought escaped the frail grasp of my groggy brain leaving nothing but the impression of a feeling—one of longing and hope but forever more ineffably gone. What’s worse: I was at my laptop with a blank page ready to scribe these musings, yet the words had left.

So here I am, writing what remains of the experience: can I piece together the thoughts leading up to the particular idea? Can I trace my feelings back to their origin?

No; it’s hopeless.

Why does the subconscious taunt me so? Is there a greater good to be realized from the loss of this thought?

Perhaps. The feeling of hope that lingered: this is worth treasuring. This feeling is worth storing up in my heart. The more hope I store in my heart, the more I will speak and act out of hope. The more I speak and act out of hope, the more others around me will be encouraged to do the same. So then, if I change my approach to life based on this positive feeling, then I have been affected by the original idea, even though I cannot understand it, nor express it to another person. I have felt the idea and that’s all I need in order for me to act on it. Maybe soon I will find again the words to phrase it to another, but for now, it remains alive and un-cheapened by the confines of verbal expression. I recall the substance of my idea, unfettered in my spirit. Though I cannot explain the thing that gives me hope, I know that I have it. I hold this hope as in a jar of clay, and the darkness of my mind has not understood it. Thank God that I am being renewed inwardly day by day.

Perhaps my encounter this morning was not with an idea at all, but with the very Spirit of God. Perhaps I awoke not to my own thought, but to the Hope of Glory living in me, strengthening my spirit. Praise the LORD, O my soul!

December 28, 2011

Protected: Remember (Year In Review)

September 9, 2011

Prayer: Abiding

“In continuing this series on prayer, I wanted to focus on abiding in God’s presence. Writing on this subject, my friend Maria Viola offers her intimate, insightful perspective from her experience of God in the quite place.”
—David Andrew

The Quiet Place

We can learn to abide in God’s presence wherever we go, in any situation, in whatever we are doing. There is a starting point: being in the prayer closet. I cannot stress enough the importance of finding a hiding place, a quiet place to spend just with Jesus without any distractions. “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:6 (NASB).

I want to abide in the presence of a person I love, know, and trust. I believe we could all say the same, so what does that look like? There’s no formula, but Matthew 6:6 gives us a wonderful model. First, find a place where you can pray: I have made a prayer room underneath my dorm room bed where I have strung up lights, have a couple pillows, a blanket hanging from my bed to hide me underneath, and my journal and Bible. Second, close your door: this will be one of the best ways to eliminate distraction and put your focus on Him. Close that door so you can pray and sing out loud, you can intercede where the Spirit leads, and wait in the presence that will fill your place of prayer. The Father, who is in that secret place with you, hears your requests and sees your need. Read these lyrics to Misty Edwards song Silence:

“Silence calls like the rain to a parched land
I drink You in again.
No longer thirsting for what could never satisfy
I’m thirsty, I’m thirsty for You.

In silence, You call.
In quiet, You hide.
In secret, You wait for a lovesick bride.

Jesus, I am here.
Jesus, I am Yours, and You are mine.
Jesus, I have come to steal Your heart again.

Silence calls like the waves ever crashing on my shore.
This broken heart hears a Voice calling me
to quiet places where You hide,
waiting for a lovesick bride to come and steal Your heart
with one glance of my heart, with one glance of my heart.

All I ever wanted is You
All I ever needed is You
In silence, in quiet~
Silence comes like the rain, like the rain.”

Go to the quiet place, to that secret place so that the God who makes all things new can commune with you and impart to you knowledge, wisdom, and His wonderful presence. Never give up on the quiet place where you meet with Him because He will always be there, whether you feel Him or not, because His promises are true and if He says that He is in the secret and He sees you in the secret then this is a true statement. “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13 (NASB).
If you are not sure what to pray, then start with the prayer that Jesus taught right after telling us to go to the quiet place:

“Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Matthew 6:9-13 (NASB)

This is a good place to start. I pray that each of you would lose yourselves in His wonderful presence.

With love,
Maria

August 1, 2011

Communing

This summer has been new: new house, new opportunities, new challenges. Most importantly (IMHO), I’ve come to experience a new season in my relationship with God. I’ve become aware of communing.

Through all of the transitions this summer related to moving and all of the uncertainties about going back to school, I’ve come to a place where I find myself wanting to do nothing except be still and know that He is God. (Ps. 46:10) There is turmoil in my life: waves of doubt and mountains of impossibility. I know that if I had faith as small as a mustard seed, I could tell the mountain to be cast up and thrown into the sea, but in my overwhelmed state of human frailty, I find myself lacking even that small seed. All I can do is quiet my soul like a weaned child (Ps. 131) and press my ear to the threshold of heaven and listen for the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit.

When I take time to commune with Him, do you know what He tells me? He tells me that He loves me, and that He has a plan for me. He tells me that His grip around me is so tight that nothing can steal me out of His hand. I believe that He wants to speak the same kinds of things into your life as well. You just have to stop and acknowledge Him. Quiet your soul, empty out your anxious thoughts, and speak softly to the Spirit of the Living God. As a believer, He lives in you, and He is there to comfort you.

June 21, 2011

Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done

Oh boy. This week has been the best week of summer so far. Encouraging text messages, singing the Scriptures, convicting sermons… it’s like God’s trying to tell me that He loves me or something. =D

Allow for me to share with you one of the convicting ideas floating through my mind this week: Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In his message series entitled “The Supernatural Power of a Renewed Mind,” Bill Johnson explains that when Jesus told his disciples to pray this phrase, He was basically saying that God has dominion over all things because He made them, and whatever goes on in heaven should go on in earth because He has the dominion, and whatever is not allowed in heaven should not be allowed in earth because He has the dominion. You see, this prayer is really an invitation for God to break into our reality with the power of His kingdom. Can I get an amen?

Okay, so another thing: do you want to understand any trying circumstances in your life? Whatever situations may be in your life, try to see them from God’s perspective. Literally ask God to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation and ask Him to show you how He sees your life! He gives graciously and abundantly to those who hunger for it. Let the deep in your spirit cry out to the deep in God’s spirit. He is moved by our cries.

God has been showing me that He cares for me this week, and He wants me to continue to seek Him in and honor Him through music. He is pleased that I am using the knowledge He has given me to bring Him praise and He will be faithful to reveal to me the full extent of all that He has for me to know in order to love Him more and more. He wants to do that for you too. He wants to reveal to you the full extent of all that He has for you to know in order for you to love Him more and more. Are you hungry? Can I get an amen? Oh Jesus, thank You!

June 11, 2011

Doors

You’re driving down the road and in the distance, you see a signal that has just turned green. As you get closer to the signal, you realize that it has been green for quite a while now and you think to yourself that it will probably change soon. Much to your surprise, the signal stays green and you pass through without even taking your foot off the gas! Ever had a moment like that? I just did recently and I was pleasantly surprised. I even felt a little honored. I might have said “thank you” to the signal. Then this thought hit me: “It’s like Jesus and I are going the same place, and He held the door open for me! Thanks, Jesus!”

You know, He’s held a lot of doors open for me. He’s given me a wonderful, safe home to stay in over the summer after I move out (thank you so much Darren and Darlene!), and He’s given me a car to use when my mom leaves town. He’s given me a journal to record all of my thankful thoughts in, and He’s given me His friendship such that I can come utterly undone when I’m overwhelmed and He listens to and encourages me. Thanks, Jesus!

May 30, 2011

Culmination

All of my life has been waiting for this culmination. Yet somehow I’m still stuck in between. It’s like everything about where I’ve been is about to give way into everything about where I will be and the catalyst is who I am now. I have been learning so much over the last few weeks about trusting God, and He’s been speaking to me a lot about things with cumulative value—things that are worth very little by themselves but compound into things of great worth, like working out or practicing violin. Now all of my knowledge is about to be lived out.

I’m having to make some choices that are, for me, very difficult to make. I can’t and won’t tell you my entire backstory—suffice it to say, as long as I keep my eyes on Jesus, I will not be overcome by distress. All of the pain and hardships I’ve endured so far in life have been like miniature hurdles, each preparing me for the next one… until now. This is like a ten-page-violin-concerto, play-in-the-stratosphere-for-twelve-minutes, shift-positions-every-other-thirty-second-note hurdle. But that’s okay; Jesus is guiding every finger, every bowing, presiding over every note I play. He’s walking with me through life and He’s my moral support when I have to confront people and situations that are… unsavory.

My future has always been in God’s hands, it’s only now that my eyes of sight can’t see how I will attain to a future that I have begun to doubt God’s plans. I’m through with doubt! My eyes of faith tell me that God has great plans for my school campus and He wants to use me to bring revival. My eyes of faith tell me that I have a church family that loves and cares about me and prays for me even when I feel completely alone. My eyes of faith tell me that God has given His angels charge over me to deflect the Devil’s offensive against me. I know that God is for me, who can be against me? Surely not my future, surely not my doubt, surely not people I don’t like; and I refuse to hinder myself by not trusting God.

Impossible Chair — Eyes of sight would say this is impossible... have a little faith. 😉 Image credit: Mashable.com

May 28, 2011

Confidence

Got any to spare? Lately, it just seems like that’s the one thing I’m missing. I have none. Zippo. Zilch. Nada. No bueno. I walk into a room full of people and I practically run to a corner where I can be a notorious “wallflower” and smile at people (sometimes) but not really talk to anyone. I make myself sick. You’d think I’d been locked in a room my whole life… ahem.

So how about that weather we’ve been having?

So anyway, I’ve been feeling a little lost and broken down. Then I did a google search and found this:

I was oddly touched by this and actually high-fived my screen. If nothing else, the force of my hand made me realize that I might even be a little frustrated too. LOL. Dear Jesus, help me.

May 12, 2011

Dear God, I Need Faith

Have you ever been in a place where you’re overwhelmed by a deluge of truth? It’s like the facts of life are rolling in today and I realize how much I just need to trust God. Thank You, Jesus for opening my eyes.

I feel like I have been given new information on my immediate future. It’s information that is hard to accept joyfully, because on the one hand, it reinforces the fact that I might not be coming back to school in the Fall. On the other hand, it is information that I do joyfully accept because it makes it so much easier for me to let go of the situation and trust that God has my back. He is my rearguard, defending me from the enemy behind me and tying up all of the loose ends in life situations where I feel things have been left unresolved. God is so good. Thank You, Jesus for protecting me.

So where does this leave me? I am free to live alive. I am free to pursue the gifts and abilities that God has given me. I am free to drink from the fountain of joy that bubbles up in this lowest place. Thank You, Jesus for giving me joy.

View of the ramp — The expanse of the sky symbolizes freedom.

May 3, 2011

Focus

Lately, I’ve been consumed with looking up. Literally. Here’s a picture for you.

Beams from a converted warehouse (i.e. Jessup's dormitories)

I think my obsession with looking up has some meaning to it. I’ll get to that in a little bit. I’ve also been enjoying gazing at vast expanses such as this one.

Preserve — The preserve behind Jessup's campus

There’s something inspiring about wide-open spaces—something freeing that beckons you to run wild and take ownership of and responsibility for all that you see. Maybe that’s just me, maybe it’s not.

I’ve found that when I am depressed, the still small voice of God tells me to look up. He never tells me why, but I think I understand. You see, when I look up, I see the heavens and realize that life is comprised of so much more than I am experiencing right now. I begin to reflect on the tapestry of my past and all of the places I’ve been as I pursue relationship with God. I realize that things are currently not as they used to be and things will not always be as they currently are. Did you hear that? Change is a foundational ingredient in life. You cannot have life as we experience it without change. Praise God!

I think the sight of wide-open spaces reminds me to look at the big picture of my life and not become utterly consumed by all of the details of why my life is or is not working right now. This is where hope springs up. This is where the future inspires goals and dreams. This is where the tragedy of the past loses its power to control today. Thank You, Jesus!