For the sheer joy

Watching the seagulls come up from behind a point of land, they revelled in skimming the wild ocean waves; those churning frothing crests that were pounding against the shore.  My heart was racing with those free-spirited gulls.  Trying to capture their image in mid-flight, I got caught up in their swoops and twirls.  They seemed to be doing it for the sheer joy of it all. 

So graceful, so full of grace; it made me marvel at the grace of my God.  As the whipping winds took my breath away, this grace of God left me even more breathless.  To think of it: He is supremely delighted in me.  In the midst of all the crashing waves of life, even the waves brought about by my own wrong choices, God loves me for the sheer joy that it brings to His heart.   I needed this reminder; this breath-taking glimpse of His glorious grace, for today and on into eternity.   

“But because of His great love for us,

 God who is rich in mercy

made us alive with Christ 

even when we were dead in transgressions -

it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4,5).

I recall an old saint who would often pray: 

“Oh God, I am swimming out into your oceans of grace.”  

Indeed.

The Watermark of Death unto Life

Even in decay, there is life…

God is in the business of bringing life out of death, literally. When Jesus was speaking of his coming death and resurrection, he stated: “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24). He is still bearing much fruit in bringing people into the kingdom of God. I became a Christian at the funeral of a godly saint; one who had lived a faithful life of following hard after Jesus. One could say that her death brought me new life.

I had been reading the bible and attending Margaree Valley Baptist Church. The hymns would move me to tears, the word preached brought light to my soul, and yet a final surrender did not happen until her funeral. Don’t be fooled; it really is a surrendering, a giving-over. Probably the hardest thing for a person to do is to give up. O, blessed day! I had to die to myself so that I might live to God. Jesus brought me from death unto life - salvation through faith; his life for mine; forgiveness for time and eternity.

Seeds dying in order to burst forth with new life is the pattern that was woven into the very fabric of creation itself. God created the seasons; those amazing cycles of seedtime and harvest, snow-covered fields and summer growth, blossoming springtime and leaves returning to nurture the soil amidst astounding hues of gold and red. As a Christian, this dying to self daily is the most freeing way to live, and bears much fruit in our own souls and in the souls of those around us. Like a watermark embedded on a page, this design of death unto life should be seen, daily, in the life of a Christian. Unrelenting compassion, pursuing love in every situation and yes, even dying well-without fear; these are the marks of a Christian who dies daily in order that Christ might live in them and through them.

Jesus said:

“Truly truly I say to you, he who hears my word, 

and believes Him who sent me, has eternal life, 

and does not come into judgment, 

but has passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24)

Coming Home

I love winter. The colder and frostier it is, the better I like it. You know that kind of cold that literally takes your breath away and your lungs feel like they have just been to the North Pole; yes, that is the kind of cold I like. Ah, the crunchy-snow, frost on your eye-lids kind of cold. I do not even mind the chill that can seem to settle into your very bones; I rather like it. There’s no telling how sweet it is to warm up by a blazing hearth. When spring arrives, I’ll know I have earned the smell of earth-renewing freshness and pungent scent of snow sinking down to nourish hidden roots and flower bulbs. It is worth the wait.

And the birdhouse will be full of singing again. It almost went down, down into the fast-flowing brook, as a fierce gale had leveraged it from its tree-fastened home. My sister rescued it and now it sits on an old school desk; waiting for its family to come home. Today, I find myself waiting to come home; to come home to my refuge, my Saviour. 

I hesitate, because my sin has kept me out in the cold. Out in the frosty, sharp breath-defying cold, I am undone by the thoughts of my heart and the weakness of my faith. And yet, my Saviour keeps His hearth ready, always accessible by prayer; never far from His thoughts. Jesus, so willing and so able to thaw out my frozen heart; to sweep away the frozen ashes of sin and fill my heart with singing once again.

Oh Jesus, draw me close today, for I am coming home, singing that old hymn:

Come home. Come home.

You who are weary come home.

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling

Calling, oh sinner, come home.”

“Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.”

(James 4:8)