Stand On Your Feet

Hullo all.
So, I was reading Ezekiel yestreday and today. What was shown to me is absolutely amazing.

Ezekiel was, of course, an Old Testament prophet. He went to Babylon, during the reign of king Jehoiachin of Judah. Most of Ezekiel chapter one is a vision that Ezekiel has of the LORD. I won't give you the whole thing, because it's almost an entire chapter. But let me give you pieces of it. (I encourage you to read the whole thing, too. It'd only take a few minutes.) The verses I'm going to use are all over the passage.

"As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal....And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness...Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went.... As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning....Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them....And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around....Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads. ²³And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. And each creature had two wings covering its body. And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings....And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around."

At the sight of all this, Ezekiel, probably terrified and awestruck, falls flat on his face. After all, he's looking right at God! God, surrounded by angels of a frightening sort, with shining stuff and eyes and fire all over the place. Given that no one is allowed to behold the face of God, I think anybody in their right mind would fall on their face.
Here's the awesome part. Check out, chew on, and ponder what YHWH says to Ezekiel, the lowly man amongst these heavenly creatures.
"Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you."
Holy Schamoly! Stand on his feet? He's in the presence of Jehovah, for crying out loud! Why did God tell him to stand up?

Honestly, I don't know. No idea why He'd tell Ezekiel to get up. But it's a type of sort. (In case you haven't been through my history class, a type is "A person or thing (as in the Old Testament) believed to foreshadow another (as in the New Testament.)" Think about it.
We're a pack of ungrateful, rebelious, independent, finite traitors. Beholding God, we should do more than fall on our faces. You know what He would be justified in doing? Tossing us into hell, eternal death and seperation from him. But what does He say to us instead? "Stand on your feet. I love you. I love you so much that I died for you. See the scars on my hands, my side? I took that for you. I drank the entire cup or wrath that you'd stored up for youself." What a gracious, loving King!

Ever after

Yestreday, a Metro train or two crashed. I know that, as of last night, 6 people were known to be dead. It's absolutely tragic. But, at the same time, I think it serves as a good wake-up call for us. Ever think about how short life is? You look back on your sixth grade class, and it feels almost like yestreday. (Those who are out of high school can probably relate more to how brief the years really are.) New Years rolls around time and time again, and you realise that last New Years wasn't really too long ago.
Here's the question: what if you don't live until you're 70?
Possible? Sure. Probable? Not really sure I can say. In Psalm 90, Moses asks God to "teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." (vs. 12) In Luke 12, Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool (you know, the "Eat, drink, be merry" fellow.) I'd encourage you to read through both of those if you need a refresher. (Josh Harris did a message a while back on Luke 12. covlife.org)
Essentially, we shouldn't put off important things until later. Why? Well, to be quite frank, we don't know if we're going to be alive tomorrow. That means anything important: God, your Bible, your parents, your siblings, talking about important things with your friends. That is not to say that one can never relax, but one should not put off what is necessary for what will not last beyond the moment.

Straight and to the point, I hope. This might be my record for shortest post... :-)
Oh, please pray for those hurt in the Metro accident, and the families of those who have died.

Borrowing

I found this link on the Rebelution site, and thought it was good. Check it out!
http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0002045.cfm#share
Ad majorem Dei gloriam.
~E.K.

There's a story which is familiar to most, if not all of us. The story of Jesus walking on water, Peter walking on water, sinking. Jesus grabs his hand, pulls him to his feet, and calms the storm. You could probably tell somebody that story in your sleep. And yet, as familiar as it is, there is more to it than just a story. Read it again.
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Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid."

And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." (Matthew 14:22-33, ESV)

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O.K., so what? Look beyond the simple (or not-so-simple) events of people walking on water. (Like that's not cool enough, right?) Look at this not from your point of view, but from Peter's. Here we go.

You go out in a boat with 12 of your best friends. Bear in mind, you're all out on this boat because Jesus just fed 5,000 men, not to mention the women and kids, from five hunks of bread and two fish. So you go out in a boat, and Jesus goes up on the mountain to pray (he seems to do that a lot, eh?) So you twelve guys are chillin' out in the boat, while it gets further and further from the mountain. At 0-dark-hundred hours, one of the other 11 guys on the boat screams like mad. You're wide awake now, and you stare at him. He's pointing out on the sea. you follow his finger, and you start to freak out, too. There's a body, upright, floating. "A ghost!" somebody shouts. Half a minute, it's not floating. It's walking. Still, is there any rule that says ghosts have to hover? The ghost, or whatever it is, starts talking. "Take heart; it is I." (Trust Jesus to speak properly!) "Do not be afraid." O.K., so it sounds like Jesus, it looks sort of like him, but... well, you sort of let your imagination run away with you. It is, after all, the fourth watch. So, confident macho guy that you are, you start talking to the ghost. "Hey, out there? Yeah, this is Simon, also known as Cephas or Peter. Are you Jesus? You look sorta like him. Tell you what; if you're Jesus, tell me to walk on the water." After all, you suppose, only Jesus can actually make people walk on water right?

The ghost, or Jesus, says one word. "Come."

Your stomach starts churning. Remember, you're way out here because the wind pushed you out here. Wind plus water equals really, really big waves. You'd probably chicken out, except that the other 11 guys in the boat are now staring at you, waiting for you. You take a deep breath, and stick your foot over the edge of the boat. You hit something solid. Looking down... it's water. That's really weird. The other foot now. Hits water, and doesn't go through. You grin. You thought Jesus was pretty cool, even the Messiah, but that he could make people walk on water? Hey! You start walking to Jesus (yeah, it's he.) All of a sudden, you hear a roaring sound. You look towards the vast, open sea. Um, is that a wave? Yeah, that's a wave all right. A really, really big honkin' wave. And it's coming for you. Funny thing about waves, is they keep getting bigger. You stop walking, frozen in your tracks. Your feet get wet. Wet? Looking down, you see that your feet are now under the water. The sea is dragging you down. "Great," you think. "I'm walking across the water, now I'm sinking. Even if I manage to keep my head above water long enough to get back to the boat, that wave's coming. I'm not getting out of this one, am I?" You look back up, and see Jesus, standing on top of the water in front of you. He's watching you, and appears to be waiting for something. Nuh-uh. No way are you asking him for help; the guys are watching! Talk about humiliation. But you're still going dow, down, and the wave is getting bigger and closer. Finally, you start screaming. "Lord, save me!" Jesus, as though he was waiting for this, reaches down and pulls you up. Your feet are back on top of the water again, though your legs and tunic are completely soaked. Jesus looks you in the eye, and says, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" You walk back to the boat with him, still eyeing the massive wave. The eleven guys see it, too, and are a little too worried to poke fun at you right now. You climb into the boat, legs shaking, used to the water as you are. Jesus gets back in the boat, and the wind stops blowing. The wave rolls gently past, and the boat does little more than bob in the water.

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Well, that was an interesting second-person narrative, but so what? Here's the big thing that sticks out of this passage. Look again at Jesus' response to Peter when he pulled him out of the water. It wasn't, "Yeah, that hydrogen bonding was pretty cool, wasn't it?" or "Gotta watch out for those waves, Pete." No. He said, "O you of little faith." Whoa, little faith? Half a minute! Didn't Peter just literally walk on water for Jesus, because Jesus said to walk? Yes, he did. But what happened once he got on the water? He saw the wind, and was afraid. He didn't trust Jesus to keep him abouve the water. He was more convinced of the power of nature than the power of the One who created nature.

So, what's the sea onto which God has called you? Obviously, not many of us will literally walk on water (although that would be fun....) But Christ has called us to do things that would be impossible without His grace. School, obedience, work, friendships, plays, being kind to our siblings, chores... the list goes on. But, all too often, we can be so self-reliant. "I can't get this projuect done; it's too hard!" "You know what? Forget it. My sister is just so obnoxious sometimes. No way I can be kind to her right now." "Wash the dishes? Again? I cannot keep this up!" You're right. You can't get the project done, you can't be nice to your sister, and you can't wash the dishes one more time. You weren't called to do this on your own. You were given the power of Christ for a reason. He's standing there, looking at you, waiting for you to ask Him. And when you ask, I promise (more significantly, He promises) that He will pull you to your feet, and help you to the boat.

Peace Out!

Hey Everyone! I've had alot of things on my mind lately. I'm crazy busy and even when I'm not crazy busy, I think I am and start stressing out. I've had alot of time working on the play, and I'm up to my eyeballs in some school subjects. Plus there are basic other things like serving at home and at church, and decisions that I need to make. Plus in the last week or so I've been battling against (not severe) depression. This has been causing my spiritual life to plummit. You'd think that I would want to pour myself out to God in this time of hardship, but that's not what my hearts been telling me to do. Yeah, listen to the stupid blonde listening to her heart...I was telling my friend Dave about this concern and he wisely told me that is was probably me thinking that I knew how to figure it out and not relying on God. This was true, and It's hard to battle- that inner pride thinking that I can do it by myself. And I can't.

"The only temptation that has come to you is that which everyone has. But you can trust God, who will not permit you to be tempted more than you can stand. But when you are tempted, he will also give you a way to escape so that you will be able to stand it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

" Whoever listens to what is taught will suceed, and whoever trusts the Lord will be happy." Proverbs 16:20

God knows exactly what's going on, and why. Have peace and know that he is in control.

In His Grace,

Kylie

God's Work and Grace in our Lives (Elizabeth and Kylie)

As I'm sure pretty much everybody who comes here knows, we just performed the show Pilgrim. Lots of people in the show, myself included, were more than a little bit nervous. The dress rehearsal just before opening night had been full of "speed bumps." We prayed before the show that we'd do the show for the glory of God, and not for our own glory. We prayed for the unbelievers and believers alike who were coming to see the show. So, here's the cool thing. The prayer didn't stay downstairs. I, and probably other people as well, were praying backstage. (This is NOT to exult myself as a godly person or anything like that. I would not have done that of my own accord, it was definitely the King helping me.)

Sometimes, when we read the words "Pray without ceasing" in our Bibles, it looks so dull. Pray all the time? Ugh! Can't we do anything fun? We get this mental image of praying on our knees, heads bowed, hands clasped together. We think of it as boring.

Well, He showed me something last night. It's not a drag. "It's just talkin' to Him." I had peace, not anxiety, and hope, not fear. I know God was working last night, and I could feel His pleasure that we were portraying Him, or at least trying to do so. We serve a God who is all too ready to answer our prayers.

Yes, and God has answered our prayers. Mrs. Mays spent SOOO much time praying for everyone in the cast and crew individualy. And praying for all the characters...Mrs. Mays did not make a single decision without asking God first. The whole show was turned over to God and it's just been revealed to us that anything is possible with God. Only by God's grace has the show come together. And God has taken away our anxiety and fear and filled us with joy and amazement. God is So GOOD!

In His Grace,

Elizabeth and Kylie

o HaPpY dAy

Happy Easter Everyone! Sorry we haven't posted in like forever...but I just wanted to reflect a bit on the meaning of easter.

How did your easter start? Did you automatically think of what Jesus did for you on the cross?

or did your day start like mine?

it was eight o'clock. my Dad yelled upstairs that we were going to second service and that we could come downstairs now. I dragged myself out of bed, put my feet on the freezing floor and grabbed my sweatshirt. I walked downstairs and greeted my family with a Happy Easter and looked on the couch where normally my easter basket was. I was instantly concerned- I picked up a slip of paper with my name on it that had a clue to find my easter basketl. I went through about four of these slips before I even thought about the cross and the meaning of the day. On about the fourth slip there was a reference to the cross- before that my mind had been only full of the thoughts of chocolate, peeps and cadburry creme eggs. And let me tell you, boy did I feel stupid.

Easter isn't about the chocolate or the bunnies or chicks...it's about Jesus. On Easter we should become freshly aware of what God's done for us. What Jesus did on the cross for us. And to think somehow, Jesus' ressurection somehow turned to chocolate. Not that chocolates or Easter candy are bad- but they are in no way what Easter's about. Ok, I'm starting to go all over the place and being me I will do that often...

Actually the easter egg is said to represent the stone that was rolled off Jesus' grave- I dont know if that's true or not but I found it interesting.

I hope you all were freshly reminded of God's Grace towards us the sinners that we are. And I hope you keep the even of Easter in your mind everyday, and I would encourage you all to read this passage of God's word often- and be filled with passion for what He's done.

Happy Easter!

In His Grace,

Kylie