Winter in our lives - Part 4

How do we as Christians make sure we are “venturing forth into the interior” of our being in the time of winter, in the time of crisis? I believe it is by the ‘heart work’ we do as we love the Lord during the time of blossoming. When we are in a time of rest and non-crisis, as we develop the relationship with the Lord through the Spirit, we are preparing ourselves for a time when we must call on Him. We are preparing for a time when He is all we are going to have.

This may seem a little off subject, but hang with me. I have been bothered lately by songs of the faith which are asking the Lord to do something such as make me a vessel of your love. My problem is that He has already done everything needed to make this happen. All that is necessary for this to happen is for me receive His gift and let Him live in and through me. I was listening to a CD titled Songs by Rich Mullins (one of my favorite artists) the other day. As I listened to the song, Hold Me Jesus, I realized I was not bothered by this type of song anymore. I realized it is a way of calling to God in affirmation of what he has already done. As we as Christians love Him and cry out to Him in Prayer, Song and Worship we are building that relationship, because He is faithful and will hold us as we come to Him. Look at the words below or get a copy of the song, and see what I mean.

Hold Me Jesus by Rich Mullins
Well, sometimes my life just don't make sense at all
When the mountains look so big
And my faith just seems so small

So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

And I wake up in the night and feel the dark
It's so hot inside my soul
I swear there must be blisters on my heart

So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

More tomorrow or the next day.
Grace and Peace

Winter in our lives - Part 3

Final Steps in Christian Maturity Madame Jeanne Guyon

Continuing on in the Chapter, “The Blessedness of Winter!”
“Grace operates in your life in exactly the same way. God will take away the leaves. Something will cause them to fall. The outward virtue will collapse. He does this that he may strengthen the principle of the virtue. The source of virtue must be built up. Something deep within the soul is still functioning. Somewhere within the spirit the functions that are the highest (in God’s estimation) have never rested. What is going on is exceedingly hidden. It is humble.
What is happening is pure love.
What is going on in the inmost parts is absolute abandonment and contempt of self. The inward man is making progress. The soul is venturing forth into the interior.
. . . If you dare the spiritual pilgrimage, you need to remember in times of calamity, and in times of what appear to be dry spells, in that time which men will call a spiritual winter: Life is there.”

Amen! Tomorrow I will provide my own thoughts on this writing.
Grace and Peace

Winter in our lives - Part 2

Please review the comments from Part 1 for some refreshing additions to my writing.

We start with the question asked at the end of the last post.

“But has the tree actually changed?
Not at all. Everything is exactly as it was before. Everything is as it has always been! It is just that the leaves are no longer there to hide what is real. The beauty of the outward life of the leaves had only hidden what had always been present.
The same is true of you. The same is true of all believers. We can each look so beautiful . . . until life disappears! Then, no matter who, the Christian is revealed as full of defects. As the Lord works on you to produce purification, you will appear stripped of all your virtues! But, in the tree, there is life inside; and, as the tree, you are not actually becoming worse, you are simply seeing yourself for what you really are! Know that somewhere deep within the tree of winter there is still life that produced last spring’s beautiful leaves.
. . . That tree is actually undergoing and submitting to a process which preserves its life and strengthens the tree! After all, what does winter do to a tree? It contracts the tree’s exterior. The life deep within is no longer uselessly expended! Its life, rather, is concentrated within the deepest part of the trunk and in the hidden portions of the root. The life is forced deeper and deeper into the inmost part of the tree.

Final part tomorrow.

Winter in our lives - Part 1

I was reading a book I picked up titled Final Steps in Christian Maturity by Madame Jeanne Guyon and in Chapter 2, The Blessedness of Winter!, these words seemed to make me think.

“I see the season of winter as an excellent example of the transforming work of the Lord in a Christian’s life. When winter comes, the vegetable world, it seems to me, reflects the image of the purifying which god does in order to remove imperfections from the life of one of his children.
As cold comes on the wings of a winter storm, the trees gradually begin to lose their leaves. The green is soon changed into a funeral brown; soon the leaves fall away and die. Behold the tree’s appearance now! It looks stripped and desolate. Behold the loss of summer’s beautiful garment. What happens as you look upon that poor tree? You see a revelation.
Under the beautiful leaves there had been all sorts of irregularities and defects. The defects had been invisible because of the beautiful leaves. Now those defects are startlingly revealed! The tree is no longer beautiful in its surface appearance. But has the tree actually changed?”

Stayed tuned until tomorrow to read how this illustration becomes a matter of life for the believer.