Bluebird

 

photo credit

To say that i like watching birds would be an understatement. I have the Birds of Minnesota book and faithfully check off each new type of bird i see. The book (and accompanying cd's of bird calls) are on top of a hutch in our kitchen for quick and easy access. Unfortunately the book was missing for a good year, but i found it this Spring in our front closet, right under my nose the whole time. It was a happy day when that book was found! The funny thing about me getting into watching birds, is that my husband has too. Last summer he was the one to spot the Scarlet Tanager that came by! I finally was privileged to see it, but he had the first couple sightings.

We have lived in our house for over 5 years now. I start to think that maybe we won't see any new types of birds, but.... WE DO!

 Last summer was the S. Tanager, this summer it was the  Eastern Bluebird. Many people in our area see them; i happen to be the one who doesn't. In June, i spotted one on a fort wall at Fort Snelling. I was so thrilled! Then, a couple of days ago, Brian and i were sitting on the back deck. He says, "What kind is that?" At first i didn't know what he was talking about, but his eyes were on a branch close by, so i assumed it must be a bird. All off a sudden, a flash of blue wings took off and flew across the yard! An Eastern Bluebird!

My jaw dropped.

This is the branch where the bird landed.
It's a dead branch i put in a container with
zinnias and morning glories. 

I couldn't speak.
I was so stunned and elated!

I ran inside and grabbed the bird book to show him. It was just the coolest thing to see that bird, the bird i have wanted to see close up for so long, right there on the branch on our porch, not five feet from us!

Seeing that bird was a sweet gift from my Father. He knew that something so simple would fill me with great joy. Brian said that it was like i had won the lottery, my reaction to seeing the bird was so big :). Though the moment was short, the sight of that bird helped me. It brought joy to a world-weary heart. It reminded me of the amazing Creator God that i serve. It reminded me that moments of absolute beauty pop up when i am least expecting them.

And...

It filled my heart with a deep gratitude.
Gratitude for simple joys. For beautiful nights. For time on the deck with my husband. For Eastern Bluebirds that will sit and rest for a moment on a branch nearby. For the One who created all things, and who does all things well - our great God!

Guess who visited the branch last night? A Hummingbird! The little thing came and took a sip of nectar from a flower, and then perched right there on the branch while we were eating our dinner. You should have seen all 6 of us just stop and stare and wonder! So tiny, so beautiful. 

from Penal Suffering to Loving Sovereignty

When our church held their Thanksgiving Eve service, i was asked to give a testimony about how I had learned that God didn't just love me because He had to, but that He actually liked me. This past year has been truly one of the most difficult years i have had. This saturday will mark the one-year anniversary of my Dad's death. This is not an anniversary i wanted to have, nor do i celebrate it, though through some tears i am remembering the good things about who he was. Through this year, i have learned more about God, the gospel, and myself than i could have without walking through the suffering and pain.

I share my testimony here....it should take about 7-10 minutes to read :)

From Penal Suffering to Loving Sovereignty ~ Thanksgiving Eve, 2013

(the following paragraph are all song titles that have ministered God's truth to me through the last number of months) 

Though You Slay Me and Move in Mysterious Ways, I will Turn My Eyes Upon Jesus, and cry out, "Jesus, Draw Me Ever Nearer". Because You Walked in Lonely Places, I can now Lift Up My Sorrows, knowing that You Did That For Me. Amazing Grace sets me on A Firm Foundation, knowing that Jesus exchanged His Robes for Mine. In Christ Alone can I truly say "It Is Well With My Soul!" Amazing love, how can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Praise the Lord, for GREAT things He IS doing!!

Sara Groves simply, yet profoundly states “I believe in a peace that flows deeper than pain, 

That broken find healing in love; Pain is no measure of His faithfulness, He withholds no good thing from us.”

I could not say that with confidence a few months ago. I grew up overhearing it said about me that i was loved, because i had to be, but that i was not liked. I had wrongly assumed that God felt the same way.  I believed that God loved me out of obligation, because He promised to since i had called on the name of Christ. Yet it was a begrudging love; A love that was just waiting for me to mess up so that He could punish me. I falsely believed that He only tolerated me; that the sufferings and trials i faced in life were punishments for my sin, because Christ’s death simply wasn’t enough. I still had to pay.

But God…!

Over the past months, God has faithfully revealed to me my sinful thinking. Through reading His precious Word, the preaching of His Word, godly counsel, and other books, God has lovingly shown me the Truth through His Holy Spirit.

And what is that Truth? It is that He, God, likes me. He doesn’t love me because He has to, He actually delights in me.. 

 “The Lord your God is in your midst,A victorious warrior.He will exult over you with joy,He will be quiet in His love,He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. Zephaniah 3:17

His Word says in Ephesians 1:3-7 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before ^[d]Him. In love^5 [e]He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the ^[f]kind intention of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

I have learned that God is a loving Sovereign; that the trials and sufferings I face are given to me by a loving Father who is working all things to my good, in order to conform me to the image of His glorious Son. Believe me when I say that the last verse I wanted to hear after my Dad died and all the trials since, was Romans 8:28. But one day, someone pointed out to me that verse 29 follows! Here it is…Here is WHY God causes ALL things (yes, even that really painful situation) to work for the good of the called:  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.

I can now truly believe and embrace the truths that Joseph Alliene penned so very long ago:

From the curse of the cross I will deliver you (Psalm 119:71). Afflictions shall prove a wholesome cup to you; your Lord has drunk the venom into His won body, and what remains for you is but a healthful potion which I promise shall work for your good (Romans 8:28). Be not afraid to drink, nor desire that the cup should pass from you. I bless the cup before I give it to you (Job 5:17). Drink all of it and be thankful; you shall find My blessing a the bottom of the cup to sweeten the sharpest afflictions to you (James 1:12; Psalm 94:12). I will stand by you in all conditions, and be a fast Friend to you in every change (Isaiah 43:2). In the wilderness I will speak comfortably to you, and in the fire and water I will be with you (Hosea 2:14). I will be a strength to the poor and a strength to the needy in his distress; a refuge from the storm, and  a shadow from the heat, when the blast of terrible ones is as a storm against the wall (Isaiah 25:4). Your sufferings shall not be a cup of wrath, but a grace cup; not a curse, but a cure; not a cup of trembling, but a cup of blessing to you (Hebrews 12:6-8). They shall not hurt you, but heal you (Psalm 119:67). My blessing shall attend you in every condition (Genesis 26:3).  from The Precious Promises of the Gospel, pg. 10  (note: this book was written from the perspective of God speaking the Gospel truth to His people. It is full of Scripture. It is taking the promises and truths of the Word and writing them out as though God were saying them personally to you. It is not to be read AS Scripture, but as a more devotional reading, with study of the Scriptures mentioned). 

In summary, Colossians 3:3 states For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. I will just read a part from my journal that I think best expresses how this verse helped me see the love of God:

I have begun to wrestle with being IN Christ. I read Romans 8 again yesterday. Read Col. 3:1-2. prayed. As I started working on the thought that God loves me because he is obligated to because I have followed Christ, but he doesn't like me very much, it started to penetrate.. that I am IN Christ.It hit me. I have to die. die to so many of my fleshly desires. And that all the stuff in Romans 8 is true that He will raise me up to life in Christ. then I realized that Col. 3 is true! I am hidden with Christ, in God. God see's all the goodness of Christ when He looks at me. I am hidden IN Christ, and hidden WITH Christ. So, God looks at Christ, and He doesn't tolerate Christ. He loves Him. He enjoys Him. Christ is His Son. And I am hidden within that.  I am choosing to not despise this small step, to walk on in faith. To press in. To BELIEVE this truth, regardless of feelings; to RECKON IT SO.

A few quotes and I am done. One email I received simply stated this: Jeanette the Lord likes you a lot. I just wept when I read that. And another said this: Your story is being woven together by a Master Artisan Whose ways are so mysterious and often painful, yet so glorious and beautiful!

John Piper has snippets of a sermon piped into a song by Shane & Shane called Though You Slay Me: this song was significant in this journey. He says that our pain is not meaningless. It has a purpose, whether it was cancer, or criticism, sickness or slander… it is producing and eternal weight of glory. We may never see the purpose here, but we can know that we are loved more than we ever deserve, we are liked and delighted in by our loving Sovereign, and He IS WORKING ALL THINGS FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO ARE THE CALLED!

2 Corinthians 4:8-9,  we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;…therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, ¹⁸ while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Paul Tripp says this: “So God’s grace isn’t always comfortable, because He isn’t primarily working on our comfort; He’s working on our character. With violent grace He will crush us because He loves us, and is committed to our restoration, deliverance, and refinement. And THAT is something worth celebrating.”

I close with a hymn by the Getty’s. May this be the prayer of all of our hearts:

Jesus, Draw me ever nearer

As I labor through the storm

You have called me to this passage

And I'll follow, though I'm worn

May this journey bring a blessing

May I rise on wings of faith

And at the end of my hearts testing

With Your likeness let me wake

Jesus, guide me through the tempest

Keep my spirit stayed and sure

When the midnight meets the morning

Let me love You even more

May this journey bring a blessing

May I rise on wings of faith

And at the end of my hearts testing

With Your likeness let me wake

Let the treasures of the trial

Form within me as I go

And at the end of this long passage

Let me leave them at your throne

May this journey bring a blessing

May I rise on wings of faith

And at the end of my hearts testing

With Your likeness let me wake

Mysterious Ways

This hymn is by William Cowper.
It is amazing.
Read it slowly.
It means so much right now.

God Moves In A Mysterious Way

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain. 

~William Cowper

God's Lovingkindness

Sunday's sermon stopped me in my tracks. One of our Elders, Pastor Dan Burris, was preaching on Ruth. He focused in on the lovingkindness of Boaz toward Ruth, and how Boaz was the instrument God used to show His lovingkindness. It was really a wonderful message. You can click to listen to it on the sidebar...it should be there shortly if it isn't already... 7.7.13 is the message date---->.

What is it that stopped me in my tracks? The amazing lovingkindness of God. Pastor Dan did an amazing job weaving all of scripture together, and showing God's chesed love for His people, me included. One thing he said is that God doesn't love with an exit strategy. that hit me. hard. God loves totally and completely. His love is for me, for us. I could type more, but won't. I am still processing it. Just wanted to share with you  that God loves His own completely, and He does not look for an exit, or a way out, of His relationship with you or I. As the psalmist would say.... Selah.


Here are the lyrics to a song we sang Sunday as well. These were a beautiful reminder of so many truths that i tend to forget.

His Robes for Mine by Chris Anderson & Greg Habegger

His robes for mine: O wonderful exchange!
Clothed in my sin, Christ suffered ‘neath God’s rage.
Draped in His righteousness, I’m justified.
In Christ I live, for in my place He died.

Chorus:

I cling to Christ, and marvel at the cost:
Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God.
Bought by such love, my life is not my own.
My praise-my all-shall be for Christ alone.

His robes for mine: what cause have I for dread?
God’s daunting Law Christ mastered in my stead.
Faultless I stand with righteous works not mine,
Saved by my Lord’s vicarious death and life.

His robes for mine: God’s justice is appeased.

Jesus is crushed, and thus the Father’s pleased.
Christ drank God’s wrath on sin, then cried “Tis done!”
Sin’s wage is paid; propitiation won.

His robes for mine: such anguish none can know.
Christ, God’s beloved, condemned as though His foe.
He, as though I, accursed and left alone;
I, as though He, embraced and welcomed home!

No Good Thing

This is a favorite of mine..

enjoy.

Truly, our God withholds no good thing from us. Sorrows and joys, suffering and healing. All are working to conform us more to the image of His beautiful Son, Jesus Christ.




story behind the song:

Forsaken no more

i grew up listening to Don Francisco. Went to a concert when i was in 5th or 6th grade. His music resonates with me in a way i can't explain. He sings the Word. i heard this song today as i was playing a disc. i can't pick a song that pinpoints what things were like for me growing up better than this one, and the love and security and redemption i have in my Heavenly Father. 

this is why i cry when i hear or sing: 

• of His great love for me. 
• of how He will never leave me.
• of how He will never let me go.
• of the security i have in Him. 
• of what Christ did to redeem me.
• of how much of a Father He is. 

Truly, God will never forsake His own. He will never reject. He will never leave. Praise His glorious name!