I use my relationship with Jesus as a measure stick for everything in my life. School, work, family, friends, situations, circumstances, consequences, everything that can be thought of under the sun and blue sky. What I discover in my relationship with this Wonderful Person I use to measure my interactions, understandings and reactions to the world around me. So, this morning I got into a disagreement with a well known author. She talks about the importance of patience. Actually, over several pages she talks about  Peter's passage of 2 Peter 1:7 where she looks at the importance of different characteristics in context to our relationship with God. Of course, she brings in other verses too, but what we disagreed with is the presentation of Patience in the life of a Christian. Here's what she wrote:

There is a necessity for the Christian adding patience to temperance. There will need to be a firm principle and fixedness of purpose not to offend in word or action either our own conscience or the feelings of others. There must be a rising above the customs of the world in order to bear reproach, disappointment, losses and crosses without one murmur, but with uncomplaining dignity....A petulant, ill-natured  man or woman really knows not what it is to be happy. Every cup which he puts to his lips seems to be bitter as wormwood and his path seems strewn with rough stones, with briars and thorns; but he must add to temperance patience and he will not see or feel slights.

There's nothing wrong with this paragraph except for one thing; people reading this will get the impression that they have to do this of their own strength. People will either get discouraged or go right on a head, missing the point.

And the point is, only in Christ can we accomplish anything of this magnitude. I'll be honest, we live in a society where patience is an unknown word. And more importantly having a relationship with Christ first and foremost will cause a person to naturally seek out the importance of patience and temperance in representing Christ. It's the whole buggy before the horse idea here that I am greatly uncomfortable with. People don't realize that all desired character change happens during that relationship with Christ, it doesn't happen before.

One of the best moments in life is when you connect with a person spiritually. Everything jives. You and that person arise to the moment to share heart-felt moments, speak soul to soul, and all of this is often on the first encounter. Finding a soul relative is one of the greatest aspects of the walk with Jesus. It's just -- beautiful!

Christ feels as I feel. In my happiness or sadness, He feels as I feel. In my disappointment and pain, He feels as I feel.

And I am called to hope. I am called to hope in the day when I will see Him and walk with Him and discuss with Him (even though He knows) every tear and smile that led me to Him.

I am called to hope, because of Him. And I hope, knowing I may be disappointed. I hope because I am willing to accept that pain; knowing I wasn't created for it but because of sin I have to live through it.

Now that I know, I am willing to hope in friendships and relationships that may stay or go another way. I am willing to hope, because He hoped in His pursuit of the people around Him, that they would turn and follow Him; turn, listen and believe; turn and fall in-love with Love. And He was scarred with disappointment, but He still hoped, pursued and loved them.

So I hope, knowing that I hope with Him, knowing He will fulfill this hope.

I am called to be obedient not only because He knows what is best but also because it creates a consistency that allows the relationship to grow, strengthen and prosper. Every "traditional" word that I grew up with is important but I want to resist because of the connotation the word use to bring. However, it is about reflecting on those words and truly studying them in the light of my own relationship with God along with references to the Bible. Intriguing...

a sacred intimacy

I spoke out
in the waking
hours as I tread
the path we
journey together

Cried from the recesses
of a troubled soul
not knowing how
or when but knowing
You will deliver

Profound thought:  I cannot love unless I let Him love me.

There are certain emotions I haven't felt in a long time. So long that when they appeared, I was surprised, taken aback, and thought, "I can still feel this way?" These feelings were a portal to my younger self, in the days when I thought those particular emotions were how I based my view on a slice of my world. Emotions, that took me by surprise and have got me thinking about how much I've grown in my walk with Him who has my heart.

But it was refreshing - it was like standing at a place near the open ocean, watching the sun slowly fall, and seconds later, watch it sink into the horizon while your breath is taken away by the magnificent array of colors blazing out before your eyes, all a while set within the frame of a passing breeze, the soft sound of water shifting against shore with the feeling of the sand against your skin - that's what it felt like.

And I embrace this entire emotional experience at this moment, in this time, and thank God that I remember that I can still feel this way and leave it at that. Something far Greater captivates me, and it will not last a moment, but an eternity.