***Friends, I began this article several days ago. The news of the the devastating fires in California, storms in other parts of the U.S., and other life-altering events, hurt my heart! I pray for relief, assistance, resources, healing, and hope. ***
Snow, temperatures, and my energy fell. The morning light greeted me with new hope and joy-an epiphany. “God, thank you for another day.”
A friend and I were sharing the other night about the “busyness” in Christianity. We even giggled saying, “Hurry, look busy, Jesus is coming!” I spent many years in church, yet, was taught very little about a relationship with Jesus. Traditions, doctrine, and religiosity didn’t direct me when I felt lost. And when I failed. When I hit rock bottom, I MET JESUS. It’s not about denomination or determination of “status” due to doctrine. In a “pop” psychology world that shares, “I am enough!” I can proudly say, without shame, that “I’m nothing without GOD.“
Intentional. Deliberate. Purposeful. Why are we all…here?
…”They talk as if the west wind could really sweep into a human soul; but it can’t. They tell us the ‘beauty born of murmuring sound’ will pass into a human face; but it won’t. Or not yet. For if we take the imagery of Scripture seriously, if we believe that God will one day give us the Morning Star and cause us to put on the splendour of the sun, then we may surmise that both the ancient myths and the modern poetry, so false as history, may be very near the truth as prophecy. At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.”
C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (1942)
There’s nothing like the light filtering in through the trees on the trail. Often I’ve wondered about meeting other believers in nature. I wonder why we all feel more comfortable HERE? Ah, to be reunited with beauty–the return to Eden.
Faith, nature, and creation. My love for our Creator and nature came natural. How did my faith grow? How does one come to believe? If you’ve read or seen Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Christ”, his name rings a bell. Lee was an atheist and had a career as a legal editor for the Chicago Tribune. When his wife found “faith”, he was determined to poke holes in her belief. He studied at Yale and was used to investigating. Surely, he’d collapse her faith with evidence. Their conversation was captivating (and LONG–I watched it in sessions).
“But real Christianity is considerably different, and those who know it think in totally different ways. They despise all those shadows of Christianity and false imitations of it. They know by experience that true Christianity is a union of the soul with God. It is a real impartation of the divine nature. It is the image of God sketched on the soul. In the words of the apostle, “it is Christ formed within us. In its most complete, precise, and brief definition, it is a divine life in us.”
Henry Scougal
Are your plans based on purpose? Or are you living hour to hour, day to day based solely on circumstance? Christ-in-me gives my plans a whole new purpose!
The media shares about resolutions, styles, and events–another Super Bowl will be held and a President sworn in–gatherings, new wrinkles, and aging skin. I’ll throw on my old flannel and try to hike when I can.
Cling to Christ and love others-my purposeful plan.
My epiphany? The evidence surrounds me.
Have faith💚
More from Flannel with Faith
Thank you for taking a leap of faith to follow me!
