Day 1
You might think I’m not missing you or even thinking about you much—but I am. I always do when you go away. It’s like removing one of the bulbs from a strip of lights—it still works, but there’s a vital part of it that’s very obviously missing, and it’s just not whole. In fact, it’s awfully dim in the room! I need you—you’re my brightest bulb!
Below are some verses that have recalled you to my mind when I pray for you these last couple of weeks. I first wrote them to you about ten years ago, but they always come to mind whenever an injustice happens to you.
Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we're proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, "Light up the darkness!" and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.
If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us. As it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus' sake, which makes Jesus' life all the more evident in us. h
~2 Cor. 4:6-10 (The Message)
I hope the food is good, your bed comfortable, your sleep restful, the company decent, the messages relevant and personal, and mostly that you have a truly wonderful time of relationship with Jesus. May He bless you profoundly in your deeps. i
I love you and miss you,
Day 2
I’m praying for you. Although I have no idea what you’ve seen, heard, or been part of, but I know the One who does, and I hold you up, asking Him to give exactly what it is that you need. Maybe it’s reassurance that Jylle and I are all right since something always goes wrong as soon as you leave. Maybe it’s contentment in spite of you having to miss the Gonzaga game. (Gee, thanks for reminding me! ) Or maybe you’re uncomfortable and still unsure of why you’re spending your time doing this. Whatever it is, I’m asking the Lord on your behalf for His own peace that comes from His felt presence. May His nearness provide soul-deep peace and intense satisfaction in the center of your being.
In writing these notes, I spent time in prayer, asking for His Word that might mean something to you. I can’t help but think that even if they don’t right now, right there where you are, then maybe they were for me, that I might pray better for you and see you with His eyes through these Scriptures. Here is the portion for today:
For I always pray to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, of insight into mysteries and secrets in the deep and intimate knowledge of Him, by having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints, His set-apart ones, and so that you can know and understand what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe. ~Eph. 1:17-19 (Amplified)
I’ve been praying that the Lord will guard over your emotions. He gave them to you, and He knows best what they’re for and when they’re appropriate, so I hope you are all right with whatever happens there.
Love you, miss you, praying for you,
My wonderful Kevvie,
‘Sup?!!
By now you will have survived practically the whole weekend! Good job! Wish I could’ve been there to help you if you needed me, but I guess that’s not how it works, eh? We’ve come to be a real team after all these years, and it’s just the normal posture of our two hearts to be ever-reaching out one to the other.
We’re doing it, Love, living out the vows and hopes and dreams and plans back when we were so young and in love and wanting all the life we could chase down. It’s because of you—and of course our most wonderful Heavenly Father, which goes without saying but still must be said—that we are so mightily blessed. Your hard work, perseverance, intelligence, integrity, willingness, and for me personally, your Christlikeness, have been tools in the hands of the Carpenter to mold our lives and entwine them with His. The outcome is more wonderful and beautiful than I could ever deserve, and you are forever my hero. That you have loved me these years with patience, tenderness, and loving-kindness is a testimony to the fact of His life being lived out in and through you, which blesses and embraces me in the process. I am truly incredibly blessed to be your wife.
“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind , both its inclination and its character, is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. So trust in the Lord, commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock, the Rock of Ages.” ~Isaiah 26:3-4
Set your minds and keep them set on what is above, the higher things, not on the things that are on earth. For as far as this world is concerned, you have died, and our new, real life is hidden with Christ in God.
And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule, act as umpire continually in your hearts, deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in our minds, in that peaceful state to which as members of Christ's one body you were also called to live. And be thankful, appreciative, giving praise to God always. ~Col. 3:2-3, 15
You’ll be home soon. Can’t wait to see you. Love you to da moon & back!
Stumble It!
No comments:
Post a Comment