One Art

The art of losing isn't hard to master;

so many things seem filled with intent

to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster

of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.

The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:

places, and names, and where it was you meant

to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,

some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.

I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture

I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident

the art of losing's not too hard to master

though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

Cherish My Words

For You will light my lamp;

The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness

Psalm 18:28

O My children, obey My words. Do not wander in unbelief and darkness, but let the Scripture shine as a light upon your path. My Word shall be life to you, for My commandments are given for your health and preservation. They will guard you from folly and guide you away from danger.

Hide My commandments in your heart, and make them the law of your life. Cherish My words, and take not lightly the least of them. I have not given them to bind you, but to bring you into the life of greatest joy and truest liberty.

I have asked you to give, in order that I may bless you more. I have challenged you to pray, so that I may respond and help you. I have asked you to rejoice, in order to keep you from being swallowed up by anxieties. I have asked you to be humble, to protect you from the calamities that fall upon the proud. I have asked you to forgive, in order to make your heart fit to receive My forgiveness. I have asked you not to love the world, for I would have you released from unnecessary entanglements, free to follow Me.

Sanctification is accomplished in no one by accident. Learn My rules and put them into practice consistently, if you desire to see progress in the growth of your soul. Holiness is not a feeling--it is the end product of obedience. Purity is not a gift--it is the result of repentance and serious pursuit of God.

From Come Away my Beloved by Frances J. Roberts

You Are My Stronghold by Watermark expresses the principle of Sacred Fortification. When we abide in Christ, He offers us protection and supernatural strength from all that would try to thwart His purposes in our life. We are not to live a fearful, worried existence – but one that has a constant childlike trust in the King of all kings. I’ve found this song to be a refreshing reminder that fear has no place in the life of one who abides under the shadow of the Almighty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLvXWBUphWo

ReFOCUS

“Tell me in the light of the Cross, isn’t it a scandal that you and I live today as we do?”

- Alan Redpath

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.

(I John 2:15-16 NKJV)

“We must look upon the world, with all its delights and all its attractions, with suspicion and reserve. We who love our Lord and whose affections are set on Heavenly things voluntarily and gladly lay aside the things that charm and ravish the world, that our hearts may be ravished with the things of Heaven; that our whole being may be poured forth in constant and unreserved devotion in the service of the Lord who died to save us.”

- Amy Carmichael

Friends: Here is the challenge. Look at your life and ask yourself if this is where God wants you to be. I’m not asking you if where you are makes the most sense, or is the best for your future. I’m asking you: What purpose did God design you for and are you fulfilling it.

It’s a question that none of us can know for sure but that all of us should be asking. You see, our walk with the Lord is going to cost everything. I doesn’t mean all our money or all our time or all of our attention . . . I mean everything. It will cost us our pride, our comfort, our emotions, our security, our loved ones, our plans.

In order to be filled with Christ we have to first let go of everything that is closest to our hearts. We have to be willing to give up the dreams, the plans, and the people that make us who we are so that Christ can be our sole identity. This is going to hurt. Emptying your heart of “you” so that Christ can move in will feel devastating and terrifying. It’s no small thing to decide to quit college because of a call, it’s no small thing to move away from the person closest to your heart. But we have hope that our Father who is the embodiment and creator of love knows our hearts and will take care of them and give them joy beyond what we can imagine if we choose to love him and let him be our fill.

My new friend Katie (OK, so I just read her blog), was called to move to Uganda right after college. Sit down with a cup of coffee and a tissue. It’s an incredible story:

She was eighteen years old and she had never been in love with anyone she could touch before. I mean, she had been in love with Jesus since she was little, but this was different, touchable love.
In her eyes he was perfect. He loved the Lord, not to mention he was pretty darn cute. He went to church with her and joined her on silly errands and at family dinners. He made her giggle by saying things that only she found funny. He made her heart flutter when he swept that one always-stray piece of hair out of her eyes.

They were the “perfect couple.” They were desperately in love; one lit up as the other entered the room. They could see their beautiful future together. After high school, they would go together to college, get married, work a bit, settle down and have children with his eyes and her big smile. They would grow old together, laughing at secrets and kissing each other goodnight.

And then God asked her to move to Uganda. At first it was just going to be a year. They could do a year. She would come back and they could still go to college together and all their dreams would still come true. When the Lord asked her to adopt her first children, it became a bit more complicated. She rationalized that her youngest was 7, so in 11 years, she could move back home and be with him. But her children kept getting younger and His call kept getting stronger. She would go back in 13 years, in 17 years, in 20 years. Finally she came to terms with the fact that God was just asking her to STAY. And that when He said He wanted ALL of her, He meant all. She would live in Uganda. But she held on to her love because remaining comfortable was so much easier than dealing with the hurt and the emptiness would be.

Her eyes were opened and her life was changed. She couldn’t pretend to be the same person. She couldn’t sit still in his would anymore, it made her head spin and her heart ache. And still she held on because she didn’t love him any less. She knew God could move mountains and she prayed He could change his heart. After all, such a love must have been God orchestrated.
He made her feel beautiful as she walked through life as a single mom covered in dust and spit up. He appreciated her even when everyone else forgot to say thank you. He believed in her when the rest of the world said raising eighty thousand dollars or adopting ten children was silly. Even from the other side of the world, he cheered her on and he picked her up when she just didn’t feel strong enough. His voice on the other end of the phone turned a rough day right around.

They were moving in opposite directions. They both new it, but they both refused to let go.
So she asked God for a very specific sign. For something that she thought very unlikely if not absolutely impossible. And then something devastating happened. God gave her the sign that she asked for. So she kissed him goodbye and drove away and cried so hard that she doubted she would ever breathe again. She tried not to wonder if anyone would ever love her like that again or how she would do this all alone.

And that’s when He reminded her that she wasn’t. That HE would make her feel beautiful as a single mom covered in dust and spit up. That He appreciated her even when everyone else forgot to say thank you. That He believed in her when the rest of the world thought everything she did was crazy. That He would cheer her on and pick her up when she just didn’t feel strong enough. That His voice whispering in her ear would turn those rough days right around. That He would ALWAYS be faithful. That His love would be unconditional. That He, her ONE TRUE LOVE would never leave or forsake her and would give her heart’s desires. That He would make all things new, ever her shattered heart.

For more of Katie's stories and blogs, go to http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/.

What grace is mine, that He who dwells in endless light

Called through the night to find my distant soul

And from His scars, poured mercy that would plead for me

That I might live, and in His name be known

So I will go wherever He is calling me

I lose my life to find my life in Him

I give my all to gain the hope that never dies

I bow my heart, take up my cross, and follow Him

What grace is mine, to know His breath alive in me

Beneath His wings my wakened soul may soar

All fear can flee, for death’s dark night is overcome

My Savior lives, and reigns forevermore

Turning Outward (The Secret to Real Joy)

“Learning to be “others-centered” is a massive cure for any type of ailment...love-sickness, single-sickness, depression or anything else. For it is when we take our eyes off our own inadequacies and losses that we are truly able to be used for others. And as we are used to help others, our pain slowly goes away. (You can’t focus on two things at once!!)”

One of the great tragedies of American Christian young women is our total preoccupation with self. In the book Set Apart Femininity Leslie Ludy wrote about the dangers of the popular self-esteem message for women, which teaches that our own heart is good, and encourages us to live to our true self and inhabit our own beauty. Not only is this a non-Biblical concept (we have no true eternal beauty outside of the beauty of Jesus Christ, and we only bring Him glory by dying to self, not living to it) but the real danger is that it keeps us consumed with me, me, me while the rest of the world is sick and oppressed and dying and impoverished. We in America are wealthy and comfortable beyond what most people in the world can even imagine. In the single season of life, we are freer than we’ll ever be to give our lives to those in need and become Christ’s advocates for the least around the world.

But we don’t use our advantage for that cause. Instead we sit around complaining about petty concerns and evaluating our own emotions. We attend retreats that are all about how we can feel better about ourselves and live more fulfilled lives. We read books about how we can somehow find the right guy. We spend hours online frittering our time away in endless social networks. We waste countless hours at the mall, snatching up the latest trends and trying to become more appealing to the opposite sex. We live a life completely focused on self. Meanwhile, children are starving, women are being prostituted, and countless families around the world are ripped apart by disease and poverty.

God has not called us to build our lives around the pursuit of our own selfish desires, but to be poured-out sacrifices for His kingdom.

In your single years, more than ever, you have the ability to give your life for them; to pour out your time, your energy, your love, and your resources to those that have God’s special favor . . . the poor. Are you using this gift for the benefit of those in need, or are you squandering it on yourself?

Remember the evil city of Sodom in the Old Testament? The one that was destroyed by God’s fury with fire and brimstone? Few of us are aware that God was angry for something beyond just immorality. As it says in Ezekiel:

This was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. (Ezekiel 16:49)

I don’t know about you, but to me that description couldn’t fit American Christianity any better. We are proud, focused on self, consumed with our wealth and comforts, we live in an abundance of idleness and shallow pleasure, and we are indifferent to the plight of the needy around the world. And once you see the end of Sodom, it makes you a bit uncomfortable to realize that America is on the very same path.

So I challenge you today to evaluate the direction of your life, remembering that it is not your own, and that it has been bought with a price with the very blood of Christ.

If you have read the book Set Apart Femininity, you might remember the chapter about the Sacred Claim that God has upon the life of every young women who yields her existence to Him. Here is how it is explained it in that book:

When we partake of holy communion, we are not just remembering what Christ did for us. We are stating to our Master that through this covenant, our body and blood are His to spend as He chooses. His body and blood for us, Our body and blood for Him.

Paul says, ‘do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?’ (I Cor. 6:15 NKJV)

We are the Body of Christ. We are His hands and feet. What do Christ’s hands and feet do? They bind wounds. They offer forgiveness. They set captives free.

They heal the sick. They minister to children. They seek out the sinner. They drive out evil from the temple of God. They walk the road to Calvary. And they are pierced through that we might be saved.

If you have chosen the set-apart path of a woman who fears the Lord, your life is not your own. The Spirit of Christ has a claim upon you. You have a call upon your life; you have a job to do. He has called you to minister His love to those in need. This sacred claim is the highest privilege we could ever receive. We can never repay what Christ did for us on the Cross. But because He has made us His hands and feet to this world, we have the incredible opportunity to give to others the very same astounding, transforming love that He gave to us.

So how do we respond to such a high calling? My first challenge to you is to dedicate your singles years (and all the years beyond, but it starts with where you are at today) to be poured out for the glory of Christ. Are you willing to lay all your own pursuits upon the altar and allow Him to make your body a living sacrifice? This is not a decision to take lightly. This is not just something that should be theoretical in your life. This decision will very likely require a radical shift in direction; a painful letting go of comforts and dreams. And it may very well mean that you must forgo your constant striving to find an earthly prince in exchange for a more “hidden” life of sacrificial service to Christ. It may mean becoming far less “available” for guys to notice you, and far more available for Jesus Christ’s purposes. This commitment may call you to a remote village in Africa, or an orphanage in Haiti, or an inner-city slum. God’s sacred claim may ask you to pour your life out for one special-needs child, or give your life to rescue hundreds of enslaved child prostitutes

God’s word says, “To whom much is given, much will be required.” We are the ones to whom much has been given. Modern advertising and pop-culture constantly tries to imply that we aren’t “there yet” – that we need to keep acquiring more and more material wealth. As a result, most of us don’t realize how much we truly have in comparison to the rest of the world. Even those of us that are not considered wealthy by America’s standard are among the wealthiest people that have ever existed in all of history.

A lot of us subconsciously say, “If I ever saw a person in need of food or clothing, of course I would help them!” But for those of us who live in middle-class suburban America, those opportunities don’t come along very often. And it’s all too easy to simply forget about the need that is out there because we are too preoccupied living our own lives and taking care of our own needs.

If you have struggled with discontentment in your singleness, one of the best solutions outside of cultivating daily intimacy with Jesus Christ is to forget about yourself and focus instead on serving and loving people in need. It’s somewhat counter-intuitive, but it works! Putting others’ needs above your own doesn’t lead to disappointment and misery, but to unmatched joy and fulfillment.