Winter Pondering

Each winter day arrives with surprises, surprises to us, but not to the Lord. Layers of snow and ice, one following another, sometimes harsh wind brings the perception that it is colder than what it really is. Challenges. Colds and flue. Difficulty in getting to the places we think we need to go. We wake in the night to hear the furnace making strange noises only to discover that it is in need of repair. The parts will not be delivered for two or three days and it is supposed to be down to zero at least one night during that time. All these things are challenges through which we can choose to work through them as we trust in God's provision, or we can choose defeat before we even try to do our part in resolving the problem. Choosing to look at every challenge as an opportunity to reveal to the world if we consider our faith in the Lord to be real. If we find reward in seeing how faith can enable us to work through a difficulty, those around us will see the light of that faith being lived out through actions and words. Every situation that we consider a problem has a purpose. It is a stretching process to lead us beyond our own expectations when we lift our eyes to Him.  When our eyes are open to seeing God's provision and providence we will see Him working in our behalf. This confirmation of His promises leads us to be more satisfied in Him; in our satisfaction, God is most glorified. We respond to each day from the treasure stored in our hearts and discover that we have a measure of control, not of the circumstances, but of the way we choose to respond to both difficulties and to His gifts we consider blessings. When our response is right minded both good things and hard things will ultimately be treasured as blessings. Pearls of JOY resulting in peace and contentment. This poem contains ponderings from another day:

Jeweled Ornaments

The glory of God illumines my soul with eternal beauty.

Such glory is indescribable except through painting visual images inspired by the Holy Spirit in a manner to point us to God above.

Oh what a taste of heavenly delight to encounter beauty in unexpected surprises.

To awaken after dark and dreary days of cold and fog, I am blessed to experience brilliant rays of sunshine bursting forth to precede the actual rising of the sun.

The dawning of the day made a grand entrance without fanfare and ceremony, only the steady pace of God’s working out.

This wintry morning the effect is startling as thousands of glittering orbs of ice adorn the trees as with carefully placed ornaments.

It is not ice encrusted limbs, but separate drops of ice frozen in place that magnificently magnify the early morning light.

It seemed as if I heard God singing over me with joy as I found delight in what He created.

Simple contrasts transformed lovely familiar elements into a vision of opulent beauty

Those contrasts appear as intermittent points of light, scattered as the stars in the heavens, yet carefully placed according to God’s ordering.

Recognition of such beauty comes in moving forward with God into the brightness of His glory.

The same anticipation allows delightful recognition of His work in adorning the jeweled lining of my regenerated heart.

Knowledge of God transforms my heart to mirror the Biblical illustrations of Heaven.

Those jewels magnify the incoming light of each precious new experience with God.

The heart is a storehouse of treasure through which my soul sings a melody that would reach the highest heavens.

At times this melody is reflected back with the joy of the Lord, perhaps smiling as such joyful praise is inscribed in His scroll of remembrance.

The sparkling joy emanating from my heart is reflected in the eyes of sisters in Christ as the Holy Spirit in one delights in the recognition of the Spirit in another.

Perhaps God will use this joy to spark a desire in an unbeliever to find the source of such radiance.

From such glorious treasure flows Living Water as God works through what He has created to accomplish His purpose for each child.

Those points of light might begin as tiny gifts, wrapped in elegant foil and tied with beautiful ribbons.

Gifts, which in the unwrapping, reveal precious truths tucked away in layers of silver and gold tissue.

These gifts shine with much light, and that overflowing brilliance escapes the confines of the box before the lid is fully lifted.

Truths wrapped in holiness, layered for majestic presentation from the Holy Spirit to keep each truth pure and unspoiled, are brought to mind in His perfect timing.

Treasured gifts from God include the gift of grace to anoint one so unworthy; they include the gift of knowledge and wisdom to fill desires of a heart enabled to respond to the outstretched hand of God.

The gifts are layered carefully, interleaved with glittering encouraging hope.

They are protected in this new heart and gently uncovered upon God’s purposeful leading.

Sometimes, upon hearing the same truth revealed in new light, it is as if the Holy Spirit Himself unfolds the glittering tissue that preserves a particular point of light, in effect, restoring it to new brilliance as the eyes of the heart are given vision of new understanding.

For those remembrances of experiences through God’s working out are recognized with tender, sometimes bittersweet, always comforting precious delight.

Moments such as these are as a new tasting of the goodness of the Lord that so transformed me the first time a particular revelation of the person of God was made known to me.

These treasures enfolded with love in my heart are real to my understanding and recollection.

Treasure becomes interwoven with my personality through the gifting of the Father of heavenly lights.

In like manner, heavenly treasure is brought to mind in a personal way for the glory of God much as standing stone moments in the wilderness proclaim special communion with God, and I am blessed.

When these moments are brought forth, and they are carefully hung as precious glassy ornaments on my own tree of life, there is thanksgiving.

When I gently pick up one of these jeweled memories and allow that joy to shine through to others, many are blessed and God is magnified in the light of His own creation.

His beloved children reflect the light of His glory as jewels brighten a dark world.

At times, my perception of being blessed through God’s loving kindness is marred for a moment when my mistakes are mirrored back and I ponder their reflection.

It is startling to see myself as a stranger, to recognize the many facets of imperfection that must be cut away and polished to allow God’s glory to shine more brightly through my life.

It is disappointing, even painful, to see my own shortcomings and sins.

It is humbling to be challenged by this new witness of the cost the Lord paid to enable me to grow into a right relationship with God; through tearful repentance I am forgiven.

It is humbling to see in those reflections the refining work of the Lord as He slowly reveals His beauty being made manifest in the children of God.

Pure truth surfaces again and again to touch my heart with tender reminders.

It is as if the Holy Spirit Himself gently pulls aside a sheet of golden tissue to reveal that same truth tucked away in my heart.

That same truth, pure and sweet, spoken through God’s ordaining years before, was spoken to a heart He had filled with hunger and desire to hear that truth.

With this truth spoken with such authority, given such compulsion to respond with heart, soul and mind, truth that would allow me to begin to know the person of Christ in all His radiant fullness, the glory of the Lord shown all around me and through me as my soul rejoiced in the joy of the Lord.

These treasures, though preserved as individual truths, wrapped as singular gifts, actually lend their savory goodness to permeate the whole, much as adding pure spices to a fine simmering pot of soup.

Yet, each truth, just as each exotic spice, is discernable to one who has also tasted that goodness.

All that emanates from this rich storehouse bears witness to the maturing perfection of the whole.

In its fragrance, one realizes the unmistakable glorious presence of the creator.

It is the AMEN to man’s quest to assuage his hunger with real eternal satisfaction.

Each small treasure of truth lends light to illuminate understanding of the King of Glory.

As God gifts His children, a variety of His communicable attributes glow from within His children to deepen understanding and prepare that child to take others by the hand to show them Jesus.

IMP 2/20/08