Powerful.

Last night I found myself standing in church beside one of the biggest legends I have ever known in my life, Pastor Ben Windle. He leaned over to me during worship and he said,

"Hey Amy, how's it going?"

and I smiled and said,

"I'm good thanks - you?"

He just looked me in the face and blinked... thought...and said...

"Powerful".

I looked at him, one eyebrow raised, he looked back at me

and we laughed...

"Powerful?"

Then he admitted, "Yeah, I've got nothing... sorry...".

This seemingly meaningless interaction got me thinking...

When was the last time I felt "powerful"?

When was the last time I even remembered how powerful my God is?

What is power and why is it necessary?

It seems, Mr Windle, you indeed had more than nothing.

HEBREWS 4:12-16

"For the word of God is FULL of living POWER. It is sharper than any two-edged SWORD, sharper than the sharpest knife - cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are. Nothing in all of creation can hide from Him. Everything is naked and exposed before His eyes. This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done.

That is why we have a great high priest who has gone to heaven- Jesus the Son of God. Let us cling to Him and never stop trusting Him.

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet He did not sin.

So let us come BOLDLY to the throne of our gracious God.

There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it."

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Powerful stuff. The "Word of God" is "God's Word".

Thank you Captain Obvious.

But think about it. (Selah)

When somebody gives you their word, it means they promise you something. You are free to believe what they have to say is true. With people, you can never really be sure that means anything amazing... but here is God, giving you his word... a word that also states that He is not a man, he can not lie. God's word is powerful, sharp and able to cut into your innermost thoughts and desires.

This makes me think... God knows that our innermost desires are quite often pretty crap in comparison to what He would desire. And then again, God knows we are human. In Philippians it says that God gave up his status in Heaven to come into this world as a human being, to know what its like and to die for us. Jesus could have been incarnated as a man straight away - yet God chose to make him enter the world as a baby and God wanted him to experience growing up. Jesus could have been put on this Earth the same day he died for it. But He wasn't. He grew up amongst the people, he did human things, he proved his humanity YET didn't give into temptation.

When was the last time you said,

"But, God, you just don't understand how hard this is for me to say "no" to...."

...or...

"God, this is really hard for me. You don't know what it feels like to be tempted"

Hmmm. Give it a second thought, and those sentiments no longer have a leg to stand on. Jesus is, in fact, the only person in the entire history of the world to truly understand what temptation is. I read in Rob Bell's book, Sex God, that in order to truly understand temptation you need to know what saying "no" feels like.

In your "NO", there is power.

In your "NO" you'll begin to see God's "YES" to other things.

The word of God exposes us for what we really are. We are naked before God. We are nude before the one, the only one, that we are going to have to explain everything we have ever done to. Of course he knows it already. It is a scary thought, to think that we must stand before this awesome POWER and admit to our biggest failures. Terrifying, actually. Our fate depends on this lifeline. What would happen if you stood before God and realised that you didn't actually meet the mark?

Then it says... "COME BOLDLY".

What?! Face up to everything you've ever done wrong and come BOLDLY? That would take a lot of guts.

While I respect that God is POWER, while I understand that we should have a healthy dose of fear when it comes to God, I know that if God wanted to... he could smite this planet with just one breath, like he created it.... he could (if he wanted to), make me turn into a pillar of salt, just like he did to Lot's wife in the Bible... he could take away everything from me, like he did to Job... while I know His power can do all of this... the next verse shows what I believe His word tells us he will do.

"So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will recieve his mercy, and we will find the grace to help us when we need it".

His grace is sufficient. In fact, His grace is more than we need.

As God's daughter, his servant and His friend; I want to live my life in a way where I want to do my best for Him, not because I should but because I want to. I want to live in a way that isnt scared I will miss out on a ticket to Heaven, but in a way that acknowledges my failures on a regular basis, apologises for them and chooses to believe that we serve the God of the second chance.

His love is powerful. In Him I have the same power that rose Christ frm the dead.

Dandelions.

"Lord, search my heart,create in me something clean. Dandelions... You see flowers in these weeds."

Sometimes I wonder why God would make people when he knew full well that they would not always live in a way that would make Him happy. Sometimes we fail fairly obviously, other times the "raw materials" of experiences within us could hardly point to us making anything but a bad choice. Sometimes its easier to ignore Him than to face up to our real problems. But pushing God away or not, He is still there.

Today, a reality slapped me in the face.

His love is boundless. It knows no beginning and no end. It knows no conditions. And actually... His grace is more than enough. Wow.

So many times I forget "grace", this undeserved gift that God has given... through ridiculously generous and sacrificial measures, so that essentially, I can make wrong choices and still be exonerated somehow. The very thought is consuming. God made a 'way' for me. At my worst, God shows His best. In my weakness He is still my strength. His love for me doesn't waver with my actions. He is a Father - a good, present, strong father. A father like that would see His child, even at their worst, as the most incredible thing to walk the face of the Earth. He would see this little person as someone who has changed his world for the better, and however much hard work this kid has created for him, however many times the child has disobeyed him... each time has been forgiven before it has even happened. The father is concerned with the child's motive, well before he is concerned about the child's actions. This father sees what the kid was trying to achieve, he doesn't focus on the mistake. He wants a process not a product.

Five Iron Frenzy was one of my favourite bands back in the early 2000's, and today I re-discovered a song called 'Dandelions', which completely describes how amazing our God is. Here are the lyrics. This is how I choose to start my new blog.

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In a field of yellow flowers, underneath the sun,

bluest eyes that spark with lightning, boy with shoes undone.

He is young, so full of hope, reveling in tiny dreams,

filling up his arms with flowers, right for giving any queen.

Running to her beaming bright, while cradling his prize.

A flickering of yellow light, within his mother's eyes.

She holds them to her heart,

keeping them where they'll be safe,

clasped within her very marrow, dandelions in a vase.

She sees love, where anyone else would see weeds.

All hope is found.Here is everything he needs.

Fathomless Your endless mercy,weight I could not lift.

Where do I fit in this puzzle,what good are these gifts?

Not a martyr, or a saint, scarcely can I struggle through.

All that I have ever wanted,was to give my best to You.

Lord, search my heart,create in me something clean.

Dandelions You see flowers in these weeds.

Gently lifting hands to heaven,

softened by the sweetest hush,

a Father sings over his children,

loving them so very much.

More than words could warrant, deeper than the darkest blue,

more than sacrifice could merit,Lord, I give my heart to You.

Lord, search my heart,create in me something clean.

Dandelions You see flowers in these weeds.

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