The Year of the Lord's Favor

I have recently restructured this blog somewhat.  The inspiration to do so came from various places.  The title was inspired by the Newsboy's song Secret Kingdom.  I love the part of the song that goes, "This here still wakes the dead, still gets God's people Spirit-lead..." because that's what it's all about.  It is about allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us, and allowing God to use us to impact this world for His Kingdom.  And when we do that, the dead are awakened, the sleepers rise, the broken are healed.
I have also been thinking a lot lately about what God has been doing in my life, and about what the Kingdom of Heaven is like-- the principles it is built upon-- about Jesus, the "author and perfecter of our faith."
This passage was brought to my attention this morning, and I was struck by it in a new way:
"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."  -Isaiah 61:1-3
In the gospels, Jesus was asked to read and speak, and He read this passage, and then He told his listeners that "Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
I love how the passage talks about preaching to the poor, binding up the brokenhearted, etc., but it doesn't stop there.  This is what really stood out to me this morning: Jesus didn't just come to comfort, He came to "bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, and the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."  The image that came to my head after reading that was of people who had bandages and were lame and blind and sad and broken, and their bandages fell off and their crutches were thrown away and they sprang up and started dancing and laughing and weeping for joy.
That's what the Kingdom of Heaven is about-- it's about not only reaching out to and comforting the hurting and the broken and the poor, but it's about restoring joy and gladness to them.  The Kingdom of Heaven is full of a whole lot of broken people who have been restored by the grace of an incredible Savior, a merciful and loving God.  It is about people who are being lead by God's Holy Spirit to reach out to those around them and bring the same comfort and joy that they themselves have received.
Do you see why I get so excited when I see glimpses of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth?  When I get glimpses of these very things happening?  It's incredible.

Dreams

God has been doing so much in my life lately, it has been amazing to experience.  He has been igniting and re-igniting passions and dreams in my life, things both personal and things that are all about the Kingdom.  These include reaching out to and mentoring youth; working on my book (I truly feel like God has given me this storyline, and I am so excited to share the finished product); baseball (through an opportunity to do some writing for this website); music, and American Sign Language.

But with that, God has been getting me out of my comfort zone a lot, putting me in places where I feel weak, which is never an easy process.  It has caused me to to depend ever increasingly in faith and trust in Him; it has driven me to my knees in prayer.  I do not believe God made any mistake putting me in places where I am weak and have little strength, because when I am weak, He is strong.  So the amazing part of this journey has been the strengthening of my faith, and seeing God's hand at work.  He has been so faithful!
I do believe His hand is in everything I mentioned above-- even baseball.  This is an opportunity for me to develop my skills as a writer while writing about something I love.  In an odd way I feel like God delights in the enjoyment I get out of it, because He loves to bless His children.  It is a distraction and a bright spot in the midst of some of the tougher (though still rewarding) things I've been doing lately.
Growing closer to God, and doing Kingdom work, and seeing what He is doing, it's an adrenaline rush like nothing I've ever experienced before.  But at the end of the day all of this leads to one thing: of all these dreams and passions that have been awakened in my heart, the greatest is for Him, and doing His work.  Ultimately that's what makes it rewarding-- seeing His hand at work, being used by Him, catching glimpses of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.  I would not want to do any of these things if I did not feel He had put them on my heart.  Knowing Him gives my life meaning and eternal purpose.  That's what makes these dreams so exciting, because I believe He did put them there, and He is going to use them.  It brings me so much joy.  

Picture of the Week

"Have you ever looked into the heart of a flower?"