(Source: hope-will-rise, via burningbrightlyforjesus)

how beautiful the feet bring
the sound of good news
and the love of a King.

loveismycommandment:

comeupfromthewilderness:

I want to write a post about love.
I want to write a post about what happens when we forget about love, when we forget what it is that we are fighting and turn on each other, the jabs with the tongue that tear down so quickly and silently because we forget that our lips can either carry poison or elixir, the anger that bubbles up to hide fear and offense, the barriers we have constructed to keep people away when it is not people we should be fighting at all.
“We do not war against flesh and blood” 
…but we do. We do it daily. We hold knives to the throats of our brothers and sisters and think only of how important it is that we make a point.
 We have turned all of life into a spiritual ascent where we can hold our self made god at a safe distance and not take the things He has said seriously enough to do anything other than visit a building twice a week and go through the daily ritual of repetitive prayers and not cussing…We think to ourselves, “I would believe more easily…truly believe…if only I could see His eyes” but we forget that the eyes of God are not only found in dreams and visions of heaven, but we stare into them daily. He stares back at us from behind the counter at Starbucks, in our schools, in our own homes. And sometimes, “the least of these” really means “the one you think the least of”. 
Christianity cannot be some beautiful airy thing we hold at a distance from our real lives. If we cannot see God in the people around us, do we truly know God? What is it that we are afraid of? The Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
And I admit it, I am guilty as the rest, because for so long, out of fear, I have dared not ask the questions, because I have seen friends kicked out of and alienated by churches and rejected by their families because they have humbled themselves enough to realize that they don’t have everything all figured out, they have become like little children in their willingness to seek God out, and in a world that ebbs and flows with fear, questions and belief are like cracks in a dam everyone has built their houses under. 
It’s time, church. It’s time we start being the church instead of just attending the church. If you have questions, start asking them. I guarantee you, God will not throw you out the way your pastor might. He will answer you. He will meet you with kindness and love and friendship like you have never known. He will meet you in power and reveal His secrets and His glory to you. You were created for it.
I am not writing this because I am angry at people. It’s time I stopped warring against flesh and blood. I am writing this because I have seen lies destroy peoples’ lives, because I know what fear can do to a human soul, because I believe we are all made for something great and I am tired of sitting around and following rules to make someone comfortable while what they believe is killing them. I need to shake off my pride and man-pleasing and actually begin believing the things my God tells me about myself and the people around me: that He loves us. That He died for us. That we died with Him. That He rose again. That we rose with Him. That humanity is saved if only they believe it.
I need to shake my disgusting offense at others for doing only what they have been told they need to do. I need to brush it off when angry words fall on my ears. I need to lean on Jesus because only He knows the secret to loving a person when they are crying out “Crucify Him!” and shoving nails into His hands. I need to find out who He really is, without the subtle manipulation and fear mongering of those who have never known Him but believe they have Him “figured out”. I am not angry at people. I am angry at a system that has risen out of doubt and fear and false perceptions of who we are.
I know the Truth. I have seen His fiery eyes in dreams; felt His touch. I have heard His voice. I have prayed for a woman and seen her stand up out of her wheel chair. She dances now. I have laid my hands on the back of a crippled man and seen him hand his cane to the man with us and stroll away with great joy. I have been set free of years of drug use, alcohol abuse, self harm, an eating disorder, mental agony and anger. My weeping has turned into joy. My shame has been shaped into assurance. My hands have been made strong. I’ve danced with Him. Heaven is coming to earth. And it’s time we all stand up and hasten His coming. We are the children of God creation is groaning for. He knows our names. Do we know His? It’s time to shout it into the darkness and watch as it flees. 

No words.

I have no words.

The Sons of God are rising from the grave.

“I have danced with Him.” ha. amen.