Sunday, March 05, 2006
Drawing Near
By Ramone - March 3, 2006
"When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads,
because your redemption is drawing near."
- Luke 21:28
This is a picture I saw the other night while Yoko was taking care of my feet (they needed some work, so she fixed 'em and then lovingly gave me this nice foot massage!) ...it was while I was relaxing that I saw this picture & drew it soon afterwards when I got home.
I thought of different meanings (like Job & the storm), but the basic impression was the verse that I put above. It's the same as this picture which I had almost three years ago. Except I think now the message is also saying "SOON!" I think He's saying that these things (dark things in the world) are beginning to happen more and more and it will become harder to count them, like the clouds, and that the time is coming for us to stand in the middle of this and lift up our heads because He is coming.
"Stand and do not be afraid. By faith you stand firm."
When Yoko saw it she felt like he (the person in the picture) was asking something of God, and that God had it for him and was going to give it to him and he was going to receive it. If what we've been asking for is Him, His return, then indeed He is saying, "YES, SOON!" We see all the terrible and tragic things in the world and we mourn with those who mourn, but we know that God turns every cross into a resurrection, and the Resurrection Himself is coming soon! Soon it will all be over and eternity will have truly begun.
The first few verses of Isaiah 60 seem to fit well, although it wasn't the impression I got when I saw it, though it's certainly true:
"Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and His glory appears over you."
What does it mean to stand up and shine? I think it's first good to know what it means that "the glory of the Lord rises upon you".
All I can say is that I can stand simply because He loves me, because He has lifted me out of my darkness, and in sight of the world's darkness I know there is hope because He lifted me out of mine. There is no dark too dark for Him, and He can and will bring redemption right through the worst time to ever come on the earth. His glory in my life hasn't been in great wonders or miracles (although hey, I can't rule that out!). Instead it's been His awesome love and forgiveness, even for me a sinner more deep than any of you know! He sees me in all the darkness only I can see, and He sees light!
Stand in that! Stand humbly in that undeserved and unconditional and heart-melting love of His for you, for me, for all of us! That is the glory of the Lord to me, and is greater than anything I can describe, that I'm His beloved.
Isn't it deep darkness to not know His agape love? Isn't that the true darkness in the world, the places and hearts that don't know His unconditional and tender love? Hasn't His light in our lives been His love which drives away all our darkness?
How do we shine that? Well, receive it!
And I was thinking maybe the timing of receiving the picture had something to do with it. My wife's job is taking care of peoples' feet, doing footcare and then afterwards giving a reflexology massage (her salon's name, "Chura" means "beautiful" in Okinawan). She works all day and doesn't have to take care of my feet in her off time, but she wanted to. She didn't have to give me the nice massage at the end either, but she wanted to and I just lay in the chair relaxing and absorbing her love! She puts some aromatic oil on your feet for the massage, too! It was while I was receiving her love this way that I saw this picture.
Aren't there several pictures we can see through her actions that tell us about "shining" the Lord's glory? Jesus came as a servant, and He took the lowest job and washed His disciples' unclean feet. Isn't He calling us to wash one another's feet? A sinful woman anointed Jesus with oil and wiped His feet with her hair and her tears. Isn't He showing that when we humbly love one another (washing each others' feet) we are in fact washing His feet just as that sinful woman did?
Yoko didn't have to do that for me, but she wanted to because she loves me so much (thank You, Yoko!). Jesus loves us, cleans us and cares for us (like Yoko's footcare). But He loves us so much more! Like the massage, He goes the extra mile to put us at peace and soothe our souls. And He delights to do that, not just because it's His job, but because He loves us. He wants to make us happy! Isn't He also calling us to love one another like He loves us? Not to do these things to one another "because it's our job", but to be filled with His heart and genuinely care for others and lavish on others unconditional love, undeserved, unmerited?
Shine! His loving light is upon you! Shine! Be filled with His love! Shine! Pour that humble and heart-melting love on everyone you meet! This is the day of darkness, and this love will shine in the night, just as His love has shone in our nights! His agape love will be the beacon of His glory in the day of darkness.
*****
See also: "Ready In Me" (at Heart For Adventists)
# posted by Ramone @ 6:54 PM 
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