3-17-11
“Come to me for understanding, since I know you far better than you now
yourself. I comprehend you in all your complexity: no detail of your life is
hidden from Me. I view you through eyes of grace so don’t be afraid of My
intimate awareness…..when no one else seems to understand you, simply draw
closer to Me. Rejoice in the One who understands you completely and loves you
perfectly. As I fill you with My Love, you become a reservoir of love,
overflowing into the lives of other people.�
Excerpt from Jesus Calling buy Sarah Young
How blessed are we that we have an intimate God? One who knows us. One that loves us and wants a personal relationship with us. A God
who understands us completely, even more than we do ourselves. This is a truth
that has become more tangible in my life over the past few months and it stands out even more this month as I serve here in China.
Here in China that truth is unique.It isn’t known by all.
Most of the people in this city don’t know or believe in
Christ so they don’t know about this personal relationship. Instead, they live
captive in their rituals, offerings, and practices. Most of my friends here
have to “do� something in order to be accepted and blessed by their gods.
Yesterday I felt and saw this captivity when I went to a Doauist
temple. At the base you enter and are immediately
greeted with a temple/table to offer your incense, prayers, etc. As you hike up
the steps each landing has 2-4 more places to pray to the many gods. It
is a steep incline and you feel the air get thinner, but you keep hiking. I
felt the parallel to my friends here, as they hike and continue their journey
they keep striving, keep searching, always to be greeted by more temples, more
to be offered, more to be done.
As we climbed I sang, spoke Scripture, and prayed for
freedom. Freedom from the captivity, from the strongholds, and from the chains
that bind them. At the very top I stood on the banister that surrounded the final temple and read Scripture
aloud for 15 or 20 minutes.
I felt God’s heart.
I felt his fury for justice wanting his children to worship Him alone, not idols.
But I also
felt his heart breaking and weeping
for his children who are held in the captivity of these religions.
I cried and wept with the Lord feeling the rejection he
feels from his children here every day. They wake up blind to him, they pass by
him, they never utter his name or say hello. Yet he stands with his hand
outstretched with love, compassion, and grace in his eyes. He stands and waits.
He whispers their names. He send people, he sends angels, he sends dreams and
visions. He even sent himself years ago to show his love for them.
Will they see?
Will they hear?
Will they rejoice with the
one who knows them completely and loves them perfectly?
Or will they stay empty?
Will they keep searching?
These were the questions I asked as I sat with two douist men at
the temple. I smiled at one man speaking of God’s love thru my
eyes. He smiled with a cheerful giggle and gave me a thumbs up. He asked that we sing more because he
thought it was beautiful. He was attracted to Christ within us. God’s grace,
love, and favor overwhelmed me as I looked at these old men.
Men,
sons,
children that God delights in.
Children that God knows intimately.
But children
that don’t know Him.
Pray with me for this breakthrough. Pray for the freedom of
these people, for their eyes to be opened, for them to enter into the most
amazing, intimate relationship they will ever have.
