Redemption and Restoration

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Colorful Christianity

Isaac Newton discovered that light is actually a color spectrum.  When light reflects through a prism, those colors are revealed, as the light is broken down into the  seven primary colors that are found in a rainbow. An artist friend reminded me that there are really just three primary colors. But Newton thought otherwise. When you take those three main primary colors  and mix them together in different combinations, all the other visible colors are developed. Now you great scientific minds out there, I know this is a very simple version. 🙂 However, as I was working through some new revelation,  I needed a tangible way to help me understand it more clearly.  I’m not a very good auditory learner. It either has to be hands on, or visible with me. Bear with me as I use this illustration about the relation between light and color, to share the truth I’ve been contemplating.

 John 8:12 (AMP) Once more Jesus addressed the crowd. He said, I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light which is Life.

Jesus, the Light,  represents all seven colors found in a rainbow, as well as all the combinations of the three main primary colors mixed together. The number seven, in the Bible, symbolizes spiritual perfection, or completeness. He, in His perfection,  shines through the prism of our heart, creating color or life in our lives.  Without Christ there is darkness. In darkness, colors are not visible and everything appears gray or black.

We may exist, and even appear to flourish, but it is only through Jesus Christ that we truly live, in His beauty and rich color.

It is Autumn time in the mountains. When the sun shines on those ridges and slopes, all the brilliant colors of the season are illuminated. When the sun  goes down, we lose sight of the colors.

Fall in the mountains

Some visible color may be seen in our daily walk…we read our bibles, we talk about Him and share Him with others, we worship Him, we give, we serve, we act lovingly. But the practice of abiding in His presence, elevates who we are, and what we do, to a higher level. Without this unity with Him, the colors will seem harsh, pale or lacking in vibrancy. Who we are, and what we do, must be fully illuminated by Jesus.  Look at the rose pictured below. It has color, but there is something lacking….colors that reflect real life. The greens are vague, and the pink is too sharp. In fact, my eyes are strained if I look at this too long.

If we walk away from the Light of Jesus, our lives will appear like this rose with distorted colors.

Just as our fingers turn blue when we hold blueberries, we become colored with God’s grace, by abiding in contact with Him. The Lord works everything out as we rest in Him. It is in a humble state of waiting, being still, listening and obeying, that He does His greatest work in us. He provides the righteousness  that He requires in us, for His glory.  Seeking God involves a prayerful state of awareness of Him, and a faithful expectation of Him.

Maturing in Christ = Multi colors of Him, His Beauty

A dear friend, and mentor, recently took the time to teach me some much-needed lessons about Christian maturity, or using the illustration, allowing God to cause my life to become painted with His Life colors. He shared with me a tender reminder that it is God who works in and through us.  There is a battle within us to make “pressing on” a priority. After all, God’s word tells us to be persevering. This is true. But if we dwell in the state of pressing on, it is off-balance, just enough, for us to miss the bigger picture.  He wants us to dwell… in His presence.

Jesus, You are welcome into my minutes, days, weeks, months and years.

Living in His presence, daily, means waiting to see what He is doing and listening for His invitation to come take part. Sometimes  that work may just be Him, working in us, and sometimes He may work through us, helping someone else. He leads us to those  He wants us to minister to, He arranges the timing when we need to minister, and He instructs us on how we are to minister. He supplies the ability through His gifts and empowers us to succeed.  He teaches us, so that we are able to understand Him better and worship Him more. It is all about God, through the Spirit of Jesus Christ, working to form us into the image of Jesus. When God does the work, He shines forth in our lives with His beauty, in all His vibrant shades, and we are not just pale interpretation of Him.

Peter 1:2-8 (NIV)2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Confirming One’s Calling and Election

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;6 and to knowledge, self-control;and to self-control, perseverance;and to perseverance, godliness;7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Everything we need, to live life as a Christian, is found in God, through Jesus Christ. There is a flow. It is called resting in Him. Resting means to live, not rebelling, not resisting, but agreeing, trusting and obeying as He leads. New colors of true Christianity becomes clear in our lives as He does His work in us.

A pepper turns from green to red as it matures.

As we mature in Him, by His power, we become vibrant with life….His Life, His Beauty.  He made this world with colors.  We reflect His Creative Heart when we walk in the different colors of Christianity, not pale and powerless, but rich and appealing to the world around us, because we become the reflection of His beauty, within us. There are those who may hate Jesus, but that is only up to the minute they truly meet Him personally. Then that hate is forever replaced with love for a Beautiful Savior.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

connecting, with love

Donna

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Dove/Daylight, Cinnamon/Cassia and Darkeyes

You called, You cried, You shattered my deafness, You sparkled, You blazed, You drove away my blindness, You shed Your fragrance, and I drew in my breath, and I pant for You.   Augustine

Job 42: 1-6 (The Message) Job Worships God –

I Babbled On About Things Far Beyond Me

 Job answered God: “I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything.    Nothing and no one can upset your plans. You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water,  ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’ I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me,  made small talk about wonders way over my head. You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking.  Let me ask the questions.You give the answers.’ I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise! I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.”

In the last chapters of the Book of Job, God stepped in to mercifully initiate communication with Job, who was struggling in his suffering.  Hearing God personally, Job became aware that his previous knowledge of God was based on rumor and hearsay, void of personal encounters with God, lacking in an ongoing relationship. All during his ordeal, Job fought to understand God and wrestled with self-righteousness, pity and hopelessness, because  his confidence in God was not developed by experience with God. He hung on to a thin thread of faith and hope, which were enough to cause God to intervene.  As Job “sees” God for the first time, his awareness of God’s goodness and greatness, moved him to humble himself before God. God then abundantly restored Job.

Job’s restoration foreshadows blessings found in the Kingdom of God, established by Jesus Christ. As God redeemed and restored Job, and his friends, He gave instructions for a sacrifice, and a prayer by Job, for his friend’s behalf, so that they would not face what they justly desired.  Jesus, later in history, became our Complete Sacrifice and Loving Intercessor, offering us redemption, and sparing us from what we justly desired.

The account of Job’s restoration mentions that God gave him, among many other things,  seven sons and three daughters. The number seven represents, completeness, spiritual perfection and rest, all part of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. It is interesting to note the recording of the three daughter’s names. The first daughter’s name was Jemimah, which means either Daylight or Dove. Commentators have suggested this was a testimony of Job’s plight from the darkness of suffering into the light of restoration. Daylight or a dove often represent the Holy Spirit. The second daughter’s name, Keziah, means cassia or cinnamon. Again commentators have attributed this as testimony of  the sweet aroma of restored health, after the stench of sickness. Cinnamon and/or cassia are ingredients for compounding anointing oil, which also symbolizes the Holy Spirit. The third daughter’s name was Keren-Happuch, with a meaning somewhat harder to explain. Boiling it down, the meaning refers to a vivid black coloring used for painting the corners of women’s eyes, enhancing their beauty by creating dark eyes.  God’s Word states in Isaiah 61:3 (KJV) –

  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified

David, who was a man after God’s own heart, was noted for his beautiful eyes  (1 Samuel 16:12). The indwelling Holy Spirit, the Third Being of the Holy Trinity, beautifies us, our eyes,  with a radiance that reflects the joy and life He brings within us.  We can experience all the blessings listed in the inspired meanings of these numbers and names,  blessings provided by God, accessed by Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

One last thought about Job. The daughters were given an equal inheritance with the sons, something unheard of in that culture and during that time. I believe this   points to God’s Kingdom life,  offered by Jesus for all who are willing to receive it.  Men, women, young or old, rich or poor, all have an equal inheritance through Jesus Christ. This isn’t addressing the biblical roles men and women need to follow, it is just stating we all have access to Jesus, as co-heirs, to the inheritance He has promised us, equal opportunity for a personal relationship with Him, to His Holy Spirit, with the ability to hear Him and to speak with Him, vessels empowered and made ready for His glory. There is much more to this inheritance, but again that’s many more blogs.

connecting, with love

Donna