Beautiful Pain

“Yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days.” John 11:6

This miraculous story begins with the following declaration, “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (v5). It is as if God were teaching us that at the very heart and foundation of all His dealings with us, no matter how dark and mysterious they may be, we must dare to believe in and affirm His infinite, unmerited, and unchanging love. Yet love permits pain to come.

Mary and Martha never doubted that Jesus would quickly avert every obstacle to keep their brother from death, “yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days.”

What a startling word: “Yet”! Jesus refrained from going not because He did not love them but because He did love then. It was His love alone that kept Him from hurrying at once to their beloved yet grief-stricken home. Anything less than infinite love would have rushed instantly to the relief of those beloved and troubled hearts, in an effort to end their grief, to have the blessing of wiping and stopping the flow of their tears, and to cause their sorrow and pain to flee. Only the power of the divine love could have held back the spontaneity of the Savior’s tender-heartedness until the angel of pain had finished His work.

Who can estimate the great debt we owe to suffering and pain? If not for them we would have little capacity for many of the great virtues of the Christian life. Where would our faith be if not for the trials that test it; or patience, without anything to endure or experience and without tribulations to develop it.

selected from Streams in the Desert

I hope that this blesses you all today. I know that the Bride is experiencing a difficult season of ‘pushing’ before we see the true birth of those things which we have carried and prayed and worked for. Don’t give up. For a moment the pain may seem worse than your prior misery but when the Lord has let pain do it’s work and comes to restore– it is far better, far greater than we could have ever imagined. Contemplate Mary and Martha’s relationship with their beloved brother after they thought they’d lost him forever? “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, rich in love…” Psalm 145:8

Bless you all awesomely– praying for you

vision this past week…

i saw a battle field. one side was filthy and the grass was dead-beyond dead. the warriors were dark and their weapons were dark and they were yelling loudly and hissing. there was a castle that had been turned to rubble on their left and on their right was nothing. there was a dark sun behind them.

on the other side was a hill. there were people covering the hill and the grass around them was not dead but dry. they were numerous but not as numerous (it seemed) as the dark warriors. they were all made out of glass. they were an army. they were tired and seemingly fragile but they were an army.

then the dark warriors charged towards the glass people. as they came closer a light came up behind them from the other side of the hill that was reflected so brilliantly through the glass that the dark warriors were blinded. their eyes were burned from their sockets and they stay in the middle of the battlefield writhing in pain. the glass people never had to touch them.

i kept hearing– “the glory of our God out shines the sun” “the glory of our God out shines the sun”

we can be made beautiful and seemingly fragile and even transparent. our only function is to reflect Him. to become small.

love you all and praying for you

there’s no place like home…

i’ve been back in the states for a week and a half now and most of that i’ve been SICK! bleck. i got home and got all of my cleaning done and bills paid and had four different nights of worship lined up for the last week and i was able to do 0 of them… lost my voice, had a fever, congestion, all kinds of fun. though i’m not a fan of being sick (have to work on sitting still other than in the presence of my Jesus) it has been nice to have a forced break i suppose.

i was so glad to hop on the plane and fly home to texas. i want to buy cowgirl boots as my ‘ruby slippers’ as i chant to myself ‘there’s no place like home…’. i’m so thankful that God really has put texas in my heart as my home and the place that He has me. it’s never easy leaving everyone and everything you know for a new place and new surroundings and people– new ministry atmosphere as well. but we can be sure that He will take care of us as we leave what is known for the unknown following closely behind Him as Abraham did.

i’ll be working on those thoughts and some more thoughts the Lord has been speaking to me about worship and love here in the near future. i’ve also finally started editing photos from my trip to the uk and iceland (been sick remember) so i’ll be posting those soon as well

God bless you all beyond your wildest imagination. just talk to Him. sometimes with all of the teaching around us or the seeming lack of useful teaching around us we can get overwhelmed with the formulas and workings of our relationship with the Lord. so let’s have a season of simple and let the Holy Spirit take us into deeper things. forget all of the fog– just talk to Him.

love you all praying for you.

I’m in England!

hi everyone! i’ve arrived safely in chester, england after traveling for several, and i mean s e v e r a l hours. this morning at the airport in manchester i was detained for– four hours– as they scanned my guitar over and over and asked me the same series of questions 5 times as i tried to explain the difference between holding ‘concerts’ and ‘leading worship’.

in it’s simplest terms i found myself saying, ” i’m no one from no where, singing to and for Jesus. i don’t sing or play to entertain or to sell anything (though it sure helps when i do– but that’s not allowed here in the UK).”. pretty sure i said this over and over again before the lady decided to just ‘take my word for it’ and let me go. she was very pleasant outside of just doing her job

it was humbling rather than flattering to be held as a ‘suspicious rockstar’– i realized again how small i am and how large the things that God chooses to do through me are. the phrase rockstar even brings that sour look to my face. not because of anyone or anything associated, that’s not what this post is about. merely because it’s so far from my heart. there are things that i desire in this life that i hope will leave a lasting impact or a legacy if you will. my portion of the ‘abundant life’ that my Savior died to give to me. but more than those things i cherish my relationship with the One. the One who died for me and i’ll die to see. the One who is always here, always mindful of me, always caring for me, who uses all things for my good, who cares more deeply for the desires of my heart than even i do, who provides all of my needs every time, who delights in me even when i am weak and seemingly unable to do what i thought was my best, who always adores me… i want Him. i want to lift Him up and magnify Him at any cost and believe me, i don’t say that lightly– even at 26 i have paid some of the highest prices already for His namesake.

i know this next couple of weeks traveling through England, heading to Iceland and Ireland then home to Texas is going to be amazing and i can’t wait to share it with you all. the opposition is fierce and the fire is hot and we are the ones who will have to stand and not faulter. you can do it. you can do it. you can do it. when all else fails and hell is staring you in the face, our God is greater.

a scripture to think on:
New International Version (©1984)

“Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.”

those who pay the price for love are rewarded not by material things– their reward is the power to love. think on love. what does that word mean to you? the first word that comes to my mind outside of all of it’s scriptural references is ‘commitment’. love is not love that knows condition or end– God will never leave us or forsake us and He is love. love is a safe place for all of your joy and all of your trial and struggle. love is always there no matter what. love smiles and delights in you even when your most recent actions brought love hurt. love sees the treasure that you are at all times. love sees you for all that you were created to be and not for your mistakes. love knows that no matter how bad bad gets, the good always outweighs.

1 Corinthians 13 >>
New International Version

1If I speak in the tonguesa of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,b but have not love, I gain nothing.

this is a great exercise: insert your name for ‘love’ and think of the people in your life– close to you or not. are you ‘love’ to them?

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails.

i could repeat vs8 a few times. God bless you all awesomely more updates and pics soon!

good reading!

http://utmost.org/will-you-lay-down-your-life/

He is in everything.

water

So I woke up to the sound of light rain this morning…there had been a thunderstorm last night.  As I was making breakfast (once again) I started to think about water and its characteristics. It’s amazing how water can be so destructive in a flood yet so gentle in a pond.  When concentrated in vast amounts it is stout enough to float an aircraft carrier weighing over 100,000 tons.  It is even powerful in small amounts.  A small current, given time, will erode its way through solid stone.

Life itself is dependent on water.  Water carries oxygen (H2O) to the fish of the sea, allowing them to have life. It is said that over 70% of the earth’s surface is covered in water.  Around the same amount is said to make up the human body.  Over half of our blood is composed of plasma, which happens to be about 90% water.  I find there to be an interesting parallel between blood and water. We use water to cleanse and refresh our bodies.  The blood of Jesus is used not only to cleanse us spiritually, but to bring us new life as well.  It serves a dual purpose in this context, which I find demonstrative of the extra care God took in the design of the resurrection.

The power of God can be likened to water.  It is able to move great weights and obstacles; it can seep into anything and it is literally unstoppable.  It is also capable of being ever so gentle that it can comfort us in times of great sorrow.  Human nature tends to get in God’s way at times, like a dam being built up to keep the water out.  It may last for awhile, but eventually erosion will start to cause a few leaks and weaken that wall (look what happened to Pharoah when he let the Israelites go).  We all know God wins the war at the end of the book.  The way I see it you have two options:  1) open the gate and let God’s power move obstacles for you 2) become part of the ensuing rubble when the water moves the dam out of its way. If we let God’s power work for us, life can be as enjoyable as floating down a river. 

Justin Tyler
a.k.a. “Da Bassman”

an extravagant gift

hi all

yesterday i received an amazing gift and i wanted to share it with you all. it’s been so encouraging to me already. God is so good and faithful. He knows just what we need and when we need it no matter what’s going on. bless you all i hope you all enjoy it as much as i have!

Shine Cate

how are you today?

i’m just sitting here, bummed that my camera hasn’t come in yet… apparently working on patience and wanted to know– how are you today?

how are you doing in your relationship with the Lord? how are your other relationships? are you joyful? what is your perspective on the difficult things that you’ve been going through? i hope all is well and that you’re experiencing the loving amazing comforting presence of the Lord in your joy and struggle.

also! i had a super fun photo shoot just to update a bit here’s a sneak peak!

Perspective

One of my friends randomly emailed this to me this morning. He was just cooking breakfast and decided I needed to hear it. I thought it was great enough to share with all of you I hope it gives us all some new prospective about the world we live in and how to trust God– no matter what!

In 1492 Columbus set out to find a shorter, direct route to Asia in the west.  This would’ve had great effect on the world economy as it would have theoretically cut travel time.  Up until then, sea routes would take sailors far south and around the continent of Africa.  Columbus was on a mission to make life better for everyone.  At the time everyone said he was out of his mind to travel west into what everyone considered open ocean.  The thought of the day was that there would eventually be a drop at the end of the ocean and that you would eventually “fall off the map”.  Columbus, being completely convinced that his theory of a spherical world was correct, talked the king of Spain into financing his voyage.  He had seasoned sailors with him, but over time even they began to doubt Columbus to the point of committing mutiny.  He managed to keep them at bay until land was found, which required a lot of faith on their part.  Eventually they found land and thought they had arrived in Asia.  Little did they know, they’d discovered a brand new world that was far better than what they had set out to find.  The beauty in this story is that they weren’t expecting it.

Our walk with God is a little like this story.  When we’re living day to day searching for answers, we must remember the mission.  We know that there’s a goal.  In order to accomplish that mission every “crew member” must continue to do his/her job, regardless of the evidence (or lack therof) that we can see.  God is our Columbus.  Continue to be faithful to Him (do all things as unto Him) and He WILL bring us to the promised land.  He has something out there for us that we can’t even begin to comprehend.

I hope this was encouraging.  God loves you. (me too)

Justin Tyler
a.k.a. “Da Bassman”

you didn’t fail

last night i was up pretty late worshiping the Lord and we wrote a song that was based on a vision that i’d had a while back that i just thought could be so encouraging to some of you today. as we fight and as we live and as we seek Him we have to know that we see in part and we know in part like the word says. but there will come a time that we see Him face to face and i’ve referenced this scripture before with you all.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 1Corin13.12

please take the time to meditate on that word. what is it really to think that now we only know in part? it amplifies our resolve that we must hear and trust the Lord rather than our own understanding or the understanding of those around us. i love this scripture because it also comes with the fact that we are ‘fully’ known. God knows all about us and cares over everything that concerns us– we need not worry about anything. as timothy writes– “do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition present your request to God. and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.” — there is an entire sermon i could break into on that but for now i will let you meditate on it and let the Holy Spirit say what He will about it to you. we will know fully– there will be a time when we know. but for now we must give up the desire to understand. it wont happen in this age. we must be the bride as written in the Song of Solomon who comes up from the valley of anchor (trouble) leaning on our beloved.

it’s ok, and right, to lean. it’s right to trust without knowing. there is coming a time when our full purpose as the bride of Christ will be revealed in our own understanding and for now the continual revelation is amazing. here’s a verse of the song that i wrote, i hope you enjoy it. i pray the Holy Spirit uses it to encourage you to trust without knowing fully what the Lord is up to. He’s so trustworthy. His plans and purposes are so beautiful.

oh God i was broken, least that’s what i thought
you filled me with water, and it came pouring out

and when i was empty, i thought i had failed
’til you showed me the flowers that covered the ground where the water fell

He loves you, He adores you, He’s obsessed with you, He can’t get enough of you, He turned all of creation upside down just to have you. Surely He will come to you.

love you all