Be Shaken

I HAVE SET THE LORD
ALWAYS BEFORE ME
BECAUSE HE IS AT MY
RIGHT HAND, I SHALL
NOT BE SHAKEN. Ps 16:8


I'd say over the past couple of months I have felt emotionally shaken, quite deeply, at times.
But according to this psalm, i am not going to be terribly shaken when I set the Lord, and His beauty, and salvation, and commands, always before me.

What has shaken me up? well...

Hampi, India, my good friends Anil and R.
We prayed with them every night. We prayed for healing for their ailments, for miracles for their family sick at home, and we prayed for peaceful nights of rest.
Some mornings they would report of their amazing sleep, and that their headache was gone!
Other times we'd see them worse off, and there was nothing I could do physically to comfort their hearts or fix a deformed hip. My heart would break every time I was praying for them and compassion was all I could give away. Compassion, love and Jesus.

Saying goodbye to R

Kolkata, India street boys.
They capture your heart when they engage you in broken english. They make you laugh with their silly antics and songs. They teach you how to play their board games and then laugh at you when they brutally destroy you every time!
Some are so intelligent, and have beautiful spirits about them. Some are weak, destroyed by sniffing glue and abandonment. There was nothing I could do but pray, speak out life giving scripture and be an example of pure love.

Kolkata, India Mother Teresa House "Shanti Dan."
There was hope within the walls of the Mother Teresa compound of women with special needs. There was hope but I was still struck with the immensity of work, the lives that are handicapped and then the beautiful workers who are offering a better quality of life through self sacrifice. It stirs you to see selflessness be so consistent and preserving.

Queenstown, New Zealand
In shock, walking around on no particularly special day, I was struck with the cloud of selfishness that hangs so thickly around the minds of travelers, business men, and locals alike. The transition from 3rd world to 1st world is severe...at least for me. For me it was hard to not be angry and impatient. Money, pets, clothes, luxury items, they all began to bother me and upset my heart. We truly have no idea how to be generous, how to be selfless, how to be meek and humble in ALL things. There is something in me that never would've been awakened to that if I had never traveled. Perspective people. It makes you a better person, a better Jesus follower.

Queenstown Hill View

I still wrestle with materialism, with idolatry and pride. That will never change, the wrestling part. However, I am more and more joyful knowing that I have HOPE. I hold hope in my mind, in my heart. The greatest mystery of all time is that Christ is living in ME right now. Christ is living in US, who believe in Him, for ever and always.

TO THEM GOD CHOSE TO MAKE KNOWN HOW GREAT AMONG THE GENTILES ARE THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF THIS MYSTERY, WHICH IS CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY. - Col 1:27