Hinges

We’ve all heard statements such as. “So much hinges on what s/he will do with the latest information.” Or, “It all hinges upon whether or not s/he will follow through.”

Big and small doors swing open and close on things that we pay so very little attention to, hinges, but without they’re being aligned and positioned specifically in their designated locations, what normally is an effortless action in opening or closing a door would become most arduous.

I liked this from Oz Chambers this morning: “God's command is - Take now, not presently. It is extraordinary how we debate! We know a thing is right, but we try to find excuses for not doing it at once. To climb to the height God shows can never be done presently, it must be done now. The sacrifice is gone through in will before it is performed actually.”

It was this thought that triggered what I want to try and share here. For a more beautiful and fuller understanding of this story please read the following.
Within these verses one in particular resonates within my spirit; “Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you."
Reading this word “worship” this morning fills me with wonder, awe, causing my heart to bow afresh in light of what He is calling me to, to KNOW Him, to be fully identified with Him in the fellowship of His sufferings, to be intimately acquainted entwined, to be conformed/transformed as a result of being married/joined to this Holy God, my Father.
Oh Abba, Papa, Father, my heart cries out to you, your kisses are sweeter than wine, the body without the spirit is dead, Father I am dead without knowing You, you are my Life, even so Papa, COME!

In the story of Abraham and his son Isaac so much hinged upon what Abraham was going to do in light of what Father had spoken to him regarding sacrificing his son.
Like wise in our lives, only because of His grace, let’s make this very clear, it’s grace, that we can avail ourselves of, that becomes those hinges that will either open or close doors in our following Him alone.

I am being constantly reminded by my Father that in the seemingly mundane and meaningless things of every day living He is there, he provides opportunities to worship Him, and He is pointing things out to me to do, picking things up, cleaning this or that, writing this letter, doing the dishes, making my bed, vacuuming, shinning my shoes, taking my dog for his delightful romp, etc, etc. and in simply being obedient in these simple little things, a whole universe of wonder opens before my eyes, discovering a meeting place within these very things with Him.

“Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.
(Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

Rich

I Can Only Imagine

Listening to the illustrative language Jesus used was such a wonderful blending and weaving of the natural sights and sounds the average person would normally encounter, and yet, those words more often than not were but as colored pictures on a menu pointing to the hidden substance unseen in the heavenly kitchen.

I was thinking this morning about this illustrative language he used in referring to himself as ‘the door’ in the Gospel of John chapter 10.
So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

It’s funny how a simple fleeting thought, much like a butterfly that lights upon one flower only to quickly search out another could be seen as almost magical at times.
Such a thought lighted on me this morning, and it was within this passage that some of the hidden wonder and awe began to draw me into this portal.
I began to look upon the use of the word, ‘door’ as something that I don’t normally associate its meaning to, the thought of it being a portal much like that used in C S Lewis’ book, The Lion Witch and Wardrobe, how one of the children (Lucy) discovers that in going into a huge clothing cabinet it turns out to be but a portal transporting her and her other siblings into a far away place, a land called Narnia, the sheer wonder and awe that captured their hearts defied all logic and rational comprehension.

Is it possible that as Jesus referred to himself as ‘the door, that he was in fact a living portal whereby anyone who chose to respond to Him was as in the language used in the bible, ‘translated (transported) out of the realm of darkness into a (previously unseen ~click) realm of light and love so real that the wording of language seems to melt in ones mouth trying to describe it?

Like the line from the movie The Matrix, where Neo who has been disconnected from the Matrix and who is being rebuilt as it were, (all of his muscles have totally atrophied in never having used them) says at one point as he is lying on a surgery table, “Why do my eyes hurt so much”?
The answer was, “Because you’ve never used them before”!
When the eyes of our heart are opened and they continue to be opened even more so, that which appears to have been hidden, undetected, becomes so surreal, you almost have to pinch yourself to see that you’re not dreaming.

So many believers I know have at one time or another expressed the notion of hopefully reentering that which was lost, Paradise, the Garden of Eden, thinking how wonderful that would be, and I’m sure it was a cool garden, BUT!
In this space time continuum we now live in, is it possible that there is in fact a portal in and through Jesus that has been opened up whereby any may go in and out at ease only to discover so many incomprehensible delights that only free us to BE who we were always meant to BE?

I want to share this line from the movie The Majestic from 2001~Click:

That's why we call it The Majestic. Any man, woman, child could buy their ticket, walk right in. Here they'd be, here we'd be. "Yes sir, yes ma'am. Enjoy the show." And in they'd come entering a palace, like in a dream, like in heaven. Maybe you had worries and problems out there, but once you came through those doors, they didn't matter anymore. And you know why? Chaplin, that's why. And Keaton and Lloyd. Garbo, Gable, and Lombard, and Jimmy Stewart and Jimmy Cagney. Fred and Ginger. They were gods. And they lived up there. That was Olympus. Would you remember if I told you how lucky we felt just to be here? To have the privilege of watching them. I mean, this television thing. Why would you want to stay at home and watch a little box? Because it's convenient? Because you don't have to get dressed up, because you could just sit there? I mean, how can you call that entertainment, alone in your living room? Where's the other people? Where's the audience? Where's the magic? I'll tell you, in a place like this, the magic is all around you. The trick is to see it.

Rich