Allotted Time

Tomorrow at 8:31 AM I begin the last year of my "allotted time" of three score and ten. The big 70 is here. Sometimes it seems like it has been a week. Sometimes it feels as if it has been a million years. As always, if you can endure it, I will pass on some of the many lessons my Savior has lovingly taught me--and continues to teach me--on my journey Home with Him constantly by my side. I'm sure I've told you all of these before, but, I pray they will be an encouragement. They are not arranged in any particular hierarchy--truth, I don't believe--has a ranking system. Anyway--here they are--ten truths God has etched into my heart these three score and ten years--most of which have been spent walking with Him. Though, too many times than I like to admit, He has had to drag me along.

1. Nothing is more dangerous to the believer than a second-hand relationship with the Word. Immerse yourself in His Love Letter to you. Being under the Spirit's control, empowered by His might. enabled to, in some small way, reflect His beauty to those around you, is impossible if you are not immersed in the Word. Impossible.
2. The good is coming. A patient, expectant waiting is the foundation for a soaring faith no matter the roaring, raging storms of life. Time is always on God's side. And, thus, yours.
3. Embrace brokenness. There is no other cure for our most disabling enemy--spiritual pride. God's wisdom can only be given to those who have learned how desperately they lack it. God's strength--His wisdom and joy--can only be given to those who recognize the depth of their weakness. And embrace the brokenness that makes it plain with a heart of gratitude. God enhances the beauty of His roses with thorns.
4. In every relationship you must consider the other person better--more important--than yourself. Your prayer must be, "Lord, in this relationship, if someone is to be hurt, please let the someone be me."
5. Stillness. Quietness. Solitude. All these are essential to living a reflective Christian life--to developing the mindset of our Savior. And a reflective Christ-like mindset is essential to hearing the voice of God--be it in a still small voice in the midst of the earthquakes of life or in the calling from the burning bush in the backside of your times in the desert.
6. Every calling is a sacred calling. Every calling is full-time Christian service. Be like Him in every facet of your life. Every. Faultless and blameless.
7. The most important truth when it comes to prophecy is, "God wins." Which means, of course, that He is winning now no matter what you see in the world around you. His throne is never vacant for even a second. Never even threatened. The evidence that I truly believe that is a life of unwavering obedience at all times. Peace saturates my soul when I live in the confidence that He is the Victor. The battle has been won. I am a soldier of the cross, a captive of His love.
8. Yes, love and obedience are synonymous. I love Him only as deeply as I am committed to obedience. The fear and trembling of the Christian's heart is the deep desire to not grieve the heart of my Beloved--the resplendent, glorious Lover of my soul.
9. The source of joy is a pouring out of oneself for others. Only the life emptied of self can be filled with the joy of God. Nothing is more fulfilling than emptying.
10. The longer I live the more fully I understand the experiential truth behind one of my favorite quotes by Pastor Marvin Rosenthal: "God is too wise to make a mistake and too loving to be unkind."