Cold Blue by John Owen
Linda describes her journey in God's grace as "...somewhat long and convoluted. From Colorado mountain girl, to Navy wife, homeschool (and always a) mom for our daughters, Joy, Hope, and Grace, Sailor and Navy Chief, retired veteran, and freelance whatever... my only consistent identity is who I am in Christ."She is married to Navy veteran John Owen who "journals extensively about the Lord, Scriptures, and this and that, and loves photography."
The photograph above is taken from John's photo collection, one of the main features of Linda's blog. I visit her site often to be inspired by the lovely pictures taken from John's artistic perspective!
Linda has become a precious blog friend. Although we've never met face to face, our hearts beat for the same desire - that is, to live a life that honors the King of Kings. Her writing reflects the main theme of her blog: giving grace to those who hear.
I for one never leave her blog without having received a fresh impartation of God's grace!
Below is one of her recent blog entries which she has graciously allowed to be posted on this blog. Those of you have been following my blog for sometime know that I am quite passionate about God's kingdom reign in my life. I agree with every word she has written and I'm sure you will all be blessed by her words.
After reading it, you may want to visit her blog and discover for yourself the tiny nuggets of grace hidden within its pages.
A Dangerous Prayer
January 27, 2010 by absolutegrace
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is heaven.”
- Matthew 6:10
How well do I know these words?
How often do I pray/say them?
Paul David Tripp suggests how dangerous these words may be–to my little kingdom:
“There are things I want in my life, and I not only want them, but I know how, when, and where I want them! I want my life to be comfortable… my schedule to be unobstructed and predictable… people around me to esteem and appreciate me…control over the situations and relationships in my life… I don’t want to suffer. I don’t want to leave without…. What I am saying is that I want my kingdom to come and my will to be done.
Thy kingdom come is a dangerous prayer, for it means the death of your own sovereignty. It means your life will be shaped by the will of Another. It means that you will experience the messiness, discomfort, and difficulty of God’s refining grace. It means surrendering the center of your universe to the One who alone deserves to be there. It means loving God above all else and your neighbor as yourself. It means experiencing the freedom that can only be found when God breaks you bondage to You! It means finally living for the one glory that is truly glorious, the glory of God.
Thy kingdom come, are words of surrender, words of protection, words of grace that can only be prayed by those who’ve been delivered by the Redeemer from…the kingdom of self.”
Paul David Tripp, Whiter than Snow: Mediations on Sin and Mercy. Crossway Books, 2008. Wheaton, IL. pps 61-62.
Unlike many governments in place today, God’s kingdom is not one to be feared.
God’s kingdom is a reign of grace (A.W. Pink). The ruler and King is Jesus, full of grace and truth, “blessed and only Sovereign, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” (I Tim. 6:15) .
His kingdom is also a reign of love. “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us!“ (Rom. 8:37). ”There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.” ( I John 4:18,19)
And so much more:
“The kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Romans 14:17
”Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33
“For He delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13, 14
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A dangerous prayer?
Yes, to my self-driven kingdom of one.
But more so, a comforting prayer, as I surrender to the One who loves perfectly; He became poor, took on my griefs and sorrows, died, and rose again! I can trust Him.
Why do I fear, when His kingdom is the safest place to be?
Your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is heaven.
10 comments:
Very interesting, that this is the second blog post I've read in five minutes that dealt with surrender. The first one I read reminded me of all I have already learned about surrender, and how I've learned to find safety in it. This one, however, reminded me that there are always deeper levels of surrender to rest in. That's where I want to be headed!
So true! It is frightening to pray that God's will be done, because it may very well not match what we want. But yet, knowing what God wants is the best for us, allows it to be a comfort at the same time!
What a thoughtful post! I have often given thought to God's Kingdom, and my own. At times I selfishly choose my own. Sad. God's Kingdom is so much better...
It is dangerous... For we must be ready to give up everything to His Lordship. But in doing so, we reap spiritual blessings that are far greater than what we have. Thanks for this sister Lidj! God bless you all.
I personally feel its only when we are willing to surrender our will to God, that He can work through our challenges and our stubbornness and really bless us in ways that are unimaginable.
Love and Hugs ~ Kat
Dear Lidj,
Thank you for your extremely gracious sentiments and thoughts. Funny, as I re-read this so beautifully displayed on your blog, it impacts me anew. Everyday I encounter the conflict between my will and the Lord's, Linda's kingdom and God's. But I'm gradually learning that His ways are not grievious, His will is best. And when I forget, He is faithful to strengthen me(us)to do and to will of His good pleasure!
You are a genuine friend and I appreciate you so much! Blessings, Linda
"Why do we fear, when His kingdom is the safest place to be?" I believe it is because we just are not so sure that God has our best interest at heart and knows what will make us truly happy. We do not truly know Him. We perceive Him in the way that we know Him and we can only trust Him to the degree that we know Him. I believe that our purpose in life is to come to know Him more so that we can trust Him to pray, "not my will but yours be done." knowing that in His will is perfect peace and true joy and happiness like we could never have known without surrendering to His kingdom reigning in our lives. Thank you Lidj for sharing this post with us. I was moved by it tremendously.
Amazing post here ....... and your guest wrote:
"and freelance whatever... my only consistent identity is who I am in Christ."
May that be the prayerful identity of each of us who name the Name of Christ Jesus Our Lord!
Interesting - I've been praying the 'Our Father' - asking the Lord, "Teach ME to pray..."
Matthew 6:9-10
"This, then, is how you should pray:
"'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your Name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.......'"
Those words reflect our seeking His righteouness and His kingdom purposes first!
Thank you for sharing your heart and that of your special guest! It's amazing to me how much more our hearts [all around the world] are UNITED in Christ - than ever before! I believe it's because we have drawn close to Him - in His Presence!
Choosig JOY, Stephanie
JESUS ONLY in 2010
God is at work here, isn't he? So many of his children are opening their hearts to him . . I love it! Enjoyed the post. Surrendering can be so hard sometimes, but the efforts are so worthy. Proverbs 3:5. Have a nice weekend Lidj!
My littlest one recites The Lord's Prayer on the way to school in the morning. The next one recites the 23 Psalm. They memorized them when they were 3 and 4. Then one of the teenagers reads a psalm and, if the oldest teen is there, he reads a parable.
I don't think they really know what the words mean. We talk about those words, but meaning will come when they start reaching.
I used to pray this earnestly when I was little because I believed His kingdom is so much better than the one I was living in.I still believe that. However, these words are indeed powerful. When you say you want God's will to be done, then that means sometimes you are enlisted to do His Will.
Last year, God told us to, "Go." It has not been a comfortable "Go." And it is only faith in God, His promises, His protection and His plan. However, no matter how uncomfortable I have become and how sad or frustrated I have been, I do not want to be anywhere other than in His plan doing His will:)
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