the calling for boldness and rants and musings..escaping the machine, part 2

I just finished my post about escaping the machine, but I feel that there is a lot that still needs to be said..

maybe, it is just a handful of musings.....or maybe some things that God planted in my mind that I just simply want to share...

In my last post, I spoke about how a secret part of me wanted to aquire a food truck. I imagined myself turning it into a little portable French cafe...serving French food..croissants and pain perdue.. I imagined having a set of nice wrought iron tables and chairs, with big bold flowers adorning the table top. I even imagined an accordian player playing some french music for people to enjoy over expresso.

I spoke about how I wanted to feed the hungry and sell beignets... to the middle class and the rich... who knows maybe it is just a musing..

I can't help but think about the parallel here. A greasy food truck idea turned into a portable French ambiance experience ..feeding the hungry and giving the world something to enjoy... The truth is that I love how God works...

God can take the ordinary and turn it into something wonderful and beautiful. He can turn the mundane into the exquisite.

I love that about Him.

I don't think a lot of people "get" who God really is.... Otherwise, people would literally be lining up at the doors of the churches and getting on their knees in prayer.

The truth is that..so many us...and I have been guilty.....well, we are simply hiding our light.

God tells us to shine our light and be "a city on a hill."  Could you imagine a city on hill? I'm sure that from afar it is something to marvel at...
I've actually seen a city on a hill..

I was pulling up in a train into a tiny town called Scarbourough, England.. Nighttime had just approached. All I can say is that it was one of the most memorable and beautiful memories. It is something that I will never forget. Imagine lights..not looking into a valley...but lights upon a hill..stretching all the way into the sky..

We pulled up and I could see lights everywhere. Tiny little dots and shimmers of light filling up the dark, dark spaces.
It was a sight that I can only describe as "beyond beautiful."

WE are called to be that... The city on the hill...
What do we know about cities on a hill?

From experience, I can tell you that the city on a hill is a welcome sight. It is a place that you would want to be... It is comforting and cozy... There is something warm and welcoming, and really just quite lovely and  romantic about all of those shining lights into the depths of nighttime.

Matthew 5:14-16

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.



notice the word.."good deeds.."  We become this shining and brilliant city, not by faith only, but by doing...
By loving, giving, sacrificing... by our works, in conjuction with our faith... 

Sometimes, I truly can't understand why people shy away from Christ.. Is it because we are afraid that we might shine too brightly or love too much? Is it because we are content wallowing around in the familiar? Have we simply stumbled around in the darkness for so long that we crave familiarity?

I am ready to stand upon the hill. I want to others to see my light shining and know that Christ is good and real.

On another note, I didn't intend to type this in really big letters..but, in truth,, that is how I feel?

I feel the need..the calling of boldness.. I feel the desire the capture the unknown..

One thing that God tells us in His word is about His "mysteries."
He has shown me some of them. All I can say is that there is nothing mundane about God. He is the most brilliant and loving light that ever was. 

I have always marveled at and appreciated the mysterious..but in God's mysteries, there is truth.. There is a beautiful and wonderful truth..

The truest and most beautiful thing that I have ever seen is love.
It is simple, and yet we twist it..
We pervert it in so many different ways. One is to say that we love someone and then turn around and lie to them. Another, is failing to forgive. Another is the hypocricy of saying that we believe in something as big and great as God and failing to be the one of the lights that make up the city on the hill.

.....
anywho, I leave you with a verse from Isaiah ..
It's about how God wants to give you beauty for ashes.
Soak it in...

61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

² To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
³ To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.