God's Amazing Little Creatures...

Ever since I was a child I have felt a very strong bond and connection with most animals. It has been my experience that animals that are usually skittish around humans usually find their way over to me quite quickly. I must admit, it is something that I have enjoyed a great deal.

In Job we read, "(12:7-10 KJV) "But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind."

To me, animals are such an amazing gift to us. It is my knowledge/belief/understanding, that they are directly connected to God and do His bidding when He commands them.

My sense of the preciousness of the animals came long before I read and understood this passage in Job. I've often felt such a strong connection to God through these wonderful little creatures. Their love for us is so unconditional and so persevering. I am always amazed by the loyal dog who keeps returning to the owner who treats it so poorly. Humbly crawling back with only the desire to love and be loved. Their simple nature is overwhelming and humbling to me.

I've had a few amazing experiences where animals are concerned. When I think of them I almost always cry because, to me, these experiences were very close encounters with my Lord being brought to me by the loyal little heart of a pet.

I have many stories, but one especially warms my soul. We have a very large, very fluffy, and very masculine black cat name Mojo. Mojo is a very special cat to me. He does not have the warmest of personalities and has been know to bite (that's a whole other story), but there is something almost regal and peaceful about him. He comes only when he wants a pet or two and then he's off to his favorite place, our bed. I don't know if I would call him aloof, but I would say that he does work on his own terms and timing.

About five years ago we had just moved to Norther Virginia from California, leaving behind friends, family and a brand new home. We were living in a apartment with the minimal necessities. We had two bedrooms, one of which I had set up as an office with a little table for my jewelry making supplies, notes, mail, computer, etc.... Most oftentimes it was just Mojo and me while Austin was away at work.

One day I was feeling particularly blue. I was missing home. I was feeling very isolated and alone. There were issues going on with my birth family that was hurting me deeply and all I could do was cry. The sadness I was feeling was so overwhelming. I saw no purpose for my being there and had no one to turn to. I remember so clearly this feeling of hopelessness filling me up and the tears beginning very deep within my soul, slowly working themselves out of me, to flow like a stream.

Here I was, sitting on the couch in the middle of this barren living room, silently crying and feeling so much sadness, when out of the corner of my eye I saw Mojo run past me towards the spare bedroom. I didn't really give it thought. Moments later he came jogging out of the guest room with something in his mouth. I couldn't really tell what it was and was sort of taken aback because he is not one to go and fetch things and certainly never brings them to me. He came trotting straight for me and dropped what he was carrying at my feet. For him, this behavior was very unusual, so it really caught my attention.

I leaned over to see what he had dropped at my feet and was dumbfounded! Out of all the miscellaneous junk I had on my table, including his favorite ribbon!, he had found a handmade angel ornament that my sweet Aunt Barbara had mailed to me. It was made of wire with fabric glued to the front and feathers attached to the wings. When I realized what it was and picked it up and held it in my hand, THEN the waterworks began!

I knew at that moment that my Lord, my sweet sweet Father, had sent me a sign of comfort. My hunch is that one of His angels whispered in Mojo's ear and told him what to do. Even to this day I am in disbelief that this happened. Now, if Mojo had brought me one of his multiple mouse toys, that would have been understandable, but this was different. It was purposeful. And it was specific. In fact, I am still perplexed as to how he found that ornament. But, I do know with all my heart and soul that God was showing me His presence and letting me know that I did not need to be sorrowful or lonely. That He was present, all is well, and that I am loved. I am never, ever, ever alone.

Thank you Father. And thank you Mojo for listening and obeying. ♥

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." (Psalm 150:6)

And LIGHT shall overcome darkness

January 16, 2009

Darkness and Light….

The Holy Spirit paid us a visit yesterday in such a phenomenal way. I feel the need to record this event so that I remember it correctly and fully.

Yesterday afternoon I was on the computer most of the day working on several projects for the Women’s Retreat. For some reason I was feeling especially close to the Lord and was feeling the desire to hear His word. I discovered, by chance, that the RBC website has streaming recordings of the Living The Passion sessions, so I started listening to them.

I cannot remember what it was that triggered the thought, but something the speaker said made me take into consideration the concept of “darkness” and “light”. I was thinking lightly about it when a visual came into my mind. To the left was a vertical rectangle of blackness and to the right was a vertical rectangle of whiteness. As I was considering this image in my head, I could see the light (or white) side slowly begin to encroach on the dark side. What I could ascertain was that the ‘light’ was actually taking over the ‘dark’. The dark not only was defenseless, it was inert. As the light slowly rolled over the dark I realized that it was not ‘covering’ the darkness, it was filling in the void. The darkness was simply a ‘non-presence’ and the light was the ‘presence’.

It then dawned on me that the darkness cannot overtake the light. Only the light can fill and cover. Where there is light, darkness cannot exist. It is not the other way around.

It was an interesting visual and thought, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the absence of the Light of Christ in our souls, our lives, our hearts, etc… is not an overtaking of evil within us, but a ‘choice’ we make to refuse the love, the light, and the presence of God in each of our daily actions and decisions. WE make the choice to step away from the light of Christ, to disconnect ourselves from the Holy Spirit, by choosing sin.

Mind you, this visual and thought happened in a matter of moments and then I was off thinking about other things.

Later that night, my husband and I were laying in bed reading our books. I had just finished reading a paragraph in a Christian fiction book called “The Shack” that directly addressed the concept I had been thinking about earlier. In the story, a man named Mackenzie who is being entertained by God himself, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, all of whom are in the human form. He is working in a garden with Saraya, (The Holy Spirit), and Saraya is trying to explain to Mackenzie why both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ things exist on earth.

She says, “Mackenzie, evil is a word we use to describe the absence of Good; just as we use the word darkness to describe the absence of Light or death to describe the absence of Life. Both evil and darkness can only be understood in relation to Light and Good; they do not have any actual existence. I am Light and I am Good. I am Love and there is no darkness in me. Light and Good actually exist. So, removing yourself from me will plunge you into darkness. Declaring independence will result in evil because apart from me, you can only draw upon yourself. That is death because you have separated yourself from me: Life.”

I stopped reading after this paragraph and was reminded of my earlier thoughts about the absence of darkness and presence of ‘Light’. This paragraph so perfectly fell in line with what I had been considering earlier in the day.

As I lay there thinking about this paragraph, my husband mentioned that he had not had a restful sleep the night prior. When I asked why, he told me that he had woken up around 2:30 am and was thinking about a passage from John. He shared with me what the passage said. He quoted this line:

"5. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."

From John 1:1-5
1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2. The same was in the beginning with God.
3. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.
4. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

My husband said that he kept thinking about the line “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (NIV translation). He said he could not stop thinking about this concept; that the light could not be comprehended by the darkness and that we, as believers, have the ability to welcome the Light in.

For me, this is one of those moments that I live for. Here the Holy Ghost has made himself so clearly present. Arranging this amazing moment of like minds working on the very same subject at the very same time! All I could do is turn to my husband and say, “Funny you should say that!” with a happy grin on my face.

We went on to have a wonderful discussion about the Light of Christ and how we have a choice as to whether we allow His Light to come into our full being, or not. When we choose to turn the light away and live by our own wills, we fall into the darkness of disconnection with the source of life, “GOD”.

John 3:16-21
16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

When I read the passage above, I understand that the ‘condemnation’ that John is referring to IS the disconnection to the ‘source’, the ‘light’ of Christ. In essence, our punishment for the refusal to accept the light of Christ into our hearts and souls, IS disconnection from the ‘Light’ and therefore darkness. In essence, WE are the ones creating our own punishment by our choice (free will) to cling to sin rather than cling to the love of Christ.

18. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

“And this is the condemnation”. To me, this line is pivotal. The condemnation, IS the disconnection from the light. “He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already.” In essence, we choose our paths in this lifetime. We can choose to live in worry, pain, sorrow, envy, longing, hurt, betrayal, vengeance, mistrust, anger, bigotry, fear, gluttony, ignorance, pettiness, judgment, etc… etc…. etc... and be promised a destination of further sorrow due to our choice to disconnect with the Light of Christ.

OR, we can choose to live fully in the Light of Christ, casting all concerns for ourselves aside and trusting fully that the Lord will carry us through and provide:

Matthew 11:28
28. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

1 Peter 5:6-7
6. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
7. Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

I cannot help but think of a video I watched a while ago about a man who died and then came back to life. He was a non-believer before he died. His experience was so powerful to me and his testimony has left an indelible mark on my heart. What he described as the darkness and void is the perfect description of the full separation of man from God. But, ultimately, we can see through his testimony the ultimate love and compassion of God. He does love us and wants us to find our way to the Light of Christ.

You can see his testimony here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGpxfoF3SYg&feature=related