Let go my wandering spirit part 1

April 30, 2018May 1, 2018 carriedinthecross1 Comment

My absolute favorite quote from Tolkien is: Not all who wander are lost.

This statement makes me dream of far off places and uncharted road trips. I can imagine and visualize deep woods thick with ancient trees, their boughs reaching to me as if to guide me along my path. I picture chill mornings by a soothing campfire with a hot cup of coffee in my hand, my dog nestled on my knee and morning doves starting to sing a greeting to the day. Beautiful thoughts these may be, but what if we take a closer look at that phrase? Not all who wander are lost. Tolkien became devout Roman Catholic so there are Christ like connections to His novels and His quotes (whether he intended them or not). Many have written devotionals linking the “Hobbit” and “the Lord of the Ring” with the Bible; no one could possibly know if Tolkien would have approved of these derivative works or not but I doubt he would have minded. Looking at Tolkien’s Faith I wonder what He meant when he said “not all who wander are lost”? Scripture talks about a heart that is prone to wander from the will of God and from God Himself, but that is a different wandering than Tolkien meant here; Tolkien speaks of a physical wandering, a “letting go of the feet” if you will. Here is the point I get from “not all who wander are lost,” not all who wander physically are lost spiritually. Some of us have what may be referred to as a gypsy soul, a restless spirit that makes it so we must constantly be on the move. This may be the result of seeking a longing that only Christ can fill, a longing to know Him because we have wandered from Him, or never knew Him to begin with, but it may also be a need to wander set in us by God.

Devotional · encouragement · Jesus · searching · Uncategorized

The fourth man

March 25, 2018 carriedinthecross1 Comment

Every time we go through a fiery furnace, if we have faith , we will see we are not alone. When we go through troubled times we have to have courage that God will be with us. We will be privy to the world standing astonished at the glory of our God. Our bounds will be broken and we will walk freely, He will break us from all fear and we will be cleansed. God knows what we are going through. Even if we are going through fire God is with us, even if we feel alone we have a friend standing with us. A friend who looks like a son of the gods, because guess what? He IS God’s son.

Christianity · Devotional · Jesus · Uncategorized

Leprechauns

March 17, 2018 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Leprechauns are invisible faerys born out of Irish folklore. If you catch one you get to make a wish or get his pot of gold, it depends on the legend you follow. Many times however leprechauns bring misfortune instead of great wealth, they’re jokesters, tricksters, and their fun doesn’t usually bring anyone else fun.
Have you ever tried to find one? Searching the great outdoors for little, invisible, green men. You can search and search but you’ll never find him, they are masters of deceit. Now where little green Irish faerys can be fun and amusing, we know another mischief maker who likes to play nasty tricks while staying out of sight; he’s called the devil, or the chort, or the dark prince, no I’m not talking about Dracula! The real devil, and yes he is real, is not someone to make light of, without Jesus we would be in great danger of him all the time. He likes to make us chase after pots of gold too and when we think we’ve found one he pulls a nasty trick on us and we find ourselves far from God and dwindling in despair. The devil uses all sorts of wicked intentions to get us off track and draw us into his web. Like Frodo in Shelob’s lair we need a loving friend to brave the treacherous climb, sacrifice himself and save us. If it hadn’t been for Sam’s agápi for Frodo the ring would never have been destroyed, if Sam hadn’t been willing to risk sacrificing his own life Frodo’s quest would have ended right there, so close to the goal that they could see it. Jesus saved us from similar webs, webs of desire, deceit, disease and also death. Jesus did sacrifice Himself to save us from the devil who was toying with us, Jesus set us free. If it wasn’t for Jesus our quest of life would end at the first struggle, if it wasn’t for Jesus we would be lost, if it isn’t for Jesus we would be looking at the goal of our struggles and not be able to continue to the prize. Jesus saved, saves and will always save.

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe, sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. Don’t search for trouble, search for Jesus, He’s the one you want to hold on to.

Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · Jesus · Uncategorized

Nightmares

March 9, 2018March 9, 2018 carriedinthecross1 Comment

Fear ye not and see the salvation of the Lord- Exodus 14:13

How many of us have been in a situation where we were completely and totally terrified? Where, as Victor Hugo puts it, we ‘breathed fear’?

The times when uncertainty overtakes reason, and possibilities, (no matter how irrational), come storming into our minds and filling us with complete fear. We become an embodiment of fear, and thus we become an embodiment of evil. Fear is not of the Lord, fear is of the devil, when we become filled with fear we become filled with the devil.

Is it a sin to fear? I would say no, it is a lack of faith, but fear is a very hard thing to overcome and should not be categorized with other, more controllable emotions. All emotions are part of us but fear is placed in us, it is caused by something. Like hearing a thump in the office when you’ve just watched a really creepy movie, out comes fear. Or when you see a massive spider crawling up your pant leg, fear, (or fascination, some people like spiders). You were fine and then something happened to make you afraid. There are much much bigger fears too. The fear of losing a loved one, the fear of financial insecurity, the fear of dying and so on. Some fears are completely overpowering and take hold of their victim in a life altering manner. Fear always has a cause. The devil loves to see us afraid, it puts us off our gaurd and makes us unstable, then he can really get to work. God warns us about fear because He knows how overwhelming it can be. He tells us not to be afraid,

“easy for you to say, you control all and see all,” we respond,

but don’t forget that Jesus knew fear that few of us can imagine. God almighty, one who sees all and knows all, most powerful being EVER, was so afraid He sweat blood. We must not ever downplay the fear Jesus felt because He is God, His fear was very real. Jesus understands. He knows your fear and He doesn’t judge. He has a nail pierced hand reaching out, He’s saying “walk with me, I will protect you and go through this with you, you are never alone.” We never need to be afraid, we have a right to be afraid, but Jesus makes it unneccsary because we are not alone, we have God with us and legions upon legions of angels ready to fight on our side; with God numbers are never a problem, His army is always greater and always stronger and we always have Him because He always has us. So fear not because Jesus has overcome the world and He can help you overcome the causes of your fear.

Devotional · dreams do come true · Jesus · searching

Setting your mind

March 5, 2018 carriedinthecross2 Comments

In one of my favorite movies the main character loves the song ‘country roads’ and rewrites the lyrics to it. The new version has a line that says:
Determined to live alone but fearless, my constant longing is to be courageous. Loneliness is bottled up inside, going down this path that I must try.

It’s a beautiful description of who she is. She knows herself and is willing to allow that to be enough for her. She knows her path is lonely but she takes it anyway with determination to contain that feeling and not allow it to control her. She is fearless and longs for even greater courage. These simple lyrics could apply to many of us. We all have a path to travel and we all have struggles along the way; some we can foresee others we can not, it’s how we handle these struggles that define us. Will we take them on like a ship breaking through a squall, heading for the light? Or will we shrink back inside our cabin and hope that it all goes away? Maybe we try to run from the storm, but we know that that never works out, just ask Jonah. However we face our troubles, however we take on our paths, God knows what He’s doing. He saw these squalls even before you were born, and He also saw a way through them. Some people fear asking for courage because they think that it will add turmoil to their lives, but lives will have turmoil whether you ask for courage or not. Isn’t it better to have already built up your courage before the big struggles come? If you haven’t then those times when you feel you’ve hit rock bottom will be harder to overcome. It’s not easy to look down the road ahead, feel the wind grab your hair, feel the hard path beneath your feet and take off your fear like a cloak throwing it over your shoulder, stepping off the threshold of your comfort zone at a run and smiling about it. Those who have done so have had the chance to touch their stars, yours are still waiting for you. When you look at those who have left their fear behind and taken hold of their path you will see a person scarred. Their cloths may seem torn and their skin marred by the hard falls, but you will also see a brilliant smile of triumph on their faces and when they walk by they drip of starlight, because they have touched the heavens. Why? Because they trusted God would lead them and never doubted His perfect, guiding hand. Do you see starlight in your future? Your future as an accountant, a plumber, a teacher, a doctor, an electrician? You don’t have to be an artist to gleam, you just have to give what you are meant to do everything you’ve got and trust that every time you fall a nail pierced hand will be there to help you back up.

Devotional · dreams do come true · encouragement · Jesus · searching

Sometimes the beast turns out to be the dream come true.

February 22, 2018 carriedinthecross2 Comments

I love how in Beauty and the Beast Bell’s greatest fear becomes her one true love. How often is this the same for us? I know none of us tend to get lost in a forest and then locked in the dungeon of a dilapidated castle. If you do you may want to consider new hobbies. What I mean is look at your life. How many times has the road ahead of you seamed like a big, scary monster? The chance to sing professionally, the attempt to send your manuscript or art work off to a publisher, sometimes even the struggle to stay put at the job you’re at even when everything in you says there are greater possibilities out there. Any dream, desire, want, need can seem like a looming dragon with fire oozing from it’s scales and the promise of destruction etched into it’s gleaming golden eyes. But look close at those eyes, you will see yourself looking back. You may even see the fear the dragon holds as he looks at you, because he shares your fear. Even though it may seem as if the dragon is your fear in truth he is just your excuse. If you walk toward him you will see him move aside and transform suddenly into a beautiful road leading to your future. Like I said sometimes your future is where you are, doing what you are doing, and sometimes it’s out there behind the horizon, because no matter what your future is it is almost always beyond what you can see. God has this huge, amazing plan for you that may seem like nothing as you live through it; but somehow that plan is doing amazing things for the world wheather you see it or not. You may be the single difference that makes the most important change. Only God knows what you will cause and do while on this earth, you just have to not be afraid of the beast and realize that he is your dream come true.