Love Notes

Based on Amos 8:1-9:15, Psalm 143:1-6, Proverbs 30:1-4, Revelation 6:1-17.

Father in heaven, in Christ and by Your Holy Spirit, I stand before You now, amazed at Your lavish love and fullness of assurance even in the midst of famine. Your Light pours onto and out from this situation, and I bask in believing completely in Your ability to provide in every way.

Thank You so much for reminding me of all the evidence from my past. It builds my faith to remember that You are not only able but also eager to bring forth what is best and what is right. I remember You extended the oil in my jar and multiplied the jars and the oil inside. Reveal, I pray, through this watershed moment, even more evidence that You know the need and will address it. We watch and wait, trusting You will again provide for Your people, even in a time of famine. Maybe especially in a time of famine. 

May this famine, which is not of bread or water but of Your Word, cause a great thirst and longing in the peoples of the earth, I pray. I meditate on all You have done to build my trust in You; I remember  the days of my former life -- days when I implored You to give ear to my cries. In Your faithfulness, LORD, You answered my prayers. You plucked me out when the enemy persecuted my soul and crushed my life to the ground and made me dwell in darkness. For many years of my life, my spirit was overwhelmed within me, and my heart was distressed. I was desperately diseased orphan when I finally I spread out my hands to You, reaching for You like a thirsty land.

And You came and sat with me, and You sang to me. You knew I had neither learned wisdom nor obtained knowledge of Your holy ways, so You came to me up-close-and personal, causing my heart to incline toward Your gentle wooings, and You drew me with Your chords of love. Yes, You caused me (even me!) to seek You, to ask questions I had ignored or pushed aside, and to knock on doors to open the way into You as the answer, who had been the answer the entire time. You came to me and quenched my thirst, reviving me with sips of Your Living Water and feeding my by hand with Your Bread of Life. And You have joined me with others who have done the same. Together we are Your Church, alive in You, the temple not made by human hands.

Now we live outside the famine, raised among the remnant whom You call by Name. In Your Fullness of Life, we plant vineyards and drink wine from them -- new wine, for we are new wineskins!  And we shall no longer be pulled up or pulled out, for Your power holds us FAST and DEEP in Christ. We know and trust that You will raise up the ruins, O GOD on high. And we are blessed to hear You singing to our hearts, "Behold the days are coming!"

This photograph is by Liz Burnell.