You Were Never Meant to Carry This – Every Moment

Greetings Dear Reader,

Thru each heartache you will see

Every moment brings you closer

To who you were meant to be

Dear younger me,

The span of our lives is made up of moments.  Each day we encounter a thousand moments and over the years those moments become our lives.  The choices in the moments become who we are.  A life is made up of the cumulative results and consequences of moments.

We view most of our life through the past and the crisis or joy of the moment.  We see the distresses and consequences of the moment as they occur but rarely remember to live in the moment. 

No matter the circumstances those moments are what shape us.  They shape us through our choices, attitudes, and responses.  They shape us relative to the efforts of the Father to bring us back to good.

We often, I think forget that God’s plan includes the response to every choice each of us will make.   It takes in to account every nuance of thought and action.   The King of the Sunset lies waiting for the dawn when his counter moves to our moves bring all things back to the way he intended them to be. 

It is my place to find him in every moment so that I am no surprised in the moment when I find myself with him.  It is in him that we live and move and have our being.  It seems only logical to recognize that each moment is an opportunity to find Christ and follow.  In a life we have 36.792,000 such moments.  He stands in each one waiting to help bring me closer to who I am meant to be.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

What are We Made For – Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

We are made by God for his purposes.  We manage to muddle that all of those purposes are loving and good.  All of life is not “good” but God promises to be good to me in all of it.

If I disconnect from my purpose then I leave a void that makes me less than I really am.  No matter what I see to fill that void with it will not satisfy.  I am not meant to be a deep theologian.  I am not designed for long discussions in higher criticism. 

It is easy for me to have faith and to love people.  I like making others feel accepted.  I struggle with injustice and selfishness.  I am made for a purpose although I am not always sure what it is.    

So I follow.  The journey is both wonderful and tearful.  The purpose is found in the following.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

What are We Made For – One of a Kind

Greetings Dear Reader,

We do not understand our uniqueness enough.  We do not see how much effort God has put into our existence.  We run the gamut from believing we sprung accidentally from primordial ooze to thinking we are an alien science project. 

I hold the waning belief that we are created by a God who loves us and wants to know us.  He claims to have created us as unique individuals.  He made us to know him, love him, and enjoy him.  

We have a purpose.  We all have gifts, talents, and abilities.  I wish that one of mine was the power of flight but for some reason God ruled that out.  I can write.  I enjoy being good to people.  I can sing a little and play a couple of instruments.  Many others do all of these things better than me.  I am a small fish in a vast ocean. 

I am, however, one of a kind.  God knew all that I would be before he laid the foundations of the earth.  He knew and responded to my choices for ill of good.  He is working out his design in me. 

When I feel loss, unloved, unwanted, or unneeded I can find some solace in this.  I will not pretend that knowing this heals all.  It could but my fallen nature does not allow it.  I doubt and I fail.  In Christ alone all can be mended.  He made me unique to be his then I ran away. I am one of a kind made by God and I rejected my maker. 

My Grandfather used to tell a story about a little boy who built a model sailboat.  His father helped him cut the wood but he glued, nailed, and painted it.  It was bright red with a blue stripe all the way around.  It had three white sails.  .

He took it out to a local lake to sail it.  A high wind arose and his precious boat was blown away.  He mourned its loss and moved on to other things.  A few weeks later he was walking down the street and in the window of the local pawn shop was his boat.  He went in and told the proprietor about his boat.  The unyielding man insisted that he had bought the boat and that the selling price was thirty dollars. 

The boy saw thirty dollars as an unreachable sum.  He did odd jobs, saved his allowance, and watched every day to make sure his boat was still in the window.  After three long months he had enough money.  He went to the shop and purchased the boat.

As he left the shop he cradled the boat in his arms.  He whispered to the boat, “You are twice mine.  I made you and I bought you.  You are twice mine.”

We are uniquely made.  We are one of a kind.  When God lost us he bought us back.  He paid for redemption with his dearest blood.  That is truly a comfort. .

In Christ Alone – Stuart Townend

In Christ alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my All in All,

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! - who took on flesh,

Fullness of God in helpless babe.

This gift of love and righteousness,

Scorned by the ones He came to save:

Till on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied -

For every sin on Him was laid;

Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,

Light of the world by darkness slain:

Then bursting forth in glorious day

Up from the grave He rose again!

And as He stands in victory

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,

For I am His and He is mine -

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

This is the power of Christ in me;

From life's first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand:

Till He returns or calls me home,

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

What are We Made For - Freedom

Greetings Dear Reader,

We want freedom in so many ways.  We do so much to get the freedom we want.  It seems to me that so much of that is futile, selfish, or wrong.  We are meant to be free but we seek it in the wrong way. 

No matter what we believe we are not free from God.  Not believing in something does not make it non-existent or ineffectual.  God is sovereign and in that sovereignty he gives us choice.  We are free to choose him or not but not free from the consequences of our choices.   

We must not sin to feel free.  It only puts us in deeper forms of bondage.  It only makes our debt to God deeper.  One cannot fail to love others and be free.  One cannot fail to love God and be free.  These are the rails on which we must run.

Yes there are rails.  We are not a roaming animal.  We are more like a train.  We can go many places but must stay on the tracks.  Freedom is found in obedience.  I must not put people in bondage to dead orthodoxy or false following.  I must also assure I do not follow anything that hinders my freedom to follow Christ. 

Anything that limits me from following Christ with all my thoughts, feelings, and actions is bondage.  Freedom is found in faith and following.  We are designed to be free.

If You Want to get Free – Waterdeep

In the gas station bathroom by the condom machine

I heard the word of the Lord

He said "Take off your shoes, this is holy ground too

You know I came for the sick and the bored."

Beneath the selling of beers

And the welling up of tears

Out beyond the beam of the remote control

There's a whispering voice

That the humble ear ears

that says "I am still waiting for you to ask just to be made whole."

And the bush it was burning on the mountain top

And though the leaves never blackened, the fire didn't stop

That's the way that it works in this old life of sin

You gotta let the fire burn you just to get clean within

I am so often deterred from my actual intent

by distractions in a cellophane wrap

And the cruel voice that taunts me when I open them up

to find just one more box full of crap

It's where you're mocked while you abstain

and then cursed when you give in

It's all a game that's impossible to beat

But there's a peaceful refrain God'll sing in your brain

when you put the nails to your hands and your feet

And the smell of our sacrifices

still fills up my head

There's just a few left at the altar, Lord

all the rest of them fled

And we've cried and we've tried

We've sweat and we've bled

But we don't just need atonement

We need to be raised from the dead

When they took down the cross from that dark hillside

The blood on their hands was the blood from his side

That's the way that it works, That's the way it must be.

You gotta let His blood stain you of you want to get free

If you want to get free

Don't you want to get free?

I think you want to be free.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

What are We Made For – Happiness?

Greetings Dear Reader,

We pursue happiness.  We want to be happy.  Whilst it is not wrong to be happy we forgo things like righteousness and holiness in seeking happiness.  We make our happiness the priority and abandon honor, integrity, and obedience in the elusive pursuit of happiness.

The quest for happiness is never ending.  Like so many other elusive solutions to our condition we seek happiness when we should be seeking things that last.  Happiness is a product of our inner response to external circumstances.  We cannot find true happiness in this way if our responses are not Christ centered

True happiness comes from having the mind of Christ in any situation.  It comes from doing right no matter what the cost.  The tainted temporary happiness we accept when we compromise our faith actually leads to pain and suffering.

When we do wrong to make ourselves happy we step outside of our design.  We act outside what is good and right to be happy.  We may get a feeling of happiness but the guilt and pain of sin will out. 

I must not think about my own “happiness”: but rather seek to do what is right no matter what the cost.  I may feel pain, loss, fear, and sorrow.  I am not made to be happy.  I am made to feel the joy that accompanies Christ no matter what the cost.  If I do this there is a joy that will supplant any fleeting happiness.  That is the thing for which I am made.

What Kind of Joy is This – Steven Curtis Chapman

Anybody in their right mind

Would've given up their preaching and headed for home

They've been warned a hundred times

But something inside them keeps giving them hope

And just when you think they'd be crying

Instead of the tears, there's joy in their eyes

What kind of joy is this

That counts it a blessing to suffer

What kind of joy is this

That gives the prisoner his song

What kind of joy could stare death in the face

And see it as sweet victory

This is the joy of a soul that's forgiven and free

Anybody else with his pain

Would want to shake their fist at heaven

And give up the fight

'Cause trouble had been Paul's middle name

Ever since he'd been captured by God's blinding light

But just when his hope should be dying

If you listen you'll hear him singing a song

What kind of joy is this

That counts it a blessing to suffer

What kind of joy is this

That gives the prisoner his song

What kind of joy could stare death in the face

And see it as sweet victory

This is the joy of a soul that's forgiven and free

What kind of joy is this

The Father has promised his children

What kind of joy is this

That Jesus has come to reveal

What kind of joy could give hope in this world

To someone just like you and me

This is the joy of a soul that's forgiven and free

I've found this joy for my soul is forgiven and free

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

What are We Made For – Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

Whether you believe what I believe or not Dear Reader there is merit to some of the more positive things that God has to say about us.  Some of the things God says about us are mind boggling.

God tells us, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5

David writes, “You alone created my inner being. You knitted me together inside my mother.  I will give thanks to you because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made. Your works are miraculous, and my soul is fully aware of this.  My bones were not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, when I was being skillfully woven in an underground workshop.  Your eyes saw me when I was only a fetus. Every day [of my life] was recorded in your book before one of them had taken place.  How precious are your thoughts concerning me, O God! How vast in number they are!”  Psalm 139:13-17.

Job, in the midst of his suffering declares, "God's Spirit has made me. The breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

This is just the edge of the whole.  We are made.  We are made FOR something.  Every one of us has a purpose.  There is not magical formula for discovering it.   There is no secret spell that will reveal is.  It is all at once over-simplified and infinitely complex. 

When I speak of purpose I am not here pondering careers.  The question is much larger.  Why did God make me?  What my purpose?  On that question hangs so much that is so vital.  Walk with me if you will.  I could use the company as I try to rediscover and renew purpose.  I know what the answers are.  I need help in applying them well.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)