The Promise of Tomorrow.

Just thinkin' about
Tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs,
And the sorrow
Till there's none!

When I'm stuck a day
That's gray,
And lonely,
I just stick out my chin
And grin,
And say,

Oh, the sun'll come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow!
Tomorrow!
I love ya Tomorrow!

The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There'll be sun!

Just thinking about
Tomorrow

Clears away the cobwebs
And the sorrow
'Til there's none!

When I'm stuck with a day
That's gray and lonely
I just stick out my chin
And grin, and say--

The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow!
Tomorrow!
I love ya
Tomorrow!
You're always a day away
Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya, tomorrow
You're always a day away!


Today is yet another day that I wish for tomorrow. Can someone please tell me when tomorrow will come? It is candidly stated in the famous song from the musical Annie; "Tomorrow is always a day away." Only one day? Two maybe...but as days turn into weeks and weeks into months, somehow tomorrow is never found. It seems too far out of reach.

I have found my heart is more than not, longing for the things or tomorrow. I struggle through the today, or so it seems, only to find that tomorrow seems much brighter. Of course God can be found in the today. And with the encouragement of a friend, I am becoming more and more aware of the everyday God moments. Purposefully looking for and finding God in even the smallest of places. Those moments can be pretty amazing. Even in this search to find God and go deeper, I'm left holding on simply to the promises of tomorrow. Not that He doesn't meet me where I'm at now, because He does, all the time. The fact is, there is something on the horizon of tomorrow that has captured my heart.

I feel as if I have waded in the puddles for too long and I'm ready to dive in to the fullness of what God has in store. This reminds me of a song by Steven Curtis Chapman in which he visualizes how it is to not take in the fullness of what the Lord has planned. How we need to wake up and see the Glory.

See The Glory
by Steven Curtis Chapman:

I never did like the word mediocre
I never wanted it to be said of me, oh, no
Just point me to the job and I'd go over, over
Looking for the very best that could be
So what is this thing I see
Going on inside of me?
When it comes to the grace of God
Sometimes it's like …

(chorus)
I'm playing Gameboy standing in the middle of the Grand Canyon
I'm eating candy sittin' at a gourmet feast
I'm wading in a puddle when I could be swimming in the ocean
Tell me what's the deal with me
(I know the time has come for me to)
Wake up and see the glory

Every star in the sky tells His story, oh
And every breeze is singing His song
All of creation is imploring
Hey, come see this grand phenomenon
The wonder of His grace
Should take my breath away
I miss so many things when I'm content with …

How could I trivialize it
This awesome gift of God's grace?
Once I have come to realize it
I should be speechless and amazed

Wake up and see the glory
Open your eyes and take it in
Wake up and be amazed
Over and over again

God's love is calling to you and to me
Wake up, wake up
Open your eyes

With emphasis on the chorus, it leads in the end to the bridge. The Lord has began to wake me up. To wake me up to know the fullness of who He is. I'm not content with just a taste of God anymore. I want more of Him.

In Psalms 34:8 we are encouraged to "Taste and see that the Lord is good..." The definition of taste according to Dictionarydotcom is 1) to try or test the flavor or quality of (something) by taking some into the mouth: to taste food.

To try and to test. The Lord is saying...."Go ahead! Just test me and see! I'll prove it to ya! He is such an understanding and faithful God that He gets our fleshly doubt. He understands that no matter how faithful He is to us, sometimes we still don't trust Him. So with His infinite wisdom and unfailing love for us, He lays it down in a way that we understand it better. He's waiting for you to just "taste and see that He is good". Why? Because He knows that once you have tasted, once you have truly experienced Him in His fullness, we will be ruined. Unsatisfied with anything else. We won't be able to get enough of Him.

As I have began to taste and see, I have been discontented with only a taste....I want more. I want so much more. I want ALL He has to offer. Psalms 34:8 goes on to say: "...blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." When we taste God, He is within us. And when we are in Him, we will be Blessed. How awesome is that?

Nothing breaks my heart more than a Comfortable Christian Content to Compromise, and settle for less than what Jesus Christ has intended for them. He came that we may have life, not only life eternal, but life here on earth. Abundant life. Our lives can only be abundant when we take Jesus at His word and taste of His goodness.

Maybe that's why my heart longs for tomorrow. For tomorrow Holds promise of more of Christ in the fullness of his presence and the fullness of the call He has placed on my life.

I also know that I am in a time of testing and a time of waiting on the Lord. James 1:2-4 says (although I'd really encourage you to read the whole chapter) "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything."

The breakdown would look something like this:

Testing=Perseverance=Maturity.

I think this is exactly where I'm at. God is dealing with me and a very real and raw way. I am being tested in many area's of my life. I'm trying desperately to persevere, for in the end I want to come forth as a mature Christian. Then God will be able to open the doors of tomorrow. Once I have been tested. Once my faith is strengthened. This is also a time for waiting upon God. I'm putting my hope for tomorrow in His hands. This is a time of preparation.

Isaiah 40:31 makes this pretty clear for us. "But those who hope in (or wait upon) the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint."

What a beautiful promise for us when we take the time to wait on the Lord. Waiting takes time....but its through waiting that we eventually, through Christ, reach our brighter tomorrows.

October 2008 Journal Entry.

There is a strange longing in my spirit. A restlessness, a beckoning, a lack of contentedness. A desire to see more, to do more and to be more than what is simply expected of me. It's a silent, yet disturbing feeling. A strange sense of familiarity mixed with an ever present feeling of subtle discomfort. A desire to draw near to the One who is never far away. One whose name brings overwhelming peace and presence to any situation or circumstance. One who is jealous for my heart, my mind and my time. It's a call to come back, to come forth and to call out for holiness, purity and unity. To come back to the simple truth of who Christ is and what his Hearts Cry is. To understand Him like never before through intimacy with His spirit. To desperately desire His will and to hold tightly to His commands. To pray with a passion rather than an obligation. To consume his word as if it was our only source of life. To understand our limits and weakness only to recognize our utter dependence on his faithfulness and grace. To lay down our temporary desires and goals that will serve to only satisfy our earthy lives but to live for the eternal. To set out eyes on the things above. To shine with such light that the world is left in complete awe of our love for another and most of all a Love for our Creator. To live above the norm. To stop comparing our Christianity with those around us and live with conviction to the standards of the word. To stop blaming and pointing the finger and wake up to the other three fingers pointing back at us. To live our lives as a testimony to the hope that we have found. It is time to stop blending in with our surroundings and time to stop playing church and to start diving into the pure and unaltered presence of God daily, both in our personal and public lives. It is time to put an end to compartmentalizing our lives to conform to what feels right at that time. To let Holiness consume our hearts AT ALL TIMES. To stop settling for less than what He holds for us. To stop trying to manipulate His hand according to our plans. Becoming less and less and allowing Him to fill us more and more through fasting and surrender. To reach out to the hurting and those without hope. To become the one whom Isaiah speaks of in chapter 61. An anointed messenger. To care for the widowed and the fatherless, both physically and spiritually speaking, as unto those who do not believe. To no longer blend in with our surroundings but to be set apart as He has called us to be. To live for a higher calling which is for His purpose. To stand and not back down in the face of adversity. To remain strong when faced with trials, not losing our faith nor dare we blame God, but like Job, praise him through the storms, for He is still worthy. He is unchanging, so we too must be steadfast. To be ready in season and out of season. To study his word and be filled with His wisdom so that we may show ourselves approved when called to take a stand. To hold out for purity's sake, that we may be a blameless and spotless bride when in a blink of an eye, the Bridegroom returns. Hiding his word deep in our hearts, being transformed by the renewing of our mind. This is a High calling for those who love Christ. But it is not only I who has been called to this. If you are a follower of Christ may this stirring in my heart encourage you to draw closer to the One who is never far and to live life beyond what you have planned, but to set those plans aside and take up this cross of extraordinary significance. To listen to the voice of the Lord and to set forth on a journey of holiness which we are all called to. Let us lay our lives down and take up a renewed spirit and passion to live for the one who died because of his relentless love for you....and who lives now, inside our hearts. Be Gods. Be Blessed.

Catching the Wind.

As the wind played with my hair, I breathed in deeply embracing the sunshine and warmth of the late afternoon. Oh how beautiful it truly was. I began to pick up speed, with my windows down and sunroof open. Nothing seemed to me, at that moment, more pleasurable than than the pure delight of a summer evening drive. I was in no rush to be anywhere in particular, therefore freeing up my mind to enjoy the simple pleasures that surrounded me. It is in moments like these, that I begin to count my every day blessing and pray. And oh how truly blessed I am. No matter how big my troubles may look, they always seem to fade when you take a step back and look at the bigger picture of life. It is so easy to take the simple blessings of our everyday and look past them or dismiss them, as if they are deserved in some odd way. Like the fact that we still have our arms and leg, fingers and toes. I know this may sound absurd....but think about it. How would our lives change without them? Or how about the fact that we have food and clean water at our every whim. How drastic it would be to live without such necessities. And yet we easily forget that so many people still do live without this simple luxury. For me, when I'm driving by people who are obviously walking to work (suitcase in hand) or those waiting for a bus, I think...Thank you Lord for the blessing of my own car. Thank you for my job. Thank you for warm showers, air conditioning/heat, entertainment available at all times. And what about our families....as much as we may not always get along, how would the loss of them change your life? These simple things we often think nothing of, but the fact is, they too, are blessings. Or how about the times in our lives where we have close calls? Like when we find ourselves avoiding an accident, by simply leaving a little late for work, or early for that matter. These too are blessings. I am also thankful for is my health. I am living a life free from sickness and other deadly diseases....coincidence perhaps? Think again....It's simply the grace of God on your life. Our every breath is a gift. For our next breath is never guarunteed. So take a moment to thank the Lord for the simple blessings in your life. For we are truly blessed. Let us stop looking at our problems, but at our blessings instead. You'll be surprised how your outlook on life will change drastically, and for the better. Let us stop waiting for the Lord to do something big in our lives, in order for us to become greatful. He continues to bless us daily because He loves us, not because we deserve it.

Back to the car ride....

I began to pick up speed, with my windows down and sunroof open. Nothing seemed to me, at that moment, more pleasurable than than the pure delight of a summer evening drive. I was in no rush to be anywhere in particular, therefore freeing up my mind to enjoy the simple pleasures that surrounded me. It is in moments like these, that I begin to count my every day blessing and pray. As I began to lift up my prayer, I stretched my hand out the window feeling the pressure of the wind. I would open my hand then close my fingers, as if trying to catch the wind. It was then that I heard the Lord speak to my heart...And this is what He said. "Can you catch the wind? Even still, can you catch Me?" This hit me with force. Can a man catch the wind? And I mean truly encompass it all? For it is impossible! Sure you can catch bits of it. But never all of it. Christ is much like the wind. We've all heard the famous quote "God is like the wind, we can't see Him, but we can feel Him." This is true. We feel Him when He is in our midst. But can we capture Him in his entirety? Our lives as Christians are based upon following the life of Jesus. In Tommy Tenny's book The Extreme God Chaser, he describes a scene where a daddy would play tag with his little girl. It would start out as her full forced pursuit of him, as he would slowly pretend to run from her, barely putting forth much effort at all on his part. But soon enough the chase would reverse, he would soon be in pursuit of his little girl; in the end, capturing her in his arms, as he so longed to hold her close. This is a perfect picture of us as Christian when we pursue the Lord. He wants us to chase after Him, with a reckless abandonment. But we could never completely catch Him. And much like the story, we become the ones pursued. He catches us and wraps us in His arms with a joy and a love unsurpassable. God wants us to try and catch Him. He pours Himself out to us so we may desire more and more of Him until we set everything aside and run after him. Can we catch Him? No. Does he let us catch glimpses of Him? Yes. So we will begin to run after him in hot pursuit, only to be caught in His arms of love. Where he wants us to be. So as I finish this out, I challenge you to pursue your maker. More than that tho, do not simply walk, but run after Him. When you do this he will pour out his love on you like never before. You life will continue to be blessed beyond all you could hope or imagine. So the next time you feel the wind on your face, I pray that this word will find you and you will think of the challenge to run after the Lord with your everything, as if you were trying to catch the wind.