03/01/2012 little things

John and Staci Eldredge have a thing with God.
I'm jealous.
Well, I was.
but now I think I have a thing too.
John finds heart shaped moose turds (idk!?!) and Staci found starfish - lots of starfish.
God's little gifts.  His tap on the shoulder to say I love you, I notice you, You're special.....
I find...
I find little tidbits of insights, words, truths ...  I think.  I think that's mine....

for a while now, all throughout life actually, i'm seeing Him
of course i see all the obvious, obviously,
like beautiful sunrises and sunsets,
sweet precious babies,
fragrant flowers,
majestic mountains, etc.
those are a given...
but i see it in all sorts of other places too,
like films, where some little monumental secret is revealed, for those who have eyes to see
i hear it in song lyrics,
in the music,
find it in photography,
in any art really,
in any excellence,
but most of all it's like i see it in the expression of a person's essence.
an architect creates from his soul, a good one does.
a mathematician sees the order and expresses it in equations that most of us cannot begin to fathom.
dancers express in their movement the grace and beauty of His heart.
stories, almost always find some truths in stories.
even some commercials!  when they touch my soul,
i know it's God in them that is reaching out to touch me.

but learning and realizing how each one of us has been given a piece, portion, facet, of God Himself.
a particular thing that allows Him to shine through us...  it's opened my eyes to things.
contrary to my formerly held belief that all things God had to be 'religious',
i find that when people are who, and being what He created them to be, He shows in and through them, even if they do not know Him.
and
lots of times i have conversations with my friends and it's like my spirit explodes because clarity comes with little insights that we discover
and i know it to be truth

so

what do you find?

how does He tap you on the shoulder and say "I love you"?

Paul hinted at this truth in Colossians 1 almost in passing.....
²¹ And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, ²² yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— ²³ if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

all of creation proclaims who God is.
Love painted it, added to, built into, and used, in every part of creation for us to see Him.

He will use anything in His power to connect with us.
That is His deepest desire.

now did anyone ever think to ask WHY?  Why did He want to reconcile us in order to be presented before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach?
you see.  there it is again.
why
why?
well, my answer to that, and i believe His answer would be, love.
Love
He is love. He wants to be joined back together with us in order that we could express that love as union.
God is relational.
Love is who He is, and relationship is what He desires.

Thanks God for the little things......