Thoughts From Under My Willow Tree #1

This is my willow tree.

So I've been spending a fair amount of time underneath my willow tree

either late at night or early in the morning and watching the moon make its journey brings so many mysterious stories, symbolic references and just a general feeling of mystique which I like. I mean I'm hoping the mystique comes more because I'm trying to commune more with God but the moon definitely adds to the atmosphere. Anyway this morning was pretty cool because I had asked God the night before to help me get up early so I could come back out and talk more with Him. Being the good guy that He is, He decided that the best time for that would be 3:55 and so at that blessed hour I awoke, not to an annoying alarm or a sibling slamming a door. I just awoke with a great feeling of God's presence it wasn't something super miraculous or awe inspiring, just a quiet awareness of God as if He was saying, "I'm here and we now have all morning to talk." As an added bonus I got to hear the rooster crow at a nearby farm. I'd never heard a rooster actually welcome the day before so I found that it was super cool. 

Next cool thing, after finishing Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret and Watchmen Nee's The Normal Christian Life I've realized how I'm lacking in practical everyday faith. So starting today I begin compiling a list of all the promises of God made too me as well as a list of the commands God gives to me in the scriptures. My goal is to finish the New Testament this week. By finish I mean read through it and make not of the promises and commands which I understand to apply directly to current Christians. So we'll see how that works out, I'd like to post portions of those lists as I create them but we'll see. An encouraging thing I've noticed just from my reading today from the Gospels was that Jesus has a tendency to pair a command with a promise. 

For example Luke 12:22 says, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat nor about your body, what you will put on." A command, Jesus says, "don't be anxious" a straightforward but very difficult task if that's all He said. Fortunately for us God is not a tyrant who simply demands and does not supply. After His command He gives us perspective in the next verse, Luke12:23 For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. When we adopt this perspective we are ready for what He says in verse 31, "Instead, seek His kingdom and these things will be added to you." Rather than be anxious we are given a replacement task, do not worry and with all the time you have freed up now that your not worrying seek His kingdom and the things you worried about will be taken care of. I have been encouraged as I've read the gospels today how God doesn't command without specific reasons and His promises are never forgotten. 

That's all for now, carry on.