Love

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;

but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

Lily White

Like a lily among thorns,

So is my love among the daughters.

Song of Solomon 2:2

The Path of Your Commands

I run in the path of your commands,

for you have broadened my understanding.

Psalm 119:32

David was a man who loved God with all his heart and mind and strength. His motivations honoured God, his innermost thoughts delighted God, and the fruit of his life and the quality of his actions mirrored the bounty of his very being. It all came from a heart that overflowed with loving loyalty towards God; and honestly, when one truly gets to know God, how can one not love Him?

David proclaimed to God that he ran in the path of His commands. It implies a singular pathway through the complexity of who God is and the diversity of His principles; many commands yet one pathway. That pathway I like to think of as love; Love that is strong, unswervingly obedient, forever loyal, ever seeking to find that special pocket in God’s heart where you know that He is absolutely delighted.

Love is the basic element that colours all others. It is the principle that moves us to obey God and to care for others. Love is not soppy and wishy-washy. It is principled, it is wise, it is strong, it is kind, it is compassionate, it is merciful, it is intolerant of sin and wickedness, it thinks of ways to bring God’s joy into the lives of others.

Love is about action. It is not simply a sentiment. It is about thoughtfulness. You actually have to think through how you are going to bless someone else. That might mean calling them up to say, “Hey, I was thinking about you. How are you going?” It might mean taking someone out to lunch. It could mean turning someone away from wrongdoing by confronting them about it. It could mean baking someone some cookies or any endless number of things.

It is God’s boundless love which makes him the perfect God that He is. Everything that God does is motivated by love – love for people, love for creation and love of righteousness. His ways may sometimes seem strange to us, yet He Himself promises and assures us that all His thoughts towards us are for our good, to give us a hope and a future. His love is expressed in a spectrum ranging from kindly-gentle affection to tough-on-you training. Sometimes God showers us with favourable circumstances. Sometimes he puts the squeeze and press on us to extract the best of who we are. Love is the prism through which all the colours of God’s character shine through – a rainbow painted with innumerable hues of boundless goodness and perfection

The Kimono Collection

The Kimono Collection

Kimonos are traditional Japanese wear, typically worn to celebrate special events or festivals. The richest kimonos are made of pure silk and are finely-crafted garments. Such elegance reminds me of scriptures encouraging us to adorn ourselves with robes of righteousness.

 

Principles:

• Robes of righteousness are of great beauty

• Kimonos can take an hour to put on – patience beautifies

• Righteousness is the fashion of queens

• The gorgeous sash (obi) ‘seals’ the kimono – love completes all other virtues

Scriptures

• Take away the filthy garments from him …See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes - Zech 3:4

• I put on righteousness, and it clothed me - Job 29:14

• Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your beautiful garments - Isa 52:1

• Put on the Lord Jesus Christ - Rom 13:14

 

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another … But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

Col 3:12-15

The Swan

The Swan

 

Life was ugly

Love flew away

But look, look!

I am a swan today

Life was lonely

I was sad, lost

Now see, behold!

My snowy wings soft

Kindness found me

She gave me wings

Granted me beauty

And a song to sing

Though seasons came

Frosty and cold

I flowered in spring

O look, behold!

I am lovely

O, I am me

This still pond mirrors

Beauty destined to be

Life was ugly

Love flew away

O look! Behold!

I am a swan today

©NnekaEdwards

Floating

Floating

Love is light

Like wings that flutter

Like hearts that float

To one another

There is joy

And there is colour

See blue and green

Know spring and summer

The breath of God

Has blown you to me

We’ll touch the sky

Alight where love leads

Love is light

Like hearts that flutter

You are his gift

There is no other

Wings that sail

That chase tomorrow

Now I’ve found you

The best will follow

©Nneka Edwards 2010



Joie Journal: Our Crowning Moment

Dear Journal:

Sometimes you have to muse and wonder. What is the point of it all? – the personal crises, the pain, the wounds, the trouble, the distress. I know that in the Psalms it says that God will purify us like gold refined in a furnace seven times over. God is looking for absolute purity, God-glowing character and gem-studded personality. He wants nothing less than absolute excellence in those of us who have invited Him into our heart. So, into the furnace He places us, until our karat qualities shine through like gold finery adorning a gorgeous bride.

Yes, we are the Bride of Christ – all who believe in Jesus and in the hope of his Return. The Book of Revelation says that Jesus is returning for a Bride without spot or wrinkle – with no moral blemishes or ethical defects. So I need to do my part, and I count on my brothers and sisters to do theirs. Every step we take towards becoming Christ-like is a step closer to our crowning moment, when we step into Eternity and share the governance of the universe with the Son of God; and that’s what personal trial is all about. It is God urging the Bride to make herself ready.

So while circumstances seem to scar my soul, in the invisible realm the Holy Spirit is actually beautifying, refining, perfecting … for the great Day is drawing near.

Calling the End Closer

O God,

I worship You and adore You. I look back over the years and see the pattern of your working in my life. I see you crafting into me wisdom, patience, kindness, strength, faith and all the perfection of who You are. I thank you for the trials. I thank you in the trials. I look to Jesus, the author and finisher of my Faith, so that I will not grow weary. I eagerly anticipate Your Return, O God. By Your grace and by Your grace alone, I will become who you have designed me to be. I throw open the windows of my heart to you. I give you all that I am – my hopes, my strengths, my weaknesses, my everything.

Perfect me God. I give you only one hundred percent effort. I love you, so I set my heart to do what pleases You. I choose to obey you because of your great kindness towards me, and because of your great love. You loved me first, so I love you. Let your righteousness spill over from my heart. Let there be a bounty of goodness and beauty overflowing from within. It is easy to love you God because you are perfect, but help me God to love my brother and sisters as I should. Help me to love my neighbour as I love myself. Teach me to even appreciate myself the way You appreciate me. Cause all of your sons and daughters to live a life of excellence. We eagerly anticipate Your Return. Yes, the Bride says “Come!” Hasten your steps towards the End of Time. Do not delay! The Spirit says, “Come!” And the Bride says, “Come!”

Joie de Lens - The Epilogue

Well, December 2010 brings to a close this chapter called Joie de Lens. My prayer is that this blog has helped pour faith, hope, joy and strength into the hearts of all those who have come to drink of the fountains and springs penned here. Each month presents and explains principles and personal tools which I have found effective in dealing with personal crises. These times and seasons are growing darker, but God’s grace abounds all the more. It is in God Himself and in spending time in His presence that we find the true well of life, and the answer to all the perplexity which seeks to defy us in this climactic period of human history. It is the very breath of God within our hearts and souls, the rich speaking of God into our lives, which promises that we will come through stronger, tougher, wiser. So, let God pen your tale, let God design your pathway, let God inscribe His perfect Word into your heart. For in this there is hope that will never fade. May God richly and kindly bless you.

Community

How lovely are your tents, O Jacob!

Your dwellings, O Israel!

Like valleys that stretch out,

Like gardens by the riverside,

Like aloes planted by the Lord,

Like cedars beside the waters.

He shall pour water from His buckets,

And His seed shall be in many waters.

Numbers 24:5-7

Three Better

Two are better than one …

And a threefold cord

is not quickly broken

Ecclesiastes 4:9,12

Family

A father of the fatherless,

A defender of widows,

Is God in His holy habitation.

He sets the solitary in families …

Psalm 68:5-6

Ruth Meets Boaz

The story of Ruth and Boaz is a fairytale romance of two lives being interwoven by the wisdom of God. On the one hand we have Ruth – a poor widow who finds herself in a new land experiencing a strange culture. On the other is Boaz – the noble gentlemen of kind faith and charming strength who wins the heart of a lady who comes to be loved and accepted by her community – her new family so to speak; and in the middle of it all, like the God-inspired match-maker, we have Naomi, who forgets the sorrow of losing loved ones as she brings together two lives that had always been destined to meet. It is a tale of journeying, exploring, and embracing, and of many individual tales being knit together into a legacy of all that God can create when we trust Him and when we give ourselves to love others in many different ways.

The heroine of the tale, of course, is Ruth. How can one not admire her courage and graciousness in following her mother-in-law, Noami, stepping into a whole new world which she made her very own. The lady from Moab made Israel her home. At the critical moment when she could have returned to her homeland (at Noami’s bidding), she clung to Naomi and said:

 

Entreat me not to leave you,

Or to turn back from following after you;

For wherever you go, I will go;

And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;

Your people shall be my people,

And your God my God.

Ruth 1:16

The beauty of the story is in the bitterness of loss becoming the sweetness of finding; the despair of sorrow becoming the celebration of joy; the ache of loneliness becoming the solace of belonging. The story of Ruth is one of those sweet, soul-stirring stories that paints a lilting love song that promises kindness, love, loyalty, friendship, family, healing and perfect endings in God.

The Perfect Body

The beauty of difference and diversity is in mutual acceptance and a sense of comfort with the fact that we need each other. That is how God has designed creation and this is how he has designed us. Just think of the intricacy of an ecosystem. If one variable is eliminated it upsets the balance of the entire community of life. Similarly, if we think of the human body, we understand that the life and health of one member – teeny or not – breathes life (so to speak) into the whole.

God is never after just an individual. His sense of purpose is far more expansive. He called Abraham and then out of Abraham he called forth nations and a universe full of star-studded royal heirs – sons and daughters of righteousness. God sent Jesus to earth to live a life of perfect obedience and then called many more sons and brothers to walk the walk of perfect righteousness in Him – many branches connected to one vine.

When we walk through trouble and turbulence it can be a very solitary and lonely kind of experience. However, from God’s vantage point, He sees and delights in the complete tapestry which He is weaving together – your joy, my sorrow, your sorrow my joy, my faith, your righteousness, my quest, your courage, my sacrifice, your kindness, my prayer, your strength, my trust, your wisdom, my hoping, your patience. God takes all those threads of our individual experiences, colours them with His ways and His character and then weaves them into a masterpiece of kingdom artistry.

I am a thread of many colours, every experience dipped in the hues of how God works out His righteousness in every dimension of what makes life life. As a thread I stand alone, but when I am woven with others, my life takes on meaning which goes way beyond the singularity of my simple spool. I become part of a panoramic tapestry where my thread finds its place – significant yet sharing significance with others. Together we make God’s purpose for creation complete.

The Summer Festival

Lanterns lit up the night with a festive glow, their glowing colours hanging about the evening and showering the neighbourood park with warm delight. Children, families, grannies, grandpas, everybody were there. They greeted, played, laughed, enjoying all kinds of yummy treats that you can find at Japanese festivals. What I loved most, though, was how they danced. One by one they came, until there was a ring of merry-makers circling the Taiko drummers with graceful steps and elegant hand motions. Round and round and round they danced, weaving in and out of a merry folk melody, stepping ever so gracefully in their elegant kimonos. It was a dance of celebration, a dance of village pride, a dance of delight in so many people coming together to share a singular experience. I joyed in their joy. Melody poured mirth into my being, lanterns lit up my soul and I was as drunk with delight as a field of flowers drinking in a drizzle of sake-wine. Circling, circling, lanterns glowing, circling, circling, round and round, music dancing, elegance clapping, round and round, circling, circling. Giddy, giddy with joy. Dizzy, giddy joy and delirious delight circling through the night.

The River Tribe

The River Tribe

Stretched out along the river

Where slim reeds kissed the bank

Fair fine tents of blue striped joy

Lined the water’s length

The dwellers there were nomads

They journeyed from afar

With young ones in their bosoms

They dreamt under the stars

And when the new dawn blooming

Shimmered in the streams

They cupped the crystal waters

Drinking long and deep

Morning’s songstrels dancing played

Elders taught the youth the art

Of weaving ancient legend tales

Lyrically upon the harp

Afteroon glades sleepy ease

Stirred by whistling archery

Maidens young and milky youths

Long bows curved and arrows knew

Menfolk fished with breezy lines

Ladies stirred the pot

Chatting o’er their simple feasts

One tribe together supped

And as the evening settled

Into starry night

The fathers drew their children near

Neath glowing silver light

They spoke of kings and love and war

Of mighty men and more

Of noble women and their deeds

And of One still grander yet than these

They spoke of ancient fathers

Their wisdom and their age

Faithfully taught young, tender hearts

Secrets of the Sage

Trusted these young, tender hearts

To turn the final Page

Entrusted to their future seed

The sealing of our Faith

©NnekaEdwards2004



Joie Journal: Home Sweet Home

Dear Journal,

I am grateful. Though I did not come from a perfect home, I am thankful. I thank God for my family. I thank God for my father who taught me to love music. I thank God for my mum who gave me my foundation in English and essay-writing. I thank God for my sister who sent me a plane ticket as a graduation present. I thank God for my other sister who helped me make sense of Spanish and French. If it were not for her care and kindness I might not have become the linguist that I am today. I thank you God that you are the God who builds bridges between people. Darkness seeks to destroy and dislodge relationship, but God brings people together.

I am grateful for my second families all across the world. I thank you God for my Korean families who I will never forget; people who welcomed me into their homes and treated me like one of their own. I thank you for all the special times we had together, laughing, learning and growing to love and appreciate each other. I thank you God for family in Christ – for village chiefs who counsel through character, and little ones whose simple faith, innocent trusting and insatiable curiosity about the world leave little pitter-pat footprints that lead me to discoveries in God. I thank God for fellow tribesmen who all go through the same rite of passage to become true men, battle-ready warriors and mature sons of God. I thank God for the village women who fetch water from wells and springs, refreshing kinsfolk with the life-giving Word of God; and women who sing and pray in chorus as they harvest in the fields of Your Kingdom. Thank You God for many tribes streaming into one Tribe. Thank you for Family!

Taking Care of Family Business

Abba Father,

Thank you for family. Thank you that you are so generous that you don’t keep all your goodies for yourself. You take one man and multiply him into many. You take a single person and set him within a family. You take your righteousness and pour it into as many vessels as tip towards you. As many as you call sons, you bring into your family. I thank you that I am part of your family and that you love me. I thank you because Jesus is not only my Saviour, but he is also my brother. Thank you, God, that I can call you Abba Father. You are so close and so caring and so kind. I value your advice and incline my heart towards your ways because I know that your thoughts concerning me are always good. Thank you for my many brothers and sisters in Christ – those who I know and those who I don’t. I pray that you will make my sisters women of grace, wisdom and strength. I pray that you make my brothers men of nobility, loyalty and courage. Help us to treat each other as you would treat us. Help us to think of each other as You think of us. Cause our hearts to be knitted together. Cause our bonds to be unbreakable. Teach us to be one in You.

Faith

If you have faith as a mustard seed …

nothing will be impossible for you.

Matthew 17:20



Trust God

Consider the lilies of the field,

How they grow:

They neither toil nor spin …

Now if God so clothes the grass of the field …

Will He not much more clothe you …?

Matthew

When Creation Speaks ...

Faith comes by hearing,

And hearing by the word of God

Romans 10:17

For since the creation of the world

His invisible attributes are clearly seen,

being understood by the things that are made …

so that they are without excuse

Romans 1:20

But without faith it is impossible to please Him,

for He who comes to God must believe that He is,

and that He is a rewarder of those

who diligently seek Him

Heb 11:6



The Father of Faith

Now the Lord said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,

From your family

And from your father’s house,

To a land I will show you …”

So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him.

Genesis 12:1-4

Abram, who was later re-named “Abraham,” is The Father of Faith. He grew up in the cityscapes of Mesopotamia, but eventually became a pilgrim-nomad, journeying through the land which God sent him to. He moved from place to place as God directed, leaving us a legacy of obedience, righteousness, journeying in God and walking with God in friendship.

God spoke richly into Abraham’s life, responding to the trusting quality of his heart. It takes courage of conviction and moral guts to obey God, so Abraham actually had a lot of spiritual spunk. He left the land he knew, to dwell where he had never dwelt before … and there he discovered new levels of knowing God. He produced a son when his productivity had already dried up, he won mighty battles against mighty kings, he put his son on an altar to sacrifice him (please do not attempt this at home) and moved God to decorate his life with special promises and eternal covenants.

One encounter between Abraham and God which ever speaks to me was at that juncture when Abraham parted ways with his nephew, Lot. Lot grabbed what seemed (emphasis on “seemed”) to be the best land and decided to settle in Sodom and Gomorrah. After Lot had departed, God spoke to Abraham and told him to lift up his eyes and look all around him – north, south, east and west – and promised him that whatever he saw would be his. In other words, God was telling him, “Be encouraged, my son. Don’t look down in despondency or disappointment. I am with you, and as long as you journey in me the possibilities are as limitless as I am vast. What you can feel, taste, touch are but illusions. The landscapes within Me are gardens, groves, savannahs teeming with game, springs fountaining with life. Lot seems to have left you little, life seems to have narrowed its options, but there is a higher reality. Walk the length and breadth of it. Trust that what I say is true and it shall be yours” … and that is exactly what Abraham did … because when God spoke, he drank it all in, like bees honing in on honey. For Abraham, personal crisis was an opportunity to see how God would work things out. It was never a question of if but rather a matter of when and how.

Faith produces possibilities in God through a simple process. God speaks, I choose to believe what He says and prove it by my obedience. It worked for Abraham, so it can work for us. Faith is about child-like trust, friction-free obedience and the by-product God is always after … righteousness. Abraham left his home and his family or what was familiar to him to discover new experiences in God. He settled into a life of spiritual seeking, he dwelled in doing what delighted God and he camped where God’s companionship would fill his tents. Faith was Abraham’s rainbow bridge that took him from one promise in God to another.

The Hall of Faith

This world tends to reward things like gifting, good looks, glitter and glamour. The Lord, on the other hand, prizes pursuit, pilgrimage and ponderousness in the things of God. So, while modern societies have set up Halls of Fame, we find that the Bible has its own ‘Hall of Faith’ which is displayed in Hebrews 11. When we study it, we realize that faith and good works go hand in hand. People produced favourable outcomes, in partnership with God, through faith. Here are some of my personal faith favourites … by faith:

• Enoch walked on and on and on in God


• Enoch was whisked away by God


• Abraham set out journeying in God


• Abraham looked for an eternal city


• Jacob blessed his sons on his deathbed


• Joseph spread like a fruitful vine


• Joshua and Caleb stood in strength


• Ruth crafted a beautiful future


• David walloped Goliath


• David worshipped in spirit and truth


• Abigail found favour with David


• Daniel opened his windows and prayed


• Weakness was turned to strength


• Saints found dignity even when destitute


• Many have obtained God’s approval


• We can find friendship with God

The Monarch

The Monarch

God designed me from His palette rich

And smiling said, “It’s good!”

“But what’s so good,” I asked the Lord,

“About being a tiny egg?

How I wish I could fly instead!”

 

Just trust me, said my King.

Just trust me.

Soon I broke out from my shell -

A worm-like little thing;

But I trusted God who cared for me.

When he counseled me once again,

In faith, I believed my Friend.

 

Just trust me, said my King.

Just trust me.

I morphed into a caterpillar;

Green and plump and bright;

I loved the skin he painted me in.

I said, “Thanks God, this is great!”

But He gently said, “No, wait.”

 

Trust me, said my King.

Just trust me.

 

I gobbled milkweed every day -

A poison to my foes.

They never dared to munch on me,

For my diet was to make God pleased.

 

I trust you, my King.

I trust you.

 

He hemmed me into green and gold,

Then a clear protective skin.

Still the cocoon made me doubt,

God said, “Fear not! Soon you’ll see

Who you were always meant to be.”

Trust me, said my King.

Just trust me.

 

It was a lonely time in there!

And wow, I sure waited long.

Yet I kept my eyes on Him.

My soul became a complex maze.

Even in sorrow I sang His praise.

Fear not, said my King.

Your trust is a precious thing.

Finally, the day arrived

When God’s promise did come true.

I spread open new bright wings;

Black, orange and speckled white;

Now I’m a monarch regal in flight.

 

Because I trusted my kind King

He’s made me more than I ever dreamed.

At every stage he fashioned me

As only His genius could.

“You see,” He said, “It’s good!”

My special child,

You can always trust me!

 

©NnekaEdwards2008



The Heart of a Child

Trusting God is like leaping into His arms and knowing He will surely catch you. Resting in God is knowing that when He kisses your boo-boos they will feel better and your heart will be healed. Chasing God is like a game of hide-and-seek with Daddy. You know He’ll make sure you find Him, and when you do, He’ll scoop you up into the biggest, gentlest hug. Loving God is like dipping into a cookie jar full of wonderful surprise flavours. Sharing with God is like whispering your closest secrets to your best friend and then finding that He loves you all the more. Asking God questions is like lying on the grass on a starry night and asking Daddy why stars glow and which one you are. Feeling that God is near is like a fuzzy blanket pulled up to my nose as moonbeams glow through my window. Delighting in God is like finding perfect seashells as waves wash my toes. I lovingly craft them into wind chimes that tell stories that sing. Tasting God’s goodness is like licking a rainbow lollipop and finding that there is nothing sweeter. Trusting God is easy as blowing dandelions across the breeze.

Joie Journal: I Trust You God

Dear Journal:

Every morning the sun rises and every evening it sets. Every dawn is beautiful and every sunset is magic. The flowers are robed and the birds find feasting and God ever cares for these. The earth finds its place and there it stays as it turns ever faithfully; and every night the stars twinkle and the moon sprinkles its glow. Seasons come and time moves in cycles, and the waves ebb and flow. So in this world of chaos, where so much is so wrong, there is much that speaks and tells the tale that God has been here all along. He cares, He is kind, He is thoughtful, He designs. I trust Him with my life.

Every time I hear His voice my heart feels a glow. It is life, it is wine, it is honey, it is joy, and that is how I know; that He is good and I can trust Him even when things are not quite clear. I know that if I go where He says that I should, in the end I will find Him there. He does what he says and He says what he means and I find that He is true. So I incline my ear and listen well to hear what I should do.

I have found in life that when I follow God that dawns get sweeter and sweeter. That the path of the righteous is glory to glory and that the gold of honey is the Speaker. I have walked through good and I have walked through pain, through deep and darkest night, but at the end of the day as I follow God, He makes every wrong so right. He makes things right, He gives me sight, He brings delight. And so I find I sing. And as my heart sees every pattern kept, I trust more and more in Him.

Trusting God is special. It is as easy as blowing dandelions on the wind. As I live by faith, I know that God is taking me somewhere perfectly good.

Building Up My Faith

O God, I thank you. In the midst of dark days and much sorrow in the earth, I praise you. I lift up my hands to you to say that I trust you. I am grateful to you for your loving-kindness and shepherd concern. I am just a witless sheep, so I follow you. Teach me the sound of your voice for you say that your sheep know your voice and follow you. Though desert landscapes are stretching across the planet, I know that you are leading me to green pastures – the pastures of your Word, places where your speaking is rich, and where you pour life into my very being. I come before You God to say that I cast myself upon you. I will not trust my own ideas, or my own strength or intelligence. I trust in you completely. Whatever you say, I set my heart to do. Guide my steps, O God. Make them sure like hinds feet, like gazelles graceful as the arch of your bow. I understand that life is a journey and that, like my father Abraham, I am only to settle in the fact that there is no settling. I am eager to discover who You are and who You have called me to be. So, as I journey through life and journey through times of little and times of plenty, times of peace and times of battle, as I journey through your times and seasons, I am looking for a dwelling place … and that dwelling place is You. I have set my heart on pilgrimage, and like my father, Abraham, I am seeking a city whose architect and builder is God. So God, make my heart soft towards you. Give me a heart that is quick to obey. Let me be one who would bring you delight. Fill my heart with faith, cause me to trust you and let my life be full of tales of your goodness.

The Quest

… one thing I do,

Forgetting those things which are behind

And reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

I press toward the goal for the upward prize

Of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philipians 3:13-14