Happy Wednesday, everyone! Know what? We serve an Almighty God. I just needed to say that today. I’ve watched Him move MIGHTILY in the past couple of weeks. We live in the victory of Psalm 18 right now, the victory of a God who loves us and is quick to contend with what contends with us. Oh, yes, He’s awesome. And if you’re walking any sort of fiery path right now, you need to leap over to Psalm 18 and let it grip you right in the faith.

As much as I’d like to go all over Psalm 18, Genesis 5 is where we are today, and it’s no less amazing.

Genesis 5:24 (GWT)–Enoch walked with God; then he was gone because God took him.

Genesis 5:24 (NIV)–Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

Genesis 5:24 (AMP)–And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not; for God took him [home with Him].

I could go through every translation of the Bible with this verse, and I did it for a reason.  The point is, Enoch walked so closely with God that it’s implied that, one day, he took one more step and found himself in the presence of God Himself, done.  It isn’t said as in other places that Enoch “went to be with his fathers” or “went to sleep” or even the less poetic “died.”  One day, he simply ceased to be.  Now, am I saying he didn’t die?  I have no idea.  I wasn’t there.  It’s implied he simply translated straight into God’s presence, but ultimately, isn’t that what a believer’s death is?  Transition from here to the Almighty?

Either way, whether Enoch died physically or not, how amazing is that little one-line testimony?  How incredible was his relationship with God that God made certain his name was in the word as one who walked closely with Him and then got to go and be with Him?  Oh, that God could say the same of me!

What would it be like to walk that closely with God?  It gives me chills to think of being shoulder to shoulder with Him.  I wish the English language had better words, because describing what I’m thinking right now is next to impossible.  Let me point this out, though… Enoch makes me believe that it is possible to really, truly communion with God right here on earth.  That there is more than what I have.  And Enoch makes me want that “more.”  After all, he was only a man.  He was no better or worse than me or you.  He simply made a choice to walk with God.

It makes me think of Moses, who actually saw God.  (Now there’s another good-cold-chill kind of story right there!)  Moses, who was so deep in God’s glory that he had to cover his face so people could look at him.  To have God seen all over my face!

I want that!  I want it so badly!  It’s like I’ve heard Beth Moore say, I want Him to take one more scale off of my eyes every day so I can see Him better today than yesterday!  I want to make that choice, like Enoch, to walk with God.  Scary?  Yes.  But the rewards, the communion…  Can it get any better than that?

-JB

Aren’t there some days when it’s just good to know that God loves you?  Sometimes, in the hustle and craziness of life, it’s easy to dash into prayer time and dash out again without really looking for God’s face.  “Here’s my stuff, God.  Thanks for listening.  You have a good day now, okay?”

It’s good to slow down, though.  To shut our mouths, rest our heads in His lap, and let Him run His hand over our hair.  Oh, it’s in those times when I feel God’s love the most, when I lay my head down and let Him love me.  I don’t say anything, I just get into His presence and let Him talk to me.  Sometimes He says nothing.  He’s just there.  In a way, those are the best times, the ones that bring tears to my eyes because there’s no agenda, it’s just me and my Abba, being together. He likes to do that to me at the beach.  We stand together, staring out over the water.  There’s no dazzling insight, no amazing bolt from the blue, just us, hanging out.  I just know there is a crystal sea in heaven simply so we can stand there together.  That is what I look forward to the most!

The God whose words spoke everything into existence likes to sit still with me.  Do we realize how incredible that is?  If you’ve got a minute, sit with Him now and let Chris Tomlin’s “Unfailing Love” get you into that moment with God:

-JB

Welcome back to Wednesday!  This week is a “skeleton week” when it comes to blog posts.  Every once in a while, a blogger needs a break, but I can’t skip a Wednesday! 

Genesis 4:9 (GWT)–The Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”  “I don’t know,” he answered.  “Am I supposed to take care of my brother?”

Well, the answer to that would be… yes.  The first thing I thought when I read this was not about murder.  It was, “Yes, we are supposed to take care of our brothers (sisters).”

I struggle with asking for help.  Don’t we all sometimes?  We want to be the caretakers and the helpers and the ones lifting others up.  But God didn’t mean for all of us to be strong all of the time.  Sometimes, we have to bow our heads and say, “I need help.”  To not do so is to cause us harm.  Shoot, let’s just say it… To not ask for help is downright prideful.  It’s saying, “I can do this on my own.”  Well, sometimes you can’t, and that’s why God created fellowship and prayer.  That’s why so many other verses in the Bible tell us to pray for one another.  We’re not meant to go it on our own.  We’re meant to ask for help.

God is amazing like that.  He makes sure to place people into our lives who are there exactly when they need us to be.  I’ve experienced that many times over.  It took me a long time to learn to ask for help though.  But I’m glad He taught me.

-JB

Genesis 3.  It’s one of the most pivotal chapters in the Bible.  I’ve heard many people blame Adam and Eve (or simply Eve) for the state of man but, the fact is, Satan wouldn’t have given up if Eve had said no that day.  As the population of earth grew, someone, somewhere would have one day given in to the temptation.  It just so happened to be the first of us.  God took a big risk creating us with free will, didn’t he?

Genesis 3:15 (GWT)–I will make you and the woman hostile toward each other.  I will make your descendants and her descendant hostile toward each other.  He will crush your head, and you will bruise his heel.

And just like that, in the instant after sin, there is Jesus.  Oh, Satan.  You may bruise Him, but He will crush you.  God didn’t take a minute to count to ten.  He didn’t rant and rave, then come back all calmed down and ready to give grace.  In verse 13, he asks Eve, “What have you done?” and in verse 15, he redeems her.  That fast.  How can we possible look at God and picture Him as a mean, nasty judge waiting for us to mess up so He can smite us?  It’s clear right here:  He is grace and mercy and love.  Look no further.

But if you need more proof?  Six verses later, in 3:21, He’s taking care of the very children He just cursed.  Did He lay down punishment, then storm away?  No.

Genesis 3:21 (GWT)–The Lord God made clothes from animal skins for the man and his wife and dressed them.

Abba God.  Still hands on.  Still active.  Still taking care of His children in spite of the fact that they just ruined everything and set into motion the plan that would ultimately lead to His Son’s suffering.  Do you see it?  Not only did He provide, He dressed them Himself.  It’s almost tender.

That’s my God.  Just.  Powerful.  Almighty.  Demanding respect and obedience.  Yet graceful.  Forgiving. Loving. Tender.

Don’t miss it.  He loves you that much.

-JB

Sometimes, God takes you to a place you’ve been before and you never thought you’d go again.  It’s like this precious gift that He sets in front of you, and as you sit there, you marvel that He gave it to you.  He brings life where there was death.  He brings hello where there was goodbye.  He brings love where you thought love was long gone.  He brings acceptance where you thought there was rejection.

Sometimes He just surprises you, and He says, “Everything you know is wrong.”

Am I being cryptic?  Yes. But not on purpose.  It’s just that God gave me a gift yesterday, and it’s one that blows my mind so wide open that I can’t even put it into words right now.  (Uhm, no.  I’m not pregnant.  And it’s not another book contract.)  It’s one that’s had me on the edge of tears most of the afternoon, one I certainly don’t deserve.

It’s one I might marvel at forever.

-JB

I am loving this new Word Wednesday! Hope you are too. There is something about reading deliberately, reading to listen, that is completely different than simply reading, isn’t there? When you take it slow and you are open to a new Word, things happen. Now, to get those words from my head to my heart! How about you? Are you ready for Genesis 2?

Genesis 2:7 (GWT)–Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the earth and blew the breath of life into his nostrils.  The man became a living being.

The way I am reading the Bible this year ties Genesis 2 to a verse in John.  See if you see the connection.

John 1:3 (GWT)–Everything came into existence through him.  Not one thing that exists was made without him.

It literally made me hold my breath when I tied those two together, back to back.  Yes, I’ve read them before.  Yes, I know it.  But I had never put them side by side before and let the thought gel.  Jesus isn’t out there somewhere.  He’s not even right next to us.  He is, literally, a fundamental part of us.  He makes up our DNA.  His breath is personally in us.

It makes me think of CPR… or of a kiss.  To breathe the breath of life into someone, you have to be face-to-face, no space between.  It is intimate, personal, a close “invasion” of space in a world that likes to keep things at arms’ length.  God is God.  Jesus is God.  He didn’t have to breathe life into us.  He could have simply spoken it and made it so.

But he didn’t.  He chose the intimate and personal, the face-to-face and possessive.  The “you are mine and I’m not afraid to get close to you.”  Jesus isn’t worried about getting close to us.  He wants to be close to us.

Is it any wonder the world chases after all manner of things to fill the God-space?  He is our core building block, and if we deny Him, we lose our breath.  The world is gasping for air.

Now, what are we going to do about it?

-JB

Don’t you love it when you’ve heard a song a million times and then, on pass one million and one–BOOM!  God tunes your ears in?  (And doesn’t BOOM! work perfectly for TobyMac?)  It’s no secret that my daughter got her TobyMac fandelirium from her mama, so we all know I’ve heard “Momentum” more than once.  Shucks, I can still remember the first time I heard it.

So, what did God hit me with this time?  What if we all lived our lives like the lyrics of “Momentum”?  Out loud.  Unapologetic.  “Ardently enthused about God.”  Totally sold out and 100% on fire.  What if only a handful of us lived that way?  Do we even realize what God could do with people like that?

I was actually convicted, driving down the road and jamming to that beat.  I’m not as sold out as I should be.  I’m for sure not as out loud as I want to be.  And what’s holding me back?  Absolutely nothing.  Seriously.  I gave it some real thought, and there is no good reason.  After all, the last thing I want to hear from Jesus at the end is, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:15-16).  That’s the scariest thing I can think of.  It literally makes my muscles tighten to imagine it.

I’ve got a new prayer.  I want to be on fire for God.  I want to roll with His momentum.  I want to be everything He called me to be.

How ’bout you?

By way of update on my first novel…

The revisions on Freefall have been accepted!  I received an email last week saying I will get my line edits soon.  More tweaks, but I know working with Emily is going to make this novel even better than I dreamed it would be.  This is getting exciting!

According to the system, I’ve been assigned a cover artist.  Cool!  Someone is looking at my vision and drawing a cover.  Wait a sec… That just hit me.  A cover.  For my story.  An image representing my words.  With my name on it.  Wow.  Wowwowwow!  Trust me, anybody reading this will be the first to see it when I receive it.  I am not sure when that will be, but you’ll surely hear me shouting when it comes about!

As for the second book, whose working title is Broken Ranks, I’m working on the proposal and tweaking the ending.  Every time I think I’m done and ready to sub it, it pulls me back in for one more change.  It’s probably the most important book I’ve ever written, and some part of me is a little nervous about getting it exactly right.  It started as just another book, but circumstances made it real and a friend has allowed me to dedicate it to her son.  Once I decided to do that, everything changed.  There is so much more to this one than “just” a story.  If you are so inclined, please pray I get this one right!

And this is where we are right now.  I have a sort-of idea for another suspense, but I can’t even begin to think about it until Broken Ranks is ready to roll.

Oh, and in the middle of all of this we’re moving.  Again.  And remodeling.  As in painting an entire home interior.  Uhm…  Okay.  God will make the time for me.  He has in the past, I know He will now.

In the meantime, anybody really good at wielding a paintbrush?

-JB

Well, here we are at Wednesday with a fresh new challenge for a fresh new year.  In case you missed last week’s post, we are reading Genesis one chapter a week this year, really chewing on what God has to say.  (Every time I say that, it makes me want to quote Thoreau:  “I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.”) What gripped you in Genesis 1 in a whole new way?  Drop into the comments and share!

(Side note… This year I’m reading the Bible in a year and using the God’s Word Translation.  I try to read a different translation each time.  The bulk of my quotes will come from GWT during this challenge.)

Genesis 1:27 (GWT)–So God created humans in his image.  In the image of God he created them.  He created them male and female.

The idea of “beauty” has been on my mind a lot lately.  (I even posted about it last week.)  I’ve read this verse scores of times.  It’s something I know pretty well in my head.  This time, it collided with the beauty thing and really stopped me.  (There’s God throwing that holy pillow at my head again…)

There is nothing in all of the universe and beyond that is more beautiful than God.  Nothing.  He possesses a beauty and a sheer awesomeness that, when coupled with His holiness, will take our breath clear away when we see him face to face.  (Oh, I can’t wait for that day!)

And we are made in His image.  Every single one of us. I don’t know about you, but I have (quite a few of) those moments when I look in the mirror and say, “Ugh.”  Too much this, not enough that…  When I read Genesis 1:27, God whispered in my ear what a sin that is.  In essence, if I call myself ugly, then I call HIM ugly.  I call Him a liar.  I tell Him He somehow made a mistake with me.  In essence, I tell Him the world knows beauty better than He does.

When it’s worded that way, it’s kind of scary, isn’t it?  I would never disrespect God that way, and yet I do it every day when I take a critical look at myself in the mirror.  (Or when I take a critical look at someone else, but that’s a post for another day.)

This is what I want the young women in my life to see.  It’s especially what I want my daughter to see.  God’s lighting this fire in my heart for them.  He’s lighting a fire in my heart for me.  God’s image is beautiful, no matter what form it takes.

-JB

Since today is a holiday, I thought it might be fun to do something a little less serious and share some of my favorite things right now.

For starters, check this girl out.  We are not reality show watchers ’round here, so the fact we “found” her is a miracle in itself. Last spring, we were flipping channels and were completely stopped by Xenia’s voice. The girl is, I believe, seventeen years old. Seventeen. My jaw never dropped over a voice before, but wow. When she sang the Script’s “Breakeven” and changed the words to “I pray to a God that I DO believe in,” Paul actually said, “That’s our girl!” If you haven’t checked her music out, you need to.

Also sort of hooked on this digital version of the Bible right now. It’s on my iPad, and it’s how I’m reading the Bible in a year this year. I’ve never read a digital Bible before and I have to say, it really makes it fresh. It’s like reading it for the first time. This is what inspired our new Genesis Word Wednesday.

Totally re-reading this book right now. If only I could pull off description like Siri Mitchell…

Also just finished this book. I didn’t get to review it like I had planned, but still in love with Kaye’s ability to make me think I know what she’s up to and then surprise me. And it’s the little things, people, the little things that make a story sing. Love all of the little things she drops in.

Saw this on Facebook and couldn’t stop laughing:

And, finally, if you haven’t watched Kid History 6 on Youtube, you are totally missing out on one of the most hilarious videos ever. If you’re me. And Paul. And you have young children or even know young children. (The “guess” kid lives in our house and is a girl.) We have watched this repeatedly and still laugh every time.

-JB