“Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish.” Philippians 3:7-9**
The knowledge of You casts a shadow on everything else. The God who put on skin to wade through humanity’s dust and reach into lives — like mine, fumbling my way through — has a radiance that overshadows.
You birthed Your Son in dirt to reach me.
You chase my divided heart to reveal Your undivided love. You don’t look past my sin, You look through it. You see Your Son in me because You placed Yourself in me. And I am, now, sealed with His beauty and strength. Who I am to be a home for Him?
I adore You, God who alters my chemistry from the inside, out.
You washed my skinned-knees with Your blood that has a better word over my life than any word my flesh might conceive. You pursue me with this love that promises to overtake me. All the while, Your Son rests within me.
Can I even grasp this knowledge of You?
You are excellent, God. And I barely know You. One glimpse of this excellency and I am hungry. You’ve taught me pursuit by how You pursue me. You gave it all to me; You shared Your inheritance and called me an heir. I can’t give it back fast enough, so I could know more of the God-Man who has originated this love, this love with potential to consume me.
When I look at You — when I take long looks and form habits around that looking — all else falls into place. You settle my me. I find my life’s alignment when my eyes are fixed, up.
You are beauty and I crave the highest for my life when I stare into Your beauty. The ceiling comes off when it’s You that I serve and search. Your highest, for me, is higher than I can fathom.
And yet it all starts at Your feet. My heart soars when my body bows.
Glory is found in the seemingly lowest place. Yes, Lord, all else reveals itself as the rubbish it is when I live my life gloriously at Your feet.
I adore You, Father, for carving this place for me.
+++
**So what do I do with these posts, you ask, other than just read them? First, if you haven’t yet, read: Why I Adore and Morning Chai, Explained to give you a context for this little space on my blog.
If you are compelled, I invite you to participate. Set up a space and time in your own life to begin adoring. Over laundry or dinner dishes, on your commute to work, or in the wee morning hours — five or ten minutes is a great start. You can use the verse I list here every day or two as a launch pad for your own adoration. (Showing Up gives you some practicals.)
Then practice praise.
I promise your weary soul won’t regret it.
You can see all of the Morning Chai posts with this link: http://www.EveryBitterThingisSweet.com/posts/chai/ and you can easily subscribe to these devotional meditations as they are delivered, by using this feed: http://www.EveryBitterThingisSweet.com/posts/chai/feed or by entering your email address in the second box on the right-hand side.
And a note: Photos compliments of Mandie Joy. This girl has also set me up on instagram. Friends, it took several sittings for me to know exactly what that means and I still don’t quite get it …except, that you can now find updates and useful graphics on Instagram @everybitterthingissweet. Mandie keeps me in the 21st century.
