Battle Living.

I continue to be aware of a lot of changing all around me. My family was in Charlotte this past weekend helping my parents sort through their home of 20 years as they have moved into assisted living. My son had buddies spend the night last night. As they ate breakfast in our kitchen this morning, I saw how big they all are. Seniors heading into senior year. I had lunch with a student today. I met him as a sixth grader. He starts high school in a month. My son and his wife will move from Florida to Tennessee next month. It has been a hard, fruitful, forming year for them in Florida. They are trusting God for new growth in Tennessee. We got rid of a sofa that we have had for decades. It's just a sofa, but it's a sofa that has been a bed for weary travelers, a resting place for hard and beautiful conversation. We have cantaloup's growing in our garden! We didn't plant them this year, but God is growing them and they are big. We've only had small, rotten ones in previous years. A student left Knoxville for Virginia on Sunday with her family. We're sad she is leaving. 

Seven or eight things in just a brief scan of my heart and mind and I am aware that things are in a constant state of flux. I don't really want them to be. I tend to pretend that they are not, but things are changing. Rapidly. 

One of my best friends honestly said about God, it is really hard to trust a God whom you can't really see and can't really hear. And, it is. I could quickly fire back a true, loaded response that we CAN see and hear, but honestly that doesn't actually change it being hard. It's just hard. I appreciate his honesty. I feel it. 

And right in the midst of wondering if we could hear and wondering if we could see the intimate Jesus, we wait.

That God spoke in the past doesn't always penetrate into the now of my heart swirl, the now of my heart cry, the now of my heart doubt. But it's not just God spoke. It's God is speaking.

Three main words for "the Word" in the bible. I'm just learning with you. #1. Graphe- the whole of the writing of the Scriptures. "All scripture (graphe) is God breathed....(2 Timothy 3:16)". #2. Logos- is the message of the graphe (scriptures) and that is specifically the person of Jesus Christ. "In the beginning was the Logos and the Logos was with God and the Logos was God... (John 1:1)". And #3. Rhema- an utterance of God on a particular matter. "Take  up....the sword of the Spirit which is the Rhema of God... (Ephesians 6:17)". Where Logos is God said or God has spoken, Rhema is God is speaking or God is saying right now. So if my swirly heart, my crying heart, my doubting heart is not necessarily devouring the things that God already spoke, what might be if He were actually speaking now, uttering now, even being really specific in the changing now. That's Rhema word. His word alive Right. Now. Speaking. 

Oh please, Word of God. Speak. Right Now,  I humbly and boldly ask You.

And so we wind back to today's title. Battle Living. That's the phrase that I've given to the reason that we've been given the armor of God to wear and live with, like the sword of the Spirit (which is actually rhema). There is battle for hearts. Yours and mine.  And so what is the battle living happening as I identify all of the changing happening within and without me mentioned above? I think it is this. 

Right in the midst of so much life change and shifting, the right now Word of God is saying, "Come and see Me. Come and Listen to Me." And the battle is present because you and I can flat out say.......

No.

Can't see You. Can't hear You. Don't want to see You. Don't want to hear You.

But lots of things changing can't change that this is real. (Reread that if you need too! I did!)  No amount of shifting, changing things can or will stop His Rhema word Right. Now. Speaking.

If me saying No is real, this is real too! Right in the midst of so much life change and shifting, the right now Word of God is saying, "Come and see Me. Come and Listen to Me." And the battle is present because you and I can flat out say.......

YYYYEEESSSSS!!!!!! because of the right now, settled from forever, blood drenched,  speaking Word of God.

Change can be here. It's ok. The Right. Now. Speaking. Word can be here too! It is. It.....He doesn't need our permission.

There's more.