"I can't believe that!" said Alice.
"Can't you?" the Queen said in a pitying tone.
"Try again; draw a long breath and shut your eyes."
Alice laughed. "There's no use in trying," she said, "One can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
Lewis Caroll "Through the Looking Glass"
Crazily I got the exert of "Through the Looking Glass" from my Astronomy professor here at UT in one of his lecture. He was using it as a way to persuade us into believing the universe just poofed from nothing, but it hit me in another way...For the majority of my Christian walk , until about 6 months ago, I looked at my belief in the power of Christ within me in a similar way as Alice. When I read verses such as...
when Christ says, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith (belief in seemingly impossible things) in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." -John 14:12
"That's impossible!" The Alice within me would say, and my actions definitely revealed that belief.
like the disciples coming back disappointed because they could not drive out a demon, "then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, 'Why couldn't we drive it out?' He replied, 'Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can move mountains...nothing will be impossible for you.'" -Matthew 17:14-20
I came continually back to God, or even worse the world, in similar disappointment...Growing up I heard many sermons on having faith the size of a mustard seed and moving mountains, but saw little fruit of that in my life or in the lives of those around me. (this could be because I didn't look to see that fruit in others, I hope that is it.) A lot of times in my heart I'd be like Alice, how can I believe in impossible things? How can I believe that I can do amazing things? And then came to the idea that God simply hasn't chosen to use me, which hurt. And so it was less painful to ignore it altogether and act as if it was simply a fairytale.
"Well I can't do these things!" I would pray to God, In fact I can hardly do my day to day duties without making a wreck of things...so where is this divide? What is in the gap...well it's the Holy Spirit! That's the legacy that Christ left behind. God wants us to leave the flesh behind and walk in FREEDOM (galations 5), in spirit, free from sin (yes COMPLETE freedom), and do amazing things for the glory of our Father.
"But I tell you the truth the truth: it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the counselor will not come to you (the Holy Spirit); but if I go, I will send him to you." -John 16:7
Jesus knew that his disciples would be better off when he left and the spirit came, because through the spirit we can truly know Christ and the disciples would finally know all the crazy stuff he'd been talking about! Beautiful. And have a love for Him that casts out all fear and in turn creates beautiful growth in faith (1 John 4:18, and John 14:15-27) How does faith grow...Love, understanding more and more the perfect love God has for me! and in turn loving Him more!
So I am becoming more and more like the Queen through the transforming power of being loved by God....
I take a deep breath,
try again,
I close my eyes and imagine impossible things....
Guided by the spirit,
I pray and grow in faith.
I walk as a beloved daughter of the Creator of the Universe,
I walk in the authority and freedom that Christ came to give!
Watch out world!
This imagining 6 impossible things before breakfast is contagious
:)
"Can't you?" the Queen said in a pitying tone.
"Try again; draw a long breath and shut your eyes."
Alice laughed. "There's no use in trying," she said, "One can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
Lewis Caroll "Through the Looking Glass"
Crazily I got the exert of "Through the Looking Glass" from my Astronomy professor here at UT in one of his lecture. He was using it as a way to persuade us into believing the universe just poofed from nothing, but it hit me in another way...For the majority of my Christian walk , until about 6 months ago, I looked at my belief in the power of Christ within me in a similar way as Alice. When I read verses such as...
when Christ says, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith (belief in seemingly impossible things) in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." -John 14:12
"That's impossible!" The Alice within me would say, and my actions definitely revealed that belief.
like the disciples coming back disappointed because they could not drive out a demon, "then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, 'Why couldn't we drive it out?' He replied, 'Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can move mountains...nothing will be impossible for you.'" -Matthew 17:14-20
I came continually back to God, or even worse the world, in similar disappointment...Growing up I heard many sermons on having faith the size of a mustard seed and moving mountains, but saw little fruit of that in my life or in the lives of those around me. (this could be because I didn't look to see that fruit in others, I hope that is it.) A lot of times in my heart I'd be like Alice, how can I believe in impossible things? How can I believe that I can do amazing things? And then came to the idea that God simply hasn't chosen to use me, which hurt. And so it was less painful to ignore it altogether and act as if it was simply a fairytale.
"Well I can't do these things!" I would pray to God, In fact I can hardly do my day to day duties without making a wreck of things...so where is this divide? What is in the gap...well it's the Holy Spirit! That's the legacy that Christ left behind. God wants us to leave the flesh behind and walk in FREEDOM (galations 5), in spirit, free from sin (yes COMPLETE freedom), and do amazing things for the glory of our Father.
"But I tell you the truth the truth: it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the counselor will not come to you (the Holy Spirit); but if I go, I will send him to you." -John 16:7
Jesus knew that his disciples would be better off when he left and the spirit came, because through the spirit we can truly know Christ and the disciples would finally know all the crazy stuff he'd been talking about! Beautiful. And have a love for Him that casts out all fear and in turn creates beautiful growth in faith (1 John 4:18, and John 14:15-27) How does faith grow...Love, understanding more and more the perfect love God has for me! and in turn loving Him more!
So I am becoming more and more like the Queen through the transforming power of being loved by God....
I take a deep breath,
try again,
I close my eyes and imagine impossible things....
Guided by the spirit,
I pray and grow in faith.
I walk as a beloved daughter of the Creator of the Universe,
I walk in the authority and freedom that Christ came to give!
Watch out world!
This imagining 6 impossible things before breakfast is contagious
:)
