Thursday, October 23, 2008

Just come.

Somewhere along the way, I stepped away from the original intent of 97secondswithGod which was to express short, honest bursts of faith. And although I can't do the walk through the Bible chapter by chapter, day by day format right now, that doesn't mean I can't share what God is laying on my heart, as He lays it on there.

I don't know the frequency of what I'll write or what it will look like. I think it's going to be random and messy. But I want to share with you and want you to know I appreciate how many of you have expressed your appreciation for this site.

Below is what I wrote in my journal yesterday after reading Matthew 11: 28-30 and how I imagine God speaking that truth into my heart:

28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

I am not asking you to complete yourself and then come to me. I am asking you to come to me. Broken and burdened, infested with the most hideous lies about me and my nature. Covered in perpetual sin that you just can’t seem to shake. Because I don’t see that. I see Christ. I see the blood of my son all over you.

I know you think you need to work through your doubt before you come to me. But that’s not true. I can’t wait that long for you to come. And how ridiculous is that lie? That you have to figure me out, know me and trust in me without fail before you can come to me and get to know me. I do have gifts for you. Big crazy gifts, but the biggest of all is my presence.

That’s what I am inviting you into. My presence. That’s a gift I am inviting you into. My presence. That’s a gift I am going to give you every second for every hour of every day for the rest of eternity. Come to me. Come be in my presence. It’s so crazy to think you have to perfectly accept that gift before you can stand in that gift. I’m just saying, “Come stand in it. Bask in it.”

Come stand in it filthy and let me cleanse you.

Come stand in it broken and let me heal you.

Come stand in it drunk on doubt and fear and let me renew a spirit of confidence and trust in you.

Just come stand in it.

Come stand in it covered with lies and misconceptions about who I am and who you are and let me reveal the truth.

Come stand in it worried and stressed and trembling and let me cover you with a peace that transcends all understanding.

Come, just come.

Come stand in it with a past you can’t fix and a future you can’t look at without grimacing and I will comfort you in this very moment.

Come.

36 comments:

Lulu said...

Amen
x

LeLe said...

Awesome. Glad to see that you're back to posting on this blog...

Heather of the EO said...

I think one of satan's favorite tricks is convincing us that we have to be perfect before...

before we get married.
before we have kids.
before our dreams could be fulfilled.
before we can come to our perfect Father.

We're easy targets for this lie because we're so insecure!

I've always struggled with it, which only led me to a shame spiral (Cher said that in the movie clueless, so I stole the "shame spiral" thing from her)

But really, I'm not going to be perfect in this life. Yes, I am a child of God, made in His perfect image and Jesus made that possible. But I'm both, imperfect and perfect in this life. I've struggled for a long time to allow myself to be imperfect and still be considered whole and perfectly accepted by God.

That was a ramble and it probably made no sense. In short, I love this post.

Unknown said...

i've missed reading this blog, and this was a great way to reintroduce it. still kind of holding back the (good) tears after reading these words. thx jon.

Anonymous said...

Thanks. Needed to hear that.

Emily said...

This ruined me. In the best way.

bpinks said...

Good stuff. So glad you are back :)

Jenn said...

I think you are great when you are funny.... but you are awesome when you are heartfelt.

I loved this post!

teamstrand said...

you are a male Beth Moore

bub said...

Hey look, my favorite Jon Acuff site is back up! I love your posts here, don't care if they are messy and sporadic, just keep 'em coming.

Gabriele said...

Thank you Jon! This passage has touched me so many times in so many different ways.

And it has again today when I needed to hear it most.

Flyawaynet said...

LOL to teamstrand with "You are the male Beth Moore". Awesome.

As for your post, it was awesome. Thanks so much for those words I've linked to you on my blog, long ago, mostly because of your serious stuff. I love the funny... really love the funny, but your serious posts usually sit with me for days. You're a good writer, thanks for sharing it with us. I'm glad I found your blog.

Dez Reavey said...

Thanks Jon.

Good to see some action on this site again.

Really enjoyed this post.

C!

Anonymous said...

good stuff, kiddo

Anonymous said...

i so needed this today...

Helen said...

www.prayer2008.blogspot.com. The writer on this blog suggests adding 15 minutes of extra prayer time every day in November. She has also promised to post prayer prompts and encouragements.
Your post today reminded me of hers.
God bless you and have a great afternoon!

Anonymous said...

awesome. thank you.

Anonymous said...

I didn't bother to hold back the tears. I've been blessed again, by the words that God has given you. Thank you.

Ro said...

Thank you. I needed that this very moment.

Anonymous said...

Thank you. I have needed to hear that from Dad for a while. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I needed that. Thank you.

I intend to re-read this as many times as it takes to sink in.

Ashley said...

Wow. I know that. Or I think I know that, but every time I am reminded it is like the first time. Maybe one day it will sink in and I won't be so surprised every time I read something like this.

Ros Horton said...

WELL SAID!

vanilla said...

Good to have you back. So appreciate the thoughts you share on this blog.

Sylvia Goode Basham said...

Dear Jon,

Nice to have you back :-)

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Jon. Amen.

Tou and David said...

Just want to let you know that I like your blog!

Anonymous said...

WHOA I'm so glad you're back! I haven't been checking because I thought it was a lost cause... But I'm so glad I stopped by.

Anonymous said...

Wow. All I have to say, yet at the same time, not even the half of it.
This post nearly made me cry cos it feels as if it was communicating with a part of me that has been quietly aching over the past couple of years.
I'm gonna reread it a few times and will add this to my blogroll. Thanx for your words.

PS. I got here from your Stuff Christians Like blog and had been cracking up at Coldplay thing. Love it! SO true!

Lois K. said...

thanks jon, God really spoke through you to me today.

heartafire said...

Another really great post.
Thanks.

Anonymous said...

yayyyy~ 97secwGod is back!!

hmm-hunn. :)
dumping burdens[doubts, fears, stress, lies, failures, filths, brokeness.] &
picking up yoke[responsibilities + gifts + truth] from AbbaGod/Christ/Spirit.

Anonymous said...

Flip, Jon. That made me cry. I thank God for you, and for speaking so powerfully through you. :)

Brin said...

Thanks. Just... thanks.

the jersk. said...

jon,

thank you.
as thanksgiving approaches, i am thankful for you. may God bless you thoroughly, and i very sincerely mean it.

much love from iowa.

Courtney said...
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