life beyond the almost.

Pulled out a devotion entry from my journal to share with you. 

 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. - John 15:7-8

Russian Matryoshka dolls.

Do you remember those dolls? the wooden ones the split along the middle to reveal a smaller doll inside and the smaller one inside can be split to reveal an even smaller doll inside and so on? Those are quite cool. Today let’s use that novelty toy as an illustration of what the passage above means.

Try to picture a Big matryoshka doll and label it “God” then Open that up and label the doll inside “Me”. Finally open the “ME” doll up and take out the smallest doll and label it “God’s word”. Now put them together and into each succeeding doll respectively.

Let’s break it down. 

1) If you remain in me… 

-When Christ rescued us we were fallen, shameful and naked. When we receive His love and clothe ourselves with Christ, His righteousness covers our indignity.

“We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!”- Romans 13:12-14

2) My words remain in you…

- His word guides us in both this life and into the next.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”- Psalm 119:105

3) ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Many times this passage has been misinterpreted as a means to just get whatever you want but when you take into consideration the entirety of the verse you are not the one calling the shots in your life anymore but instead the Word the now remains in you. His Word brings Life to our beating-but-not-so-alive heart and it fills it with God’s desires which are pure and perfect. So that now, when you ask God for the *desires of your heart, you are actually echoing to HIm His desires for you. 

*Psalm 37:4- Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart

“For out of the overflow of a man’s heart his mouth speaks.” -Luke 6:45

Therefore, the relationship God desires with us is more intimate than we can imagine. 

Read this sonnet by Pablo Neruda, A poem of passionate human love and remember that God desires to Love you even more than this.

Sonnet XVII

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;

thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,

risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.