you know how some people always talk about their favorite preacher, favorite book authors and all. i used to make fun of dafff (: how could she love philip so much when he was just some author no? i still remember the somewhat retard 13 year old me sitting in sunday sch wondering who on earth philip yancey was. i SECRETLY always taught that philip yancey was a girl okay. i would NEVER admit to daff but for a few years whenever she babbled excitedly about yancey i would think " orh. that woman again." OMG RIGHT. like how duh can PHILIP be man. all that same sex names getting me confused!
yea yea. wadever. at least i knew the titles of the book. WHERE IS GOD WHEN IT HURTS. yup dub! among the many others.
hurhur. anyway! i finally understand daff's excitement okay! to read/listen to someone's words and wonder HOW ON EARTH he could actually speak right into your situations, say a random book, or a random recorded podcast, like its just too amazing! and not to speak like just a few sentences to stir you on. but WHAO. to speak life when you're so drained. GOSH. GOD you're totally amazing. blows my mind how amazing you are you know?
anyway! i was listening to Jentezen Franklin, and GAWSH! he's seriously the most ****** i dunno what word to describe him! but he's just. awesome to the bomb! like i only first heard of him at hillsong confernece right! and then like when we visited the hills church, yar! his message was just so. impactful man! so simple yet. wham bam slam clam!
and i dont care im gonna post it here what was the whole gist of it!
the passage comes from
leviticus 23:40.
and you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.
so basically, God instructed that we should come into his presence with palm leaf in one hand, and willow branch in other. and why would God have such a strange order? but it goes on. God went on to say, with that, Come In and Rejoice!
the palm tree then signifies the blessing as it extends and stands upright in the sunshine. With its arms stretched out; powerful as it waves in victory with his hands up towards heaven. representing all the good things and awesome things that comes round in life. happy days, prosperity, joy, awesome days.
the willow on the other hand bends over almost as if its crying. the weeping willow tree. it represents the sad times, the bad stuff. trials, adversities, struggles and difficulties.
So God's request was simple. With one hand you come with your sorrows, sickness and destitute. With the other you come with your health, joy and prosperity. and we, HAVE to learn to rejoice!
life is a mixture of good and bad. somedays we live palm days, with good health and good bodies, but as Isaiah 15:7 goes, when you have abundance in life, doesnt matter how much of it you store up, some day you're just gonna have to walk through the willow. Someday there's gonna be something that all the money you have in the world cant fix, there's gonna be a problem where all your education you have stored up cant answer.
sooner or later, you're gonna have to deal with your willow tree, and you just gotta get through it! and when you do, make sure you go to Jesus! Go to him, with your willow in your hand, and not only on palm days. and when you learn to come to him with your willow days, rejoice then too!
what we've gotta learn is be consistent in rejoicing.through good days and bad, our God gives and our God takes away.
our palm days can turn to willow days with just one red light, just one wrong turn, one doc report and everything can come crashing down in just one instant. but just the same, miracles can strike as suddenly as tragedies. for certain, we need to rejoice through it all.
Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS, and again i say rejoice.
ive always sang that song since i was a kid, but it has never ever dawn on me the impact of the words. Rejoice always? and yet again i'd say rejoice!
just as there's summer and winter, there are palm days and willow days. What we gotta do's tie our worship to GOD and not to our palm days or willow days! it doesnt matter what's going on in my life. He's worth of all my praise.
Labels: Jentezen Franklin ; Awesome God You Are