IN.

What do you see when you look at a frame similar to this one? Potentially just a work of art? It is pretty, I think. 

I look at these frames often, and close up, but I heard something coming from them recently.

A gentle whisper. 

And I couldn't quite hear it at first, but it kept pulling me in, quietly repeating what it was trying to say, over and over, just waiting for me to hear it. 

"what I have for you, is not fragile as glass is, it will never fade as flowers do. what I have for you is unfading, eternal, and without end.... what I have for you is something the world cannot give....it can make vain attempts to draw you away from me, but it will not prosper -I will bring you back to me...."

These beautiful displays of flowers are all IN something. They are IN a frame. They are IN two pieces of glass. That IN word just grabbing at my attention. IN.

What exactly is the significance of in? In Him. In Jesus. In Christ.

What a paramount truth that sometimes we may stray away from, but he is sure to remind us of the truth of who we are, and whose we are, and bring our hearts back to the foundational truth that he freely gifted us. 

There are so many truths to grasp because of our new identity in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17) You are not who you once were. You are now in Christ. 

And I am finding out as time passes that this journey is not a rushed or hurried journey, it is an unfolding, day by day experience, leading us nearer and nearer to His heart for us and transforming us more and more into His image.

It is just an everlasting journey witnessing the unfolding of the riches of His Grace. 

We are his treasures, his most prized possessions, bought from the world, paid for at an ultimate price, a price that you don't have to pay again, because it was done once and for all. For me, for you, for my transgressions, and for yours. 

You no longer need to work towards what the world works for. 

You no longer need to strive for what the world strives for. 

For your work is now to simply live and move and have your being IN Him.

To live a poetic dance, a rhythm unlike all the others, a color that hasn't been seen yet, a reflection of His character and unfading beauty and Love to display to the world.  To freely move and be and rest in Him, to fondly revel in the extravagant beauty of oneness. 

To sit at His feet. 

To soak in His Grace. 

To learn His ways. 

To enjoy His Love. 

​To taste and see that He is good.

To be In Him is to experience a depth that I am not sure we will ever fully grasp, but to be in Him and He in us is surely and profoundly more beautiful than anything the world has to offer in comparison. 

Sometimes it is important for us to go back and simply revel in the mystery of the Gospel. I think that is the heart of the father drawing us inward to the truths he has for us versus the truths the world offers us. 

One is fragile and fading, as flowers are in glass sitting in the sunlight. 

One is a never-ending treasure trove. 

'“I leave the gift of peace with you—my peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace. Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts—instead, be courageous! ' John 14:27

If you are feeling kind of fragile today, maybe God is trying to gently whisper something to you as well. 

​Lean in.