Sean Seal | Jesus, Light of the World

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
2 Chronicles 7: 14-16 (KJV)

We are set apart in God’s light to return to Him. We are in an exodus from bondage to an eternal temple of light. Our bodies are consecrated temples filled with the Spirit of God. God’s image emanates from our hearts and through our eyes, the ancient souls of all who have walked before us are seen. We carry on in a pilgrimage outlined from Abraham to Calvary. The depth and the breadth of our life in Christ is not a trivial place. It is a grand temple of sacrifice! It is where thousands of sheep and others are sacrificed to please God. He accepts and consecrates with condition.

His condition is not hard and it is not isolated to only a few. He seeks the hearts of we who walk the path kings and prophets walk before us. All have looked to the horizon where the Sun never sets. It is God’s temple in heaven. The last temple. All from the past is therefore for the future and the present. The rules of ages ring true in our ears and in our determination to be good under God’s watchful eye. He tells us and leads us in His word. And through the Word we walk. For the Word is God, Who is flesh, and Who is Jesus.

There is nothing trivial about our plight. We are not seeking happiness or success, at least not worldly success. O how small are the worries of our daily lives compared to the temple of God’s making and the path leading there. Yes it is built and we are sent home to our places to rest. Solomon ordered his people to go home and rest for the temple was built. The first of three. It was consecrated by God. But God said these things to we who sojourn to His bosom:

We shall humble ourselves.
We shall pray
We shall seek the face of God
We shall repent

Then God will hear each of our voices from our own wilderness where we trudge daily. We walk dry and dusty hoping for the manna of life. “Feed me!”, we cry. Not with food, but with a caring hand, a piece of wisdom, heartfelt love. God complies to we who cry out. It is no small affair.

This is our response to the fist step Abraham took toward the thousands of grains of sand and the multitude of stars in the sky. This is our response to the staff planted in the desert sand by Moses leading the captive to freedom. We were captive and we sojourn in freedom to eternal bliss. God is sincere. Shall we not also be sincere?

We are the temples, our bodies hold the Spirit. Even the priests could not walk into the sanctified place Solomon built. The first temple and now we are part of the continuing temples. The train of His robe fills us with His glory. The pilgrims to last temple, heaven.

Response is obedience. We must seek Him in earnest. O the journey of love and wisdom from the first temple. God loves us so much He tells us how to respond. Our excuses are paltry. Lend an ear to His voice. Are you following the footsteps of history? Do you see the vacant eyes and the shadowed souls of the ones who will not grab your outstretched hand? Come along people so deeply deceived. Do they really believe all life, large and small, is conceived in the ways that exude forth from the mind of Man? Deceived. I weep for those whom I love now. Yes the shadowed souls to whom I even will turn back and ask again only to be spat at in disdain. “Do not disrupt the balance of the temporal”, they cry. They don’t really say it that way, but I know they mean it because I have seen the face of God and heard His voice.

We are sanctified. We are set apart. We are separated from the shadowed souls. Our soul is on fire with a burning light and with sacred incense still burning from the first son of Levi. We carry history in our hearts. We walk a golden path of return. Return to a glorious God who showed Israel that even though they turned their hearts away, they still could make things right with Him.

The first temple was built and God was pleased with the condition of response. We shall respond now and walk from the shadowed land to the temple of Light. Amen

For Sara, sister in Christ

Rick Stassi

November 30, 2012

Artist: Sean Seal

22 Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.
²³But you, God, will bring down the wicked
into the pit of decay;
the bloodthirsty and deceitful
will not live out half their days.

But as for me, I trust in you.

Psalm 55:22,23

If I look back even twelve years, I see a soul in death. One that looks inward to find the meaning of all things. It is the misconception of spiritual reality to think we can reason a god without knowing God. Death is the eventual outcome of the inability to sustain life.

Yes, in retrospect, I was lost. So many are. I believed that what I saw and felt and cried and laughed were the direct result of god-in-me.

So sad that I was like this. Apathetic with no urgency to find God. Sympathetic to my meager self-reason.

Today is a day of reflection. I look back fifty-five years of life. I read Psalm fifty-five. I cry out to the Lord and thank Him that I am no longer counted with the deceitful and wicked. There is no pit awaiting. There is all good in You Father. So, I talk to You.

I cast my cares to You Father. Your burden is light as You bear the weight of all solar systems, galaxies, mountains, my heart… I cast my cares to You with so much love for me. I see it and I feel it and I cry and laugh in Your arms because now I feel with a real sense of being, of purpose. I feel. How great is the sensation to really feel in life. It gives me the ability to love and care. I feel for others. I walked the stone-ridden streets tripping and stubbing my toes, therefore I can have compassion. Compassion is the ability to feel ‘with’ someone which is one better step than feeling ‘for’ someone. I have walked in the shoes of the wicked and now in spotless white, my sin has evaporated to a cloud. Propitiation, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus for all man-kind. Heaven is a place where hope shines eternal. It waxes infinite. God smiles from His place ever-watching. I can see.

I am sustained by the blood of Jesus. The Spirit abides in me offering confidence. Self-confidence is not what I mean. It is confidence that as I fall backward, God is always there to catch me. Not self at all. I am sure He is with me. The hairs stand straight up on the back of my neck. The Spirit is alive.

I am righteous because God made me fearfully and wonderfully to walk upright in the shadow of His wing. Yes words that, to me, mean He is with me. I know it and rest in that solace each day and night. It is blissful.

I am fifty-five today. Time passes quickly and there is still so much to do. Compassion will draw me nearer to one who sees no hope. The one who doesn’t care takes a little more time, but I remember I didn’t care either at one time in the past. I must speak the reason and rationale of God in the context a new generation will hear. God will give me this wisdom. I am happy with this task. “Lord use me” echos in the chasms of my heart and soul. I want You Father. I press in to You for closeness draws Your light to reflect off me. The Spirit inside, is the Light that emanates from me. It is all Your Light, Lord.

We grow older, but in the context of eternity, our life is fast. It is fast but God wants us to tarry at each moment. It just seems fast. He wants us to cherish each second with our wives and husbands and children. Do this: Cherish your day in the Lord for the past is gone, the future awaits, but today is our canvas on which we paint anew. It is the piano that sings out magical, wonderful worship. We all fit into these expressive acts. We sing a new song because each day is new. We paint on a canvas with all colors, warm and cold. They are the colors of God’s palette and they are pleasing to the eye. He is the painter, the musician, the potter, and we flow from His ever-creating heart. What a joy our lives are. Rejoice now.

Take the lessons God gives you and savor all. Crane your neck to see how He works. He will uproot us from our steadfast positions. Flow with His hand. Listen to the wind of the Spirit. Breathe in all the colors of His palette that is Life! We are living it and we are thankful.

So, cast burdens upon God. He gladly takes them. He is glorified by our obedience.

As for me, I will trust You Lord. I am a blessed year older in Your bosom.

Rick Stassi

October 2nd, 2012