Villagersonline : blogs : Suki : Stand Up!

From: Suki
Date: Sat Apr 28 01:21:02 EDT 2007
Subject: Stand Up!

Responses
dbonilla: No Subject (4/28/07)

Suki: Good Point. (4/30/07)

Boojeee: warfare (4/30/07)

corwithani: you people rock (5/1/07)

Responses (sorted by date)
corwithani: you people rock (5/1/07)
Boojeee: warfare (4/30/07)
Suki: Good Point. (4/30/07)
dbonilla: No Subject (4/28/07)

I don't know if you all remember, but a while back Michael read a poem at Vespers. The last two words were, "Stand up." At the time, I had been hearing God speak to me about living with more freedom. I was struggling, though, and analyzing things and not just choosing to respond. Those two words stuck in my head, and throughout the weeks after that, I'd hear, "Stand up" when I was choosing to carry burdens that weren't mine or being anxious. I read Isaiah 55 in there somewhere, and this part stood out to me: "Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon." I love that it's so simple and straightforward. God isn't calling us to beat ourselves up or figure out all the details. Just turn and receive mercy.
Along this path, I also ran across the following from Acts 9 -- "Jesus Christ heals you. Get up."
I'm still trying to respond to this command of freedom, and this painting is my latest meditation on it.

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From: dbonilla
Date: Sat Apr 28 01:55:03 EDT 2007
Subject:

Susan,
Your portrayal seems to be that of someone who is resisting the command to stand up. I get so caught up in analysis of things and in sometimes beating myself up that there's no time to realize the simplicity and freedom that can be ours in Christ. This amounts to resistance. Remember the last time I lost my glasses, when I mentioned to you that I was punishing myself by not replacing them right away? We got a good chuckle out of that! I'm glad that my vision isn't that bad. But I don't want to be blind to the simplicity that is in Jesus. Thanks for sharing those verses; they mean a lot to me, too.
Dennis

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From: Suki
Date: Mon Apr 30 18:44:57 EDT 2007
Subject: Good Point.

Yeah... that's a good point, Dennis. I don't usually think of it as resistance, but that's what it is. I tend to experience it as not hearing God's voice or as hearing and then forgetting or ignoring it. ("Yeah, I could stand up, but then scary things might happen.") I think about the healings in the New Testament and the kind of faith it takes to be healed. It's pretty incredible to obey someone who tells you to walk when you've never been able to walk. You've tried to walk a hundred times, you've even prayed to be able to walk, but it's never worked before. And now this guy is telling you to stand up. I'm feeling like that with this. I keep wanting to say, "But I CAN'T!"

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From: Boojeee
Date: Mon Apr 30 19:44:42 EDT 2007
Subject: warfare

This painting reminds me of some things I've thought about spiritual warfare over the past several years. I think a lot of times when we are attacked or even sometimes when we think we MIGHT be attacked, we grab a sheild and crouch down on the battle field and try to cover ourselves with it.
Ephesians 6 says:
"10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."
A couple things have really struck me out of these verses. One is how important it is to "stand" so that when we're attacked we're ready to fight, knowing that we're equipped to win. The other is that we're not in the battle alone. "Keep praying for the saints" and "Pray also for me" tells me that we're fighting for each other. So when I stand on the battle field wielding the sword of the Spirit and holding up my shield, I'm protecting and fighting for myself and you all, my comrades in arms. Sometimes when we feel attacked and hide under our shields, we forget that we ourselves are more vulnerable and that we have left our brothers and sisters in Christ more vulnerable as well. God wants us to stand and fight so that the mystery of the gospel will be more known to us and to those who are going to be saved.
This past week, I've been feeling kind of anxious and really couldn't put my finger on why. Talking to Sue today, I realized that I've been fighting a lot for other people lately, but inside I've been wrestling with the lie that I don't really have anything good to offer and any day now the people around me are going to realize that and I'll be left alone as a fool. This lie cuts to the core of some of the abusive things I experienced as a child and Satan pulls it out pretty frequently. In thinking about this, I'm reminded that I need to fight for others and myself and to ask for others to fight for me. I feel really grateful to be in a place where I know some of you are really fighting for me to live into the truth of who I am in Christ. Thanks.

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From: corwithani
Date: Tue May  1 02:38:11 EDT 2007
Subject: you people rock

first of all, Sue, I love love love your art and the Truth you offer to all of us. :)
second, I just kind of had a minute to look at what Julie wrote, and I wanted to say that Julie I am fighting for you because obviously you have been one that has really fought for me, especially last week. :)
I really think that all of you are amazing...... eeeeeek!!! now I have to go study for finals. :) haha. oh life.

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