Today I ate a free steak BBQ lunch.
It was awesome.
It was huge.
I couldn't eat everything there was on offer.
The steak was superb. There were like, 5 different beef grills. Plus a couple of vegetable grills. Plus salad. And rice. And an ice cream and fruit stand.
Seriously.
It looked something like this…
So, it was awesome.
And it was free.
It was actually possibly one of the most random outings I've had in a while.
It was a church festival. At a church in a different part of the city that non of us had ever heard of or been to before.
My friend had been given a flyer quite randomly last week, and as he has an extreme and deep love of anything free, he decided that it would be a good idea to pay it a visit.
For no other reason that… There was free steak.
So straight after our church service finished, and before a joint worship event that was being held at another church this afternoon, we basically bombed a totally random church's big outreach event in a quest for good food.
Like you do.
Like this…
It was one of the funniest experiences I've had in a while. It felt like we were in mission impossible or something.
You know, get in, get food, get to the next worship event. Like some kind of super-(un)cool-Christian-spy.
But it was good. And I was actually super blessed to see the heart of another great church in this beautiful city.
And this whole hilarious experience, sandwiched between two of the most precious times of worship, reminded me of the sweetness of free gifts.
Gifts we can't earn because they're free.
Gifts we don't deserve because they're free.
Gifts that are grace and grace alone.
Because they're free.
This morning in our worship time I was completely overwhelmed (in a really good way) by how beautiful our God is and by His love.
I am so thankful.
I am thankful that I am His little one.
I am thankful that He has freed me.
I am thankful that His promises are 'Yes' and 'Amen'.
I am thankful that He loves me so well.
It's so much greater than I can even imagine.
I was so overcome in worship today. This morning by the abounding love that seemed to wash over me in waves so that all I could respond with was 'I want to be found faithful, I want to be found steady, I want to be found faithful to Your heart.' This afternoon by the joy of intercession and the faith of praying in a place where Holy Spirit is so tangible.
Worship.
Barefooted-arms-raised-singing-with-all-your-might-to-the-God-you-love-worship.
Always, when thoughts of the love of God hit me afresh, it wrecks me. In a good way wrecks me. Because the truth in that changes absolutely everything.
And as I sit now, home from a day of worship, and free steak and furniture shopping and time with the people I love, I am sweetly at peace. Contemplating the love of Jesus I am so sweetly at peace.
In His Presence.
And truly realising that only love remains.
Because only Love remains.
Only He remains.
And I still can't quite get my head around just how much His heart burns with love for me. That I am the desire of His affections. That we are. His desire. That His mercy restores in a deeper way that we can ever deserve or understand. That I bring Him joy. That He rejoices when I find my joy in Him.
Our God who delights to show mercy.
Over and over again.
Who delights in us.
Over and over again.
I am undone.
How can we not be undone by that?
So the thing is this… We heard rumours of free steak, and we changed our plans and drove across town and did anything to enjoy a sample of this free food. We didn't hold back. Not for a second. And it was totally worth it.
And I never want to hold back from He who calls me.
From He whose eyes burn with blazing fire and love for me.
From He who offers me a life lived in the abundance of His grace.
His free gift undoes me for anything less, but only in His will am I free and only in His Presence am I whole.
Nothing else can satisfy.
But how can we get tired when we're gazing at those eyes of fire?
Those eyes that burn passion over us?
Because they'll never stop burning.
So I'll never stop singing.
I'm rambling and I'm tired, so I'll leave it here. With Jesus. And His love that ruins us for anything less.
Oh, and here are some more photos from the last couple of days….
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