Does God have expectations?

Are God's expectations of us high or low? Does he keep them low knowing we'll mess up? Or high because he wants us to strive forward? Or none at all, because his love for us is free from all conditions and/or expectations? He's grateful for any and all affection, devotion and intimacy we render him. Like a father with his child in his lap, to spend five precious minutes embracing his presence, he is satisfied.

Light pollutes the darkness

After watching a documentary on human trafficking, once again that new awareness and knowledge weighs on me... as I was taught in bible college, "more light = more responsibility." I don't want to live in ignorance, even if it's a more blissful state. Yet with the awareness brings a responsibility to make wiser choices. We can't naively assume our choices don't affect others. In a similar vein of thinking, God's given us resources - money, time, relationships - and I want to be a good steward of all he's given me. And wise in how I invest these resources, and not invest in things that continue to cycles of injustice... whether child slavery tied to chocolate industry, fair trade partnerships with coffee, etc.

God, take this desire to honor you by making wise decisions when it comes to justice in our present world. Help me center on You to find the balance in the overwhelming tide of injustice and evil rife all around us. I long that your kingdom would come, and will done on earth as it is in heaven....

Q: When Adam & Eve realized they were "naked" and tried to clothe themselves, what parts were covered by fig leaves? How did we come to deem the appropriately named "private parts" needing of coverage? Is there deeper significance here?

Another Q: Has culture also shaped what we see as needing of coverage for modesty's sake (i.e. breasts exposed in Africa; strict full coverage for Muslim women)?

Next Q: Has this also then led to negative connotations regarding our sexual parts? We now call them "private parts" - does that give a sense of shame in their exposure? Is that innate or culturally conditioned?

Since sexuality is a powerful force, as indicated in the Word, is this a protection God foresaw needed for humans... a protection from abuse and chaos as a result of the Fall? Yet Adam & Eve covered themselves first before God provided them more suitable attire. Before the Fall, being fully known (intimate) before God & others was free and without fear. Sin enters and that kind of openness about ourselves - which includes the bad - is full of fear. Intimacy - soul, physical/sexual, otherwise - impeded. Where once in Eden goodness and innocence reigned, full exposure on every level was possible. Evil enters our world and darkness settles, enshrouding much that used to be freely exposed.

We now live behind layers, of clothing and around our hearts. Casting back those layers to reveal skin or soul requires trust. Intimacy with other fallen creatures is a risk we take in that what we reveal of body & soul may be abused, ridiculed, or perhaps the worst response: our intimacy is returned unmatched and/or withheld from the other end. To risk much and receive not affirmation but a wall, is a tension difficult to bear much less accept. One of the greatest human longings is tied to intimacy: to know and be known.

Fear must not be allowed to keep us from developing healthy, genuinely intimate relationships. But, on the other hand, we cannot throw caution to the wind and be openly intimate with all. I, for one, am keeping my clothes on... at least in public :)

What kind of lover…

…must God be, that he would love with such immeasurable perfect unconditional love and that towards me the complete opposite, the limited imperfect conditional lover that I am. To think that he desires me to imitate this type of love to others just blows my mind and leaves me wondering how can it be possible, but for the grace of God and power of the Spirit. Wretched and unworthy am I to be the recipient of His love. How my heart hurts that I've failed him so often, going after my own longings and seeking satisfaction other than him. As the psalmist says that God's thinking & ways are so much higher than our own that we cannot even attain unto it. Even if my progress is slow and painful as I stumble along the way, I seek to become more like the Lover of my soul, who gave up so much for me because he loves me.