Your physical weariness is a gift. It provides infirmity that is not damaging either to your health or to your integrity in the Lord, and thus you are able to practice walking by the Spirit and not according to the flesh. Coping with a physical body that is weak produces an irritability that is a temper of the flesh. The practice of overcoming this temper strengthens you to walk according to the Spirit, not allowing the flesh to dictate your mood, your behavior, or your actions.
If you are to overcome the dispositions of the flesh, you must partake of the elixir that strengthens the Spirit within. The Word of God feeds and strengthens your spirit just as food strengthens the body. Partake.
Scripture: "My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me" (Psalm 63:8).
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Be Still
The Lord has heard your prayer. No further histrionics are necessary; do not give way to fear in order to rev yourself to “adequate” prayer. Your inadequacy is completely filled by the Lord's adequacy. A vessel cannot be empty and full simultaneously, and the Lord has filled you. Peace, Child, be still. The Lord is with you and He is with those you love. Your awareness (or lack of awareness) of any situation is immaterial; He is the Lord! "Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit..." (Zechariah 4:6).
Scripture: "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still" (Exodus 14:14).
Scripture: "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still" (Exodus 14:14).
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Seeing God
The Lord does not withhold Himself from you in any way at all. He does not want you to do more. It is not in acts of service that you can honor Him best, it is in your words and body language that He desires to see your love. You cannot hate your brother, whom you can see, and love the Lord, whom you have not seen with physical eyes (see 1 John 4:20).
It’s alright, Dear Child. He sees your heart. He understands that you have attempted to protect yourself from further harm by insulating yourself from vulnerability to those who have hurt you. Your Lord will help you. Do not suffer remorse. “Suffer” love for Him and allow yourself to feel the pathos of compassion for your beloved enemies. Pray for them. The Lord will identify you with His interests in them and you will be His voice.
He knows the end of the story. You will not fail to heed the command to love; you have not failed. God gives warning before the danger arrives; not after…do not suffer guilt ahead of time. In order to spur you forward into His will, He has given you a glimpse of what would be if you did not love as He has commanded you to love.
Scripture: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8.
It’s alright, Dear Child. He sees your heart. He understands that you have attempted to protect yourself from further harm by insulating yourself from vulnerability to those who have hurt you. Your Lord will help you. Do not suffer remorse. “Suffer” love for Him and allow yourself to feel the pathos of compassion for your beloved enemies. Pray for them. The Lord will identify you with His interests in them and you will be His voice.
He knows the end of the story. You will not fail to heed the command to love; you have not failed. God gives warning before the danger arrives; not after…do not suffer guilt ahead of time. In order to spur you forward into His will, He has given you a glimpse of what would be if you did not love as He has commanded you to love.
Scripture: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Look at Your Savior's Face
You have decided that your goal should be to focus upon seeking intimacy with the Lord, but do not set your mind on any endeavor (no matter how "holy"). Set your focus upon the Lord Himself. Intimacy with Christ is a free gift; you do not have to seek after what you already possess.
You have concluded that a Holy focus on Christ must happen in your mind first, as a prelude to bringing your physical and spiritual body into alignment with His will. This is inaccurate. Holy identification with the Lord does not begin as a mental discipline, it begins with the Cross. You have only to follow in footsteps along a path already broken for you. You do not have to make your own way.
The difficulty in embarking upon any program of self-improvement is that you will find yourself attempting to follow in the footsteps of a fellow human being (or your own self-imposed rules) rather than following the Lord.
There is a difference between thinking about Jesus and looking at Jesus. You can think about an "ought not" while in the very act of sin, but you cannot look into the face of the Savior who bled and died for you and continue the act that wounded Him. The sin will become abhorrent to you and you will fling it away in horror when you look into your Savior's face. Obedience is not a battle of the mind or even of the will; it is an act of love.
Remember that Peter had determined in his mind to follow Jesus, but under duress fell away. It was only when he saw Jesus die for him that he was enabled to lay down his own life for Jesus' sake. Don't just think about your faith, look at Jesus. See the Cross. See your Savior's face.
There are no “shoulds” for you. There is only the Lord's abiding presence, an open invitation to greater intimacy with Him day by day, and the promise that He will not leave you.
Scripture: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. Romans 8:1-3
You have concluded that a Holy focus on Christ must happen in your mind first, as a prelude to bringing your physical and spiritual body into alignment with His will. This is inaccurate. Holy identification with the Lord does not begin as a mental discipline, it begins with the Cross. You have only to follow in footsteps along a path already broken for you. You do not have to make your own way.
The difficulty in embarking upon any program of self-improvement is that you will find yourself attempting to follow in the footsteps of a fellow human being (or your own self-imposed rules) rather than following the Lord.
There is a difference between thinking about Jesus and looking at Jesus. You can think about an "ought not" while in the very act of sin, but you cannot look into the face of the Savior who bled and died for you and continue the act that wounded Him. The sin will become abhorrent to you and you will fling it away in horror when you look into your Savior's face. Obedience is not a battle of the mind or even of the will; it is an act of love.
Remember that Peter had determined in his mind to follow Jesus, but under duress fell away. It was only when he saw Jesus die for him that he was enabled to lay down his own life for Jesus' sake. Don't just think about your faith, look at Jesus. See the Cross. See your Savior's face.
There are no “shoulds” for you. There is only the Lord's abiding presence, an open invitation to greater intimacy with Him day by day, and the promise that He will not leave you.
Scripture: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. Romans 8:1-3
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)