Hebrews 12: 1-2; 11-13
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God...For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore, lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed."
This is EXACTLY what I needed for today. I'm feeling super stressed and swamped. I've been worrying. But it's like God is saying, "Lay it down. I'll take the burden!" Since I have all of these examples of Christ-followers, I need to lay aside my burdens and my sins, and run with endurance this race, and keep my eyes on Jesus who found, and is perfecting, my faith. I need to look at Christ's example, who joyfully endured the cross- and look where He is now! He's seated at the right hand of God!
I am not enduring a cross, but I do have a full plate of student teaching assignments to do. God is disciplining me for righteousness. He's preparing me for His plans. I need to go about this with joy! Not stress or worrying. "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" So I will lift my drooping hands to my glorious Father, strengthen my weak knees to run with endurance, and make straight paths for my feet, not wandering off to temporary pleasures and treasures of this world! My eyes are on You Jesus! You found me and you are continually sanctifying me. Make me more like You.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
God's Rest
God is so faithful. Tonight I finally had the freedom in my schedule to just sit down and dig into the Word, rather than the skim reading I've been doing. So I've been reading Hebrews and the writer keeps talking in chapter 4 about entering into God's "rest". I looked at cross-references and dug in and came to find that entering God's rest is entering God's presence. So I decided to get my guitar out and sing. I sang a couple songs, read some psalms, and then I was just HIT by the presence of God. It was amazing and completely real. The only thing I could utter was, "I am not worthy, but worthy is the Lamb." That's all I could think to say. And God was THERE. I haven't felt his presence like that in so long. It brought me to tears and I just sang my heart out to God.
I want life to be like that always. I want to feel His presence with me everywhere I go. There is a danger of worshiping that "feeling" more than worshiping the Lord, but we can't cut the feelings out of worship!!! Worship uses our emotions! As John Piper's ministry says, and is founded on, "God is more glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." In other words, the MOST WORSHIPFUL way of glorifying God is by enjoying Him and being in His presence.
Now, here's a question: Is it possible to feel God's presence all the time, or maybe more often than not? This is something I have questions about. In Scripture, the authors constantly get to the point that God is our strength in trials and persecution and suffering. Paul says in 2 Corinthians that we are sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, being poor but making many rich, having nothing yet possessing everything. So there's this sense that, in accordance with the world, we are sorrowful, poor, and have nothing. But with God, we have joy, riches, and everything we need.
Maybe this question is better- "Is it okay to be on a spiritual plateau?" Can we just accept that, yes, there will be times in our lives that we read scripture, pray, and just don't feel the presence of God? This past week was like that. I would be cautious to say that 'that's okay'. I don't think that it's okay to NOT feel the presence of God! There's something terribly wrong with that! We need God's presence more than anything else on this earth. So what do we do? We pray and dig in- as much as we can! We don't relent. And God is faithful. He will meet us if we come.
Now, are there purposes for spiritual plateaus in our lives? Of course. God may be teaching us things in these times, though we may not see it. God may be showing us that we need to trust in Him and not our own "works", such as Bible reading and journaling and prayer, to get by. Maybe we need to switch things up...jump to a new part of scripture, go on a walk in the woods, get off of facebook!
God is faithful and will meet us. But we must persevere and continue seeking Him. I'm so thankful for tonight and the fact that I can enter into His "rest".
I want life to be like that always. I want to feel His presence with me everywhere I go. There is a danger of worshiping that "feeling" more than worshiping the Lord, but we can't cut the feelings out of worship!!! Worship uses our emotions! As John Piper's ministry says, and is founded on, "God is more glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." In other words, the MOST WORSHIPFUL way of glorifying God is by enjoying Him and being in His presence.
Now, here's a question: Is it possible to feel God's presence all the time, or maybe more often than not? This is something I have questions about. In Scripture, the authors constantly get to the point that God is our strength in trials and persecution and suffering. Paul says in 2 Corinthians that we are sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, being poor but making many rich, having nothing yet possessing everything. So there's this sense that, in accordance with the world, we are sorrowful, poor, and have nothing. But with God, we have joy, riches, and everything we need.
Maybe this question is better- "Is it okay to be on a spiritual plateau?" Can we just accept that, yes, there will be times in our lives that we read scripture, pray, and just don't feel the presence of God? This past week was like that. I would be cautious to say that 'that's okay'. I don't think that it's okay to NOT feel the presence of God! There's something terribly wrong with that! We need God's presence more than anything else on this earth. So what do we do? We pray and dig in- as much as we can! We don't relent. And God is faithful. He will meet us if we come.
Now, are there purposes for spiritual plateaus in our lives? Of course. God may be teaching us things in these times, though we may not see it. God may be showing us that we need to trust in Him and not our own "works", such as Bible reading and journaling and prayer, to get by. Maybe we need to switch things up...jump to a new part of scripture, go on a walk in the woods, get off of facebook!
God is faithful and will meet us. But we must persevere and continue seeking Him. I'm so thankful for tonight and the fact that I can enter into His "rest".
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Random thoughts/prayers. Hebrews 2: 1-4
Lately I just don't feel Him.
Lately my prayers seem to just bounce off the walls.
Lately I've been drinking from my own broken cisterns.
I need an awakening; a divine wake-up call.
I need to refresh; I need a new start.
Cleanse me, Lord; restore to me the JOY of my salvation.
My sin is always before me; against You and You only have I sinned.
Every day I am full of sin.
Who will save me from this flesh? Thanks be to Jesus Christ for His sacrifice!
I want this whole sanctification process to be faster and easier.
I just want one of those Staples easy buttons that solves all my problems.
I just want to glorify God with all that I do and forsake my sinfulness.
But I'm human and I stumble and I fall. I'm sick of failing.
I'm sick of workloads. I'm sick of teaching. I'm sick of portfolio crap. I'm sick of bull-crap papers that are pointless. I want to just go into a coma and not be bothered by any one for a week. I need to rest. I need to have fun. I need to get out. I need to sleep. I need thanksgiving break. I need friends.
I wish there were more time in the day. I want to play guitar more. I want to write more music. I want to write more poetry. I want to read more books.
This is, like, the most depressing blog ever. I'm not depressed...I'm just blahhhh...
I've been acquiring so much knowledge about God. But I don't feel Him. Lately the focus has been on WHY Jesus is the only way. And I've received responses from people that doubt the Bible's authenticity or say that Jesus' only message was love and the apostles just expanded on it too much when they wrote the Bible. People have sent me links to back up their points of view and I read everything they send. I research. I think for myself. I align with scripture. And I'm burnt out. My faith isn't shaken, but it's being weakened the more I burn myself out over this. I need to let this go for a bit and just trust. The Bible IS the Word of life. I believe it is. Nothing will shake that. No argument, no human. My devo's today reminded me of the authenticity of Jesus' message of salvation:
Hebrews 2: 1-4
"Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will."
I need to keep this in my focus always and chew on it so that I stand firm in it and don't drift away from this. The message is reliable (Christ is over all!) and every sin and conscious rebellion receives its just punishment, so therefore, how can we escape punishment if we ignore this salvation? This salvation is our hope! We must not lose sight of this: Christ paid the price of our sin and has drawn us into the Father's kingdom by his glorious grace.
This message was declared by the Lord, himself so we can't ignore his spoken Word! And in addition, hundreds of people saw Jesus after his resurrection and were eye-witnesses so there is more proof! Lastly, the signs, wonders, and miracles of Christ and the apostles, along with the spiritual gifts (willed by God), testify that this message of salvation is to be taken seriously and accepted!
So I'm just going to continue seeking the Lord and keeping my eyes fixed to the cross where my hope is found. Already, from the beginning of this blog to this sentence, I feel more at peace. I think I just needed to vent.
Thank you Lord for your kindness to me, that has led me to repentance again and again. And thank you for your grace that has washed me again and again. Continue to sanctify me Lord; I'm assured that He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. I'm waiting for that day Lord and I will serve you with all that I am as if every day were my last.
Lately my prayers seem to just bounce off the walls.
Lately I've been drinking from my own broken cisterns.
I need an awakening; a divine wake-up call.
I need to refresh; I need a new start.
Cleanse me, Lord; restore to me the JOY of my salvation.
My sin is always before me; against You and You only have I sinned.
Every day I am full of sin.
Who will save me from this flesh? Thanks be to Jesus Christ for His sacrifice!
I want this whole sanctification process to be faster and easier.
I just want one of those Staples easy buttons that solves all my problems.
I just want to glorify God with all that I do and forsake my sinfulness.
But I'm human and I stumble and I fall. I'm sick of failing.
I'm sick of workloads. I'm sick of teaching. I'm sick of portfolio crap. I'm sick of bull-crap papers that are pointless. I want to just go into a coma and not be bothered by any one for a week. I need to rest. I need to have fun. I need to get out. I need to sleep. I need thanksgiving break. I need friends.
I wish there were more time in the day. I want to play guitar more. I want to write more music. I want to write more poetry. I want to read more books.
This is, like, the most depressing blog ever. I'm not depressed...I'm just blahhhh...
I've been acquiring so much knowledge about God. But I don't feel Him. Lately the focus has been on WHY Jesus is the only way. And I've received responses from people that doubt the Bible's authenticity or say that Jesus' only message was love and the apostles just expanded on it too much when they wrote the Bible. People have sent me links to back up their points of view and I read everything they send. I research. I think for myself. I align with scripture. And I'm burnt out. My faith isn't shaken, but it's being weakened the more I burn myself out over this. I need to let this go for a bit and just trust. The Bible IS the Word of life. I believe it is. Nothing will shake that. No argument, no human. My devo's today reminded me of the authenticity of Jesus' message of salvation:
Hebrews 2: 1-4
"Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will."
I need to keep this in my focus always and chew on it so that I stand firm in it and don't drift away from this. The message is reliable (Christ is over all!) and every sin and conscious rebellion receives its just punishment, so therefore, how can we escape punishment if we ignore this salvation? This salvation is our hope! We must not lose sight of this: Christ paid the price of our sin and has drawn us into the Father's kingdom by his glorious grace.
This message was declared by the Lord, himself so we can't ignore his spoken Word! And in addition, hundreds of people saw Jesus after his resurrection and were eye-witnesses so there is more proof! Lastly, the signs, wonders, and miracles of Christ and the apostles, along with the spiritual gifts (willed by God), testify that this message of salvation is to be taken seriously and accepted!
So I'm just going to continue seeking the Lord and keeping my eyes fixed to the cross where my hope is found. Already, from the beginning of this blog to this sentence, I feel more at peace. I think I just needed to vent.
Thank you Lord for your kindness to me, that has led me to repentance again and again. And thank you for your grace that has washed me again and again. Continue to sanctify me Lord; I'm assured that He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. I'm waiting for that day Lord and I will serve you with all that I am as if every day were my last.
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