Steadfast Devotion

"Ponder my excellence."

I closed my eyes and listened to His tender, precious words. Lately my heart had felt cold and aching, and just to hear Him whisper in my ear warmed and healed it. Like a cup of hot tea, or a soothing oinment, the words of my King brought comfort.

Yes, my heart was aching, and I knew why. In fact, the reason alarmed me greatly. In the past week, I had read no great books, never heard a heart-wrenching sermon, had no deep spiritiual disscussions with friends or family, had no radical answers to prayer. I had numerous short comings. And when I went to Jesus, our sacred time together felt cold. Of course, I knew it was all my fault.

The question nagged me all week. Was my Christian faith built off of books, sermons, and Bible studies? Did I spend more time talking about the excellence of God, than I did pondering Him alone?

The whole week I attempted to ignore these thoughts. You can probably guess that it didn't work. I tried to stand on my own, and say, "oh well!" but my knees were weak, and it could not be done in my own strength.

So it was there on my knees, weak and ashamed, where He wrapped His arms about me and gently lifted me up and said, "ponder my excellence."

It's been and delicate and humbling process. I am human. He is God. Allowing Him to work in you is like going though heart surgery. But there is forgiveness at the foot of the cross, my dear friends! There is joy, there is peace at the foot of the cross.



Ponder the excellence of the most High. Expect excellence. Approach it. Worship and behold the awesomeness of the King. Open your heart to the fire of God's purifying promise. Allow God's work to mature you and prepare you for service.



If I continue to "build my faith" using inspiring books and moving sermons, there will always be wavering highs and lows. But, if I come to Jesus (pondering, worshipping, and expecting His excellence) with steadfast devotion, He will hold us up.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh, and refreshment to your bones. Proverbs 3 :5-8

Feeding the Flames

Some of the most frustrating times in my walk with Jesus have been the little valleys that seem to come right after we reach the mountaintops. This has always been a pattern in our relationship, and believe me when I say that it has absolutely nothing to do with Him- it's all on me.

One day I'll feel His presence so closely that I wonder why I've ever felt lonely or how I could possibly desire anything but His love. The sweetness of the hours that we spend together is unmatched, and I am completely and utterly at peace. Then a week later I'll feel almost dry and stale, as if He is in the next room and I'm not quite sure how to reach Him. Praying becomes more of a chore than a pleasure, and I feel distracted and cold when I try to spend time with Him.

I was feeling just this way at the beginning of this week, and for some reason I didn't want to admit it to Him, (as if He didn't already know,) so I sat at my piano and tried to sing to Him.

This just happened to be during our electricity-free pioneer escapade, and on this particular day I was named "Keeper of the Flame" and left in charge of our all-important wood-stove fire so that our pipes wouldn't freeze.

I kept forgetting about the fire and Jesus kept nudging me away from the piano and over to the wood-stove, where I'd poke the flames a little and add a log or two before sulking over to the piano again.

After quite a few rounds of this, I had just sat down to play when Jesus whispered, "You know, that's all you have to do."

"What? Hm?" I asked, knowing full well what He had said.

And since He knew full well that I knew full well what He had said He didn't say it again.

No matter how much wood you put on the fire, it's going to go out eventually if you don't add more. And more. And more. And more.

I can't rely on the occasional Bible-reading sessions, church services, and prayer times that I undergo if they are just that- occasional. Jesus never said, "Spend time in My presence occasionally." Instead, He advised Moses this way in Leviticus 24: "The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord must be tended continually." This is reminiscent of what Paul advised the Thessalonians in one of the shortest verses in the Bible: "pray continually."

How profound!

It is my desire to not live a life of mountaintops and valleys when it comes to my relationship with God- He is steadfast, therefore I ought to strive to be the same way. Case closed.

Thursday's Thought

Do you think God has made mistake in your life? If instead of being a poor man you had been rich, if instead of being a lone woman you had had one to call you wife and little children to clutch your dress and call you mother, if instead of being tied to the office stool you had been a minister or missionary, you think that you would have been a better, sweeter character. But I want you to understand that God chose for you your lot in life out of myriads that were open to Him, because just where you are you might realize your noblest possibilities. Otherwise God would have made you different from what you are. But your soul, born into His kingdom, was a matter of care and thought to Him, and how best He might nurture you." F.B. Meyer

a quote to ponder...

Christ has no body on earth but yours; yours are the only hands with which He can do His work, yours are the only feet with which He can go about the world, yours are the only eyes with which His compassion can shine forth upon a troubled world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours. ~Teresa of Avila

It's Not You

Show me a woman who doesn't feel overly guilty all of the time and I'll show you a flying elephant. For me, the battle is all in my mind, and maybe you're the same way. I think thoughts that I don't think I should think (don't I have a great vocabulary?) and then I feel guilty for thinking those thoughts.

Why can't I have a pure mind, God? I begged to know just yesterday. I must be a terrible person if I'm always thinking this way.

Then I began to wonder if I'll ever have a truly pure mind.

Then I began to wonder if there are any people who have truly pure minds.

Then I got very disheartened.

Then I got on my knees and opened my Bible and read the first thing my eyes fell upon.

"Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay..."

"Gee, thanks, God," I thought, "Ruth, of all people- she was practically flawless. That really helps."

He smiled at me.

Then He asked me, "What do you think she was thinking when she said that?"

"She was incredibly confident in every way, of course," I answered.

He just looked at me for a minute.

"....at least, I think so...." I looked back.

"Wait a minute!" the light suddenly dawned. "I'll bet she was scared out of her wits!"

Imagine, if you will, Naomi and Ruth. Orpah already left, weeping as she walks back down the long road home. Ruth trembles as she begins to wonder what she should do. She could return to Moab, back to the life she had always known and the family she loved. But something in her spirit knew that her destiny lay in Judah. Just as she is about to speak up and tell Naomi that she will continue to travel with her, Naomi speaks.

"Return home, Ruth!" she cries, looking back at Orpah and gesturing as if to say, "You ought to follow her example."

"Do it, Ruth," the enemy (who we always just happen to forget about) whispers. "You know what you want."

Then another Voice speaks. "Follow Me. Speak, Ruth. Silence the enemy. Speak what I have for you to say. Speak, Darling. Speak."

"Do not," Ruth stumbles over her words as she whispers, "do not persuade me to leave you, Naomi..."

Do you realize that the evil thoughts in your mind are not your own? I am constantly frustrated with myself and the thoughts in my head instead of using the authority Jesus has given me to get rid of the enemy who I unknowingly allow to speak to me day in and day out. I struggle with guilt and worry because I blame myself for the thoughts that he plagues me with.

Ruth didn't become David's great-grandmother because she was she never worried or doubted, but because she was willing to ignore the voice of the enemy and silence it with her own. It wasn't that she never had an impure thought, but that she didn't let them have any authority over her. She didn't earn a place in the lineage of the Savior of the human race because she was confident with herself, but because she was confident in the beckoning, beautiful voice of her God and she followed it.

(And, just in case you know a woman understands this already, here's this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07cDZlUgGZo&feature=related) 

A Lesson from a Snowman

Snow is melting outside, and that makes me think of only one thing: SPRING. If you haven't already noticed, for me, spring is a favorite time of year.

Of course, if I bring up the fact that 'spring is in the air', most people quickly intercede. "Um...yeah. Lindsey, we live in Michigan, remember? It like, snows here until July!"

I know that this February thaw is probably just a teaser, nonetheless I've enjoyed it. Can't say as much for Mr. Snowman:


In a matter of one night, he went from this:
to this!
Now, you're probably wondering what in the world is "spiritual" about snowmen, and why I even told you about it in the first place. I'll tell you.

Lauren and I write quite a lot of deep, serious thoughts on this blog. We want to. However, if you only looked at our posts, you'd probably get the idea that we are very deep, serious, people. And we can be. However, we both also love to laugh. We love to be filled with joy, and find humor in life. Seeing this snowman made me laugh, and I hope it brought a smile on your face, too.

So, the lesson you can learn from a melting snowman is this: don't get caught up in a stuffy, stiff-necked, grumpy state. Laughter, my friends, is the best medicine!

All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast. Proverbs 15:15

Elihu

If I had lived in Bible days, my very best friend would've been Elihu.

You're probably thinking, "That's great!"

"...who's Elihu?"

The book of Job is a real downer for thirty-one chapters, but the depressing read is totally worth it once you get to chapter thirty-two.

You see, Job and all of his pals have been having a pity party for a really, really long time. I've always imagined them all sitting around a campfire chatting about death and dying and sores. And this goes on for what feels like forever. Job complains, his friends try to console him, they have no clue what to say so that doesn't go so well, etc., etc., etc.

Then, finally, we arrive at chapter thirty-two and find out that there has been someone else sitting there all along- Elihu. He was absolutely silent for twenty-nine whole chapters, listening to men much older than him ramble on and on about things they didn't understand.

Then, finally, he can't take it anymore.

"But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused. So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said: 'I am young in years, and you are old; that is why I was fearful, not daring to tell you what I know. I thought, ‘Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.’"

I imagine that right now the others are all staring at dear Elihu, who is bursting out with all that he's been burning to say, with their mouths agape. He continues:

"But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding. It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right."

For the rest of the chapter, Elihu explains what he's about to say to the older, "wiser" men around him. And then comes my favorite part: he lets them have it.

"The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Answer me then, if you can; stand up and argue your case before me. I am the same as you in God’s sight; I too am a piece of clay. No fear of me should alarm you, nor should my hand be heavy on you. But you have said in my hearing— I heard the very words— ‘I am pure, I have done no wrong; I am clean and free from sin. Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy. He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.’ But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than any mortal."

Music to my hears. Notice how young Elihu speaks with incredible articulation and confidence, knowing that it is the Spirit of God at work within Him and nothing else. He is not speaking his own words.

For several chapters, my dear friend continues on until God comes. There is no pause between Elihu's final word and God's first. Elihu was a prologue into the beautiful clarity that God brings to Job when He finally speaks.

Elihu and I are best buds. Every single time I read his story I am inspired to pursue his wise outlook on life: listen first, let God advise you, then speak. Don't be worried about your age, your class, your experience, your knowledge- God is the one at work within you, which means that you lack nothing.