Cravings

“To crave and to have are as like as a thing and its shadow. For when does a berry break upon the tongue as sweetly as when one longs to taste it, and when is the taste refracted into so many hues and savors of ripeness and earth, and when do our senses know any thing so utterly as when we lack it? And here again is a foreshadowing — the world will be made whole. For to wish for a hand on one’s hair is all but to feel it. So whatever we may lose, very craving gives it back to us again.”
— Marilynne Robinson (Housekeeping)

Got this off today’s lit nugget. Amazingly beautiful

Dear Daddy, I need you. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you by directing my own life. I thank you that You have forgiven my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I pray this in the name of Jesus. As an expression of my faith, I thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I am finding my compass/

Death, Be Not Proud/ Oh Lord, You’re Beautiful

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow,

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well

And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally,

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

John Donne

Oh Lord, You’re beautiful 
Your face is all I seek. 
For when Your eyes are on this child. 
Your grace abounds to me.

I want to take Your Word and shine it all around; 
First, help me just to live it, Lord. 
And when I’m doing well 
Help me to never seek a crown; 
For my reward is giving glory to You.

Oh Lord, please light the fire
that once burned bright and clear 
Replace the lamp of my first
love that burns with holy fear

Oh Lord, You’re beautiful 
Your face is all I seek. 
For when Your eyes are on this child 
Your grace abounds to me. 
Your grace abounds to me.

 

Rekindle my first love for you, Daddy.

Amen.

 

KEEPING THE FAITH, RECEIVING THE JOY

Psalm 40:1-3 ”I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.”

Hard times will come and the darkness will find each one of us. At some point in life, we all will face some kind of pit. It may be a pit that we have dug with our own hands of wrong choices or it could be a pit that has been uniquely designed for us by the enemy.

I love the story of the little girl who misquoted her favorite Bible verse, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son so that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have ever-laughing life.” Jesus wants to give us a life of joy, pits and all. We need to remember that joy is the deeply-rooted confidence that God is in control and that our inner attitudes do not have to reflect our outer circumstances. We can find joy in the pit.

Daddy, thank You that You are my strength and my joy at a time when I feel so weak, trapped in a pit of despair. By faith, I turn to You and seek Your forgiveness for the pride that blinds me to the hope I can find in You. Please help me to see Your hand at work in my life and even when I can’t, give me the power to walk by faith and not by sight.

In Jesus’s most precious name

AMEN.

LOOKING UP?

When I was a kid, my older brother let me ride his mini-bike. He gave me a quick course on how to operate the bike: how to let out the clutch and give it gas at the same time, how to break and how to steer. He strapped on my helmet, and told me to give it a shot. Fearful and nervous, I mistakenly had my eyes fixed on the front tire, and, as a result, I proceeded to crash into the wall. UGH! In all my brother’s instructions, he did not mention where to focus. He took it for granted I would be looking up, not down.

IT’S ALL ABOUT FOCUS

In the Christian life, focus is everything. Hebrews 12:1-2 exhorts us to ”run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.” The only way to run the race successfully is to FIX your eyes on the Lord and keep them there.

Peter was the only disciple who walked on water. By faith he got out of the boat and took a few steps on the stormy Sea of Galilee. No doubt, it was exhilarating and wonderful. He would have been able to take quite a stroll except for this one problem: ”But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and started to sink” (Matthew 14:30). Question: Why the sinking spell? Answer: He took his eyes off Jesus.

Where are your eyes today? Are they focused on your problems, or are they focused on the problem solver, the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you see the strong winds and tumultuous waves of your stormy sea OR do you see Jesus, the loving, all-powerful God who is King over every wave of problem and wind of difficulty.

PRAYING THE RIGHT PRAYER

I love the story in 2 Chronicles 20. King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah are facing a fierce and ruthless army. Judah is grossly outnumbered. Death and destruction seem unavoidable. The situation seems hopeless. In the midst of this stormy sea of enemy invaders, Jehoshaphat prays a great pray of faith in 2 Chronicles 20:12:

“O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”

What do you do when you don’t know what to do? What do you do when it looks like your goose is cooked? What do you do when the winds blow and the waves threaten to take you under? YOU FIX YOUR EYES ON JESUS AND LEAVE THEM THERE!!!

Jesus is able in any situation. He is the God in whom nothing is impossible. He is the One who miraculously defeated that great army of enemies and turned Jehoshaphat’s seemingly hopeless situation into the Hallelujah Chorus. And He can do the same for you!!

Where are you looking today?

SERIOUSLY, HIMYM is LEGENDARY.

Ted: No, it’s not an adventure, it’s a mistake! 
Lily: OK, yes it’s a mistake. I know it’s a mistake, but there are certain things in life where you know it’s a mistake but you don’t really know it’s a mistake because the only way to really know it’s a mistake is to make the mistake and look back and say ‘yep, that was a mistake.’ So really, the bigger mistake would be to not make the mistake, because then you’d go your whole life not knowing if something is a mistake or not. And dammit, I’ve made no mistakes! I’ve done all of this; my life, my relationship, my career, mistake-free. Does any of this make sense to you? 
Ted: I dunno, you said mistake a lot.