. . . and I walk in Your faithfulness (Psa 26:3)

FATHER, earlier today I read an article concerning the blood covenant and it referenced the one between You and Abraham. You were the sole initiater and participant – that it was all Your doing, Abraham was just the recipient of Your love; the beneficiary of Your blessing. It was and is Your faithfulness that brings life and provides the very air that we breathe – physically and spiritually. David knew this, his heart was ever before You. You have caused me to walk in Your faithfulness and I can think of no place I’d rather be. Your faithfulness is amazing. It is Who You are – faithful and true.

Mercy and Justice

We are in a dangerous place when we regard God’s mercy towards us as our right. . . No one is ever unfair for not giving mercy. (Rom 9:14-16)
FATHER in reading about mercy, it has confirmed to me the need to understand how You define things, to see them from Your perspective. I think because You are so merciful that we sometimes expect it as our right, when in truth it is not what we deserve at all and we take for granted something we should be humbled by and grateful for. And yet, we are to have confidence in who we are as Your children, Your adopted sons; co-inheritors with Christ. It is Your nature to be merciful, but it is always Your choice – because it is also Your nature to be just. Help me to see things as You see them and to understand, so that I may not sin against You or dishonor You in any way.

Groanings too deep for words

Romans 8:26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
FATHER, coming across this verse this morning brings a sense of Your peace, Your faithfulness and Your call on my life. Even before I “knew” You, You were working out Your plans and purposes in my life. For as a child, I knew I wanted You and asked You into my life – not knowing You as I do now, but knowing You as a child. You heard my hearts cry, came in and Your Spirit remained, quietly waiting and working “with groanings too deep for words” until You brought me to that place of sweet surrender, ongoing and deepening with each passing day. ABBA, FATHER I love You so.

Some post resurrection thoughts

First of all, FATHER, thank You for Jesus, His death, burial and resurrection – and for calling me to be Your child, in Him. This gift of Your love and grace is so beyond anything else, no words can fully describe . . . all I can offer is my worship, my praise, my adoration and my surrender to You as my Lord, my King, my Savior. Let it be so in me LORD, not in words but in the intention of my heart, mind soul and strength.

In reading this morning – 1 Chronicle 4 the commentary mentions - “First, Jabez prayed to be blessed indeed. There are many who are blessed, but they are not blessed indeed. That is, they have something that is in one sense a blessings (such as family, salvation, wealth, fame, health, security), but yet because of fundamental dissatisfaction in their life, they are not blessed indeed.”

I must confess, that these words pierced my heart; that I am guilty of a form of this “fundamental dissatisfaction” and I pray, I cry out to You that You will forgive me and change my heart. It just occurred to me that the next thought that spoke to me was from Romans 8 commentary - "He knows nothing about the life that God offers. He thinks he is living life but is actually living in death and doesn't know it because he is deceived."

You have given me this new life and perhaps because I have lived it for so long, because You have blessed my life in so many ways, that I have forgotten or grown accustomed to just how blessed I really am. There is a fine line between confidence and presumption, between gratitude and taking for granted. O FATHER, may it not be so with me, that I ever take for granted all that You have done for me; that I ever presume upon YOUR grace so lavishly poured out upon me.

A broken and contrite heart, these You will not despise – so break my heart LORD, and then put the pieces back together so that it will be a heart of Your making, a heart where You are pleased to dwell and reign.

FATHER, I’m reading an article on Beautifying the Commandments and it speaks of how the Jews saw the Mitzvahs (commandments) as “opportunities to do something good that You, God, had told them to do – NOT a burdensome regulations. This got me thinking about the cloud in the desert – on the one side, Israel saw it as good, for it provided protections, but to the Egyptian it presented a threat. In Romans there is much talk about the law and that it does appear to be burdensome, but again I think it’s how we see it, our perspective. It was never meant to save us, but to show us our need for a Savior. That there is good available in every circumstance comes when we are able to trust You, completely and without reservation, when our expectations are molded by Your grace. (If our expectation is that the law will save us, then it becomes the means of condemnation. If however, we see it as “opportunities” to show our love to You, then it can become a means of grace. Jesus met the legal requirements of the Law and paid the price for our sin. Through His resurrection, we are now free from it’s burden, from its condemnation – free to live in fellowship and communion with Him - forever. Obedience is no longer a “requirement” but a “desirement”) When we look to You as the provider of our peace and well being, the One who holds us in Your hands and near to Your heart, our rest and our security are in You.

The Tabernacle

FATHER, This morning reading about the construction of the tabernacle, the ark and all the furnishings and utensils, it’s curious to me that the whole creation of the world was covered by two chapters and yet the description of and then the building of Your tabernacle – in great detail -covers several chapters. This was where You would dwell with Your people, where they could – through the High Priest and on the day of Atonement – come into Your presence. It would seem that this is important, established by the witness of two (as You have it recorded two times). This is where our focus should be - on You. Creation itself is not as important as Your plan of redemption. We are – in Jesus - new creations, and Your dwelling is now within us – individually, personally, intimately – and we can come into Your presence by simply turning to You, seeking You and resting in You. It is all more than I can fully understand or appreciate, but I’m just so grateful that You have called me and that I am Yours!

He holds the future

Thank You ABBA. This morning I have felt a heaviness – bringing Amber for the surgery to remove the tumor on her shoulder, her seeming not quite herself and then being asked IF her heart should stop, what do I want them to do – or not do. Knowing that she is going to die, but not knowing when or what form it will take. My prayer yesterday was that You would take her – because I don’t want to see her suffer and I don’t want to have to make the decision - at some point in the future - to “put her down”

Anyway, as I was sitting here in the lobby the intake tech came to let me know that there was a form they had forgotten to have me sign. As I was signing it he made the comment that he had noticed earlier that I was using the BlueletterBible and that he really liked it and thought it was a great study tool – to which I agreed. It was just that little sign to me that everything is in Your hands, that nothing goes unnoticed, that Your presence is all around – in the air we breathe and indwelling in Your children, even when we’re unaware and not even looking for it. I just know that what ever the future may hold, that You hold the future and I can rest and be at peace in that knowledge.