Prone To Wander

Psalm 119:10

I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.

   "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

    Prone to leave the God I love;

    Here's my heart, O take and seal it,

    Seal it for Thy courts above."

                         --Robert Robinson

O my Father, I know that I am also prone to wander from Your pure and holy ways. Thank you for Your Spirit, living in me as the seal of the great Redemption You have already provided. Help me, strengthen me with Your wisdom and faithfulness to follow Your ways, in Your time, to accomplish Your purposes.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Ask. Seek. Knock.

Matthew 7:11-12

How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

The Golden Rule. Everyone at least gives lip service to this idea. But how often do we actually live it out in our relationships? We are to treat others with the respect and compassion we would desire from them, because God has given us value and worth. This "sums up  the Law and the Prophets;" this means that when we have this attitude of loving our neighbor as ourselves, we won't need to worry about if we're doing everything we need to obey His commands, we will automatically follow the spirit of the Law in our treatment of others. And He has promised and made it so that what we focus on will become a reality. Ask. Seek. Knock.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Wisdom

James 3:17

The wisdom - Being smart, intelligent, being able to apply knowledge in practical ways

that comes from Heaven - not natural, or earthly

is first of all - of paramount importance

pure, - unadulterated, not alloyed

then peace-loving, - no animosity

considerate, - thinking of other, not self

submissive, - easy to be entreated, open to suggestion

full of mercy - giving the shadow of a doubt

and good fruit, - the fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, etc.

impartial - no prejudice

and sincere. - no hypocrisy.

O my dear Father, please teach us to have this supernatural wisdom that You have promised us if we just ask for it. Help us to have every wisdom that would further Your purposes for all You have created, to be Your hands and Your feet and Your voice in the midst of the world you have placed each of us in, that world of our own families, relatives, friends, coworkers, acquaintances, and the strangers whose paths cross ours. That we may redeem the time, making the most of every opportunity.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Saturated Or Jaded?

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commands that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

So we are to love God with everything in us, teach our children all about what He has done and what He has promised to do, and saturate our families in the Word of God; talk about Him all the time, coming and going; wear the symbols as bracelets and headbands, decorate our houses and yards with them.

So we wear crosses as jewelry and blazoned on our tee shirts; but are we really reminded constantly of God's love for us in sending His own Son to die our death so we can live? Or are we so jaded that we can see the crosses and not perceive the depth of the relationship that God wants to have with us? 

We must teach our children ourselves, not depend on a church or camp to do it for us; they must see in our own daily lives and attitudes the truths that fuel our living. Because they will catch what we really do believe, as shown in our lives. We live in glass houses, nothing will be hidden or secret from our children and grandchildren.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Groaning

Romans 8:22,23,26

. . . The whole creation has been groaning . . . We ourselves . . . groan inwardly . . . In the same way, the Spirit . . . Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

We see in verses 19 through 27 a whole picture of all creation groaning under the curse placed on it by Adam's sin, waiting for the curse to be lifted when we are glorified. And we groan inwardly as we wait for that event to happen. And the Holy Spirit, in the meanwhile, also groans in His intercession for us, because we don't even know what to pray for, but He searches our hearts and knows God's will and prays for us. We all groan now, waiting.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Final Battle Soundtrak

Isaiah 30:31-32

The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria; with His scepter He will strike them down. Every stroke the Lord lays on them with His punishing rod will be to the music of tambourines and harps, as He fights them in battle with the blows of His arm.

Those who make movies understand the dramatic effects of the right soundtrack for the action. But they can't outdo God! When Jesus returns to conquer the nations who are attacking Israel, the music of a grand orchestra will accompany the actions. No mere man will be able to out-dramatize the very Creator of all!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Law

James 2:10

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

It has been said that the body of laws--the Law--is like a chain. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If one link breaks, the chain is broken, even though all the other links are intact. If the one link breaks, whatever is being hauled by it will come loose, and be lost, all for that one link.

So it is with the Law: Stumble at one point, and we are not perfect, we've missed the bulls-eye and sinned. That's why Jesus took our sin-nature on the Cross for each of us, He was and is perfect, He hits the bulls-eye every time.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!