God, you've given me so much. Taken away even more.
You've given me talents and taken away things.
You've given me blessings and taken away blindness.
You've given me music and taken away madness.
You've given me spirit and taken away selfishness.
You've given me hope and taken away hate.
You've given me sunshine and taken away sadness.
You've given me righteousness and taken away regret.
I know it is for your glory and for my good.
You love me so much...I can't help but bend under the hurricane of your love.
Grateful.
Overwhelmed.
Astounded.
Humbled.
Showing posts with label frailty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frailty. Show all posts
All around me is discord. There is pain, frustration, disillusionment, unhappiness...decay. So much turmoil and noise.
And it's rubbing off on me.
Help.
My Dear One:
Be careful! Don't conform to the disenchantment of the world. Don't let it's beliefs, it's weary, cynical views get inside your mind or modify your behavior.
Allow My power and love to transform you--daily--and raise up within you a dignity that comes from strength. I am in the business of renewing your mind and keeping you pure. I am here to give you supernatural enthusiasm and energy. Drink in My words and hold them in your mouth and let them be refreshing to you. Let them give you confidence and joy. In this way, you prove for yourself what My good and acceptable and perfect will is.
Surround yourself with Me. Submerse your whole self in Me.
Because I love you with an unending love.
I have redeemed you from the pit.
I have written your name on My hand.
I cover you with my grace.
I cherish you.
Always.
Jeremiah 31.3; Romans 12.2; 2 Corinthians 6.17
And it's rubbing off on me.
Help.
My Dear One:
Be careful! Don't conform to the disenchantment of the world. Don't let it's beliefs, it's weary, cynical views get inside your mind or modify your behavior.
Allow My power and love to transform you--daily--and raise up within you a dignity that comes from strength. I am in the business of renewing your mind and keeping you pure. I am here to give you supernatural enthusiasm and energy. Drink in My words and hold them in your mouth and let them be refreshing to you. Let them give you confidence and joy. In this way, you prove for yourself what My good and acceptable and perfect will is.
Surround yourself with Me. Submerse your whole self in Me.
Because I love you with an unending love.
I have redeemed you from the pit.
I have written your name on My hand.
I cover you with my grace.
I cherish you.
Always.
Jeremiah 31.3; Romans 12.2; 2 Corinthians 6.17
Longing for gentleness
There are those annoying times when my need for the approval from people becomes greater than my desire to please God. I become frustrated and my sweetness is lost. My heart loses some of it's tenderness and I am not easily won back to God.
At these times, I am so hard on myself. Even harder on myself than I usually am. My longing for love and acceptance starts to outweigh the loveliness that God has formed in me. And that kind heart which cherishes and holds dear the needs of others becomes a gathering place for pain and despair.
And when I find myself needy and hungry and I long for satisfying companionship, I need to be gentle on myself and not despise the longing in my heart. My pain is not trivial. How can I possibly be sweet, fair and patient with others when I am not those things to myself? I need to allow God's holy gentleness to minister to me and permit myself to be comforted and encouraged by His gentle thoughts, by His gentle love. HE is never nasty, cranky or unkind. The judging, spiteful, competitive hurdles I must leap in this life require His gentleness to guide me.
So.....today I will be gentle on myself.
At these times, I am so hard on myself. Even harder on myself than I usually am. My longing for love and acceptance starts to outweigh the loveliness that God has formed in me. And that kind heart which cherishes and holds dear the needs of others becomes a gathering place for pain and despair.
And when I find myself needy and hungry and I long for satisfying companionship, I need to be gentle on myself and not despise the longing in my heart. My pain is not trivial. How can I possibly be sweet, fair and patient with others when I am not those things to myself? I need to allow God's holy gentleness to minister to me and permit myself to be comforted and encouraged by His gentle thoughts, by His gentle love. HE is never nasty, cranky or unkind. The judging, spiteful, competitive hurdles I must leap in this life require His gentleness to guide me.
So.....today I will be gentle on myself.
Lean on Me
lean your entire personality on Me
Trust in Me
for I am good, loving and just.
Do you wonder why I permit evil to exist
and why I allow My godly ones to suffer?
I tell you: wherever evil is found, it bears within itself the seeds of it's own destruction.
Only in My righteousness is there power to withstand and persevere; and only in My holiness can you stand immovable and erect. Apart from Me you can do nothing; it is Law. And the Law of the Lord is perfect. It restores the whole person, it makes wise the simple, it rejoices the heart and it enlightens the eye.
Bind My words to your heart. Speak them aloud and tie them around your neck as a golden leash. And as you walk about, you will be led and guided by My words. They will watch over you to make your sleep sweet and to keep you safe from harm. And when you are awake, they will illuminate your mind and ignite it by holy wisdom and truth...and you won't be confused.
I am the shade at your right hand. The sun will not harm you by day nor the moon by night. I keep you from harm and I watch over your life; I watch over both your comings and goings both now and forevermore..
My bountiful free gift to you is eternal life through My Son, Jesus Christ. Your fragile, human mind cannot comprehend this. Human understanding fails to comprehend this gift. So, I ask you to give me your human understanding that I might set fire to it and create crackling, sizzlling flames of truth within you.
You see, my dear one, you are not secure in your own understanding. You are secure because I say so.
lean your entire personality on Me
Trust in Me
for I am good, loving and just.
Do you wonder why I permit evil to exist
and why I allow My godly ones to suffer?
I tell you: wherever evil is found, it bears within itself the seeds of it's own destruction.
Only in My righteousness is there power to withstand and persevere; and only in My holiness can you stand immovable and erect. Apart from Me you can do nothing; it is Law. And the Law of the Lord is perfect. It restores the whole person, it makes wise the simple, it rejoices the heart and it enlightens the eye.
Bind My words to your heart. Speak them aloud and tie them around your neck as a golden leash. And as you walk about, you will be led and guided by My words. They will watch over you to make your sleep sweet and to keep you safe from harm. And when you are awake, they will illuminate your mind and ignite it by holy wisdom and truth...and you won't be confused.
I am the shade at your right hand. The sun will not harm you by day nor the moon by night. I keep you from harm and I watch over your life; I watch over both your comings and goings both now and forevermore..
My bountiful free gift to you is eternal life through My Son, Jesus Christ. Your fragile, human mind cannot comprehend this. Human understanding fails to comprehend this gift. So, I ask you to give me your human understanding that I might set fire to it and create crackling, sizzlling flames of truth within you.
You see, my dear one, you are not secure in your own understanding. You are secure because I say so.
Bitterness seeps into the basement of our lives like run-off from a broken sewer pipe. Every form of ugliness begins to float to the surface of those murky waters: prejudice and profanity, suspicion and hate, cruelty and cynicism. There is no torment like the inner torment of bitterness, which is the by-product of an unforgiving spirit. It refuses to be soothed, it refuses to be healed, it refuses to forget. There is no prison more damaging than the bars of bitterness that will not let the battle end.
Charles R. Swindoll, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life (Portland, OR: Multnomah, 1983), p. 248
Charles R. Swindoll, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life (Portland, OR: Multnomah, 1983), p. 248
A prescription for contentment
- Never allow yourself to complain about anything--not even the weather.
- Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.
- Never compare your lot with another's.
- Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.
- Never dwell on tomorrow--remember that tomorrow is God's, not ours.
Copied from Calm My Anxious Heart, by Linda Dillow, page 13, (NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO)
You will never really enjoy other people, you will never have stable emotions, you will never lead a life of godly contentment, you will never conquer jealousy and love others as you should until you thank God for making you the way He did.
-Reverend James Hufstetler
"My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth"
-Psalm 139:15
In Hebrew, the word translated wrought means "embroidered." It was the same Hebrew word used to refer to the skillful and artistic needlework in the curtains of the Old Testament tabernacle.
-Reverend James Hufstetler
"My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth"
-Psalm 139:15
In Hebrew, the word translated wrought means "embroidered." It was the same Hebrew word used to refer to the skillful and artistic needlework in the curtains of the Old Testament tabernacle.
God gives you the gift of comfort. He calls out to the heart of you in His kindness to tell you that your warfare will soon be over. For though you have polluted your calling and sinned against innocence, He calls you to a clear path through the emptiness of your life.
Make a smooth path from your heart to your mind that the Lord might return and take residence upon the throne of your soul once more.
And find His comfort.
Isaiah 40:1-3
Make a smooth path from your heart to your mind that the Lord might return and take residence upon the throne of your soul once more.
And find His comfort.
Isaiah 40:1-3
The death sentence to anxiety is faith. When your anxiety overwhelms you, fear washes a black streak across your every thought, and you see no end to stress, no relief. You can pray yourself right out of the circle of faith. If you could hear your daily complaints and grudges, you would pause longer before you speak.
Wrestle with that selfish bent of yours, so quick to cry out and be hurt and whimper and ache and groan in the night. You beg for comfort--more than you desire integrity--and comfort, without the Spirit of God, brings only sloth and breeds shame.
The only way out of the murky pit is through the top of it. Did someone push you into the pit? Are circumstances keeping you there? Have you gotten down there all by yourself? It is time for you to become spiritually strong. Learn the direction of the light. Discover the strength and comfort of God by memorizing His word. Exercise your spirit and grow to become better, deeper, confident. Shine with the glory of a new creation.
He will have His way; Be patient.
Wrestle with that selfish bent of yours, so quick to cry out and be hurt and whimper and ache and groan in the night. You beg for comfort--more than you desire integrity--and comfort, without the Spirit of God, brings only sloth and breeds shame.
The only way out of the murky pit is through the top of it. Did someone push you into the pit? Are circumstances keeping you there? Have you gotten down there all by yourself? It is time for you to become spiritually strong. Learn the direction of the light. Discover the strength and comfort of God by memorizing His word. Exercise your spirit and grow to become better, deeper, confident. Shine with the glory of a new creation.
He will have His way; Be patient.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)