Grace in the Morning..... Streams in the Desert

Grace in the Morning 

Streams in the Desert 

Come up in the morning . . . and present thyself unto me in the top of the mount (Exod. 34:2).

The morning is the time fixed for my meeting the Lord. The very word morning is as a cluster of rich grapes. Let us crush them, and drink the sacred wine. In the morning! Then God means me to be at my best in strength and hope. I have not to climb in my weakness. In the night I have buried yesterday's fatigue, and in the morning take a new lease of energy. Blessed is the day whose morning is sanctified! Successful is the day whose first victory was won in prayer! Holy is the day whose dawn finds thee on the top of the mount!

My Father, I am coming. Nothing on the mean plain shall keep me away from the holy heights. At Thy bidding I come, so Thou wilt meet me. Morning on the mount! It will make me strong and glad all the rest of the day so well begun.
--Joseph Parker

Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,
When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee;
Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight,
Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee.
Alone with Thee, amid the mystic shadows,
The solemn hush of nature newly born;
Alone with Thee in breathless adoration,
In the calm dew and freshness of the morn.

As in the dawning o'er the waveless ocean,
The image of the morning-star doth rest,
So in this stillness, Thou beholdest only
Thine image in the waters of my breast.
When sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber,
Its closing eyes look up to Thee in prayer;
Sweet the repose, beneath Thy wings o'er shadowing,
But sweeter still to wake and find Thee there.
--Harriet Beecher Stowe

My mother's habit was every day, immediately after breakfast, to withdraw for an hour to her own room, and to spend that hour in reading the Bible, in meditation and prayer. From that hour, as from a pure fountain, she drew the strength and sweetness which enabled her to fulfill all her duties, and to remain unruffled by the worries and pettinesses which are so often the trial of narrow neighborhoods.

As I think of her life, and all it had to bear, I see the absolute triumph of Christian grace in the lovely ideal of a Christian lady. I never saw her temper disturbed; I never heard her speak one word of anger, of calumny, or of idle gossip; I never observed in her any sign of a single sentiment unbecoming to a soul which had drunk of the river of the water of life, and which had fed upon manna in the barren wilderness.
--Farrar

Give God the blossom of the day. Do not put Him off with faded leaves. 

Walking the Floodwall..... By Ryan Duncan

Walking the Floodwall
By Ryan Duncan

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” – Luke 2:52 

I have a confession to make; last Sunday I skipped church. I actually had a very good excuse: I wanted to spend more time with God. I know that sounds pretty strange, and I’m certainly not saying Christians should start ditching on Sundays, but that morning as I was getting ready to leave I couldn’t help feeling (much to my surprise) that the Holy Spirit didn’t want me to go to Church that day.

So instead, I stayed home and started reading the Bible. I’d only planned on reading two chapters that morning, but I ended up reading eight. Occasionally I’d re-read passages to let the words sink in or underline verses that stood out to me. After I’d finished, I went outside and started walking. There’s a floodwall near my apartment that acts as a kind of jogging trail, and as I made my way across it, I talked with God.

I just started praying, telling God about the things going on in my life. My worries, my hopes, what I was grateful for, I let it all pour out as I made my way to the end of the trail. To be honest, it was the closest I’d been to God in a long time. Looking back on it now, I can see God has a sense of humor. Not only did I spend three hours meditating with God, (an hour and a half longer than my usual Church service) but the first chapter I read that morning was Luke 2, which contains one of Jesus own experiences with our Heavenly Father.

“After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you." "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he was saying to them.” – Luke 2: 43-50

Sometimes, Church can become a ritual. We go, we sing the songs, we sit through the sermon, and then forget everything once we’ve left. We allow our Sunday services to become our faith, and our time with God starts looking more like something out of a self-help seminar. But God doesn’t just want our attendance on Sundays, he wants us. I think this story in Luke to shows us what our time with God should really be like.

For Jesus, his Father’s house was a place of safety, a place where he could grow and mature, a place to listen and at the same time be heard. So the next time you go to Church, don’t go out of habit, but apply the lessons to your life, and when you sing, sing for Christ.

Intersecting Faith and Life: Take a day and spend some personal time with God. Pray and meditate on his words.

Further Reading: Luke 2

Don’t Ignore God’s Call to Hospitality..... By Drew Williams

Don’t Ignore God’s Call to Hospitality
By Drew Williams

The word translated in the Bible as “hospitality,” philoxenia, literally means “lover of strangers.” And so, practicing hospitality does not merely mean having your good friends over for the Super Bowl. It is a much bigger, broader idea. Biblically-speaking, hospitality is to do unto strangers as you would have done unto yourself — to love the unknown face, regardless of who he is and where you are. This kind of “other-centered” lifestyle requires that we first be aware of the needs of those around us. This means intentionally slowing down and looking out for the person that God may providentially place in our path to help.

Here is what truly happens when we practice hospitality: We become the open circuit of God’s grace. John Piper wrote, “We experience the joy of becoming conduits of God's hospitality rather than being self-decaying cul-de-sacs. The joy of receiving God's hospitality decays and dies if it doesn't flourish in our own hospitality to others.”

Perhaps there is another way to put it. When we take a step of faith and practice hospitality, we experience the joy of the love of God conquering our fears of rejection, our natural meanness of spirit and, as Piper so aptly puts it, “…all the psychological gravity of our self-centeredness.”

The priest and writer, Henri J.M. Nouwen wrote, “Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.” Piper asks if there is anything “…greater than the joy of experiencing the liberating power of God's hospitality making us a new and radically different kind of people, who love to reflect the glory of His grace as we extend it to others in all kinds of hospitality.” To welcome the stranger is to extend the hand of God, the same God who welcomes us without reserve.

A Prayer for Overflowing Love..... By: Lindsay Tedder

A Prayer for Overflowing LoveBy: Lindsay Tedder

“And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone, just was we do for you.” - 1 Thessalonians 3:12

What do you pray for?

My hope is that I attempt to stay in a constant state of prayer. I pray that my life is basically one big walking prayer to the Lord. How can our lives look like one big walking prayer, you ask?

Prayer is personal. The way I pray will look far different from the way you pray, yet our Father hears them both with love.

For me, constant prayer is turning my heart towards gratitude. Yes, even when someone cuts me off and then flips me the bird in rush hour traffic. After my very human expression of frustration and a good, “what the heck?” I usually try to say, “thank you Lord."

I try to assume there is some accident waiting for me, had I not been slowed down by this friendly traffic accusation. I typically try to say “thank you” whenever I want to express frustration. Trust me…I’m not perfect and this is not an easy task. It is just what I have learned to draw myself closer to God and allow Him room to work in my life.

You know the scripture, “Anyone who does not love, does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8) I read this hand-in-hand with our scripture for today in 1 Thessalonians. Paul knew that God is love. Paul knew that in order to live a Christlike example, we must all demonstrate love. He goes one step further and prays that the Lord cause an increase and overflow of love for one another and everyone. Everyone. Did you catch that? May we increase and overflow with love for everyone, not just the people who look like us or think like us or act like us.

I don’t make it a habit to drive recklessly. I don’t cut off people in traffic and I don’t flip them the bird whilst doing so… but that doesn’t mean that I am not called to love someone who does. The only way we can truly be demonstrative in our faith is to love everyone. Yes, even those who don’t think or act like we wish they would.

It is not an accident that Paul prays for an overflow of love. If God is love and Paul is praying that we experience an overflow of love, imagine how many people would be able to find Jesus as a result of our overflow! Our lives are a testament to Whom we serve. Loving everyone is the easiest thing we can do to demonstrate how we have been called. Love is the reason people smile. Love is the reason tears can be dried up. Love is the reason that broken relationships can be mended. Love is the reason we heal from past hurts.

No wonder Paul was praying for an overflow. If the church in Thessalonica needed an overflow of love for everyone in order to demonstrate the ultimate love and sacrifice, we too are in need of such a prayer. Imagine who we could reach if we loved like God.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father,

Search my heart. Reveal in me the people and places in my life that need love. Reveal to me the faces that I need to love, even when I don’t want to. I pray, Father, that you send a blatant overflow of your unparalleled love.

I pray that you use me as an instrument of your love. Lord, soften my heart where it has grown hard, push me out of my comfort zone, and allow me to show love far past the circle that surrounds me. When I am frustrated with someone, let love be my first thought. When I am disappointed with someone, let love be the first reaction.

When I am hurting, broken, defeated, belittled, let your love overflow from the depths of my soul. Please let me love as much like you as humanly possible. Equip me for this emotion and prepare my soul for the overflow.

You are a good Father who wants to lavish your love upon me. Thank you for being the ultimate example of love by sending your Son to die in my place; may I use the time I have left on this earth to never take for granted the love you demonstrated in that moment.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.