Streams in the Desert

 Streams in the Desert

Likewise also the Spirit helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what to pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27).

This is the deep mystery of prayer. This is the delicate divine mechanism which words cannot interpret, and which theology cannot explain, but which the humblest believer knows even when he does not understand.

Oh, the burdens that we love to bear and cannot understand! Oh, the inarticulate out-reachings of our hearts for things we cannot comprehend! And yet we know they are an echo from the throne and a whisper from the heart of God. It is often a groan rather than a song, a burden rather than a buoyant wing. But it is a blessed burden, and it is a groan whose undertone is praise and unutterable joy. It is "a groaning which cannot be uttered." We could not ourselves express it always, and sometimes we do not understand any more than that God is praying in us, for something that needs His touch and that He understands.

And so we can just pour out the fullness of our heart, the burden of our spirit, the sorrow that crushes us, and know that He hears, He loves, He understands, He receives; and He separates from our prayer all that is imperfect, ignorant and wrong, and presents the rest, with the incense of the great High Priest, before the throne on high; and our prayer is heard, accepted and answered in His name.
--A. B. Simpson

It is not necessary to be always speaking to God or always hearing from God, to have communion with Him; there is an inarticulate fellowship more sweet than words. The little child can sit all day long beside its busy mother and, although few words are spoken on either side, and both are busy, the one at his absorbing play, the other at her engrossing work, yet both are in perfect fellowship. He knows that she is there, and she knows that he is all right.

So the saint and the Saviour can go on for hours in the silent fellowship of love, and he be busy about the most common things, and yet conscious that every little thing he does is touched with the complexion of His presence, and the sense of His approval and blessing.

And then, when pressed with burdens and troubles too complicated to put into words and too mysterious to tell or understand, how sweet it is to fall back into His blessed arms, and just sob out the sorrow that we cannot speak!
--Selected

The Promises of God..... Dr. Charles Stanley

 The Promises of God

Dr. Charles Stanley

2 Corinthians 1:18-22

 

The Christian life rests on a foundation of God's promises for today and for the future. We can trust everything that our heavenly Father has said because His Word shows Him to be...

 

Truthful. The Lord knows what is true and speaks honestly in all matters. We can be assured of this because He is holy; there is no sin in Him. He is also omniscient and understands everything (Heb. 4:12-13). His promises are based on His infinite knowledge and truthfulness.

 

Faithful. Scripture compares the Lord to a shepherd who "gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart" (Isa. 40:11 niv). What He has planned for us, He will bring to fruition (Rom. 8:28). Our heavenly Father does not waver in His intentions or will.

 

Loving. God's love for us was demonstrated at the cross. He sent His Son Jesus to die by crucifixion and thereby take the punishment for our sins. The Savior experienced God's wrath against iniquity so we might know only His love. This is the ultimate proof of His devotion to us.

 

All-powerful. Divine power created the world and raised the Savior back to life, so we know God has the ability to carry out all His plans. Our omnipotent Father can keep every one of His promises.

 

A promise is valuable only if the one making it has trustworthy character and the ability to carry through. Our heavenly Father is truthful, faithful, loving, and all-powerful. We can base our entire life on His promises, secure in the knowledge that He will do just as He has said.

Why Paul Wasn't a Zombie..... by John UpChurch

 Why Paul Wasn't a Zombie

by John UpChurch

“We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” Colossians 1:28-29

Worn out. Exhausted. Please oh please oh please be Friday. Those words probably describe many of our weeks—often by Monday afternoon. The surge of the weekday tide sucks us under and spins us around and strips away our energy by making us swim to the surface over and over again. Gasp. Bills. Gasp. Long meeting. Gasp. Kids biting each other.

What more can we give than that? What else can God expect from us than just trying to keep from drowning in the mess of life?

Paul says everything and more. Yep, you read that right. We’re supposed to slap down every last ounce of ourselves to the cause of Christ. We’re supposed to surrender every modicum of ourselves to the purpose of “proclaiming Him” with our joy-filled words and our peace-in-the-midst-of-this-hurricane-called-life actions.

Everything. Every single bit. For Him.

Feeling tired yet? I hope you don’t. You see, there’s something in here that we too often overlook. It does take energy—loads of it—to live a life of surrender. We wouldn’t expect anything less from being a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). That means using all that we are to make all that He is known to all. But even with all those alls, you won’t be using up your energy.

Look again at what Paul says here: “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” He doesn’t say, “I did it all myself until I burned out and crashed into the dirt and hated my life and decided it was just too hard to do anything and wanted to move to Alaska forever and hide in a cave.” Instead, he tells us that the source of his oomph is Christ.

Christ didn’t save us so that we could barely keep going, dragging our way like zombies down the road of life. Instead, we’re operating with power—His. He jumpstarted our lives with a spirit of power (2 Timothy 1:7), cranking up the juice through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). After all, like Paul, we’re wrestling with the tasks God’s called us to do. We aren’t supposed to do this by tapping into our own reserves. God takes these fragile clay pots that we are and supplies His power so that He gets the glory (2 Corinthians 4:7). He adds the zing, and His zing is potent.

Intersecting Faith & Life: When you try to make it all work on your own guts and grit, you’ll eventually drain down and sputter out. Instead, take Him up on His “by my Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6) thing—that is, not your own strength. That doesn’t mean you’ll never get tired or weary. You will. But you can be sure that He specializes in renewing the worn out and exhausted (Isaiah 40:30-31).

For Further Reading

Isaiah 40

Not Our Strength, But the Lord’s..... By: Betsy St. Amant Haddox

 Not Our Strength, But the Lord’s

By: Betsy St. Amant Haddox

For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness. For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. - Psalm 18:28-29 (ESV)

I’ve always loved these verses in Psalm 18. They make me feel powerful because I know through the Holy Spirit, God equips me to be strong in Him. I can leap walls! I can run against a troop! While these examples aren’t necessarily directly relatable to today’s culture, we get the gist of what the psalmist is expressing. We are powerful in the Lord. When our hearts are right with Him, we feel like anything is possible.

Without Christ, though, I am nothing. I am weak. I am helpless. My own strength, be it physical, mental, or emotional, simply doesn’t last. Think about the last time you ran a marathon, went through a rigorous workout, or climbed a steep hill. We often start out feeling capable, right? Our blood is pumping, and we feel our muscles working to carry us through the race or to accomplish the tough physical goal. But at some point, during or after we achieve it, we’re exhausted. We want a nap and a big plate of carbs. We can’t sustain that level of energy for long without having to recharge and replenish our bodies.

The same goes for our spiritual life. When we start our day with a to-do list and social media instead of with the Lord, our strength will burn out—fast. We think we can be productive and conquer the day, and for a little while, we might deceive ourselves into thinking we did exactly that. But after a few hours go by, we realize we’re impatient. Irritable. We get aggravated and frustrated at little things, we snap at our families, and we lose it when we’re interrupted. Those are all signs that we’re working through our own strength, and not the Holy Spirit’s.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about being content in all circumstances for the sake of Christ. He wrote, “for when I am weak, then I am strong”. This isn’t just a poetic turn of phrase. He means when we are weak, the Lord is strong in and through us. Our weakness only serves to give God glory. We don’t have to be ashamed or embarrassed in our lack of strength. It gives God joy to be strong for us.

For example—think how much a husband delights in being able to open a tightly sealed jar for his wife, mother, or daughter. He doesn’t mock her for not being able to do it herself (though there might be some lighthearted teasing!) He’s happy to do what she can’t. He finds joy in being strong for her. How much more does the Lord receive glory for being strong for us? Our frail flesh, our depraved hearts, and our struggles with sin and temptations are no match for His strength and ability to overcome through us, in us, and for us.

This is how it’s meant to be. It’s how God designed it. Because when we are capable on our own, we get prideful—quick. When we can do it all ourselves, we lose humility. Being constantly aware of our need for the Lord is what bears genuine fruit of the Spirit in our lives—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

The next time you’re tempted to skip your morning prayer and Bible time with the Lord, think twice. Remember you’ll get more done in Him than you will on your own—and your heart will be more at peace during the chaos of your day.

A Prayer to Forgive Wrongs..... By Meg Bucher

 A Prayer to Forgive Wrongs

By Meg Bucher

“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.’” - Matthew 18:21-22 NIV

“Mom,” my oldest said in her most mature voice as she walked up to my pool chair, notebook in hand.

“What do you want to talk to me about?” I asked, already knowing the answer was either a ploy to get something she didn’t already have, or a surefire way to get her little sister in trouble.

“I just think you need to be aware of what she has done at the pool today.”

Though no alerts had pinged my momma radar, my eldest daughter proceeded to rattle off a very nit-picky list of things that annoyed her about her little sister.

As today’s verse instructs us, we are not to keep a running list of wrongs in our heads, but to forgive and release who and what has hurt us. (Of course, boundaries are important… very, very important… but they do not negate forgiveness.)

In Peter’s defense, there was an actual number of times Judaism taught it’s followers as “enough” to forgive. But Jesus spoke of a “more excellent way.” We are not to withhold forgiveness… ever. We forgive, and leave the one who hurt us in God’s hands, who is the only one capable of judging a heart accurately and allowing just consequences for sinful actions.

Peter was seeking to do the right thing, and we can all relate to a desire not to be taken advantage of. The NIV Application Commentary actually describes his generosity to lend more than twice the previously allotted amount of forgiveness: “His offer to forgive the person seven times, more than double the above-mentioned statements, is magnanimous, reflecting a desire for completeness that the number seven usually evokes."

How often do we seek to do the right thing, but misunderstand? Jesus clarified Peter’s confusion by telling him to extend forgiveness without keeping count. The sisterly poolside spat was easy for me to defuse because I’m their mediator. However, I admittedly find it hard to extend an unlimited amount of forgiveness to those who repeatedly and unapologetically cause hurt and pain in my life. Injustice continues to run rampant in our world, yet we are to maintain a forgiving status. Why? Because God is our Defender. God is never asking us to be a doormat. But to forgive authentically from the seat of our hearts? That’s a no-brainer for Christ-followers. Why? Because He did.

“What would happen if your sister kept a list like this of all the things you’ve done to her?” I asked my oldest. “Be quick to forgive, give the grace you want to receive, and remember Jesus did not … and will not ever … present you with a list of what you’ve done wrong in your life. He went to the cross and died for you …because He loves you.”

She camouflaged her eye-roll, but I relate to how hard it is to apply this note of wisdom to our lives when we don’t feel like it. Paul wrote to the Colossians, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:13-14 NIV) Prayer and time in God’s Word will give us the strength to stop jotting down wrongs and instead lend forgiveness more authentically and automatically.

Let’s pray now for soft hearts that are ready to quickly forgive.

Father,

This is the day You have made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. Father, you hold the key to every heart on earth, we do not. Judgment for others is not in our hands, and shouldn’t be on our resumes. As we seek You more each day in prayer and in Your Word, show us how to be forgiving, in Christ. Cleanse us of our tendency to keep records of wrongs and reasons for blame.

Let us not become people who shame others, but show them how to be free through Christ. We want our lives to reflect Your brightness, Your grace, and Your love.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.