"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life." - Psalm 42:5-8 ESV
The Hebrew word translated as waterfalls here is tsinnuwr (Strong's H6794). In the KJV it reads waterspouts. It could describe a tornado touching down on the water and drawing the water from the ocean into the sky or water roaring as it falls and mingles into the water below.
If you have ever stood next to a sizable waterfall you know how loud it is. A tornado sounds like a freight train is roaring right past you when you are close to one. It is almost deafening. This speaks of a sound that overwhelms our senses or waves that buffet us so that we can't keep our footed and we must hold our breadth as they come in to survive.
At times God's grace voice must overwhelm our inner voice. We construct these complex rational structures but God wants the water to flow so He floods us with grace so deefening that we stop listening to ourselves.
This has happened to me in worship. I go away. I enter in the music and participate with all rest of creation and celebrate my creator. Work problems don't exist. How I look in the mirror is far away. I have no past. There is only worship.
It has happened to me when I have heard a message preached by a man of understanding who was anointed by God to deliver that message. The water of God's word was so forceful that I was overwhelmed and brought into the thinking environment that was being presented to me. Jesus didn't die 2,000 years ago on a cross. It was happening right in the moment as it was being described and the waters of it pounded me and life poured into me as life drained out of Him for my sake.
"The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out." - Proverbs 20:5 ESV
Are you cast down? God wants to draw the poison out of your soul and pour His life into you. Your inner recriminations must be silenced and replaced by grace thoughts. Speak grace to yourself. Be around people who speak grace.
Sometimes silence is the worst thing for us because we need to hear words from God. There needs to be an exchange of life. Two friends who don't speak can grow distant from one another because one, or both, of them are speaking the wrong things to themselves.
Sometimes we all need peace and quiet but we also need the place that deafens our inner voice and replaces it with God's noise and God's mind. A balance of both is a healthy thing.
God loves you without conditions because all the strict conditions were already met by His Son. I pray that God overwhelms you with this concept this weekend or one day very soon.
It is wonderfully refreshing when the fresh water from the waterfalls fills our pool and displaces what was there. Life can happen in that noisy flow.
--
Showing posts with label Quiet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quiet. Show all posts
Friday, February 26, 2016
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Hush, The Neighbors Are Sleeping
Have you ever been quiet for the neighbor's sake? Maybe you want to do something but the thing you want to do is loud and it is late at night so you refrain.
"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him." - Psalm 62:5 ESV
"For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, 'In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.' But you were unwilling, and you said, 'No! We will flee upon horses'; therefore you shall flee away; and, 'We will ride upon swift steeds'; therefore your pursuers shall be swift. A thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill. Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him." - Isaiah 30:15-18 ESV
Sometimes we quiet ourselves for our sake but this morning I am thinking about how we can respond to grace and enter into quietness for His sake.
Instead of staying here in quietness our minds can run away. We can run to fantasy and have our own little never never land. We flee away. The television becomes our noise or perhaps it is alcohol or lust of some kind. We chase the different scenarios around the living room of our mind. We make a ruckus with our 'should of's and 'could of's. We bang the drums of right and wrong. Perhaps it is a violin of self pity or maybe the hip hop of anger and self entitlement. We laugh loud to stave off the boredom. Instead of quiet purpose we run.
There is a place where God is waiting to be gracious. In quietness for His sake we find that place. A quietness in response to grace.
We might say, 'I need to turn this down because my neighbor is sleeping.'
On a spiritual level we say, 'I need to quiet down because God is resting in His Love. Is it right for me to panic so loudly? Is it really so good blare the sounds of my land of pretend when God is waiting right here to quietly speak to me?'
If is not a mindfulness born from demand. It is one born of grace, honor and love. He cares so we care. He has given favor because of His Son. We come under that favor and pass through the narrow space to find a wide open rest.
Hush now. Simmer down. What does the Bible say? Are we running or resting? Are we looking or leaving?
God is waiting to be gracious to us. He lifts Himself up to show mercy. He wants to speak to us in objectivity.
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever." - Psalm 23:6 ESV
If we run He will follow us and show us mercy when we have exhausted all our efforts but what if we just stay in quietness? If we rest then we will have the strength to rise early and seek Him at the appointed time.
---
"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him." - Psalm 62:5 ESV
"For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, 'In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.' But you were unwilling, and you said, 'No! We will flee upon horses'; therefore you shall flee away; and, 'We will ride upon swift steeds'; therefore your pursuers shall be swift. A thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill. Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him." - Isaiah 30:15-18 ESV
Sometimes we quiet ourselves for our sake but this morning I am thinking about how we can respond to grace and enter into quietness for His sake.
Instead of staying here in quietness our minds can run away. We can run to fantasy and have our own little never never land. We flee away. The television becomes our noise or perhaps it is alcohol or lust of some kind. We chase the different scenarios around the living room of our mind. We make a ruckus with our 'should of's and 'could of's. We bang the drums of right and wrong. Perhaps it is a violin of self pity or maybe the hip hop of anger and self entitlement. We laugh loud to stave off the boredom. Instead of quiet purpose we run.
There is a place where God is waiting to be gracious. In quietness for His sake we find that place. A quietness in response to grace.
We might say, 'I need to turn this down because my neighbor is sleeping.'
On a spiritual level we say, 'I need to quiet down because God is resting in His Love. Is it right for me to panic so loudly? Is it really so good blare the sounds of my land of pretend when God is waiting right here to quietly speak to me?'
If is not a mindfulness born from demand. It is one born of grace, honor and love. He cares so we care. He has given favor because of His Son. We come under that favor and pass through the narrow space to find a wide open rest.
Hush now. Simmer down. What does the Bible say? Are we running or resting? Are we looking or leaving?
God is waiting to be gracious to us. He lifts Himself up to show mercy. He wants to speak to us in objectivity.
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever." - Psalm 23:6 ESV
If we run He will follow us and show us mercy when we have exhausted all our efforts but what if we just stay in quietness? If we rest then we will have the strength to rise early and seek Him at the appointed time.
---
Monday, September 22, 2014
Silencing The Noises
I was having fun this weekend thinking of different noises like squeaking, clanging, banging and rattling and the dynamic of how these sounds are produced.
"Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one." - 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 ESV
'Aspire to live quietly' or as the King James phrases it 'Study to be quiet.' It is indeed a good study because noises can be a great distraction.
What is a squeak and how do you fix one?
It usually takes oil to fix a squeak because two surfaces are in contact with one another moving in different directions. The contact is strong enough to create friction or grab but not strong enough to impede motion. Hinges on doors sometimes squeak because of this. A little oil or WD-40 in just the right place can clear that right up because it eases the fiction of the moving parts.
Study to be quiet.
Clanging and banging are caused be heavy objects striking one another. If an object has a thin exterior it creates a reverberation as the force of the impact is distributed through the object. Cymbals clang. Drums thump in different ways but a rock dropped on the ground just makes a large single thump.
Lastly, Rattling happens because loose objects bump into each other or a surface of some kind because of shared motion or vibration. If you pick up a can with pencils in it and shake the can the pencils will rattle against the can and each other. But if you put a rubber band around the pencils pulling them together so that they touch the rattling will stop.
We love one another but we can rattle, squeak and clang in our relationships.
"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV
"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." - Ephesians 4:29 KJV
Our thinking can give off strange distracting noises also.
"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." - Colossians 3:15-16 ESV
Guilt will wear you down let God's forgiveness ease the friction in your soul. Let grace and mercy be buffers between us and bind us together to ease the impact of our weighty lives.
Love makes for a quiet ride. The noises we do make are made on purpose. Happy musical noises or strong communications but purposed ones... in the world but insulated from the dysfunction and chaos of the world.
--
"Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one." - 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 ESV
'Aspire to live quietly' or as the King James phrases it 'Study to be quiet.' It is indeed a good study because noises can be a great distraction.
What is a squeak and how do you fix one?
It usually takes oil to fix a squeak because two surfaces are in contact with one another moving in different directions. The contact is strong enough to create friction or grab but not strong enough to impede motion. Hinges on doors sometimes squeak because of this. A little oil or WD-40 in just the right place can clear that right up because it eases the fiction of the moving parts.
Study to be quiet.
Clanging and banging are caused be heavy objects striking one another. If an object has a thin exterior it creates a reverberation as the force of the impact is distributed through the object. Cymbals clang. Drums thump in different ways but a rock dropped on the ground just makes a large single thump.
Lastly, Rattling happens because loose objects bump into each other or a surface of some kind because of shared motion or vibration. If you pick up a can with pencils in it and shake the can the pencils will rattle against the can and each other. But if you put a rubber band around the pencils pulling them together so that they touch the rattling will stop.
We love one another but we can rattle, squeak and clang in our relationships.
"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV
"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." - Ephesians 4:29 KJV
Our thinking can give off strange distracting noises also.
"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." - Colossians 3:15-16 ESV
Guilt will wear you down let God's forgiveness ease the friction in your soul. Let grace and mercy be buffers between us and bind us together to ease the impact of our weighty lives.
Love makes for a quiet ride. The noises we do make are made on purpose. Happy musical noises or strong communications but purposed ones... in the world but insulated from the dysfunction and chaos of the world.
--
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Training For A Triathlon
I was thinking this morning about what it would take to participate in a triathlon. It is February 19th now. What would I do now and along the way to get ready for one in May?
The the 'Olympic distance' triathlon is a .93 mile swim followed by 25 miles on a bike then ending with a 6.2 mile long distance run.
There would have to be seriousness to the training. If we were passive then when the day of the race came it would become obvious wouldn't it? There would have to be variation in training also. Swimming on some days... cycling and running on others. What about the transitions from water to bicycle and then from bicycle to running. Then there are the hundreds of people who are also involved. What a difference it must be to swim a mile alone versus in a pack of people with varied degrees of swim training and skill churning up the water and blocking the shore.
What if instead of a triathlon in May it is a trial of some kind. No one wants those. Maybe we would just run the other way. Just plant ourselves on the couch and break out the chips and dip.
Trials are coming... they don't have dates like triathlons do but they will soon be upon us.
Like the triathlon that has three parts I was thinking this morning about three things that are vital in any trial. Prayer, time in the Word and quieting myself.
"Pray without ceasing." - 1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." - Colossians 3:16 ESV
"But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me." - Psalms 131:2 ESV
"For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength" - Isaiah 30:15a KJV
Each of these things has a whole sphere of beauty to explore. Some people run and that is what they do. They would never even sit on a bicycle but they know how to run. Perhaps there are those of us that swim in the Word but can't sit for more than five minutes in prayer. Perhaps it is quietness and confidence that is a the place where we excel but we don't really know how to think because we have not climbed hills and navigated the turns of the scriptures.
Then there are the other people in the race (trial) and the details. If we are wise we train in navigating people who have different aptitudes and varied levels of experience.
The trials are coming. There is no need to fear them. We can train to reign in them and beyond them. We can grow in quietness and confidence in God. We can navigates portions of the Bible that we have never gone to before. We can meditate on, take apart and even memorize scripture. We can strengthen our understanding of grace and commit to memory verses regarding salvation. We can pray... alone and with people... pray for the present and for the future.
Training will change our response on that day when the day comes. We will not be flat footed and unprepared.
Jesus prepared His whole life for one final day. He is more than our coach. He has run this race before and He can guide us and strengthen us for each phase of training and each step in the event.
The the 'Olympic distance' triathlon is a .93 mile swim followed by 25 miles on a bike then ending with a 6.2 mile long distance run.
There would have to be seriousness to the training. If we were passive then when the day of the race came it would become obvious wouldn't it? There would have to be variation in training also. Swimming on some days... cycling and running on others. What about the transitions from water to bicycle and then from bicycle to running. Then there are the hundreds of people who are also involved. What a difference it must be to swim a mile alone versus in a pack of people with varied degrees of swim training and skill churning up the water and blocking the shore.
What if instead of a triathlon in May it is a trial of some kind. No one wants those. Maybe we would just run the other way. Just plant ourselves on the couch and break out the chips and dip.
Trials are coming... they don't have dates like triathlons do but they will soon be upon us.
Like the triathlon that has three parts I was thinking this morning about three things that are vital in any trial. Prayer, time in the Word and quieting myself.
"Pray without ceasing." - 1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." - Colossians 3:16 ESV
"But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me." - Psalms 131:2 ESV
"For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength" - Isaiah 30:15a KJV
Each of these things has a whole sphere of beauty to explore. Some people run and that is what they do. They would never even sit on a bicycle but they know how to run. Perhaps there are those of us that swim in the Word but can't sit for more than five minutes in prayer. Perhaps it is quietness and confidence that is a the place where we excel but we don't really know how to think because we have not climbed hills and navigated the turns of the scriptures.
Then there are the other people in the race (trial) and the details. If we are wise we train in navigating people who have different aptitudes and varied levels of experience.
The trials are coming. There is no need to fear them. We can train to reign in them and beyond them. We can grow in quietness and confidence in God. We can navigates portions of the Bible that we have never gone to before. We can meditate on, take apart and even memorize scripture. We can strengthen our understanding of grace and commit to memory verses regarding salvation. We can pray... alone and with people... pray for the present and for the future.
Training will change our response on that day when the day comes. We will not be flat footed and unprepared.
Jesus prepared His whole life for one final day. He is more than our coach. He has run this race before and He can guide us and strengthen us for each phase of training and each step in the event.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Starting In Stillness
It is a quiet morning and I am quiet also. There are things to do and I do them but my mind is clear and still like an early morning lake is clear and still. I am at peace.
Yesterday was busy... the day before also. The coming weekend ahead has totally changed. My great friend's mother has gone home to be with the Lord and now I will make a smaller journey to a different city go be there to hold my friend's hand and say goodbye.
In my stillness I pray for my friend. I am still and confident in God's power... in God's love.
"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" - Psalms 46:10 ESV
Yes.
"And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." - Joshua 24:15b ESV
There has been a change in venue... a grace adjustment has been made but the God I am oriented on is the God of all grace. The one who loves me without condition. The one who saved me completely by His power. The one who showed me the work of His Son and gave me a choice. In freedom He gently persuades me in things that I have little interest in and also things I have great desire for.
I am at peace. The God I am involved with is not the God of my ancestors circumstances nor is He the God of the Heathen land I live in now. He Is peace and I am at peace in Him.
Soon the day will be very full again. More changes... more work... more decisions to be made. The lake will ripple with activity but now here in the stillness I have made a choice. It is the same choice I made for the first time over 20 years ago.
Seeing the King... I rely on His strength... Seeing the cross I count on Christ's payment... His blood has purchased my pardon and blotted out my past... I take the cup of salvation and drink deep... The life I live now is His Life... any faith I possess is His faith... in freedom I choose to move forward.
--
Yesterday was busy... the day before also. The coming weekend ahead has totally changed. My great friend's mother has gone home to be with the Lord and now I will make a smaller journey to a different city go be there to hold my friend's hand and say goodbye.
In my stillness I pray for my friend. I am still and confident in God's power... in God's love.
"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" - Psalms 46:10 ESV
Yes.
"And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." - Joshua 24:15b ESV
There has been a change in venue... a grace adjustment has been made but the God I am oriented on is the God of all grace. The one who loves me without condition. The one who saved me completely by His power. The one who showed me the work of His Son and gave me a choice. In freedom He gently persuades me in things that I have little interest in and also things I have great desire for.
I am at peace. The God I am involved with is not the God of my ancestors circumstances nor is He the God of the Heathen land I live in now. He Is peace and I am at peace in Him.
Soon the day will be very full again. More changes... more work... more decisions to be made. The lake will ripple with activity but now here in the stillness I have made a choice. It is the same choice I made for the first time over 20 years ago.
Seeing the King... I rely on His strength... Seeing the cross I count on Christ's payment... His blood has purchased my pardon and blotted out my past... I take the cup of salvation and drink deep... The life I live now is His Life... any faith I possess is His faith... in freedom I choose to move forward.
--
Monday, January 6, 2014
Initiated By Choice But Moved By Power
"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." - Romans 6:4 KJV
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20 KJV
There is an action that happens by God's power... a transfer that occurs. By an act of will we enter into a process that was not initiated by us nor is it sustained by us. Like a person stepping into a flowing river we step into the stillness of Christ's death. It surrounds us and momentarily muffles our senses like diving into a pool or being lowered by strong arms into the water at baptism.
We willingly place ourselves into His death but that is just a starting point.
Early in the morning the Earth is still asleep. No sun has risen yet and few things are stirring. We can become silent like the world around us. We wait and pray like Jesus waited and prayed all night long with His Father. We enter in. It is a place we are welcome to come into. Grace has made this our place... our pool... our fountain... our death... our burial... our resurrection.
"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." - Romans 13:14 ESV
"But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." - Romans 8:10-14 ESV
Later it will not be quiet. The world will be moving. There will be more decisions to be made but the dynamic is the same. Jesus was the same Jesus praying all night as He was walking, talking, healing and teaching. He moved as grace and truth personified. We move a trophies of grace personified. Putting on Christ we make choices in the flow of the river we have stepped into. God's power and life is the medium we move in and because of that we are led of God having wind in our sails.
This is not a work. It is a choice made possible by the Gospel of Grace. This is the narrow road that leads to life.
Jesus was dragged willingly into this process knowing that when He went to Jerusalem it would begin. He suffered in stillness and submission not resisting but walked bearing His cross in His Father's plan. Taken by the flow of it and aligning His will with each twist and turn. Then after the resurrection we see a man raised from death into life who moved with purpose towards ascension and session (sitting at the right hand of the Father). Jesus completed this work and ran this race.
Our entry point is Christ's death but once we enter in we are brought instantly to to Christ's session. He is alive and reigning now and we also are alive and reigning with Him.
"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." - Romans 5:17 KJV
One day the spiritual action we enter into by an act of reckoning will become a physical reality.
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." - John 14:3 ESV
Until then we put on what we have been given by grace and the light of Heaven shines in and through our lives as broken but treasure filled earthen vessels.
At any moment we can return and enter in. We can quiet ourselves and be in the flow again. It is a choice away. The life that is produced inside will work on the outside in time. Faith will produce words that have power. Victorious life will make a difference in the world that only Heaven's history books will reveal in fullness.
--
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20 KJV
There is an action that happens by God's power... a transfer that occurs. By an act of will we enter into a process that was not initiated by us nor is it sustained by us. Like a person stepping into a flowing river we step into the stillness of Christ's death. It surrounds us and momentarily muffles our senses like diving into a pool or being lowered by strong arms into the water at baptism.
We willingly place ourselves into His death but that is just a starting point.
Early in the morning the Earth is still asleep. No sun has risen yet and few things are stirring. We can become silent like the world around us. We wait and pray like Jesus waited and prayed all night long with His Father. We enter in. It is a place we are welcome to come into. Grace has made this our place... our pool... our fountain... our death... our burial... our resurrection.
"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." - Romans 13:14 ESV
"But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." - Romans 8:10-14 ESV
Later it will not be quiet. The world will be moving. There will be more decisions to be made but the dynamic is the same. Jesus was the same Jesus praying all night as He was walking, talking, healing and teaching. He moved as grace and truth personified. We move a trophies of grace personified. Putting on Christ we make choices in the flow of the river we have stepped into. God's power and life is the medium we move in and because of that we are led of God having wind in our sails.
This is not a work. It is a choice made possible by the Gospel of Grace. This is the narrow road that leads to life.
Jesus was dragged willingly into this process knowing that when He went to Jerusalem it would begin. He suffered in stillness and submission not resisting but walked bearing His cross in His Father's plan. Taken by the flow of it and aligning His will with each twist and turn. Then after the resurrection we see a man raised from death into life who moved with purpose towards ascension and session (sitting at the right hand of the Father). Jesus completed this work and ran this race.
Our entry point is Christ's death but once we enter in we are brought instantly to to Christ's session. He is alive and reigning now and we also are alive and reigning with Him.
"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." - Romans 5:17 KJV
One day the spiritual action we enter into by an act of reckoning will become a physical reality.
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." - John 14:3 ESV
Until then we put on what we have been given by grace and the light of Heaven shines in and through our lives as broken but treasure filled earthen vessels.
At any moment we can return and enter in. We can quiet ourselves and be in the flow again. It is a choice away. The life that is produced inside will work on the outside in time. Faith will produce words that have power. Victorious life will make a difference in the world that only Heaven's history books will reveal in fullness.
--
Friday, February 15, 2013
Listen...
"Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; When he closes his lips, he is considered prudent." Prov 17:28 NAS
"But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing." 1 Thess 4:9-12 NKJV
Sometimes the best thing to do is to just be quiet and listen.
"Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you--The sure mercies of David." Isaiah 55:3 NKJV
"But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing." 1 Thess 4:9-12 NKJV
Sometimes the best thing to do is to just be quiet and listen.
"Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you--The sure mercies of David." Isaiah 55:3 NKJV
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