Luke 11:13 "....how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
So I'm studying at my desk this morning listening to the online station that I listen to everyday....it says: Christian, instrumental, non-vocal, conservative, sacred, and traditional, 48kbps, (yes, I am one boring dude). A hymn came on that made me stop and pray. It was of course, Christian, instrumental, and non-vocal, but I knew most of the words. I could not help but whisper this prayer along with the music, "Spirit of the living God fall afresh on me". Is that not the great need of this day and every single day? I can walk in the dryness and drought of this dusty flesh of mine, or I can live a fresh, lush, new life in the Holy Spirit. The choice is ours today, to walk in the Spirit or in the flesh, to walk in the fictitious life of this world, or the real life of His Spirit. The marvelous thing is, all we have to do is ask. Oh, how the Father must love it when we ask for a fresh movement of His Spirit in our lives. How blessed the day will be, if we stop and pray, "Spirit of the living God fall afresh on me".
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Word Won't Wither
Isaiah 40:8 "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever."
I was listening to a talk show on the radio this morning, it was a sports show but the hosts were talking about different places to hang out to see celebrities. I'm not sure how, but the conversation eventually got around to celebrities and plastic surgery. Isn't it amazing the great cost and pain people will go through to maintain a youthful veneer. It is a subject that I guess is both funny and sad. Sad because it is the way of the world....everything fades....we all get old, and funny because there are so many spending huge amounts of money attempting to put off the inevitable. They hope to appear younger, and yet to me they often look worse after their procedure. We are living in a world that withers and fades. There is nothing in all the world that does not break down, or rust, or wilt. That fresh new outfit you bought will soon lose its newness and freshness. It will fade and you will buy another new fresh outfit, that will fade. The new car looses its new car smell and shine. The child's new toy so quickly gets old. And yes, our physical beauty fades. Though we try hard and spend much to slow it down, our flesh like the grass also wanes. Knowing this ought to ought to bring us all to a place of setting up proper priorities. Isaiah tells us that in this world everything withers and fades, but only the Word of God stands forever. Are we spending our best time and energy on that which is temporal and fading, or on that which is eternal and enduring? Today give your best over to that which stands forever.
I was listening to a talk show on the radio this morning, it was a sports show but the hosts were talking about different places to hang out to see celebrities. I'm not sure how, but the conversation eventually got around to celebrities and plastic surgery. Isn't it amazing the great cost and pain people will go through to maintain a youthful veneer. It is a subject that I guess is both funny and sad. Sad because it is the way of the world....everything fades....we all get old, and funny because there are so many spending huge amounts of money attempting to put off the inevitable. They hope to appear younger, and yet to me they often look worse after their procedure. We are living in a world that withers and fades. There is nothing in all the world that does not break down, or rust, or wilt. That fresh new outfit you bought will soon lose its newness and freshness. It will fade and you will buy another new fresh outfit, that will fade. The new car looses its new car smell and shine. The child's new toy so quickly gets old. And yes, our physical beauty fades. Though we try hard and spend much to slow it down, our flesh like the grass also wanes. Knowing this ought to ought to bring us all to a place of setting up proper priorities. Isaiah tells us that in this world everything withers and fades, but only the Word of God stands forever. Are we spending our best time and energy on that which is temporal and fading, or on that which is eternal and enduring? Today give your best over to that which stands forever.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
We Should Love Tests
Psalm 11:5 "The Lord tests the righteous...."
It seems to me the above verse should include a question mark, as in....The Lord tests the righteous? At first it doesn't seem fair, or make sense, shouldn't the Lord be testing the unrighteous and letting the righteous take a nap or go on vacation? None of us enjoys trials, but as we review our lives we can see one test after another. Don't feel alone or singled out in this, understand that when tested you are in good company. We see in the Bible that none of the great men and women of faith lived trial free lives. It has be said that faith that hasn't been tested, isn't faith. It is important for us to understand that testing is good for us. The Lord does not test us to make us miserable or to fail us, but to instruct, mature, and grow us up. There may be pain in the trail you are in right now, but know that the Lord has allowed it, and will see you through it. Best of all this is not a meaningless test, it is part of the good work He has begun in you, and is being used to conform you more into the perfect image of Jesus.
It seems to me the above verse should include a question mark, as in....The Lord tests the righteous? At first it doesn't seem fair, or make sense, shouldn't the Lord be testing the unrighteous and letting the righteous take a nap or go on vacation? None of us enjoys trials, but as we review our lives we can see one test after another. Don't feel alone or singled out in this, understand that when tested you are in good company. We see in the Bible that none of the great men and women of faith lived trial free lives. It has be said that faith that hasn't been tested, isn't faith. It is important for us to understand that testing is good for us. The Lord does not test us to make us miserable or to fail us, but to instruct, mature, and grow us up. There may be pain in the trail you are in right now, but know that the Lord has allowed it, and will see you through it. Best of all this is not a meaningless test, it is part of the good work He has begun in you, and is being used to conform you more into the perfect image of Jesus.
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