Our Fire-tending God

I had a hurried time in the Word one day this week, catching just a few snatches, a short Psalm, but even a few snatches are powerful when the Spirit applies them to the heart.  I read Psalm 93:

“The LORD reigns…the world is established; it shall never be moved…The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods lift up their roaring!! 
Mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty!  Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.” 

And I scribbled these words in my journal before scooting off to breakfast and on with the day: How will this truth live in my thoughts and actions today and bring life to damaged belief systems?

I struggle with varied nagging fears.  It is my nature not to trust completely and to feel instead that it’s up to me to insure my well-being, and that of those I love.  This is problematic when circumstances are clearly outside my control!  I have been thinking about these things and on this particular day I got a little object lesson in how senseless and peace-robbing my fears are, and how trustworthy and holy-making is God’s Word at work in my heart.

Jim was burning brush in the backyard—a great mound of it left from his landscaping work… It has been so very dry here this summer. Fire bans were in effect while forest fires raged in record breaking ways nearby. But the rain has returned and cooler temperatures allow for burning once again. Still there is always a risk. And the crackling of fire, the smoke, the consciousness of its heat and potential make me wary... Well, so I took lunch out to Jim as he stood sentinel by his blazing inferno.  And we sat together at a short distance to eat. But I could not relax, could not enter into our usual discussion of life and faith… I kept straining to see if the fire was within its parameters and had not reached to lick up dry grass and spread out of control...It wasn't my job. Jim was in charge. He was mindful. (And he is after all a trained fire fighter!)  But I felt an undue responsibility and it robbed me of a peaceful lunch and  meaningful conversation. But I recognized it, and that’s a start. 

Well, the day was too lovely to be holed up indoors so after lunch I brought my current project out to sit and keep Jim company--stitching a pine needle basket. There’s nothing quite so peaceful and therapeutic, especially on such a day when there’s  just enough sun to be warm and enough cool to feel refreshed, enough autumn in the air to luxuriate in the remains of summer!  A perfectly restful idea, EXCEPT for the presence of that crackling blazing fire. 

Could I actually relax and attend to MY business and let Jim attend to his as if there were no fire crackling nearby, no smoke lazily rising, no threat of catching the world on fire! I almost chose to stay inside rather than wrestle with my fears. 

It seems a silly example but for my heart it was a moment to rest in  a bigger reality. God is the Fire-tender. (He is Himself a consuming fire!). His domain reaches infinitely beyond my own. He has given me a calling within it along with its attendant duties; these are my domain. He intends for me to carry them out at peace with the world--to stay calm and carry on, so to speak, to mind my own business, looking to Him for the wherewithal to do so and let Him mind His. When I do my task with inner peace and quiet joy, confident in His superintending care, I honor Him as a very good King. I am a subject; He the King. How blessed are the subjects of a wise King, as Queen Sheba commented in observing King Solomon’s impressive court.   And what  glory contented subjects bring to their King.

And with these thoughts fed by the morning’s reading of the Word, I sat and stitched…and let the fire be somebody else’s business.  The LORD reigns.  Forever.  Period.  The noise of a flood (or a fire!) may be in my ears, but HE reigns.  It can do no harm but what He allows.  This was a relevant object lesson for me.  I can trust Him to manage the fires in my life—the burning away of dross, the disciplining of His children for the sake of our holiness.  My response?  I can REJOICE in GOD even as I tremble at His Word.  Abiding in Him I can ask, knock, and seek,  confident that He hears, that He knows, and that He will grant what is in line with His purposes.  There is great peace in such an arrangement.

If you were to ask Jim whether I have fully learned this lesson of trust, he would let you know I’m still querying him about the smoke drifting past the window as the roots continue to burn day and night…I still remind him to check on things (as if he needed my reminder), and to be honest, I’m still a little on edge about this fire business in the back yard. I’ll be relieved when it has burned itself out completely.   But there it is, my object lesson about needless fears.  Were God only a consuming fire and not perfect LOVE, were I not His by means of a covenant He established and I have entered into by faith, I would do well to fear the FIRE.  But as it is, He is committed to my good, bringing all that He is to the task, for His glory’s sake.  He is a covenant keeping God.  I can rest in this… and go on stitching my little pine needle baskets to His glory…

So whatever you are doing today, do it to the glory of God—with quiet confidence that He reigns in all the raging world around, as you fulfill His purposes for you in the here and now.

--LS

“…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God…” Rom. 5:1,2

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Rom.5:11

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” Rom.5:17

But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,  keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. Jude 1:20-21

Peace in Process…

I am a homebody.  I am happy in my ‘pumpkin’.  I feel safe here, and useful, and competent.  I know the routine.  I’ve been making meals for us for nearly thirty years.  I make bread and cookies too.  I don’t iron but I do laundry, and I vacuum and once every few months I may even dust something or sweep a cobweb from a corner…It’s not the height of excitement being home, but life is meaningful and predictable, pretty much, and peaceful.

Intruding into that sameness come appointments:  Dentist visits.  Eye doctor check-ups…regularly scheduled commitments, the odd ‘occasion’ or event… and my routine is jostled.  My insides flutter. Peace gets flustery.  I’ve always been somewhat this way, easily put off kilter.  But I thought with the wisdom and perspective of age, I would out-grow such nervousness. It seems quite the opposite.  And I’ve been wondering why?

Could it be, I’ve  become confident in a realm I can handle most of the time on my own steam?  And have forgotten that all my competence comes from the Lord and  that for every breath and every day I am dependent in reality on Him?  Could it be that my ‘peace’ is more dependent on my feeling ‘in control’ than on any conscious dependence on God?

As March  rushes to a finish, this homebody too is changing pace.  Lord willing by week’s end we’ll be sitting on the old familiar ferry with bags in tow, heading out for the long drive to visit the grandkids for Easter week.  Wonderful prospect, but first the anticipation, the getting ready, the upheaval of change… Then comes an additional twist to our plans.  Tacked to the tail-end of this trip will be a flight on my own to Alaska for a last-minute ‘reunion’ with family while life and sanity remain.  My dad is failing.  My mom needs her kids to come and see him ‘one last time’ while he may still be mindful of us….

Why do my insides roil at the prospect?  Why does anxiety rise in the face of change?  My sense of being in control is threatened; is that it? Am I only at peace when I feel all the variables are under my control?!  That’s pretty delusive.  Since when is maturity about gaining competence that lets me think I’m ok on my own and no longer dependent on my Father? 

An array of fears that now seem so little  used to drive me to prayer and conscious God-dependence…getting behind the steering wheel, for instance.  I remember too the grace that carried me beyond the safety of my closed little community to a distant place with the strange sounding name of “Alberta” for my last year of high school.  Shy little me was the least likely of my childhood friends to have done such a thing—but for my adventurous mom, the mother with big dreams that had anchored her own to stay home and raise her kids…She had this vision for me and passed on the God-confidence to make it come true, even for me. Little did I know how life-changing it would be, or that one day visiting Alberta would be about visiting my grandbabies, who were all born there!

So as I book flights and make lists and take steps to avoid last-minute rushes, I’m consciously committing myself again to God’s care, asking HIs guidance in the details, and counting on Him to carry out His purposes in this too for His glory!

--LS

Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. II Cor.3:5

Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting. Ps.139:23,24

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Is.26:3

A Peace of My Mind

The morning fire wards off night’s chill, as I sit all nestled in my blankies, with tea and toast, chewing on morsels of the Word.  I’m reflecting on this peace Jesus came to bring, this peace that seems more elusive than ever at the very season that celebrates ‘peace on earth, good will to men’. 

You know the fluster, the pressure—presents to buy, cards to send (which hopefully will include a re-cap of the whole year and a picture of the whole family, right?), parties to attend (or host!), baking to do, meals to plan, shopping and more shopping for that other ingredient, that little extra, that perfect stocking stuffer—These are the surface things.  That’s not to mention the underlying loneliness, grief and sadness that the memories of Christmases past may evoke for those whose dear ones won’t be coming home this year or others with no home to come to…

It’s a season in desperate need of peace.  At my house too.  So I sit here morning by morning, determined not to be too busy for this—and I chew on the Word, beautiful words-- Zechariah’s prophecy over his son, for example, who will

‘give knowledge of salvation to his people, in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.’ Lk.1:79 

My feet need such guidance! 

I know, ultimately the peace Jesus came to offer is reconciliation to a Holy God, a removal of enmity between us, a bringing us near, adoption, Sonship. These are awesome realities we are never meant to take for granted. But do they percolate through the way I live from day-to-day, especially in the pressure-cooker seasons of life? Am I at peace in my scurryings around to ‘make Christmas’? Must I even scurry?  Just the sound of the word makes me feel rushed!

There are so many things Christmas ends up meaning: the party, the baking, the music, the pressure of gifts not yet bought, not yet thought of!  All these things vie to outdo the one thing that is needful—O come let us adore Him, Jesus Christ the Lord.  I get this when I’m quiet in the mornings and the day’s cares aren’t yet on my plate, but in the hustle and bustle? in the middle of the ‘to do' list?  How do I maintain that peace?  This is what I want for Christmas, the whole season through, this peace that passes human understanding, that guards my heart like a nutcracker sentry. 

How does that happen? What does the Word tell me? “Keep in step with the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.”  I hadn’t thought of anxiety and irritability as lusts of the flesh. And that demanding everything to be ‘just right’ may be an unruly desire… These may be part of the ‘spirit of Christmas’ but they’re certainly not fruits of the Spirit! 

Love, joy, peace…ahhh these are the things I truly want.  Mary sat at Jesus feet adoring, attentive to His Words.  Martha scurried about preparing, heedless of the moments she was missing.  Too rushed to listen in on the conversation. Petulant that Mary wouldn’t help her.  It wasn’t wrong of her to fix a meal, to serve, or even to plan a party. It was wrong to lose sight of what would most please her Guest of honor.  Most of all He wanted to spend time with her. Jesus always had time for people.

Every year at this time I tread this fine edge between imitating Mary and Martha.  But I see now the advantage I have over Martha. She did not possess the indwelling Spirit of God.  Being a God of order, not confusion; of peace, not pandemonium, (I Cor.14:33) I can rest assured that he will guide my steps in the way of peace. He will give direct in all the planning and doing of what is really needful, as I keep an ear open for His direction and re-direction!  As I keep my eyes open for the people in my path who need the peace He would exude through me, or perhaps just a ride into town?! Or a visit over lunch?!  These are opportunities I have already missed in my hurrying. (I’m grateful for forgiveness and fresh chances) So  I press on, intent on ‘keeping the peace’ for the rest of the season. 

My reminders:

Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Gal.5:16)

“…but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” Rom.8:5,6

Rejoice in the Lord always…(He’s is the Lord after all. Not I. Relax!) Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Phil.4:4-6

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Is.26:3

These verses embody my Christmas wish for you and me:

“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 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. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Col.3:14-17

May all we do be wrapped up in love,
flowing from a heart at peace (regulated by Jesus, our Pace-maker) and saturated with His Word. 
Then our souls will sing as we go.   
And may everything we do and say reflect Jesus’ rule in our hearts as Prince of Peace and God with us.

Then we will overflow with thanksgiving for God’s love, God’s peace and God’s Word--all gifts to us at Christmas.

“For God so loved the world that He gave us his Son…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...for He Himself is our Peace.” Jn.3:16,Jn.1:14,Eph.2:14

Peace be with you and yours this Christmas time.

--LS

Anti-Reflective Aids

Reflective journaling has its place but sometimes it’s good to be jarred out of it and into the present…

I picked up a little bottle yesterday wondering what it was…thinking it to be drops for ingesting, a potion of some sort.  Had to chuckle when I read the label: “Anti-Reflective…”   Ha!  Just what I need sometimes, something to make me less reflective and more ‘present’ in the moment!

Well, turns out it was actually Lens Cleaner and nothing to do with altering moods or any such silliness conjured up by my overactive reflective mind! It did give me pause to think though that the ‘lenses’ of my soul can get fogged sometimes and there’s nothing like a good cleaning out of negativity and doubt and fear and all those grimy substances that dim my faith.  The Word has the power to do that when the Spirit applies it at the point of need. Jesus loved and gave His life for His bride, the Church, for this very purpose:  “that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word…”  (Eph.5:26)

Well I was having my morning ‘bath’ in the Word in bed this morning, gathering up the thoughts flitting about in my mind since early dawn, applying doses of the Word to them…jotting down some pertinent verses, some fresh convictions… about a time to clap one’s hand over one’s mouth lest foolishness get out!…(Prov.30:32)  and other such things.

And who do you suppose came trundling in with his new toy truck and a big grinning: “GRANDMOM!” to disperse all my reflections like leaves blown away by the wind?!  My very own ‘Anti-reflective’ aid!  Here he was with all his morning cheer to have a a cuddle, a chat, a story and a song.  Next thing you know we were re-enacting Jesus and his disciples in a storm at sea while Jesus lay sleeping … How perfect to have a blue, poofy  comforter to play the part of the waves.  The wind blew (Grandmom’s own special effects), the boat rocked (Chase helped with this part) and the waves splashed (the part that made him break into squeals of delight) and there we were in our own boat caught in the storm! 

“Wake up, Jesus!” came his little animated voice.

And I got to play the “Peace, be still” part.  Or in child’s lingo: ‘Why are you afraid? Everything’s OK when Jesus is in the boat.’

Ah, yes, good reminder for child and Grandmom alike, and what a fine lens cleaner.  My view gets beclouded by circumstances all too often, all those ones I can’t control—you know: kids, spouse, parents… I can’t even control my own tongue!  But here I am calling on Jesus in the middle of the storm: “Save us, we’re perishing!” and here He is bringing peace…Everything’s under control.  We’re all in good hands. 

Thanks Chase for the morning wake-up call ( :

--LS

 

 

He Restores my Soul…

I guess I did not anticipate the upheaval this trip would bring to my soul—There was grace for the going, grace for the doing and the being there (though not without some fear and trembling).  There were ‘travelling mercies’--companions along the way to shorten the journey with conversation,  and empty seats when silence was preferable, smooth and timely flights (well, we won’t count the first turbulent leg, a lesson in NOT starting the day with a hearty breakfast before a flight!) But anyway, the trip was all it needed to be.  The many prayers offered upheld my comings and goings.  It was the return to ‘normal’ that caught me off guard.

I arrived home on the verge of Thanksgiving weekend (celebrated early here) feeling flat, fatigued and disjointed in spirit. I was eager to be home,  why then this discontent with everything?!  Why did the house not feel like home? Why did the weather have to be so wet?  Why is it getting dark so early—where did summer go?  And how on earth am I to parent these kids into adulthood?  And who’s this man I married anyway?!  I was home but not at home. Since when am I so sensitive to change? How did I morph into this monster under such a little bit of pressure and transition. Yikes!

Suddenly I was faced with exchanging ‘worlds’ again--my mind caught up in the one, but needing to be present in the other.  I did not anticipate the pre-occupation with Alzheimer’s and wondering if and when I’ll be next, the flashbacks to moments that still trigger an anxious unsettledness to rise, the continual nagging of unresolved situations that beg answers but defy solutions…the wondering how to be involved with this ongoing need, and still focus on my present world. 

Snippets of journal reflect my waffling responses to this week of transition…”God of my Father, care for him today.  Give courage and faith to Mom to see beyond the present with hope, and to make critical decisions before there is a crisis—work in each of them what is pleasing in Your eyes—preparing them for glory—preparing us the same.”

“’Be anxious for nothing’…could likely be I’m throwing my own strength (my area of weakness) at this situation rather than trusting that God will direct my thoughts and steps in His time…”

I looked again at Solomon’s request and God’s gift of a wise and discerning mind… heard again His promise to all who lack wisdom…

And I noted the “virtuous woman’s” response to winter’s coming: “She is not afraid of snow for her household—strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.” (Prov.31:25) Ah, sweet confidence, the quiet confidence of wisdom.  Willing to rest in God’s provision even when the winter storms have not yet revealed their full fury, trusting there will be sufficient clothing…

I read David’s testimony: “In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, ‘Flee like a bird to your mountain’!…The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see…” (Ps.11:1,4) 

And as I appeal to my Ageless Father, reminding myself He is a ROCK-- always strong, never changing, never moving away, leaving, or fading in vigor…I find my soul being restored day by day.  The process was begun in response to a poignant movie about aging love and loss (“Lovely,still”).  It was just what I needed to pry open the floodgates held so bravely closed these past couple weeks and let out the grief to a listening ear.  And day by day the restoration has come by returning to the unhurried rhythm of home-made days, by not retreating (as much as I’d like to!) from the regular round of fellowship—of prayer hike, of church, of Bible study.  By rest and by exercise too—deep corpse-like naps and vigorous pedaling in fall-fresh air and sunshine—my soul is being restored.

And the season of my soul brightens.  My house is home enough.  The weather fine enough.  Autumn has a bracing beauty of its own. And my family—they are mine and I am blessed in each of them.  There’s grace enough for everything when the Lord is my Shepherd…

He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me…

…you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Ps.23)

--LS

Thanks for your companionship on the journey—for His name’s sake.

Peace and Quiet

The older I get, the more I value it—peace and quiet.  Not just a literal quietness but a calm unruffled-ness, an absence of strife… but what is a mother to do?  The kids may get older, the tensions subtler, (or at least not over blocks and toys), but the concerns of a mother only get larger and the necessity of a peaceful heart more pronounced.  I may have been able to quell the conflict of two toddlers forcibly, and even to enforce a measure of peace and quiet in my household but I cannot enforce it in my own heart!


What is a mother to do?

Is it really a mother’s ‘job’ to worry, as a friend jokingly suggested this week?  Is it really inevitable as long as we are living and breathing that we as mothers should bear the quiet strain of anxiety (legitimized as ‘concern’) for our children’s welfare, or our aging parents, or any number of other relationships under our jurisdiction!  What of the peace that defies understanding?


And guilt, that insidious slithering fellow that insinuates itself into my consciousness and strangles peace and contentment… must I live with it?  Whether it be a vague consciousness that I just haven’t ‘measured up’ as a mom and that the kids are suffering for it, or that I ‘really should be doing more’ in one way or another… it strangles peace and puts a damper on joy.  Can I not be freed of it?  Is there no sure-fire formula?  I asked these things of a friend older than I, whom I know lives with these would-be peace-robbers, anxiety and guilt.  Her answer surprised and disturbed me.  A sigh, a resigned shaking of the head, and a ‘not in this lifetime; that’s what Heaven is for’.

Not to be too hard on her, having caught her off guard perhaps and in a moment of weakness, still, this is not an answer I’m willing to settle for.  I want, if not a ‘formula’, at least a strategy, for recognizing and deflecting those things that rob me of peace.  It’s got to entail more than turning down the sub-woofers and background noise in my environment!  (Though there’s a great analogy there waiting to be milled.)

The Word of God invites me to lay hold on a quality of life unlike any that I can naturally know—eternal and abundant.  It promises the unfathomable peace of God will guard my mind as I turn anxiety into prayer and thanksgiving (Phil 4:6,7). I know this verse. My mind can rattle it off.  But my heart is prone to actually turn prayer into an act of worry, like a dog gnawing on a bone till his gums bleed.  I intend to bring my worries and leave them but in the process of opening the ‘can of worms’ I am overcome with the tangle of them and want only to quickly close the can, putting them out of my mind, and go do something else!  Have you had this experience?

This is where I have found it so valuable to be a part of a bigger Body.  There are a few of us women who get together every weekend that we can to enjoy a hike and pray together.  There is something very encouraging about hearing someone else bring your requests to God that makes believing not seem so impossible after all.  Their faith for your situation is a great uplift.   Another outcome of praying with these women has been to learn by example the art of praising God and thanking him as a precursor to presenting requests.  The focus changes.  My ‘can of worms’ is not so big or so bad in light of a great and awesome God who is over all, through all and in all!  And little by little this stronghold of faithlessness in prayer is being torn down, displaced by praise and worship.

I stumbled upon another great help in overcoming my propensity to anxiety and guilt with the coming of this new year.  The idea kept popping up (in blog-land anyway) of choosing a word to be your word for the year.  It could be anything—like, “Yes”, as a reminder to say yes to God and opportunities He would provide.  Someone else chose, “No”, needing to refine their priorities.  I didn’t pay too much attention, as I wasn’t sure I could ever settle on one magic word anyway.  But then tentatively I began to consider the word: “HIS” as one that would do me good to remember all year.  I’m His (referring to God, of course).  His problem.  His work in progress.  His to take care of.  His beloved.  Just, His.  Now I can’t even find in my chaotic journal scribblings the day when that word began to percolate peace into my soul, but it has been a concrete reminder that I’m not in charge of my life (or anybody else’s lives!).  It is a freeing thing to be the slave of a good master.  You are then His responsibility.  Everything you need is His problem, not your own.  There is great peace in knowing this and keeping it at the forefront of my thoughts.

I am working my way through a practical book designed to promote spiritual growth and especially the putting of Scriptural truth in practice.  Being of a bent toward accumulating knowledge at the expense of acting on it, this has been helpful to me.  Each short reading is accompanied by an ‘experiment’, something to put into daily practice.  Today’s reading talks about becoming ‘a person of joy and peace’:

 “The secret to this peace, as great apprentices of Jesus have long known, is being abandoned to God.  Since God is love and is so great, I live beyond harm in his hands.  There is nothing that can happen to me that will not turn out for my good.  Nothing.  Because of this, ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.’ (Is.26:3)” (Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice, p.94)

“Peace and joy are based on confidence in God (faith).  In this confidence, I can abandon myself to God, even die to myself.  As I do these things, striving will cease [sounds like peace to me!] and joy will naturally flow.” (Renovation, p.94)  And this hints at one other implication of surrendering my autonomy to God.  My interests must be for HIS will to be done, not necessarily my own.  I can’t assume that what I want for those I love is precisely what He wants.  For instance, am I prepared to forfeit my desires for their happiness, if trial or loss is part of God’s will for their best good.  Hmm…there is great peace in aligning my desires with God’s and freely welcoming His will to be done in the things that concern me.  On this count I am definitely a work in progress—His work!

What then is a mother to do when she longs for peace and quiet in the throbbing ‘woof’ of life?  I think Paul sums it up pretty well here:

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”


A song I’m listening to today has these lyrics:

“Oh let Your will be done in me
In Your love I will abide
Oh I long for nothing else as long
As You are glorified”
(Altrogge, ‘As Long as You are Glorified’)

There’s peace to be had in such a declaration.  Enjoy the rest of the song here [Click HERE]—a challenge to trust God no matter what the circumstance. He’s always worthy.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts with you.

--LS
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father.” (Col.1:2)

Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice: Experiments in Spiritual Transformation is by Dallas Willard & Jan Johnson, NavPress,2006,185pp.