I just want to thank everyone for their kind words and support, I wish I could explain how much it means to me.
There's your word of thanks you desire to express further down.
Kindness comes directly from Him, so you are indirectly thanking Him, blessing us in the process.
I have come to realise that despite myself, God has never forgotten me like I do Him.
Isaiah 45:4
"For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me."
Maybe our time in the wilderness seems unprofitable from our point of view, but I'm convinced that God doesn't waste a single day of our lives - even before we acknowledge Him and when we occasionally fail to do so throughout our lives. Hey, we're His children, we stumble, He picks us back up until we've grown enough to walk steady.
I predict that one day He'll turn you around to review that period, and you'll be stunned at what He was accomplishing without your knowledge. And at that moment you'll realize that He is really capable of keeping yet another promise:
Joel 2:25-26 NIV
"I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm --
my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has worked wonders for you;
never again will my people be shamed."
One way He restores those years - is to use them to minister to those still in the wilderness behind us.
And check out His promise about shame. Hmmm...?
What a wonderful undeserved kindness. My flesh complains daily about the road I'm on, but my spirit struggles on. It feels like God's word cuts me to my core, dividing my light and dark. I pray God does not leave me to my own will of comforts and pleasures which come easy, but that he always draws my spirit upward, even though it's a difficult thing for 'me'.
All this attainable when you follow what you say is difficult but not impossible - dying to self. Allowing Him to thusly live through us is what conquers our will.
Our highest aspiration in life should be to be empty vessels. A discipline not so hard to achieve with practice.
I wanted to spend time today in prayer, and not asking for things like usual, but to present a lowly poem or word of thanks, but once again I was caught in the current of media and entertainment. Now It's time to go to bed and I feel guilty about getting lost in myself again.
When you wake up and thank Him for another day, ask Him to write that lowly poem through you. Upon re-reading one day, you will recognize how profound the wisdom is contained therein, validated by Scripture you may have not even known yet when you wrote it. What joy it is to recognize the Spirit's voice speaking to our spirits!
It makes me depressed, but I have hope and faith in my Lord, that he will make me better, and that one day I will not be so much ashamed.
How about today?
What did Jesus feel about our shame that He bore for us? Did it threaten His confidence in His own identity? Did the weight of that shame prevent the joy set before Him that He kept His focus on?
Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."
"For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
We pick up our crosses and follow Him, so why shouldn't we, through the power of His grace, mercy, and compassion - likewise despise the shame along with Him?
Carrying shame is not possible when one walks in sensitivity to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. We hear Him, we agree and ask for forgiveness and help in doing better next time, we walk on without breaking confidence that our consciences are clear.
His mercies are new every morning. That conviction is like Jesus washing our feet to keep us clean daily. The rest of our body is already clean by His Word.
Oh, Litho, what a beautiful response!
You may not realize it, but I perceive that God is building a potent testimony in you and establishing a ministry that will bring you much joy! Struggles are common to all of us, but humility in the midst of them reveals the heart of Christ to others. You're gonna beat whatever God identifies as idols in His time, I predict, which God will turn to empathy for those with similiar challenges.
What gives me that confidence for you? I'm a man delivered from 17 years of isolation. Your b/w world is about to blossom into full color my friend, because God's built the courage in you to keep walking despite shaky legs, ha!
Already you've struck a serious blow to the enemy, in that you have this desire to please God:
Micah 6:8 NIV
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God."
Focus on this desire, and the breaking of strongholds will be an automatic result of a strengthened reliance on His Spirit.
This is my prayer for you, that God will do for you, if not already, what He has done for me - once fully emerged from the wilderness.
Psalm 90:17 NIV
"May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands."
And when you are going great guns in the joy of the work you were created for, that He will again turn you around and show you how He has used all you've been through to prepare you for such a day as this!
And hey, how about sharing that lowly poem with us too after applying His finishing touch?
God bless!
… just tell Jesus you love Him every time you think of Him.
