The disciples just didn't get "it," did they? (17:20) - 'You're not yet taking God seriously," said Jesus. "The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, you would tell this mountain, 'Move!' and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn't be able to tackle."
What circumstances riddle my soul this day? Will faith be found among us? The Kingdom is near! I can wrestle with a Good God just like these disciples wrestled to find faith. "I can live to give and not to grasp. I can bring a taste of heaven to earth." 66 LL.
A Son of Adam, bothered by Satan, not only spiritually (like us all) but also physically. Followers of Christ, not able to do anything about it. Do the things of God rest on our hearts with deep conviction? What am I truly convinced of? The Truth will set you free. How can the Truth, which we know not from conviction, be instrumental in our own hands of becoming faith in others? Help us all, dear LORD, to deal with our own stuff. By our tiny faith, we will draw out from others the people God intended for them to be. What am I drawing out of those closest to me?
What circumstances riddle my soul this day? Will faith be found among us? The Kingdom is near! I can wrestle with a Good God just like these disciples wrestled to find faith. "I can live to give and not to grasp. I can bring a taste of heaven to earth." 66 LL.
A Son of Adam, bothered by Satan, not only spiritually (like us all) but also physically. Followers of Christ, not able to do anything about it. Do the things of God rest on our hearts with deep conviction? What am I truly convinced of? The Truth will set you free. How can the Truth, which we know not from conviction, be instrumental in our own hands of becoming faith in others? Help us all, dear LORD, to deal with our own stuff. By our tiny faith, we will draw out from others the people God intended for them to be. What am I drawing out of those closest to me?
Matthew 17:5
ReplyDelete..."This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of my delight. Listen to him."
Listen, have faith, then tell the mountain to move, and it will.
I've been gone for a couple of days and caught up on your comments and posts this morning.
ReplyDeleteMichele, I'm praying for your f-i-l this morning--Praying they get to the bottom of what is causing him to lose conscience and that his pain is under control, and for speedy healing.
Deborah, your comment yesterday speaks so much to me--we have the unspeakable privilege of participating in His miracles, touching what He touches. We have a first-person story with our Lord. Is He the Main Character in our narrative? Whatever it is about us that makes us think too much about us, He is so much bigger.
Bev, your questions pierce my heart to repent and simultaneously praise Him. Like yesterday's summation to Christ's "Who do you say that I am?" "Kneel where you are and answer His question in ways only you can. Best Answers?---The way we live and love and suffer."
Bev and Deborah--you both should take your posts and comments and put together a daily devotional book. Your thoughts are filled with hope and compassion for our yet-to-be-fully-restored state. Seriously.
And to Michele, Mary Lou, Jan, and Annette, Angie and the rest of you Pearls: Each of your words bless me and overflow from such beautiful places in your hearts.
This is such a sweet place of worship and start my day!
Now, if you will allow me, I'll comment separately on today's treasures in the Word.
Thank you for your prayers. We got back in town last night. Rod's dad is doing very well after the surgery. He will be placed in rehab for a couple of weeks and the family is trying to decide what the next steps will be for his long term care. Rod's dad was in good spirits and was so glad to see us and his grandchildren. We hadn't been home in awhile.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for remembering us. God is good! All the time!
"And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light." Matthew 17:2
ReplyDelete"and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth... And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." -John 1:14-16
The kind of God who shines like the sun, the kind of faith that moves mountains--He's not just a God for that perfect Day when we see His glory face to Face, but a very present God who cares about our Today.
And Lord, there are lots of mountains--bless us with faith.
Please pray with me today for my friend's daughter and for our words to be spoken in love for her. If all goes as planned, she will enter rehab today. Help her to know that He loves her more than she can imagine, that He has plans for her future, and for our words to be timely and fall like rain on her parched and empty soul.
Praying Deut 32:2 for your friend. Praying for her daughter who courageously walks through a window into her soul. Why are we all so addicted to fleeting glory, present pain? We do far worse damage to ourselves than anyone does to us. May His Words in this bible verse written long ago for this very day fall like rain ---as you say--- on this precious girl who makes a bold assertion before the Throne of Grace. He's there in that place with her, no matter what. My heart so goes out to her locked doors in her mind---set her free, Oh God!
ReplyDeleteThank You Annette, oh Tongue of a Ready Writer---that is so you. Psalm 45:1.
I learn something from every comment here because you guys are "living letters" to me. A letter from Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets but on my human heart. 2 Cor. 3:3
I think Deborah is a beautiful writer like in the Ann Voskamp camp!
I have a playlist on my blog that I listen to as I read other blogs. The Lord of the Dance is playing as I read these words from today's passage:
ReplyDeleteJesus said to him, "Then the sons are free."
In Christ, I am free. No chain binds me except what I choose to remain in bondage to...it is my choice to remain captive.
Christ declares me FREE! He is the LORD of The Dance! I can move and spin and leap, even in a ring of burning fire.
Refining fire.
Beauty rises from ashes.
Hope springs eternal.
I have been pondering a phrase from a song "Before the Morning" by Josh Wilson. The phrase is "the weight of His Glory."
I know what my heart is hearing from that phrase. But I ponder. It is just one more glimpse of His Beauty that I am "seeing" with my Spirit eyes. And He allows me to be a tiny reflection of Himself. Just one tiny twinkle.
HE IS The LORD of The Dance...
Thank you for the grace of sharing my heart here. I feel so at home here. So warm and welcome and loved. And I love sharing with each of you as we proclaim Christ and His Word as our daily manna. Dew-kissed in the morning or illuminating the darkness of the evening...it ALWAYS blesses me to come here and read these offerings to God, my God...and your God, too.
ReplyDelete"marked by my love..." - Jan, thank you for that.
"God is good! All the time!" - Michele, that is the best reminder when life is hard. He is our Good God.
"...a very present God who cares about our Today." - Annette, how comforting and powerful that phrase is when we recognize Him walking among us. He is here! I can feel Him here with us.
And for your friend's daughter...this word..."rehab"...I see Rahab and that Red Rope hanging out the window...He is our way of escape into His promises for us. Praying hard for you, your lips, your eyes, your courage as you place Rahab's Red Rope into her hands. God, don't let her go. Grip her.
"Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants." Deut. 32:2 - Bev, how perfect! I didn't look this up until I had already mentioned the dew-kissed comments I read here. God is here in His fullness. Thank you for sharing that and for your labor of love towards me and all of us here. I am blushing to hear you compare me to Ann Voskamp. No words.
Annette, I am truly listening to what you have spoken. I recognize your wisdom in your words. God will make a way in His time.
Well, so much for my New Year's desire to listen more and talk less. I've used my limit for the year here today. But I had to write what I feel. All of you encourage me and write with your own Spirit-given gift of ministry.