"For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life,
and there are few who find it."
Matthew 7:14.
Sin has locked us out of that gate. Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repentance opens the gate wide to a narrow way. Enter. Live. Work out that salvation with fear and trembling. Jesus drives out demons in the country of the Gadarenes by the Spirit of God. We have that very same Power. Prioritized Energy ~ Colossians 1:29. Not to make our life here work better, more comfortable, better managed. It is because the Kingdom is on you. And we live where there are descendants of the devil "who live in this Kingdom where grasping for satisfaction seems justified by the very real pain of emptiness." 66LL. Where do we live to protect ourselves from rejection, shame, demandingness?
"Give from trusted fulness rather than
Grasping for demanded fullness."
PRAYER FROM PSALMS
Some people in this generation commended your works, O God. The country of the Gadarenes implored you to leave with your miracles. I will meditate on these works. I will think about how you leave John the Baptist in trouble and go to Capernaum instead. You are not here for our glory. "The eyes of all look to You..." Psalm 145:10, 16
"So then, you will know them by their fruits."
ReplyDeleteI think the reason I've been so confused and restless lately is that I have not been in His Word. (Thank you, girls for your gentle encouragement and invitation... again.) I am so grateful right now that The Holy Spirit will never ever leave me. I've been the prodigal son (daughter) long enough that I'm pretty sure people in my life don't see a lot (if any) fruit. I love how God continues to take me back time and time again.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law."
Angie, we are ALL prone to wander. Welcome back. He welcomes you too.I have found that my heart is prone to wander,to leave the God I love even in small ways and I have to repent and ask Him to forgive me. He is ALL grace...it is ALL grace.He stands there waiting for us.As long as we seek Him we will find Him. He is the giver of peace, He is peace. Just as Jesus slept peacefully in the boat as the storm came upon them, He will calm the storms in our lives and oftentimes He calms us instead of the storm.
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DeleteYes, Angie! So glad to see you back here among us! Your comments are always so real and sweet.
DeleteHis Word is the perfect place to return to, isn't it! These verses are so packed with Jesus, there's simply too much to take in each day even in these incremental doses. Find what speaks to you and dwell on it a while. He will come quietly to you and read your heart and speak to it.
And Mary Lou, thank you for that reminder that Jesus doesn't always calm the storm but us instead. Timely for me as a busy and a bit stressful weekend begins.
"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ ~Matthew 7:21-23
ReplyDeleteThis verse in today's reading has always troubled me because I go through seasons of simply going through the motions and missing real heart obedience. God isn't interested in external shows but internal change, internal yield to the One real Lord of our lives.
It's hypocrisy at work if religion is a shell for conscience easing or status or idle words. It's hypocrisy at its most insidious level, for it will cost souls on judgment.
Let us examine our hearts and ask Him to cleanse this temple of ours so that His Spirit can dwell richly inside of us, being the Power behind our lives, changing our motives to align with His Will and producing fruit in its season.
Spurgeon says, "May God bare us from intermittent religion! May He grant us grace to be always what we should wish to be if we were about to die. May religion never be to us a coat or a cloak to be taken off, but may it be intermingled with the warp and woof of our nature, so that we do not so much talk religion as breathe and live it."