Good weekend....I needed one
"So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you hypocrites. Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor." (James 4:7-10, NLT)
I have had the most excellent weekend. I am much refreshed and renewed for the week ahead. Many things weighed me down last week, to the point where I could barely stand up. I have felt the cool waters of refreshment for the past two days, though, and I see a place again for hope and restoration.
God is still working hard on me. Funny how we find ourselves sinking into a self-dug pit when we have, for a very long time, been walking on tall mountain peaks. Maybe those mountains were a little bit too high in the first place....falling off of extreme heights hurts a lot more.
We are feeling sure-footed and certain until rocky slopes and snares threaten our progress....our very existence. Yet in all of our troubles, and even within our deep, deep sufferings, we are continually learning a deeper dependence on Him. Pain, though it's not easy, can either cause us to push away forcefully from the Lord, or just the opposite....run harder towards Him. I choose the latter. Yes, it means brokenness and submission....and a whole lot of surrendering of pride. But there's no other place I'd rather be than in the fold of the Good Shepherd.
If he were a tyrant it might be courageous to resist, but since he is a Father it is ungrateful to rebel. He cannot do anything which is not perfectly just, nor will he do aught which is inconsistent with the best interests of our race; therefore to resist him is to contend against one's own advantage, and, like the untamed bullock, to kick against the pricks to our own hurt. "Submit yourselves unto God"—it is what angels do, what kings and prophets have done, what the best of men delight in—there is therefore no dishonor nor sorrow in so doing. (C.H. Spurgeon)
I have had the most excellent weekend. I am much refreshed and renewed for the week ahead. Many things weighed me down last week, to the point where I could barely stand up. I have felt the cool waters of refreshment for the past two days, though, and I see a place again for hope and restoration.
God is still working hard on me. Funny how we find ourselves sinking into a self-dug pit when we have, for a very long time, been walking on tall mountain peaks. Maybe those mountains were a little bit too high in the first place....falling off of extreme heights hurts a lot more.
We are feeling sure-footed and certain until rocky slopes and snares threaten our progress....our very existence. Yet in all of our troubles, and even within our deep, deep sufferings, we are continually learning a deeper dependence on Him. Pain, though it's not easy, can either cause us to push away forcefully from the Lord, or just the opposite....run harder towards Him. I choose the latter. Yes, it means brokenness and submission....and a whole lot of surrendering of pride. But there's no other place I'd rather be than in the fold of the Good Shepherd.
If he were a tyrant it might be courageous to resist, but since he is a Father it is ungrateful to rebel. He cannot do anything which is not perfectly just, nor will he do aught which is inconsistent with the best interests of our race; therefore to resist him is to contend against one's own advantage, and, like the untamed bullock, to kick against the pricks to our own hurt. "Submit yourselves unto God"—it is what angels do, what kings and prophets have done, what the best of men delight in—there is therefore no dishonor nor sorrow in so doing. (C.H. Spurgeon)
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