Author: astherainandsnow

“Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite...  These are Solomon’s measurements for building the house of God: the length, in cubits of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.  The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and its height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold.  The nave he lined with cypress and covered it with fine gold and made palms and chains on it.  He adorned the house with settings of precious stones… So he lined the house with gold—its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors—and he carved cherubim on the walls.

“And he made the Most Holy Place.” 2 Chronicles 3:1-8a

Appointed, anointed, established in the Lord, Solomon set out to build God’s temple. At the start, he did not go the way of other eastern kings by choosing a place of his own imagination. Rather, with wisdom from God, he knew the purpose of the temple and situated it at the location purchased by faith in God’s promise. It would be a place of costly sacrifice, a place where mediation between God and man would occur, where atonement would be won. Thus, he set out to do God’s work God’s way in God’s appointed place. (Genesis 22:2,14; 1 Chronicles 21:15,18,22-27; 29:1-2a,22-25)

Solomon was careful to plan and execute the construction according to God’s instructions and with the best of materials. The divine design would magnify God’s splendor and beauty, and promote lofty worship. Everything was spent and meticulously executed for His renown and purpose.

In daily activities and duties, we choose to erect temples of our own. Where we stop for pleasure or are preoccupied, where we gather and store treasure, where our our souls are thrilled and hearts are set beating, these are the places we’ve chosen to set altars. We sacrifice time and resources, sometimes responsibilities and relationships with people we love, for the opportunity to build edifices to desire, approval, and pride. What am I worshiping? (Matthew 6:19-21)

The vital location is the place where God reigns over all. It must be the seat of the heart, for from there flow all my affections and devotion. From their flows my attention, choices, and decisions. Once I establish my location for the temple of my life, with what do I build? Do I waste time with wood, hay, and stubble, or build with what is precious and lasting? (1 Corinthians 3:10–15)

How well do I maintain His temple? Do I intentionally fill it with the truth of His word, joyful song, prayer, and honorable living, or casually mistreat its intended use to serve self-seduction, frivolous indulgence, or temporal pleasure? (2 Chronicles 5:7-10,13-14; 1 Corinthians 6:16-20; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

Lord, establish my heart as Your throne in this body Your temple. Guard and keep my every location as a place where Your majesty shines and You both reign and are greatly honored.

“The angel Gabriel was sent from God… to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph… And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he said, ‘Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!.. Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.. . You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’

“And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’

“And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God…’ 

“And Mary said,

“’My soul magnifies the Lord,
    and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
    For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
    and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers.’” Luke 1:26-28,30-35,46-55a

The most startling of visitations turned to the greatest of honors for this young woman. The Lord’s favor? The bearer of God’s holy Son? Receptacle of an impossible miracle? Mary received the angel’s announcement as a humble servant, and knowing she was indeed now blessed forever for the great things God would do, all praise and honor was His. (Luke 1:45-49)

Every gift, every anointing, every impossibility made possible is from and to and all about Jesus. God is founder and perfecter of faith, author and finisher of every good thing. He is mighty and merciful, visiting those who fear Him with gracious undeserved favor. He bestows gifts, He ennobles, He nourishes, He grants talent, courage, and fruitfulness. He it is who owns all riches, strengthens the weak, dethrones the proud and raises the lowly. Dare we ascend the throne? (1 Chronicles 29:11-12; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 12:2)

Where do we take smug credit for achievements or successes? Have blessings become rights, and gifts become earned wages in our warped, self-inflated mindsets? May it never be that we think too highly of ourselves, or steal even an iota of the Lord’s glory. If we be favored or remembered, it is all because of Him. In any hint or touch of self-glory, will we choose to say, ‘How can this be? From and for Thee.’ (Isaiah 48:11; Romans 12:3; 1 Corinthians 4:7; James 1:17)

Lord, identify and dethrone any idol I keep. Captivate me with Your infinite worth and worthiness, so every aspect of my life is all about You and brings You glory.

“And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, ‘Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.’ And they scolded her. But Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.'” Mark 14:3-9

Mark describes, then Jesus commends, exactly what this unnamed woman does. “She has done a beautiful thing to me…She has done what she could… What she has done will be told wherever the gospel is proclaimed.” It was costly, sacrificial, loving, good, and all about Christ. She is not named. She is remembered not for who she was, what she wore, where she came from or who she came with, but what she did. Her humble action was a prelude to the Passover celebration where Jesus looked forward to the future remembrance of His poured out blood for them. (Mark 14:23-24; Luke 22:19)

When we go about our days, what beautiful things do we do for Jesus? Are we determined to do all we can, to spend ourselves for Him as He has for us? How would my actions be memorialized before the Lord, and how might my mindset change if I knew they could be? It is good always to consider and check motivation. God knows the heart, from which all action stems, and judges our deeds accordingly. (1 Samuel 16:7; Acts 10:4; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Titus 2:13-14)

There is much we daily ponder, consider, compare, and intend. We are pushed and pulled in many directions by impulse, suggestion, desire, and preference. Unless we look to the Word to inform us and the Lord to direct our steps and actions, we easily fall to sloth, self-consumption, or empty living. Will we choose instead the way of sacrifice, honor, and love?

For whom do we live, with fully engaged minds and hands? Whose glory motivates our words, prayers, work, and service? (What do we actually do for Jesus?) How well do we follow through on good intentions? Are we inspired by personal gain, notoriety, and accolades, or the Lord’s sacrifice, remembrance, and high purposes? How might He be working to humble our passions and turn them Godward?

The Lord works in us what is pleasing to Him, that we might do the works He’s prepared for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:13; Hebrews 13:20-21)

Father, may all I do be inspired and directed by You, for eternal significance and the honor of Your name.

“The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.  And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.  And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.  And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word,  but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.  But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.

“Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?  For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.’  And he said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.  For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.'” Mark 4:14-25

God is sovereign Lord of His creation and crafter of divine intent. He is the supplier of seed, the creator of fruit, the manager of multiplication, and the engineer of His children’s spiritual industry. In His economy, He expects profitable stewardship of whatever He entrusts to us, which would yield a bountiful measure of glory to Him. (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)

But so many things stumble and distract us earthlings in our farming. Generously seed is granted: the living Word, opportunities to grow and share, the winds of affliction that strengthen us, rains of sweet love and sorrow that expand us, the light of God’s truth to raise us upward and direct our steps. Yet we complain of the rocky obstacles, fall away in faint weakness or complacency, or get entangled in worldly affairs that turn our hearts from Him. Repentance, commitment, and faithfulness would yield so much, but we join the many who have nothing to show for His gifts.

How faithful are we as stewards of God’s grace and gifts? When will we start to pay attention and do our part in sowing the seed? How will we till the heart’s soil- our own with genuine confession and surrender, and others’ with compassion and tenderness? Have we said yes to too many things, yet fail to profit spiritually in any? What can we or need we set aside in order to make the most of what is before us? What or whom are we neglecting that God has called us to tend? In order to bear the hundredfold, we must be a hundred percent committed to the Lord’s will and way. (Deuteronomy 28:12; Colossians 3:23-24; 1 Peter 4:10)

Father, establish the work of my hands and heart, that their produce exalt Your worthy name and bless Your people. (Psalm 90:17)

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,  and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.’

“Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?’ I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

“’Therefore they are before the throne of God,
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
    and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
    the sun shall not strike them,
    nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
    and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’

“I know your tribulation and your poverty…  Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Revelation 7:9-17; 2:9a,10

John’s vision of heaven was swathed in the light and melody of glory. All wrong, bad, ugly, and terrifying had all culminated in a magnificent vision of splendor surrounding Christ’s throne, His triumph, and the saints’ satisfaction. Every cry of agony or pain had become a paean of praise, all thirst was assuaged, every tear dried. Death and sorrow were swallowed in victory and everlasting life, pronouncing all suffering worth the enduring due to the worthiness of the King. (Matthew 5:11-12; Mark 13:13; 1 Corinthians 15:55-58)

The Lord beckons us behold the heavenly chorus with the apostle, attuning to the praise of His manifold attributes, yet we brood in the lowlands! We hurt and whimper for very real suffering, but look not beyond the bleeding wounds to the healed Christ-scars. Perspective changes when we consider the vision on the other side and the worthiness endowed to suffer with Christ. The now is not pleasant and may extenuate, but the not yet is holiness. (Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Philippians 3:8-11; Hebrews 12:10-11)

For every pang of breathless pain, are we aware that we’ve been counted worthy to suffer for Christ’s sake, to share that agony so we may share more fully in His glory? What situation, what turmoil, will we offer Him today to redeem for eternity? (Acts 5:41; Philippians 1:29-30)

My Lord, thank You for counting me worthy to share Your sufferings. Keep me expectantly, joyfully hoping for glory.

“He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.” Ephesians 4:11-19

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” James 1:5-8

Wind has been whishing the trees for hours, with steady briskness and occasional gusts. The sky is a lovely ever-changing array of moving greys over blues, tinged from behind by morning light. And then there are the birds, silent, wings wide and still- no flapping-, gracefully soaring on the currents in sweeps and swirls, as though taking the day off to float.

Wind clears and cleans, refreshes and confirms. Grounded in biblical truth, we can spread our wings and catch the wind. The Spirit convicts, cleanses, and inspires. We only grow stronger when buffeted by human cunning and the enemy’s wiles, because deep spiritual roots free us to fly to spiritual heights with keen understanding, fixed destination.

But wind also destroys. False doctrine and deception blow billowy masquerades that unsettle and whip our resolve, that deceive and confuse us in clouds of falsehood and insecurity. Beware succumbing to the breeze of pop ideas and crafty schemes. Would they carry me on a downdraft away from my Lord and distance me from His people, or sweep me up in His loving fellowship and clarity?

Who, or what, sets my velocity and direction? Do gales of cultural pressure, mixed religion, and social constructs, so unsettle me that convictions waffle with every gust? Do I drift in different directions with every blow or push or wind of change?

Father, keep me alert and discerning to read the wind today. May I ride the current of Your grace and truth into wisdom and ever higher faith, and glorify You in the flight.

“Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. ‘They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.  Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.'” Malachi 3:16-18

“My beloved is mine, and I am his.” Song of Solomon 2:16

“Thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.'” Isaiah 43:1

Included by name in a book of remembrance. Bound in a bundle of treasured possessions. Spared from judgment, and distinguished from all who do not know or serve Him. All this offered in affection and backed by spoken promise by the Lord of hosts- hosts of angels, hosts of those who fear and esteem His name. His.

It is impossible to measure all it means to belong to Jesus. For the lonely, the alone. The insecure, the ashamed. The misunderstood, the misplaced. The fearful, the needy. The misdirected, the broken. The weary, the burdened. The hungry, the spent. The unstable, the wanderer. The overlooked, the ignored. These are the very ones He pursues to make His own forever. He takes note, hears, understands, befriends, enfolds, holds secure, sustains, keeps. And oh, how He loves. (Jeremiah 31:3)

“Loved with everlasting love,
Led by grace that love to know;
Spirit, breathing from above,
Thou hast taught me it is so.
Oh, this full and perfect peace!
Oh, this transport all divine!
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His, and He is mine.

Heaven above is softer blue,
Earth around is sweeter green;
Something lives in every hue
Christless eyes have never seen:
Birds with gladder songs o’erflow,
Flow’rs with deeper beauties shine,
Since I know, as now I know,
I am His, and He is mine.

Things that once were wild alarms
Cannot now disturb my rest;
Closed in everlasting arms,
Pillowed on the loving breast.
Oh, to lie forever here,
Doubt and care and self resign,
While He whispers in my ear,
I am His, and He is mine.

His forever, only His:
Who the Lord and me shall part?
Ah, with what a rest of bliss
Christ can fill the loving heart.
Heaven and earth may fade and flee,
Firstborn light in gloom decline;
But, while God and I shall be,
I am His, and He is mine. ~Wade Robinson

Do we believe this enough to fear and trust Him? With whom do we speak and extol His name? How are we esteeming Him as Creator and Lord of all, with thought life, worldview, and industry?

Secured and buoyed in this love, how lavishly do we love Him back, and others in His name? In what specific ways will we share that holy benevolence today?

Father, as Your beloved child, help me be so in the world, ever imbued with Your graciousness and bounty.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” 1 John 4:7-12

Addressed to the beloved, John’s message encircles his readers in warm possibility that this could be so. You are loved so let us love. It doesn’t have to come from you because you love God, and since you do and He loves you, His love is in you and can flow through you. In fact, it will and must as proof of your relationship with Him. And that love looks like Jesus. (Romans 5:5)

His love is initiating love. It sets affection on and pursues, and though we run from Him and resist His affection, it keeps on pursuing until it finds and captures and enfolds. “Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God; He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.” How are we specifically pursuing others with the love of Christ? (Ephesians 2:1-9; Robert Robinson 1758)

Christ’s love is sacrificial. He set aside His glory to condescend to earth. He surrendered His desire and will to His Father’s. He gave His life so we might live. Where have we laid down our interests, urgencies, scheduled plans for the love of another? Where will we? (Luke 22:42; John 15:13; 17:3-5; Philippians 2:3-8)

Christ’s love is forgiving. With no temper or grudge, no resentment or wrath, the Lord Jesus carried our sins away and remembers them no more. Would we, by act of will, choose to forgive completely and forever, keeping no record of wrongs? (Psalm 103:8-14; Isaiah 43:25; 1 Corinthians 13:5; Ephesians 4:31-32; Hebrews 8:12)

Christ’s love is for the other’s good and best. Totally and purely benevolent, taking no thought for self. Do I love with qualification or strings attached, or freely, wholeheartedly? (Romans 12:9-10; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Contemplating Christ’s love opens the way for us to love anew, in ways and with patience and purpose previously untried. If we have the Son, we have His life and love, meant to be shared. Have we pegged someone as aloof or hard, yet never listened to his story of deep pain and loss? Whom have we written off or avoided because we imagine no commonalities and assume arrogance and rejection? Where can we go the extra mile to visit the lonely, write the grieving, reach out to the needy? (1 John 5:12)

Would we love like Jesus loves? What will we begin to change or begin today?

Lord, may I always love You best and first. Then, abiding in Your love, help me lavish it on others as You do. (1 John 4:16,21)

“If some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,  do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.  Then you will say, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.  For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

“Lest you be wise in your own sight,.: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in… 

“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” Romans 11:17-25,29

Paul’s yearning for the Israelites’s inclusion in Christ is borne of a humble amazement at and appreciation for God’s mercy to him. He knows he is unworthy of God’s favor as a great sinner, and longs that God be magnified through the greater endowment of His grace. Having been grafted into God’s family by no effort of his own, he urges his readers to acknowledge this truth themselves. In the Lord’s salvific economy, there is no room for smugness. His children are attached, nourished, and sustained in the root of Christ. (1 Timothy 1:15)

Yet, how easy it is to boast! Even subconsciously we believe we’ve a right to God’s grace when we have nothing to merit it. In fact, we have everything to do with its magnification, as by it alone we are rooted in faith: wooed, forgiven, freed, and redeemed. Only God tames the wild rebel, includes the outcast, makes enemies friends, and names those His who once did not belong. (Romans 5:8-10; 1 Peter 2:9-10)

Where do we draw our daily nourishment? And with whom are we sharing its sustenance and joy? Connected to the God who dispenses riches and gifts, we’re compelled to use them for His glory and the good of others. Are we so rooted and grounded in faith and love, so filled with His fullness, that we exude His love and care, compassion and patience to others? What spiritual fruit are we bearing in private and public? (Romans 12:3–8; Ephesians 3:17-19; Colossians 2:6-7)

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

‘Who has given a gift to him
    that he might be repaid?’

“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” Romans 11:33,35-36

And amen.

“God said to Jacob, ‘Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.’ So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.  Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.’ So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods they had…

“As they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.  And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel…

“God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him.., ‘Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.’ So he called his name Israel…

“Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.” Genesis 35:1-10,14-15

Jacob was a man of inconsistencies. Passionate, deceptive, industrious, conflicted between fear and faith. A wrestler, a conniver, a lover. And God’s loving, merciful, patient hands kept molding him as His chosen to bear the blessing of Israel. He allowed him to taste his own folly and walked him through treacherous and bitter circumstances, all the while supernaturally protecting him and moving His plan forward. He commanded that he keep worship foremost, remembering whose he was. That would be the key to his transformation. (Genesis 25:31-34; 29:18-20; 31:4-7,26-31; 32:6-12,22-30)

As believers, we too struggle with inconsistencies in attitude, obedience, prayer, and faith. Our personalities, family and work situations, and circumstances present ongoing and varied challenges to spiritual progress, and we can get frustrated, discouraged, even feel unworthy of the Lord’s patient striving with us. We can wallow in past failures and consequences of past (forgiven) sins, and dread moving ahead or being changed.

But God issues commands that, when heeded, transform fears and establish our faith in Him. He’s always purposeful in what seems strange or threatening to us. Hemmed in behind and before, we must remember we no longer bear condemnation, but own new life in the land of freedom. We are weak but He is strong. We are fallible but He is perfect. He’s praying for our faith to be exercised and increased. (Psalm 19:7-11; 139:5; Luke 22:32; Romans 8:1; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 12:9-10)

What current situations crush God-appointed confidence? Will we move from fear to faith? How can we establish regular rhythms of worship, gratitude, and ready obedience to propel us forward?

Father, may faith mark my every action and altar, to Your praise.