As the rain and snow

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2

“I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ…  And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,  so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God… Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Philippians 1:6,9-11; 2:12b-13

It is the way of man to want to understand everything ahead of time and have things proven before we proceed. I won’t do this blindly, show me this will be worth it. But the way of faith is setting out and doing in confidence of its worth and that it is right, trusting the One who calls and enables. It is by offering ourselves in obedience and serving the Lord that we test and thusly approve God’s will, working out and proving our faith. Righteousness comes through faith and depends on faith. (Philippians 3:9,12-15a,16; 4:9; Hebrews 11:1)

What keeps us from proving God’s ways and approving His will by action? If faith is putting into practice what we’re taught and called to implement, what fears, doubts, lazy attitudes, false interpretations, or selfish wants hold us back? God’s commands often go against human grain, but they present opportunity for us to yield to His will being done instead of ours. Exercising the muscles of relinquishment and renewal is the very method of spiritual growth. The Lord does not abandon us to travail on our own, but strives with us, working in us both the desire and the effort required to His ultimate ends. (Luke 22:42)

The key to our ability to test and approve God’s will is God-centered worship that lays down my life and renews my mind. Less of me, more of Him. Cease to strive, yield to His work in me. This our Savior did to perfection, making the way that we might too. What He finished on the cross was the impossibility of obedience, and that accomplishment became our means of living by faith. Will we step forward and walk through the gate He opened, trusting not only that the way will become clear, but that its clarity increases step by step? (John 3:30)

“And shall I pray Thee, change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
But, no, Lord, no, that never shall be. 
Rather, I pray Thee
Blend my human will with Thine.” ~Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)

Lord, bid me keep walking forward with You. May I faithfully test and so prove Your good, pleasing, and perfect will to Your praise and honor.

“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
    whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
    and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
    my strength was dried up  as by the heat of summer. 

I acknowledged my sin to you,
    and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’
    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” Psalm 32:1-5

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.^..
Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me…
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    and sinners will return to you.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
    O God of my salvation,
    and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.” Psalm 51:7,9-10,12-15

“He said to him a second time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep…. Follow me.'” John 21:16-17,19c

Much is bereft in the unforgiven heart. When we hold on to unconfessed sin it spreads its ugly gangrene through the body, making miserable and sick, consuming vitality and joy, entrenching in every space and starving out kindness, willingness, a servant spirit. Betrayal of our Master is soul-depleting, a thief of emotion, will, and holy energy.

But confession greeted with forgiveness, and the exquisite restoration the Lord alone gives, make way for the poisoned heart to be cleansed and refilled with all that is good and pleasant. Where once was a brute beast consumed with self, there is a freed captive eager and willing to feed God’s sheep. The glut of guilt and self-absorption becomes a flow of love, compassion, praise, and service. Merciful God feeds the forgiven to enable sharing grace with others.

Have I felt empty, barren of fruitfulness and apathetic toward the needy? What is holding me back from spiritual vitality? Are there sins of others I have not forgiven, or of my own I need confess to the Lord? How could the rich fruit of God’s cleansing mercy applied to me inspire sharing my glad experience, offering the heavenly fruit of hope and salvation to the hungry? With whom will I open my lips with gospel instruction or praise?

Father, help me receive full forgiveness from You and pass along the joys and hope of salvation. May I faithfully feed Your sheep with the love and truth that abound to me in Christ, to His glory.

“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,  if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard…

“I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea..,  that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of… Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. I am… rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” Colossians 1:21-23; 2:1-8

Reconciled by Jesus to be holy and blameless, we have no reason to shift from the efficacy and certain hope of the gospel. It is by this gospel that our Savior made enemies friends and hostile strangers His children. And by this gospel we stand. His work is finished, His word an unshakable foundation. (Romans 5:10; Colossians 2:13-15)

Plausible arguments and sinister, vain deceit will brew and bubble around us, but they need not jostle our convictions. A Christian’s hope is secure. Tragedy and suffering can also crash into us and knock the wind from us, engulfing as a pall of pain, senselessness, and bereft confusion over the way forward. But God is not surprised in these horrors- He is compassionate and a very present help. Steadfastly grounded in His promises, our eternal hope will not shift. Though doubts assail, His goodness and sovereignty prevail. (Psalm 46:1-3; John 11:33-35)

Where am I prone to shift in my resolve to trust and follow Jesus? What circumstances jar my faith and cause me to grasp at worldly remedies? Where have I believed the lie that God is not involved or does not care?

Would I take encouragement from Christ’s finished work on the Cross, and thank Him for the riches won for me? When tempted to despair at weakness, failures, or indescribable pain, would I hold tight to Him, and the wisdom, knowledge, and faith He gives? He who saves also secures and keeps us to our sanctified end.

“My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace;
in every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, his covenant, his blood,
support me in the whelming flood;
when all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand:
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.” ~Edwards Mote (1834)

Lord, help me daily continue in faith, firm in hope of the gospel, unmoved by the wicked wounding world.

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;  one Lord, one faith, one baptism;  one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it…  So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,  to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Ephesians 4:1-7,11-16

The calling? To be holy and blameless before the Lord, living according to the purpose of His will to the praise of His glorious grace. Walking worthy of it requires all humility, gentleness, and patience. Here is, in the flesh, the higher, harder calling. The first is wholly dependent on the Spirit’s sanctification of our sinful ways, the next requires surrendering self and continually offering ourselves as living sacrifices for the good of the Body. (Ephesians 1:4-6)

How can we be of one mind when we keep disagreeing? How can we be unified in purpose when passions, preferences, and personalities conflict? How can there be unity and peace when I’m right and they’re wrong and never the twain shall be reconciled?

The trouble with troubling over opinion and desire is that we’re focusing energies in the wrong places. When we start from stubborn individualism and revere autonomy, we necessarily meet conflict. But when we begin with one body and one Spirit, we learn to pull in all the edges to form a whole and focus on one hope, one Lord, a unified faith in the one God and Father of all.

In what areas or relationships do I need to be expressly more humble, gentle, and patient? How much effort am I expending to maintain unity and promote peace? How am I serving or speaking to engender stability, maturity, and strength among those in my circle of influence? Where am I contributing- by the measure of His grace- to God’s intended oneness in the church?

Lord, unite my heart in love for You and commitment to Your purposes. Continually renew the spirit of my mind that I might live in your likeness in righteousness and holiness for the building up of your body. (Psalm 86:11; Ephesians 4:22-23,29,32)

“[Abigail] fell at his feet and said: ‘Please pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal… The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles… Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God… When the Lord… has appointed him ruler over Israel,  my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself.’

“David said to Abigail, ‘Praise be to the Lord who has sent you today to meet me.  May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.’” 1 Samuel 25:24-25,28-33

God called David through the prophet Samuel, but he had already developed in David a mind that sought to know Him, and a heart inclined to worship and to listen. In mercy, when David encountered challenges that instigated high emotion, the Lord continued to send people with specific messages to guide him. David’s ongoing communion was the backdrop and foundation for his recognizing true, proper, wise counsel. (1 Samuel 16:1-13; 25:1-22; 2 Samuel 12:5-13; Psalm 8:1-4)

It is often and usual that the Lord speaks directly to us through his Word and by His Spirit. But He also speaks to us through others with whom we engage, and it is important that we listen well and be discerning. When we seek His wisdom, while fearing and trusting Him rightly, He gives us spiritual insight to know His voice wherever it originates.

One key to discernment is an intimate knowledge of God himself. The Bible reveals God’s character, how He deals with man, His high plan and how He incorporates His people in accomplishing it. How committed are we to know Him, how familiar with His word through regular reading, study, meditation, and application so we can trace His hand in our everyday?

Another key is not thinking of ourselves too highly, but approaching each day humbly, soberly, and surrendered. We might think we know better than He, or must inform and instruct Him as we ask His blessing on our plans, but only God is omniscient, and His will good and perfect. (Romans 12:1-3)

When we ask, God is faithful to answer and help and guide. Sometimes His silence is an important message for us to wait. When we do not know which way to go, we can trust what we know of Him, seek godly counsel, and wait for His word. (Psalm 32:8)

How are we cultivating relationships with trusted advisors or friends who will speak truth to us? How keenly are we developing discernment from regular reading of Scripture to know what comes from the mind of Christ and what is of man? (Matthew 22:29; Ephesians 4:15)

And for whom are we a trustworthy confidant and counselor? What are we doing to equip ourselves to speak truth, even if it stings? How clean, prayerful, and careful are we before confronting someone? (Matthew 7:3-5; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15,19,23-24)

Father, teach me Your word so I recognize and welcome its truth, and readily share it for the good of others.

“Take my instruction instead of silver,
    and knowledge rather than choice gold,
for wisdom is better than jewels,
    and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
    and I find knowledge and discretion.
The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil…
I have counsel and sound wisdom;
    I have insight; I have strength.
By me kings reign,
    and rulers decree what is just;
by me princes rule,
    and nobles, all who govern justly.
I love those who love me,
    and those who seek me diligently find me.
Riches and honor are with me,
    enduring wealth and righteousness.
My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,
    and my yield than choice silver…
an inheritance to those who love me,
    and filling their treasuries…

“For whoever finds me finds life
    and obtains favor from the Lord.” Proverbs 8:10-13a,14-19,21,35

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places… In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,  who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:3,13-14

The richest riches are not to be found in this world. No matter the sparkle, splendor, weight or measure, nothing on earth begins to compare with the unsearchable heavenly riches we own in Christ Jesus and His word. We want to hold and fondle, collect and clutch, when true riches are invisible, held by faith and conviction, and experienced in rich, wise, powerful living. (Ephesians 3:8; 14-19)

What do we desire in our heart of hearts? Where do we stake our significance and identity? What gives us pleasure and fulfillment? Anything or anyone short of Christ will leave us wanting. The Lord is near and available for the knowing, ordaining and maintaining our very circumstances so we would seek and enjoy communion with Him. How committed are we to discover His treasures of love and insight, eternal fruit and life? (Acts 17:25-28)

Tapping into the treasury of the Creator avails us of yield beyond imagining for every aspect of public and private life. To find Christ is to enjoy life everlasting. To know Him is to own His prudence, discretion, and righteousness. Would we take time to praise His attributes, to relish and give thanks for His grace-given riches?

“Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
thy justice like mountains high soaring above
thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
all praise we would render, O help us to see
’tis only the splendor of light hideth thee.” ~Walter Chalmer Smith (1867)

Omniscient Father, may I daily desire and pursue Your wisdom, properly fearing and hungering for You above all else. May I know You and share Your wealth, to Your honor and praise.

“For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place,
    and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
And the mountains will melt under him,
    and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
    like waters poured down a steep place.” Micah 1:3-4

“O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.” Psalm 8:1

“Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down!
    Touch the mountains so that they smoke!” Psalm 144:5

The highest heavens cannot contain the incomprehensible God. He inhabits eternity and condescends to the heavens to manifest His splendor, riding the skies to our aid. In Christ, He condescended to earth as Son of man to redeem us, and righteously rules today from invisible heights we cannot comprehend. God Himself calls us to behold Him there! (Deuteronomy 33:26-27a; 1 Kings 8:27; Psalm 68:32-33; Isaiah 57:15; John 3:13; 6:38)

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber… nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.” Psalm 121

The Lord treads the high places keeping watch over His own. Kings and kingdoms rise and fall, and His eye is on each one to perform His bidding. While we live in the lowlands, occupied by incessant conversation and comparison and consternation, we often fail to seek His higher thought, His long view for our circumstances, lofty desire. We get lost in the mundane and urgent when the high and holy hover for our grasping. What would change if we strode the ridges with the Almighty? (Proverbs 21:1; Daniel 2:21)

What areas of my life would I like to uplift? In what difficult situation do I need an eternal perspective? What gnarly conversations can I elevate? What expenditure of time and energy could become more significant, what use of resources more meaningful and lasting? Is it language, imagination, attitude toward colleagues or relatives that the Lord is saying needs an upward adjustment, a cleansing Spirit breeze, an infusion of the divine? What heavenly hope needs renewing?

“I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining ev’ry day;
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
‘Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.’

My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay;
Though some may dwell where these abound,
My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.

I want to live above the world,
Though Satan’s darts at me are hurled;
For faith has caught a joyful sound,
The song of saints on higher ground.

Lord, lift me up, and let me stand
By faith, on heaven’s tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”  ~Johnson Oatman Jr. (1856-1922)

Lord, keep me alongside to tread the heights with You, above the madding world, seeing and seizing life with Your eternal perspective.

“For freedom Christ has set us free…

“For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love…

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself…’ So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 5:1a,5-6,13-14; 6:10

“We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin… So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you.” Romans 6:6-7,11-14

Christ sets free from, and free to. He’s done away with the chains of a petulant imbroglio of sin in order that we might serve Him as new and gracious Master, and others in His name. We have been set free to love and serve with abandon, dead to sin and very fully alive in Christ and His power.

Trouble is, without understanding the scope of Christ’s forgiveness, we accept freedom from shackles in the flesh but immediately hop up, rub our wrists, and gear toward serving and indulging self: my time, my thrills, my wants. But the way of the new creation is selfless, more significant, and joyous. It is less narrow, now broad with possibility and opportunity. When we reckon ourselves truly free from sin’s slavery, Jesus opens wide the doors to lavish loving and boundless generosity, and sheds widely abroad His light in our hearts. (Romans 5:5; 2 Corinthians 5:17)

We’ve been cut loose from the penalty and power of sin and lavished in Christ with every spiritual blessing: heavenly purpose, eternal security, boundless grace, all wisdom and insight, unlimited inheritance, lasting hope. Why do we hoard such precious gifts? Or do we squander them? What are we doing in and with the freedom entrusted to us? Freely you have received; freely give. (Matthew 10:8b; Ephesians 1:2-8)

A glad heart will want to sing, a forgiven heart will want to love, a grateful heart will want to give. How often do we take time to be reminded of all the Lord has done for us, and then to turn to Him in thanksgiving? Would we seek those He wants us to serve, and go and do it eagerly and with cheer?

“Thus wholly mastered and possessed by God,
Forth from my life, spontaneous and free,
Shall flow a stream of tenderness and grace,
Loving, because God loved, eternally.” ~Emily May Grimes (1868-1927)

Lord, may I freely and extravagantly serve as You have served to saved me, to the praise of Your generosity and grace.

“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
    O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
    to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
    O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
    that you may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
    more than watchmen for the morning,
    more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord!
    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
    and with him is plentiful redemption.
And he will redeem Israel
    from all his iniquities.” Psalm 130:1-8

What does a watchman, sentry high, 
Fix eyes upon there in the sky? 
Pale blush of pink, 
First hint of light, 
In deepest heaven as day draws nigh?

To what does he listen with ears attuned? 
The quiet before dawn? Early chatter and swoon 
Of birds now awakened? 
Winged grace and glory 
Each praising the morn in personal croon?

He hears the march of coming day, 
He spies the armies of clouds at bay, 
He welcomes the warmth, the clear, the storm, 
Ready for every onslaught borne, 
In duty, drudgery, and fray.

If I be a watchman for what must I look? 
The menacing clouds, the pestering rook? 
Do I gaze at this or that 
And let distraction pull off track 
Or will I stay with the Book?

Watching and waiting in dread or fear? 
Stressed by enemies far and near? 
Nervous at now and 
worried at then, 
Or trusting the cause of my Savior dear?

Am I weighted with regret?
Has my sorrow no outlet? 
Remember the cross,
Nothing is lost, 
Jesus has fully paid my debt.

Would I an attentive watchman be 
Within the world of fright and flee 
At peace in heart and in my mind, 
Alert and keen, and grace-filled, kind, 
As I wait in hope for Thee.

And let my watching set each day 
In holy rhythm, without dismay, 
Of joyful song, anticipation, 
Good and lofty expectation, 
In all I do and say.

For all my days may it be true, 
I perch up high and set my view, 
Through every storm and drought and burn, 
With every task and lesson learned, 
More than a watchman I watch for You.

Amen.

“I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do… Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,  idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,  envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:16-17,19-25

“The Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
    he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
guarding the paths of justice
    and watching over the way of his saints.
Then you will understand righteousness and justice
    and equity, every good path;
for wisdom will come into your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
discretion will watch over you,
    understanding will guard you,
delivering you from the way of evil,
    from men of perverted speech,
who forsake the paths of uprightness
    to walk in the ways of darkness..,
men whose paths are crooked,
    and who are devious in their ways…

So you will walk in the way of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.”

“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise.” Proverbs 2:6-13,15,20; 13:20

To walk in the Spirit is a daily discipline begun in the mind and heart. Wayward desires and emotions bump us to limp and stumble and throw us off God’s course. Consulting the Lord and storing up His sound wisdom prepares us to recognize His paths and get alongside His Spirit. When we begin the day matching stride and pace with His, we walk the paths of righteousness, and every step with Him is one not astray.

What deters us from aligning our life tempo with the Lord’s? What passions, interruptions, or worldly distractions throw off healthy spiritual rhythms, and what will we do about them? What practical ways will we minimize or eliminate desires that compete with uprightness, and choose to exchange feelings of flesh for the fruit of the Spirit?

As for pace, am I running on empty, bereft of physical energy and spiritual vitality? What am I doing to refuel and partake of daily manna in order to hone divine discernment and strength? Am I lagging behind with slow obedience, hesitant to proceed in God’s commanded way? Am I racing ahead of the Lord, driven by selfish ambition or the compulsion to go, regardless of how the Lord might measure or direct my steps? What can I change to get in holy stride?

Lord, keep me steady, in step with Your Spirit on Your straight way, drawing others to come alongside and clearly focused on Your glory.