Faithful Friend

Drawing near and staying close to God will most likely be a task of a lifetime. We will never be able to reach an ultimate level of communion with God until we see Him face to face. But each day, week, month and year we pass here on this earth should find our affections for our Savior much increased and deepened. How do we accomplish this? By drawing near. Octavius Winslow gives us some great perspective concerning this.

"It is good for me to draw near to God." Psalm 73:28.
The more any object is to us a source of sweet delight and contemplation, the more strongly do we desire its presence, and the more restless are we in its absence. The friend we love we want constantly at our side; the spirit goes out in longings for communion with him; his presence sweetens, his absence embitters every other joy. Precisely true is this of God. He who knows God, who with faith's eye has discovered some of His glory, and, by the power of the Spirit, has felt something of His love, will not be at a loss to distinguish between God's sensible presence and absence in the soul. Some professing people walk so much without communion, without fellowship, without daily, filial, and close communion with God; they are so immersed in the cares, and so lost in the fogs and mists of the world; the fine edge of their spiritual affection is so blunted, and their love so frozen by contact with worldly influences and occupations- and no less so with cold, formal professors- that the Sun of Righteousness may cease to shine upon their soul, and they not know it! God may cease to visit them, and His absence not be felt! He may cease to speak, and the stillness of His voice not awaken an emotion of alarm! Yes, a more strange thing would happen to them if the Lord were suddenly to break in upon their soul with a visit of love, than were He to leave them for weeks and months without any token of His presence. Reader, are you a professing child of God? Content not yourself to live thus; it is a poor, lifeless existence, unworthy of your profession, unworthy of Him whose name you do bear, and unworthy of the glorious destiny towards which you are looking. Thus may a believer test the character of his love. He in whose heart divine affection deepens, increases, and expands, finds God an object of increasing delight and desire, and communion with Him the most costly privilege on earth; he cannot live in the neglect of constant, secret, and close fellowship with his God, his best and most faithful friend. -Octavius Winslow

My hope is that I will not be distracted by the fog and mists of this world, but that I will daily fix my eyes, heart and mind on the only one who truly matters. I am mostly proactive in my relationship with family and friends, how much more should I be that way in pursuing God? Pursuing God is also key in our fight against sin. I've realized more and more through the years that my sin never takes a day off. How then can I not spend precious and vital time with the Lord and risk allowing the deceitfulness of my own heart a foothold? I can't and by God's grace I won't. God is my most faithful friend and I pray I will never lose the desire to pursue Him all the days of my life.

I have tasted of a love
Sweeter than the honeycomb
And I have heard the symphony
Of Your whisper in my soul
And I am ruined for this world
For none compares with You , my Lord

Courage To Serve Even If We Think We'll Fail...

I can often be tempted to be reluctant in serving in different areas or even in participating in certain activities purely because I know it is likely that I will not be that good at it. My philosophy can often be to not step up and volunteer for something because I think "someone better equipped" will come along to get the job done, but the root of this is ultimately pride. Carolyn Mahaney gives some excellent insight into this...

"Using our gifts requires humility. For as I’ve often reminded my girls (and myself!): “There’s always going to be someone better than you at what you do.” There’s always going to be the smarter kid in the class, the more outgoing friend, the more talented co-worker, the more organized homemaker, the more capable homeschool teacher, the more energetic servant, the more gifted than you at whatever you do. And you know what? These people have been strategically placed in our lives to expose our pride and help us serve with humility. How much easier it would be to stick to arenas where we think we shine. But we should do our best even when we may not be the best. We should be willing to risk making mistakes, to allow others to see where we lack gifting and need help. And when we humbly serve--even when we’re not the best--we’ll be pleasantly surprised at how God can use our meager gifts to encourage others and bring glory to Him!" - Carolyn Mahaney

If I am truly desiring to serve, than it won't matter to me if I'm the best at it, only that I do my best at it. This is a good reminder for me to do all for the glory of God.

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant..." - Philippians 2:5-7
-Sorry for the picture...I just thought it was funny. It's a demotivator from despair.com =)

How Steady Is His Hand...

The definition of "Trust": reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

From Psalm 56:
When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.

You have kept count of my tossings,
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?

This I know, that God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the LORD, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

This psalm is titled, "In God I Trust". These words are easy for me to say with my mouth, but do I really live my life like I believe it? I think I can sometimes develop a pattern of trusting God in certain areas and not in others. David, gives us one of the major keys to his trust in God in the above psalm. "whose word I praise". David has made God's word a priority in his life and has learned to trust God because he has learned to know God. We will never be able to trust what we don't fully know. Through God's word we learn about his trustworthy character, his promises and his faithfulness. So, one of the essential tools I hope to implement in my life more strategically to help battle my sin of "lack of trust" is to study God's word more closely and bind it to my heart, so that when I am tempted to be fearful I can say like David, "This I know, that God is for me. In the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid." I believe starting with working on my trust in the Lord will in turn overflow into other areas of my life where fear may be a problem. I am praying that, by God's grace, I will grow in this area and that I will be able to glorify God, who is worthy of all our trust, more fully.
"The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy;-Psalm 111:7"

How great is the love of God
How steady is His hand
To guide me through this world
Though I am weak in Him I stand
And you will hear me say today,
In faith, I'm gonna trust in God

Boundless

I don't know if any of you ever visit the Boundless website (www.boundless.org), but it always has some great articles on it. Today I read one by my friend Ricky Alcantar titled "Fighting Spiritual Drift", that was very good and helpful! There was also an article on there by Stephen Altrogge from Covenant Life in Maryland. His article, which was titled "Relationship Roulette", was also great and kind of follows the theme of worry that I wrote on yesterday. Here is an excerpt from that article,

"Doubting the Character of God

My doubt of the promises of God and the counsel of God were only symptoms however, of a deeper, more sinister problem: I doubted the very character of God. Scripture is clear that God is trustworthy, that He deeply loves His people, and that He will lead His people on good and pleasant paths. Romans 8:28 puts it this way: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

By letting my heart be ruled by fear and doubt, I was making a very loud statement about the character of God. I was saying that God couldn't be trusted to lead me into a wonderful, God-glorifying marriage. I was saying that God wouldn't lead me to the person that I was supposed to marry. I was saying that God didn't love me enough to work all things for my good. I was proclaiming a lie about the character of God. My lack of faith had turned me into a functional blasphemer." -Stephen Altrogge

This can be an area I unconsciously struggle with, but by God's grace I hope to fight the temptation to be a "functional blasphemer". If anyone has a chance I would recommend reading Stephen Altrogge's article as well as Ricky's.

Destroying The Effectiveness Of Life...

"What good has worrying ever accomplished? It has never made anyone stronger, helped anyone do God's will, or provided for anyone a way of escape out of their anxiety or confusion." - L.B. Cowman



Today I was reading in a devotional called Streams In The Desert by L.B. Cowman. The title alone is enticing and gives you hope that the pages that follow will hold a tranquil haven for your soul to retreat and be refreshed. I was randomly fanning through the pages when I came across a familiar verse as the header, "do not be anxious about anything". What is comforting about this verse is that it tells us that God knows we struggle with worry and cares enough to help us through it and provide biblical truth to assist us. Worry is a sin against God. When I worry I am telling God that I don't trust Him and that I really don't believe that He is faithful, sovereign and trustworthy over my life.

"Worry only destroys the effectiveness of lives that would otherwise be useful and beautiful."- L.B. Cowman

Worry:"Can anything be gained by it? Don't we only make ourselves unfit for action and separate our minds from the ability to make wise decisions? We simply sink in our struggles when we could float by faith." - L.B. Cowman

A lack of worry in our lives speaks volumes of our trust in God. He is glorified and we are satisfied and at peace. The Bible says that we can't add a single hour to our life by worrying...so I hope that as hard or difficult situations arise, I will be able to honor God be actively choosing not to worry and trust everything to His capable hands.