Walking By Grace Not Guilt

As someone who struggles with guilt and how to balance having a "God glorifying" type of guilt, but not a self-absorbed/condemnation kind, I found this article very helpful and encouraging. I hope you do as well.

Grace In Guilt by David Barshinger

That haunting memory. The boil of regret. Lashing out on the wall. Sitting paralyzed. Wasting away. I'm too often drawn back into my memory, reliving the past and remembering verbal blows exchanged. And some of the worst recollections involve careless or harsh words. One friendship was ruined by a single phrase misunderstood. In another memory my angry outburst wounded my family.

I remember one particular conversation my wife and I had with another couple from a former small group that got so heated and personal, it altered our relationship from that day forward. At the time I felt we were victims of injustice. Looking back, I realize much of the break stemmed from misunderstanding, suspicion, lack of trust and the need to be right — on their side, yes, but more importantly, on my side.

As I've thought back on that engagement, I've seen that my words contributed significantly to the degeneration of the relationship. But I'm caught. If only I could go back and change what I said. But that's one thing I can't do. If only I could make things right. But the damage seems irreparable. Apologies were made, but trust had been broken.

Words pack a punch, and the bruises they leave are not easily erased. How many of us wish we could change what we said in the heat of the moment? Words have sparked wars, broken marriages, destroyed friendships, and severed parents and children. Yet the damage from foolish words lay not only in those initial divides, but in the days of living with that memory emblazoned on our minds. The memory is real. The pain is real. And the guilt is unrelenting.

The Good in Guilt

When I remember the foolish, harmful things I've said to another person, I often dwell on how my words made them resentful. My mind can become so absorbed with the memory that I can think about nothing but my own failure and misery. It's a crippling feeling, stopping me from walking forward in life.

How do I get out of it? I often get stuck in it. Some say, just think happier thoughts because, what good does it do to get dragged into the dumps by something you can't change? But I can ignore it for only so long, pretending the guilt vanishes when it actually just hides in a dark corner of my heart.

I sometimes try to suppress it by watching a film to get my mind off the guilt. Combine that with a bowl of Breyers, and the distraction works for a time. But you can't ease guilt by shoving aside its reality. Rather, the pangs prick my spirit to make me aware of where I really stand in relation to our perfect, good Creator.
Guilt is a gift, a form of God's grace to expose me to my true self and force me to take seriously my sin, whether it's a lashing tongue, a lustful thought or a lingering pride. God wants to break through my distractions, pull off my rose-colored glasses and show me the truth about myself and my future. The festering guilt can function for good, turning me to see my state before a holy God.

The psalmist David captures this feeling well. In Psalm 38:3-8, David writes of the psychosomatic effect of sin: There is no soundness in my fleshbecause of your indignation;there is no health in my bonesbecause of my sin.

For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness, I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning. For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.

In this passage, David describes the reason for his inward turmoil: his sin (see also Psalm 31:10). David's guilt had built up in him to the point that he could no longer bear it. That weight led him to cry out to God.
Too often I want to feel better about the wrong things I've done too quickly, but assuaging guilt prematurely makes matters worse. If freedom from guilt is based on a faulty foundation, it remains a lie — a lie that emboldens me to increase sin. And in the end the frame comes crashing down, leaving me on the ground stuck in guilt.

C. S. Lewis describes a skewed view of God that redefines "goodness" as passing over the ill in our lives. Lewis explains: What would really satisfy us would be a God who said of anything we happened to like doing, "What does it matter so long as they are contented?" We want, in fact, not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven — a senile benevolence who, as they say, "liked to see young people enjoying themselves," and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, "a good time was had by all."

But God is not a "senile benevolence." He's unwilling to sit by and let us run ourselves over a cliff, all in the name of "a good time." He's actively working to draw people to grace, using our inward languishing to bring us to the point of repentance, and so to heal our bones and quicken our spirits.

God's Transcendent Mercy

In Psalm 32, David again describes his "groaning all day long" because God's hand was "heavy" upon him "day and night" and his "strength was dried up as by the heat of summer" (Ps 32:3-4). But, he says, "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" (Ps 32:5). Thus he could rejoice in God's mercy and proclaim, "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered" (Ps 32:1).

Instead of wallowing in guilt, I can rise again when I come clean with God about what He already knows: my sinful words. I must dwell on His holy Word that speaks hope into my life, reorienting me to the truth about myself and God. Scripture says that in the midst of our guilt, "God shows his love for us"; we can, indeed must, approach God from that state, for "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8).

Guilt forces us to face our reality, that we are "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1). But God's rich mercy out of His great love transcends our guilt and gives us true freedom from anguish. He pulls me up from my immobile, lifeless state, stuck in the memory of my guilt-ridden speech, raising me to a place of life and movement (Eph 2:4-7). God takes my piercing words that draw a crimson flow and makes them white as snow (Isa 1:18). That is the beauty and mystery of forgiveness.

How can this be? Only through Christ, who unlike us bore no guilt in His body (John 18:38; 19:4, 6). And on the basis of Christ's work I can call to God, "Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!" (Psalm 25:7). In other words, see me not in my sin, but see me in Your love, in Your mercy, in Christ.

God's transcendent, overflowing mercy is the basis for me to deal with guilt. I can stand in Christ's eternal forgiveness and walk ahead free from guilt's weight. For Jesus states emphatically that "if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).

That doesn't erase my careless words or the hurt they caused. And surely Christ's mercy doesn't diminish the seriousness of my sin. Rather, my sin, a horrific affront to the purity and holiness of God, underscores the preciousness of the blood Jesus spilled for the sins of the world. His death and resurrection offer reconciliation and call me to change. And as the Spirit's work of grace makes me more like Christ, I will learn to control my tongue and sin less, meaning fewer and fewer reasons for added guilt.

I don't need to rehash my past verbal collisions if I've confessed them and pursued reconciliation, because Christ's mercy covers my failures. Instead, I must accept God's forgiveness and refuse to live defeated because Christ extends both eternal freedom for the future and enabling grace for today.

To take hold of this freedom, I pray, asking God to show me what is true today, what can and can't be done, and how real His forgiveness is. And I read and meditate on God's Word, allowing those words of life to renew my soul in Christ's transcendent mercy. I'll sometimes fail, letting loose my tongue and hurting others, but as Scripture says, "the righteous falls seven times and rises again" (Prov 24:16).

As a Christian, I don't sit paralyzed by guilt. I walk by the grace of God.

Contemplating God's Greatness!

by charles spurgeon

"Lift up your eyes, behold the heavens, the work of God's fingers-- behold the sun guided in his daily march; go forth at midnight, and behold the heavens; consider the stars and the moon; look upon these works of God's hands, and if you be men of sense, and your souls are attuned to the high music of the spheres, you will say,"What is man that you are mindful of him?" My God! when I survey the boundless fields of ether, and see those ponderous orbs rolling therein, when I consider how vast are your dominions-so wide that an angel's wing might flap to all eternity and never reach a boundary- I marvel that you should look on insects so obscure as man. I am so little that I shrink into nothingness when I behold the Almightiness of Jehovah- so little, that the difference between the molecule and man dwindles into nothing, when compared with the infinite chasm between God and man. Let your mind rove upon the great doctrines of the Godhead; consider the existence of God from before the foundations of the world; behold Him who is, and was, and is to come, the Almighty.Let your soul comprehend as much as it can of the Infinite, and grasp as much as possible of the Eternal, and I am sure if you have minds at all, they will shrink with awe. The tall arch angel bows himself before his Master's throne, and we shall cast ourselves into the lowest dust when we feel what base nothings, what insignificant specks we are when compared with our all-adorable Creator. Labor, O soul, to know your nothingness, and learn it by contemplating God's greatness.

Perfect Blueprint

The Lord Keeps Faith
When trouble comes, we are tempted to think we are being punished or that God has forgotten us. He never forgets. He keeps faith--that is He keeps his promises, is faithful to his word, even when it appears that we are forsaken.

Joseph suffered one disaster after another. When, because of the vicious lie of a rejected woman he was put in prison, the Lord was with him there, keeping faith (Gn 39:21). Perhaps Joseph wondered why Almighty God could not have prevented the woman's triumphing over him--or prevented his ever having been victimized by his brothers in the first place and thus being at this woman's mercy. But we are given the complete picture which Joseph did not have while he was in prison--the amazing purpose of God for his chosen people, Jacob and all his family, who because of Joseph's long-drawn-out sufferings, were saved. God keeps faith--He has a perfect blueprint, and He is building according to its specifications. - e.e.

Fixity Is A Rare Thing

It's amazing how quickly I can run after the things that don't matter as much as God and how slowly I pursue Him at times. We can often be like a heard a wild horses, either following the crowd or running after the next thing. It's hard to "be still and know that God is God" and to trust Him completely. Peace can be found in abundance when we stay near the Shepherd. I have been learning that fact. When we are so in love and dependent on God, that to go more than an hour without entering into His presence seems unbearable...well, that is the sweetest kind of pain we can ever know. God, by His great mercy and kindness, is helping me to be still before Him and find strength in His presence. It's in a wild stallion's nature to always be on the run, but it takes great strength to stand still and allow yourself to be lead. God has been gentle in His breaking of me, bridling of me and leading of me. But I still have a long way to go!

"There is no end to the new methods offered for success, self-realization, fulfillment, understanding, and happiness. Seminars, conferences, and workshops abound. Go to so-and-so, get counseling, a new exercise program, a new diet, another degree, job, husband, house, color scheme. If it's new, it's good. Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. "Do not be swept off your course by all sorts of outlandish teachings; it is good that our souls should gain their strength from the grace of God" (Heb 13:8,9 NEB). Fixity of heart is a rare thing and probably always has been. It is easier to follow after the world in its futile pursuit of happiness, simply because we are like sheep and we go astray. To stay quietly by the Shepherd seems harder, but in the end we find there (and nowhere else) our soul's real strength. Pascal wrote, "I have discovered that all the unhappiness of man arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber." Try spending a half hour in a room alone, without music, without television, without even reading. Can you find any peace or happiness there? If not, perhaps you have not begun to learn what is truly important." - e.e.

Lots of Questions...One Answer

Christ is the answer. Most definitely. Yes. But hmm...what was the question?

The question I suppose doesn't matter as much as the answer. All questions come under one of three headings, says Elisabeth Elliot.

1. Way: we need Guidance

2. Truth: we need a norm

3. Life: we need sustenance

I have seen in my own life, that I have a habitual record of over complicating things. I pray for guidance and as soon as I'm done praying, I make myself crazy trying to figure out how to solve whatever the situation may be. I do believe that a person needs to balance trusting in God's sovereignty, with their own responsibility, but I see how I often put more of the responsibility on myself. God doesn't hide his will from us. We just sometimes have a hard time learning to discern what he is saying. I know failing to sit quietly before the Lord and listening can be a big hindrance to me knowing God's will.

*I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. - psalm 32:8

*Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. - psalm 143:8
*Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. - isaiah 48:17
*That the Lord your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should. - jeremiah 42:3

I once heard it said that by using the letters in the word "listen", you can spell the word "silent". To be able to effectively listen to the Lord, we have to find a place of silence and also silence our hearts before God. Christ isn't just our answer for salvation, or for that sin we're struggling with. He is our answer to every single question in life, from the biggest to the smallest. When I look at life that way, a whole new aspect of joy, peace and understanding presents itself. Now I just need to apply what I know!

"Jesus said, "I am" all of these things (the way, truth and life). Let us bring everything that baffles us into his presence, holding it up before Him by faith. In that Light, the look of things will slowly begin to change, and as we humble ourselves to receive the true answer, our eyes will be opened. We learn to know Christ, then, as we walk in his way, obey his truth, and live his life. He Himself, a living, loving Person, is our answer." - elisabeth elliot

Who Are You To Judge?

Shame: the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself ...

This morning I felt that way. I realized I had been harboring judgments and even anger toward people I know nothing about. Not really anyway. What I do know is what I have heard. What I don't know, is their side of the story. Even if what I've heard is true to the very last grain, who am I to judge? By now you're probably wondering what and I am talking about. Well, I am speaking of AIG. I'm sure everyone has heard about the billions of dollars the government gave them to keep them afloat and then about the "bonuses" the employees were still receiving. AIG has quickly become the object of America's hatred. Here are some things you may not have heard or thought of. The following expert if from piece in the Washington Post.

"A solitary flat-screen television hangs on the back wall of the trading floor inside the headquarters of AIG Financial Products here. Wednesday afternoon, the most-talked-about employees in America huddled around it to find out just how despised they have become. They watched quietly as members of Congress referred to them as greedy and incompetent. They heard more than one demand that their names be released to the seething American public. They heard the chairman of American International Group, Edward M. Liddy, tell lawmakers that people, in e-mails sent to AIG-FP, suggested that the firm's leaders "should be executed with piano wire around their necks."

People are actually calling for employees of AIG to be killed! And not just shot, but killed with piano wire. Can you imagine being the target of death threats just for working at a financial company? Pasciucco told the team to remain professional and keep working hard to extricate Financial Products from its more than $1.6 trillion in outstanding derivative contracts....

"In reply, they told him that they worried mostly about getting shot, despite the guards now patrolling the parking lot, the front door and some of their homes. A sense of fear hung in the room -- the palpable, unsettling kind that flashes across people's eyes. But there was anger, too. No one would express it publicly, of course. Who wants to hear a wealthy financier complain? And yet, within those walls off Danbury Road lies a deep sense of betrayal -- first by their former colleagues, now by their elected leaders."

What people may not realize is that most of the people responsible for AIG's real problems are long gone. Those who remain to handle the mess, never even lost money for the company. The bonuses and payments some of the employees are just now getting were actually offered to them when the former president of the company was getting ready to leave early last year. AIG was becoming unstable and people were thinking of leaving. The president offered them the money since the year ahead looked grim and they needed all their employees to stay and keep working to fix the problems. From what they say, a lot of them never even saw any of that money.

"People are trying to do the right thing," the same Financial Products executive said. "Guys have worked their [tails] off to try to get value for the taxpayer. This isn't money that's being advanced to us. People have performed the work and done it exactly as we asked them to do." Pasciucco cringed at the notion, articulated by many lawmakers and even President Obama, that Financial Products is a firm of nearly 400 reckless and greedy derivatives traders. In actuality, he said, nearly all the troublesome sectors of the business -- namely, the risky credit derivatives written on mortgage-backed securities -- are now out of the equation, as are the people who worked on them."

Most of the people who received $100,000 or more in bonuses were asked by their bosses to return at least 50% of it. From what I understand a lot of them already have. I also, understand that a lot of the employees who were genuinely working hard to get AIG out of this mess will be leaving the company. Who can blame them. Relentless work, death threats and much more. The public continue to be livid with AIG. Suggestions to kill the employees as well as blow up the AIG headquarters is unending. AIG workers houses are being staked out and one man has already relocated his family after his address was leaked to the public.

So, my point? Whether these people have done ever despicable thing they've been accused of or are really trying to do the right thing at the risk of their lives, doesn't matter. They are sinners just like me. They make mistakes just like me. They are made in God's image just like me. Yes, certain decisions and actions have consequences, but surely we are not the ones to pass judgement upon them.

"Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?" - James 4:11-12

The Great Mystery Of God's Patience

"The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." - 2 Peter 3:9

Thoughts have been freshly sparked recently concerning the GREAT patience of God toward His creation. Imagine creating something and loving your creation beyond comprehension, and yet they curse you, deny you, rebel against you and act like they are sufficient in and of themselves. The world does that with God...I do that with God. Even though we are dependent on Him for our next breathe, we can choose to declare that He doesn't exist or to disobey Him. We live in the earth He created. Enjoy the sun, moon, ocean and mountains, which He created. Experience many joys and pleasures having been manifested by His hands, and yet, we often act as though all we have is a right and that we need no interference from the One who gave them to us. When I really, truly think about the minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years that God endures His creations self-sufficient attitude and sin, well, that is when I understand His love for me a little better. In spite of our failings, He draws our cold, proud hearts to Him and waits for us to recognize our need for Him and call Him Lord.

So, the next time I find myself grumbling against God for being slow to accomplish something in my life and give me something, I hope I take a moment to bow down and THANK Him for His attribute of "slowness". Without that slowness, which is really patience, He would have had every reason in the world to pour out His wrath upon me time and time again. I hope that as we ponder God's patience with us from day to day, our hearts will swell with greater love for our Heavenly Father! Elisabeth Elliot's words seal my thoughts exactly.

"I can, by the power mysteriously granted me by my Creator and Redeemer, declare myself master of my fate, captain of my soul, and say, "My will be done." That the Lord should expose Himself to this effrontery in a million forms, for millions of days and nights, is the mystery of love and grace. Still He draws us with cords of love, calls us to come, waits (amazing grace) for us to bow and say, "My Lord and my God!"

To Gaze Upon The Lord

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus." Hebrews 12:2

"The secret of peace and power - Do not be so often considering how much you love Jesus--but how much He loves you. Your love is but the effect; His is the cause. And the more you have to do with the cause, the more fully will the effect flow from it. Just so with faith. If you would have it grow, it must be by looking at Jesus--not by looking at your faith. The more you "consider Him," and are continually coming unto Him--the more lively and healthy will be the graces of the Spirit in your soul. And you will rejoice--not in your fruitfulness--but only in Him and in what He has done and suffered. If the Holy Spirit opens this to you, you will find the secret of peace and power. It is all in Christ! He says, "Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, and come away!" Away from self, away from all besides--to be absorbed in Him!"- Ruth Bryan

There is truth in the fact that fixing our gaze upon Jesus gives us strength to walk out our days, overcome sin and grow in holiness. It also helps maintain our peace when our focused is anchored upon Him. I know that I am prone to look at myself and either my progress or failures, instead of looking to Christ. It's so true that my love for the Savior is the effect, but His love is the cause of that effect! What a gift to be able to look to the Lord! To stand before Him justified and free of spot and blemish. I am praying that my eyes will look to the Lord more with each passing day.

"One thing have I asked of the Lord,that will I seek after:that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple." - Psalm 27:4

A Look Through The Window Of Desultory Exploits and Happenings

So, I have some random updates and thought I would share. Randomness is fun sometimes!

* I made my very first rubber band ball the other day. We were having a new server installed at work and were not able to use our computers all day. When I ran out of highly productive things to do, I turned to the mildly productive. Tons of rubber bands just laying there in the bottom of my drawer waiting to be made into a perfect sphere. I was quite proud of myself! It's a lot nicer to look at then a mound of messy bands, keeps things organized and well it's just plain terrifically diverting. So, anyway, enough about that.

* I went to my women's accountability last night. It seemed like it had been forever since we had met. What a refreshing and wonderful time! I love the ladies in my group and so appreciate their humility, wisdom and desire to grow in holiness and love for the Savior. We are currently going through a book called Face to Face that speaks about friendship and hospitality. We always joke about how we go off on "rabbit trails" in our discussions, but it ends up being such wonderful conversations and biblical fellowship. It's also a fun time due to the yummy food we always have and the babies we are able to hold, cuddle and play with. Four out of our eight ladies have recently had babies! God is so kind to bless us with women in our lives to encourage us and be a means of grace in spurring us on in our walk with God.

* Our women's blog for Grace Covenant Church, A Cup of Grace, has a new website! It's a .com address now and will be a little easier to access and work with. The new site is www.acupofgrace.com

* Also, going in tomorrow to have an mri done on my shoulder to try and determine what is going on. I would so appreciate your prayers for wisdom for the doctor's and for clear understanding concerning what is wrong and what needs to be done. And that I won't be a baby when they inject the dye! I've never even had blood drawn before, so I don't really know what to expect. =)

Well, that is the best I can do for now. I'm just trying to live one day at a time. Like a quote says...live for two days. Today and "that" day. "That" day when we shall see Him face to face! Let me leave you with a expert by Elisabeth Elliot. It was very encouraging...as always.

A Fine Thing
There is nothing fine in brooding on the pain itself and how sorely we have been put upon. The fine thing is for God so to occupy our thoughts that it is really nothing to us whether others treat us well or ill. Think on Christ: how was He treated? How do your sufferings compare with his? that will give a different perspective, I think. Let's not be surprised at our difficulties, even if--no, especially if--we encounter them when we are truly seeking to obey the Lord. There are two kingdoms in deadly opposition to each other. If we do anything to further the kingdom of God, we may expect to find what Christ found on that road--abuse, indifference, injustice, misunderstanding, trouble of some kind. Take it. Why not? To that you were called. In Latin America someone who feels sorry for himself is said to look like a donkey in a downpour. If we think of the glorious fact that we are on the same path with Jesus, we might see a rainbow.

Growing Worse?

I thought this quote from John Angell James was very helpful and encouraging in connection to my sin. I sometimes struggle with condemnation and feel as though I'm only getting worse instead of better. Mr. James points out that it is most likely you are just becoming more aware of your depravity, which is an evidence of God's work in your life. So, the next time I am overwhelmed with my sin and feel as though I am growing worse, I will try to thank God for the evidence of grace in being able to see my sin and for strength to overcome it.

"One of the last lessons we effectually learn, is that true godliness is a constant conflict in a believer's heart--between sin and holiness.

Some sincere believers mistake a clearer view, and deeper sense of their depravity, for an actual increase of sin. The Christian seems sometimes to himself, to be growing worse, when actually it is only that he sees more clearly what in fact he really is!

In the early stages of our Christian life, we have usually but a slender acquaintance with the evil of our sinfulness, and the depravity of our heart. The mind is so much taken up with pardon and eternal life, that it is but imperfectly acquainted with those depths of deceit and wickedness, which lie hidden in itself.

At first we seem to feel as if the serpent were killed. But we soon find that he was only asleep--for by the warmth of some fiery temptation, he is revived and hisses at us again!

Nothing astonishes an inexperienced believer more than the discoveries he is continually making of the evils of his heart. Corruptions which he never dreamt to be in him, are brought out by some new circumstances.

It is like turning up the soil, which brings out worms and insects, which did not appear upon the surface.

Or to vary the illustration, his increasing knowledge of God's holy nature, of the perfect law, and the example of Christ--is like opening the shutters, and letting light into a dark room, the filth of which, the inhabitant did not see until the sunbeams disclosed it to him."

LOOK UP!

by Octavius Winslow

"My voice shall You hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto You, and will look up." Psalm 5:3

"The first thing I do when I awake in the morning," remarks an aged saint of God, "is to ask the Holy Spirit to take possession of my mind, my imagination, my heart, directing, sanctifying, and controlling my every thought, feeling, and word."

What profound spiritual wisdom is there in this

conception! "In the morning will I direct my prayer

unto You, and will look up."

Look up!

Ah! here is the true and befitting attitude of

the spiritual soul.

Looking up for the day's supply....

of grace to restrain,

of power to keep,

of wisdom to guide,

of patience to suffer,

of meekness to endure,

of strength to bear,

of faith to overcome,

of love to obey,

and of hope to cheer.

Jesus stands at the Treasury of Infinite grace, ready

to meet every application, and to supply every need.

His fullness is for a poor, needy, asking people.

He loves for us to bring the empty vessel.

Dear reader, let your first thought be of God, and your

first incense be to Jesus, and your first prayer be to the

Holy Spirit, and thus anointed with fresh oil, you will

glide serenely and safely through the day, beginning,

continuing, and ending it with God!

Let us not sleep, as do others. - 1 Thessalonians 5:6

"Christians who isolate themselves and walk alone, are very liable to grow drowsy. Hold Christian company, and you will be kept wakeful by it, and refreshed and encouraged to make quicker progress in the road to heaven. But as you thus take sweet counsel with others in the ways of God, take care that the theme of your converse is the Lord Jesus. Let the eye of faith be constantly looking unto him; let your heart be full of him; let your lips speak of his worth. Friend, live near to the cross, and thou wilt not sleep. Labour to impress thyself with a deep sense of the value of the place to which thou art going. If thou rememberest that thou art going to heaven, thou wilt not sleep on the road." - charles hadden spurgeon

*******

Christian and Hopeful, as they journeyed towards the Celestial City, said to themselves, "To prevent drowsiness in this place, let us fall into good discourse." Christian enquired, "Brother, where shall we begin?" And Hopeful answered, "Where God began with us." Then Christian sang this song--

When saints do sleepy grow, let them come hither,

And hear how these two pilgrims talk together;

Yea, let them learn of them, in any wise,

Thus to keep open their drowsy slumb'ring eyes.

Saints' fellowship, if it be managed well,

Keeps them awake, and that in spite of hell.

First Aid Kit = Strength & Life

Have you ever played a video game where your character's life was drained dangerously low and the only hope you had to make it to the end of the level was to pick up a first aid kit or whatever source of strength or life giving power that was available? Your life bar fills back up and you are suddenly renewed and refreshed to fight on through the excitement and struggles of the game. - I know it's a silly example, but God brought it to my mind none the less, concerning the day by day experiences we walk through. It made me ask myself how often I go to God for "life giving strength"? Do I try to make it through my day on my own? Do I fall into bed at night exhausted and heavily burdened? Yes, I do sometimes. But that isn't how it's meant to be. God has granted us access to "first aid kits" throughout our day. He hasn't put a lock on the door where they are stored or given us a limit of one per day. He will give us as many as we need. Only pride and self-sufficiency would force a player onward without "first aid" to try to make it to the end of a level on their own. O, how often I do the very same thing without even realizing it! Just like the creator of the game you play knows what's in store at each level of the game and has strategically placed strength aids at points along the way, so does our Heavenly Father. He is sovereign over every moment and circumstance of our lives. He knows when we'll succeed and when we'll fail. He knows when we'll be strong and when we'll need help. He is more than willing to give us all the help, strength, comfort and support we need, all we have to do is claim it! God created our lives and set forth the steps we should take. He is faithful to provide us with all the help we need to accomplish what He has called us to.

God's Help for God's Assignment - Elisabeth Elliot
Sometimes a task we have begun takes on seemingly crushing size, and we wonder what ever gave us the notion that we could accomplish it. There is no way out, no way around it, and yet we cannot contemplate actually carrying it through. The rearing of children or the writing of a book are illustrations that come to mind. Let us recall that the task is a divinely appointed one, and divine aid is therefore to be expected. Expect it! Ask for it, wait for it, believe that God gives it. Offer to Him the job itself, along with your fears and misgivings about it. He will not fail or be discouraged. Let his courage encourage you. The day will come when the task will be finished. Trust Him for it.