Controversy

Election time--so much drama!

Some people are saying Paul Ryan should be forced off the ticket because he called rape "a method of contraception." I think it's ludicrous to imagine he considers rape a legitimate method of conception. Common sense would tell us, I think, that he did not choose his words carefully. Isn't it possible he was simply saying that rape is one way that conception can occur? Regardless of how the conception took place, some of us are convinced (obvious to me) the result is an unborn child. And as heinous as the crime of rape is, taking the life of an unborn child is also a crime.

There is much talk about abortion being appropriate when the pregnancy is a result of rape, but what about the countless unborn children that are conceived in love, but then killed in the name of convenience?

I am grateful to live in a country where we are free to express our views, but today there is little tolerance for conservative views--if I believe God created the world and us, I am an uneducated idiot; if I believe that marriage is a sacred union between a man and a women instituted by God, I am a homophobic; and if I believe killing an unborn human being is wrong, I am intolerant and a woman-hater.

So how do people decide what is right and wrong? Where and how do we, as individuals and society, "draw the line" that is constantly moving? Does absolute truth exist? Is there an absolute moral standard? If not, how do we decide what is right and wrong? What Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984) said many years ago is even more true today:

In passing, we should note this curious mark of our own age: the only absolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute.

 So how do we know when we have gone too far? I am reminded of reading (two separate articles) in which prominent people seriously presented the idea of legalizing infanticide. Their reasoning is that if we allow a viable unborn infant to be destroyed in the womb, why should we not allow that choice to extend to after the infant is born. Perhaps a time period during which the mother or parents can choose to withhold care from the infant so that he or she does not survive.

Schaeffer, in his book Whatever Happened to the Human Race, a Christian response to abortion, euthanasia, and infanticide, makes a good case for the slippery slope we are on:

With nothing higher than human opinion upon which to base judgments and with ethics equaling no ethics, the justification for seeing crime and cruelty as disturbing is destroyed. The very word crime and even the word cruelty lose meaning. There is no final reason on which to forbid anything -- "If nothing is forbidden, then anything is possible."
(Francis A. Schaeffer and C. Everette Koop, Whatever Happened to the Human Race?, Ch. 1)

As a society, we do not want to believe in an absolute moral standard, because that belief leads us to acknowledge the existence of something transcendent, beyond ourselves--God. Schaeffer links the dignity of human life with the existence of God:

But the dignity of human life is unbreakably linked to the existence of the personal-infinite God. It is because there is a personal-infinite God who has made men and women in His own image that they have a unique dignity of life as human beings. Human life then is filled with dignity, and the state and humanistically oriented law have no right and no authority to take human life arbitrarily in the way it is being taken. (from Schaeffer's A Christian Manifesto)

I am keenly aware these days of how difficult confrontation is, especially when I am on the "wrong" side of our changing cultural norms. It is helpful and reassuring to go back to the writings of Christians like Schaeffer, who was not afraid of confrontation, of speaking the truth. Thinking about his words today..written so many years ago, but more relevant than ever before...

Truth always carries with it confrontation. Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation nevertheless. If our reflex action is always accommodation regardless of the centrality of the truth involved, there is something wrong. (Francis Schaeffer)

A New Thing

As so often happens, God is emphasizing something He wants me to learn. I have been struggling lately, spiritually and emotionally, feeling discouraged. But God is here and He is not silent.

In response to my discouragement, God has sent people to encourage me recently and I want to remember His goodness, so I am recording it here.

My recent discouragement mainly stems from differences of opinion among my family members about how to best care for my mother, whose health is failing while she lives at Bethany nursing home in Fargo. The differences of opinion have caused conflict, anxiety, anger, hurt. My five sisters and my brother have typically been close and supportive of one another, so the situation has been difficult. I am the oldest of the seven, having a controlling spirit (a.k.a. "bossy") and an early history of rebellion, going against the grain, being the "black sheep" of the family.

Lately, I have been questioning my perspectives on the situation, trying to step back and examine my motives for my opinions (as well as my motives for expressing them the way I have) and the overwhelming emotions that I am experiencing. The anger is the most surprising: uninvited, unwanted, unexpected, and impossible to deny. I put away much anger so long ago, and it is strange to experience such strong, negative feelings at this time in my life. Maybe that's why I am having a difficult time dealing with it now.

On the way to work one day not so long ago, I was listening to the radio and heard something that made it clear to me that something I had perceived as right and good was actually not a good thing (at least there was strong evidence showing it was ungodly). (This was something in the world, not something within the personal sphere of my life.) The realization hit me like a ton of bricks (a tired, old expression, but it describes my experience). I was overwhelmed with a sense of shock, surprise--surprise that I could have been so wrong, that my perception was so skewed. It was almost like God audibly said to me, "Look how you so passively accept your human perceptions of what you see and hear and experience in your small world, how your opinions are so easily and quickly formed, how you embrace them--and even share them with others--without questioning them." (Reminds me of Job and how greatly his perspective changed after God spoke to him.)

I arrived at work early that day and had about an hour before my co-worker (we share an office) would arrive. A Christian friend I had not seen for months knocked tentatively at my door. She stopped in to talk with me about something. I could not help but share with her what I had just experienced. She prayed with me while I cried. As she prayed, she shared some spiritual wisdom that undoubtedly was for me, from God at that moment. What has stayed with me most is Isaiah 43, especially this part:
¹⁸ “Remember not the former things,
    nor consider the things of old.
¹⁹ Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
     I will make a way in the wilderness
        and rivers in the desert.

It's difficult to perceive it..lately on my life journey, I have been tripping, stumbling, often falling over my pride, my insecurities, my foolish behavior. But today I choose to believe God is with me, ever near, and that He is doing a new thing in me. I will continue walking, even though I often feel like giving up. 


Praise God for not giving up on me!

Woke up with a song this morning--would not leave me..."Standing on the Promises."  Here are the lyrics--

STANDING ON THE PROMISES

Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Through eternal ages let His praises ring,
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I'm standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises I now can see
Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me;
Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to Him eternally by love's strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
Listening every moment to the Spirit's call
Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God.

 

I have been struggling with some things lately--this is a good word for me this morning, and I thank God. (He knows what I need.)

Jesus is All

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

         Isaac Watts, pub. 1707 (public domain)

______________________________

This is one of my very favorite hymns; it is so beautiful and rich and deep. I love the lyrics, and (especially) the third stanza creates such an image of contrast. "Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown?" Not only love and sorrow met on the cross that day in space and time, but so much more was epitomized by the cross--glorious hope (for believers) and despairing hopelessness (for unbelievers); truth and deception; good and evil; life and death.

Surveying the cross: While in the physical realm, our earthly eyes perceive strong men taking the life of a young man, stripping him of power, subjecting him to horrific suffering, in the spirit--in reality--we see Jesus, fully God and fully man, giving himself a once-for-all sacrifice, a ransom for sinful humankind. Everything that happened to Jesus had a spiritual context, so while we read about his physical life in the gospels, we see how he strives to make us understand and see the corresponding spiritual life and world. 

Perhaps one of the reasons people have a difficult time sometimes receiving Christ and embracing the Christian faith is because of the seeming contradictions in the scriptures (slavery and liberty, the law and grace, justice and mercy, conquerors and slaves, God's sovereignty and human will etc.). Ravi Zacharias says we need to think about those seeming contradictions in terms of contrarieties that are actually complementary.A dictionary definition of complementary is "completing" or "combining in such a way as to enhance or emphasize each other's qualities."

Is it really so strange that Christ, in the flesh and in the spirit, would embody and manifest all aspects of being (except sin, since He could not sin)? In Revelation, Jesus asserts three times He is the Alpha and the Omega:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God,
“who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” 
                                                               Revelation 1:8

He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water
without cost from the spring of the water of life.  
                                                                Revelation 21:6

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,
the Beginning and the End. 
                                                                 Revelation 22:13

Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet (like A and Z for us). Not only is Jesus saying He is the beginning and the end, but also, since the alphabet represents all of meaning--language is how we think, reason, communicate--Jesus is saying He is, embodies all meaning. Jesus is all.

Ravi Zacharias has quoted this passage from a sermon by James S. Stewart, who was ranked as one of the best preachers of the 20th Century. I found the entire sermon posted here: http://www.todayandthatday.com/2008/08/james-s-stewart-behold-man.html     (worth reading). Stewart beautifully describes the mysterious personality of Jesus.

When I speak of the mystery of a personality, I am thinking of the startling coalescence of contrarieties that you find in Jesus. He was the meekest and lowliest of all the sons of men: yet He said that He would come on the clouds of heaven in the glory of God. He was so austere that evil spirits and demons cried out in terror at His coming: yet He was so genial and winsome and approachable that the children loved to play with Him, and the little ones nestled in His arms; and His company in the innocent gaiety of a village wedding was like the sunshine. No one was ever half so kind or compassionate to sinners: yet no one ever spoke such red-hot, scorching words about sin. He would not break the bruised reed, and His whole life was love: yet on one occasion He demanded of the Pharisees how they expected to escape the damnation of hell. He was a dreamer of dreams and a seer of visions: yet for sheer stark naked realism He has all our self-styled “realists” beaten. He was the servant of all, washing the disciples’ feet : yet masterfully He strode into the Temple, and the hucksters and traders fell over one another in their mad rush to get away from the fire they saw blazing in His eyes. He saved others: yet at the last, Himself He would not save. There is nothing in history like the union of contrasts that confronts you in the Gospels. The mystery of Jesus is the mystery of a personality.  (from his book of sermons entitled The Strong Man)

When we embrace Christ, we embrace and acknowledge the mystery of Christ. We embrace truth and hope and life and a worldview that infiltrates everything we are and do. And we do so while knowing we cannot explain or understand everything.

"My richest gain I count but loss"  When we view the cross with spiritual eyes (a God-given gift), everything in this life pales ("the things of earth grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace"). The phrase "a God-given gift" does not really belong in parentheses; no one can be convinced by mere words or emotions that Jesus is Lord. And even though the scriptures are reasonable, reason alone cannot lead us to the truth of Christ. Only God can open our eyes to see Jesus. It strikes me that the Bible--God's Word--is like a mystery--so much revealed, but so much hidden. There are secrets that belong to the Lord:

Deuteronomy 29:29 . . .

The secret things belong to the Lord our God,
       but the things revealed
   belong to us and to our children forever,
        that we may follow all the words of this law."

 The day will come when "the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9). In I Corinthians 13:12, Paul looks forward to that day:

  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror;
     then we shall see face to face.
Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, 
   even as I am fully known.

Praise God that He does reveal so much of Himself:

Through His Word:

from Psalm 19 . . .

The law of the Lord is perfect,
    refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
    making wise the simple.
⁸ The precepts of the Lord are right,
    giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
    giving light to the eyes.
⁹ The fear of the Lord is pure,
    enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
    and all of them are righteous.
¹⁰ They are more precious than gold than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,than honey from the honeycomb.

from Isaiah 55 . . .

As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Through His Creation:

           from Romans 1 . . .

¹⁹ . . . since what may be known about God is plain to them, 
           because God has made it plain to them.
²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—
          his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, 
      being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 
                                                                                                            (Romans 1)

And this beautiful passage from Psalm 19 . . .

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
² Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
³ They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
⁴ Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.

And most of all, God reveals Himself through His Son Jesus, the Word, who "became flesh and made his dwelling among us. . . . who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . . No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known" (from John 1).

Jesus said, "If you have seen me you have seen the Father." (John 14:9)

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." (Luke 21:33)

________________________
Praise God!

God's House

So busy today, but I want to record this experience, so I don't forget. It is always such a blessing to look back on times God has touched my life.

When I awoke one morning this past week, immediately troubles came to my mind, in particular trials that some members of my family are experiencing. I feel so much sometimes, so burdened and heavy in my spirit when I think of my loved ones suffering or facing difficulties that sometimes seem insurmountable.

Over the years, I have wondered if feeling so much (heightened emotions) is a gift or a curse. Recently, an NDSU professor led a Bible study over a noon hour (NDSU faculty/staff Christian fellowship). His study was on faith and feelings, and he admitted to not being in touch with his feelings; in fact, he said he did not experience emotions much at all. When he shared some of the undesirable results of such a condition, I responded by saying it's not always so great being at the other end of the spectrum, either.

But I digress...

As I lay in bed thinking of those troubles, along with those thoughts came not only the usual sadness,  heaviness, but also a cry in my heart--God, help me pray today--how can I pray for these loved ones and circumstances when I feel so hopeless at times, so sad and even discouraged, helpless?

God, who is faithful always, answered my cry through His powerful, living and active Word.

I picked up my Bible and opened it to 2 Chronicles 20, and I began reading. Verses 6-12 is a prayer of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, when he received reports that his enemies--the Moabites, Ammonites, and Menunites were coming to make war with him. "A vast army is coming against you. It is already [near]." Jehoshaphat was alarmed, but instead of seeking wisdom and advice from his advisors, he "resolved to inquire of the Lord." In fact, he proclaimed a fast for all Judah, and all the people of Judah "came together to seek help from the Lord."

I am impressed by how Jehoshaphat humbled himself before the Lord and before his people. He did not command the priests to pray to the Lord, but he "stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD . . . and said:

O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven?
        You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations.
     In your hand are power and might,
   so that none is able to withstand you.
     ⁷ Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land
   before your people Israel, and give it forever
          to the descendants of Abraham your friend?
   ⁸ And they have lived in it and have built for you in it
           a sanctuary for your name, saying,
   ⁹‘If disaster comes upon us,
           the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine,
     we will stand before this house and before you—
          for your name is in this house—
        and cry out to you in our affliction,
             and you will hear and save.’
  ¹⁰ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir,
         whom you would not let Israel invade
              when they came from the land of Egypt,
            and whom they avoided and did not destroy—
   ¹¹ behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession,
                 which you have given us to inherit.
     ¹² O our God, will you not execute judgment on them?
             For we are powerless against this great horde
            that is coming against us.
          We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.

 What a powerful prayer--and how relevant for me today, so many generations later. I used this prayer as a foundation for my own prayer that morning. And as I meditated, the prayer fell naturally in line with so many things I have been studying and reading this year.

--Recently, we studied in Ephesians about putting on the armor of God and understanding that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12)  I could not help but think of the "great horde that is coming against us" in terms of the spiritual forces that are behind the struggles we experience in our lives. But even though we are powerless against that "great horde," our God is not. He is powerful and mighty, and none is able to withstand Him.

--Another thing that struck me was the reference to God's house, which in Jehoshaphat's prayer, referred to the Tabernacle, a physical man-made structure that was the dwelling place of God. Today, God's Spirit lives not in a temple, but inside me, and I can enter in to His presence freely because of Jesus. I Corinthians 6:19:

¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body
        is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,
    whom you have from God? 

 Hebrews 3:5-6:

⁵ Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant,
       to testify to the things that were to be spoken later,
⁶ but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son.
      And we are his house if indeed we hold fast
          our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

We have been studying Hebrews, and there is much scripture there that connects the Old Testament (law, blood sacrifice for atonement of sins) to the New Testament (grace, Blood of Jesus once for all), Old Covenant to the New Covenant, the earthly tabernacle and the "real" heavenly tabernacle. Hebrews Chapter 9 is powerful teaching about the Blood of Christ and how it relates to the tabernacle and the priestly order. The Old Covenant, the sacrificial system for atonement of sins, the physical tabernacle (first a tent and later the temple in Jerusalem): all of it copies and shadows of what is to come.

Hebrews 8 calls Jesus "the High Priest of a New Covenant."

¹ . . . We do have such a high priest,
     who sat down at the right hand
   of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,
² and who serves in the sanctuary,
   the true tabernacle set up by the Lord,
     not by a mere human being. 

 High priests in Old Testament times served "at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven" (vs. 5).

Hebrews 9:24: "For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was a only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence."

We tend to think of things on this earth as "real"; but God's Word confirms that it is the spiritual counterparts of earthly things that are truly real and the earthly things that are reflections or copies of spiritual reality.

We so often take God's Word for granted, but today I feel immensely blessed to be able to know and learn through scripture how Jesus' birth, life, and death on the cross ushered in the New Covenant and what that means for me.  

¹³ In speaking of a new covenant,
       he makes the first one obsolete. . . .
                                          (Hebrews 8)

And from Hebrews 9:

 ¹⁵ For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant,
that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—
    now that he has died as a ransom
   to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.                                         

²⁴ . . . but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.
²⁵ Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him,
           because he always lives to intercede for them. 

Praise God!

Level Paths

Hey, Blog, I'm back...

I want to start writing in my blog again. During the past months, I have found it difficult both to write and to take time to write. I am so easily distracted from writing or meditating when I become caught up in daily activities of work, relationships, my physical health, my home, time for family. However, I think the benefits I receive from writing make it a worthy pursuit--so I am determined, with God's help, to make it a part of my life.

Time constraints are always with me. Now, more than ever before, I am keenly aware of the finite, temporal nature of our lives and of our fragile, vulnerable physical bodies. How little time we have on this earth. (The other day I was thinking about how great it will be in heaven to not have to think about time anymore!)

To start writing again now seems a little unreasonable, since my life will only get busier.

--I have been working at NDSU 32 hours/week for the past year. Starting tomorrow (Monday, April 16), I return to 40 hours/week.

--And I am committed to the Livestrong program, which I started a few weeks ago. Livestrong is a wellness program for cancer survivors, funded with grants from Lance Armstrong and implemented through the YMCA. For three months, I go to the Y twice a week and meet with a small group of other cancer survivors and three trainers. The program involves exercise, but also covers other wellness topics like relaxation. One thing that makes it even more worthwhile is that I am able to have a support person attend with me. Kayla agreed to go with me, and I appreciate her support and companionship. It's not always easy to get there at 5:30 on Tuesday and Thursday, but I have only missed one so far. I am amazed at how much better I feel when I exercise, and it's a terrific stress reliever.

--My BSF Bible study is every Monday night through the middle of May. I have not put very much time into my study this year, but in spite of my sometimes lackadaisical commitment, the Lord has blessed me much through this year's study.

So many things I want to do besides these commitments--visit my mom at the nursing home, spend time with family (my grown-up children are terrific and grandkids can cure most anything), spend time with my (fantastic) husband.

For a little while, earlier this spring, I was thinking about becoming involved in some kind of outreach ministry. (Maybe, for now, it's enough just to think about it.)

I always say I don't have time for extra things, but since the beginning of this year, I have been convicted about how I spend my time, especially in terms of what I do--or do not do--for Christ. I have never been much for setting new year's resolutions, but maybe my focus on time early this year related to the new year. It was not only a new year, but also it had been almost a year since I received the news about having cancer (Feb. 10, 2011). For Ken and I, this past year has been a roller coaster of ups and downs, between the cancer treatment and recovering from treatment, Ken's mom and my mom each entering a nursing home with serious physical conditions.

I suppose with the start of a new year, it's natural to take stock of where we are at in our lives--and I suppose that is, essentially, what I am doing. Not only thinking about where I am at, but also where I am going...the path I am on. I have been so impressed lately by fact that we never stay in one place--we are always changing, growing, always moving towards God or away from him. It's what living is all about. God's Word confirms it.

It seems lately every time I open the Bible, I come across some reference to paths. Since the Lord is our guide and we are to seek his direction, it is not surprising that "paths" would be a common reference in his Word. My verse for 2010 was from Jeremiah 6:16:

Stand at the crossroads and look;
      ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and
     walk in it, and you will
    find rest for your souls.

Implies action on our part--stand, ask, walk--and a promise--we will find rest.

Last year, on my cancer journey, Isaiah 42:16 was so precious to me:

And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know,
   in paths that they have not known I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
     the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.

There were times last year when we felt as if we were blind, walking on an unfamiliar path. God was faithful, however, and now it seems there were more times of trust and not only knowing, but sensing God was guiding us (no doubt thanks to so many prayers from friends and family and others).

Here's a verse that resonates with me this year, again referring to paths:

From Hebrews 12:

¹² Therefore lift your drooping hands
and strengthen your weak knees,  
¹³  and make straight paths for your feet, 
so that what is lame may not be put out of joint
  but rather be healed.

As part of the Bible study I am in, we listen to a lecture each week on what we have been studying. One week, our teacher asked us some hard questions--
  Are we in tune with God's voice? How are we impacting the world? And how do we respond to change (in terms of God leading us in different directions? 

Good questions. We are studying the life and ministry of Paul and about the early church as a whole and the individual churches he planted. One morning, reading in I Thessalonians, I was impacted by verses 4-5, where Paul says, " . . . we know . . . that he [God] has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.” It made me see something I already know, but in a fresh way. I know this word is true from personal experience--there is no question in my mind that God chose me, because words alone did not--and could not have--changed me. I know it was the power of the Holy Spirit 32 years ago that revealed to me my need for Jesus Christ, and my desire to continue and to grow in Him is also by his power.

I want so much to influence those around me for God--sometimes, I think I get too caught up in thinking about what I should say to them or what I should do. I do well to remind myself that there is nothing I can do under my own power that can win others to Christ. It is only with the power of the Holy Spirit that I must endeavor to become involved in God’s work.

God is faithful; he will not lead me somewhere and leave me. I believe he creates desires in us, and He is faithful to fulfill those desires as we are obedient to his leading.

May He help me make level paths for my feet...