This blog is designed to create community for believers and provide support for seekers. I encourage all readers to share their faith in an effort to lift and encourage one another.
Photo credit: Emma Sturm
“Sometimes I go to God and say, “God, if Thou dost never answer another prayer while I live on this earth, I will still worship Thee as long as I live and in the ages to come for what Thou hast done already. God’s already put me so far in debt that if I were to live one million millenniums I couldn’t pay Him for what He’s done for me.”
― A.W. Tozer
Lord, you know I sometimes feel this way, but not often enough. Each day, may I freshly remember all you have done for me.
“The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time.”
— Francis Chan
Ow! This quote hurts, doesn’t it? To be totally honest, there are many times I’d rather be doing something fun, creative, or inspiring–before, or instead of, time with God. Even though I know I need Him, I often choose to walk my own path and live my own life.
Lord, keep me longing to be in your presence, to spend time knowing you and worshipping you.
When I first spent some time with this verse I was astounded. I had already recognized that I was created by God, but the rest of it seemed new. I was created TO DO GOOD WORKS? And God had already prepared for me to do these? Wow! What a concept.
Lord, make me aware of the good works that you have prepared for me to do. Make me willing to use my God-given gifts to finish these works.
Oh Lord, help me—my boat has sprung a leak!
The hole is very small, but the water trickles in.
My bucket scrapes the bottom, scoops the water it can get,
But still the water trickles in; my feet are getting wet!
Oh Lord, help me—my boat has sprung a leak!
The hole has gotten bigger and the water bubbles in.
I fill my bucket full and toss the water overboard.
But still the water bubbles in; my arms now grow like lead.
Oh Lord, help me—my boat has sprung a leak!
I’m bailing and I’m bailing, but the water gushes in.
It’s about to swamp my boat and my back is awfully sore.
Truly I don’t think that I can do this anymore.
Oh Lord, help me—my boat has sprung a leak!
I’m weary from the bailing, and I’m far too weak to swim.
The water churns around me and it takes away my breath.
How do I save myself from certain drowning death?
“Yes, child, I’ll help you—I know about the leak.
I‘ve listened to your prayers, and I know the plight you’re in.
Rest now from your labors; trust Me unconditionally.
You cannot save yourself; salvation comes from Me.”
Lord, thank you for your grace. You offer it freely, you save me from my sins.
Help me to freely offer grace to others.
“The people who influence us most are not those who buttonhole us and talk to us, but those who live their lives like the stars in heaven and the lilies in the field, perfectly simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mould.”
― Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
Feeling weary and worn? The Lord promises rest. He will take your burdens and give you rest, rest for your soul.
“We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts”
― A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God
“So that….” Sometimes I forget about the second half of this verse. Yes, He comforts us in all our troubles, but then there is the “so that.” That’s the catch. Because we receive His comfort, we should also comfort others. And it doesn’t read like a suggestion. It reads more like a command. Because He comforts us, we are to comfort others.
All is still. Cars scurry by on nearby 13th street, rushing off to their various destinations. Sitting here at the park I hear the distant laughter of children playing A basketball bounces off the cement court; the clang as it hits the backboard echoes across the grass to where I walk A Cessna drones, far overhead. An occasional jogger puffs by, the slap of his running shoes spanking the pavement.
Activity surrounds me, but my world stands still, as if I’m dreaming or sleepwalking. I observe everyone else’s activities, yet I sit, only my writing hand and pen moving across the page. The stillness provides blessed relief.
I sit on a large, cold, gray rock six feet above a man-made pond; more rocks rim this small pond’s perimeter. The lowest twelve inches of the rocks surrounding the pond are blackened, evidence that the water has receded. The remaining water, brown and stagnant, is filled with yellow-green algae. Its surface is littered with yellow and brown leaves. Small branches broken from the tree overreaching this pond lie lifelessly on its murky surface. Human trash adds to the dismal scene: a red cup, a white plastic fork, a Styrofoam plate, and a half-submerged Coke can.
Lord, today my body and soul feel dried up and wasted like this little pond. I come here for a time of rest, reflection, and renewal. I seek rest. Wanting Your strength to re-invigorate my body, I seek peace and quiet to allow Your peace to wash over my mind. I seek Your spirit here in Your beautiful creation, so that Your living water will fill my soul, allowing it to bubble over. Make me a sparkling spiritual pond, not stagnant, not filled with trash, but alive with living water, so clean and beautiful that anyone who thirsts for Your living spirit will drink her fill.
John 4:13-14 “Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”
Thank You, Lord, for the promise of living water to quench our spiritual thirst.
Growing Our Faith Together 