Prayer
Pray without ceasing - 1 Thessalonians 5:17
What is the first thing you do when you wake up? What is the last thing that you do as you go to bed? What occupies your thoughts, attention, and affections throughout each day? Is it communion with God? If not, why not?
Through the finished work of Christ on the cross we have access to, and the favor of, the only Being in the entire universe who has the wisdom we need for decisions, the strength we need for struggles, the love we need for relationships, the goodness we need for right living. When we pray, we enter into the presence of God and we commune with Him from our hearts.
The question, then, is not why Paul gives us such a difficult commandment-to pray without ceasing-but why we would not avail ourselves constantly of the single greatest opportunity that Christ's blood has now provided us. We should pray, not to appease some vague sense of guilt or obligation, but to enjoy the great pleasures, pursue the great holiness, and enter the great presence of the Lover of our souls.
Pray to Him today. Pray to Him tomorrow. Pray to Him when you're sad. Pray to Him when you're exhausted. Pray to Him when you're exuberant. Pray to Him when you feel empty and when you feel full. Pray to Him without ceasing.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Update
It's been a month of school so far and can I just tell you it has been a whirl wind! On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I have classes: Art methods from 10:00-11:05 then Reading Methods on Mondays, Language Arts Methods on Wednesdays and Children's Lit on Fridays from 11:20-3:00. Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays I am at an elementary school in a third grade classroom. So far I have taught two reading lessons! I'm doing it!!!!!! After I taught my first lesson I felt such a sense of accomplishment. Oh and I also have a night class on Tuesdays from 6:00-9:30. Where does my social life fit in? I don't know...can you find it for me?
School School school, Oh School. My life is full of it. And even though sometimes it is very stressful, it's good and I consider it a blessing. I consider this time very sacred. Our Father has given me this heart for children and I see it growing. I am not absolutely sure where I will go with it, but I am waiting on Him. I love seeing Him giving me love for others -- it's exciting.
Beyond that my life is messy -- did you know that it's okay to be messy? It's okay to be in process and accept the grace our Father lavishes on us (you and me) in the process. Learning to be messy and be in process is not easy. I believe it's really important. I put this link on my last entry for a song called "Now you're found" but I'd like to share the lyrics:
If you're lost in a heartache on your own, ohhh
And if you're caught in a mistake and all alone, oh
If your soul is searching out
And your whole world's turned around, ohhh
If your faith is burning out
And love leaves you in doubt
And you know there's something more
Come to me now, lay your burdens down
Come rest in my arms
Feel my love abound
Come to me now, lay your burdens down
Come rest in my arms
You were lost, now you're found
When you're feeling forgotten on your own
When your soul is searching out
And your whole world's turned around
If your faith is burning out
And love leaves you in doubt
And you know there's something more
Come to me now, lay your burdens down
Come rest in my arms
Feel my love abound
Come to me now, lay your burdens down
Come rest in my arms
You were lost, now you're found
Come as you are, just as you are
I'll give you peace
Come to me now, lay your burdens down
Come rest in my arms
Feel my love abound
Come to me now, lay your burdens down
Come rest in my arms
You were lost, but now you're found
Ohhh
Now you're found
Ohhh
Now you're found
Ohhh
Now you're found
Ohhh
And if you're caught in a mistake and all alone, oh
If your soul is searching out
And your whole world's turned around, ohhh
If your faith is burning out
And love leaves you in doubt
And you know there's something more
Come to me now, lay your burdens down
Come rest in my arms
Feel my love abound
Come to me now, lay your burdens down
Come rest in my arms
You were lost, now you're found
When you're feeling forgotten on your own
When your soul is searching out
And your whole world's turned around
If your faith is burning out
And love leaves you in doubt
And you know there's something more
Come to me now, lay your burdens down
Come rest in my arms
Feel my love abound
Come to me now, lay your burdens down
Come rest in my arms
You were lost, now you're found
Come as you are, just as you are
I'll give you peace
Come to me now, lay your burdens down
Come rest in my arms
Feel my love abound
Come to me now, lay your burdens down
Come rest in my arms
You were lost, but now you're found
Ohhh
Now you're found
Ohhh
Now you're found
Ohhh
Now you're found
Ohhh
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Come to me
Found this in a devotion
And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! - Luke 15:17
The story of the Prodigal Son describes us all, as children of God. We are all unfaithful children of our benevolent heavenly Father. We all have squandered the abundant inheritance He so graciously has bequeathed to us. And we all-at one time or another-have known what it is to finally "come to ourselves".
Sin is insanity. It is an unreasoning, illogical, self-destructive way of life. It ignores the plain hand of our heavenly Father, full of every provision we need, and follows after the hallucination of worldly pleasures and fulfillment.
But when we finally come to ourselves, we realize that starving out in the pigpen is not what our Father planned for us. We are the King's children! No one in His house is hungry or wanting, and yet here we are in the mud pit of sin because we forsook the house of our Father. When we finally come to ourselves, we finally come back to Him. We forsake the miserable quest for self-gratification and begin to seek the abundant life that is found in God alone.
Have you come to yourself yet? Have you turned your feet back to your Father? If so, know that there is always a warm welcome for those who come to God by His Son Jesus Christ.
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