Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.
My inspiration was last night's devotional reading from Charles Spurgeon's Morning & Evening.
Isn't God good to use a book written over 100 years ago to bring me to a scriptural sense of what God says to and about me? And--this is critical--Spugeon points out what I need to determine in my heart to do about it! Ponder the following:
It is exceedingly beneficial to our souls to mount above this present evil world to something nobler and better. The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches are apt to choke everything good within us, and we grow fretful, desponding, perhaps proud and carnal. It is well to cut down these thorns and briers, for heavenly seed sown among them is not likely to yield a harvest; and where shall we find a better sickle with which to cut them down than communion with God and the things of the kingdom?
He goes on to paint a picture of the residents of a deep valley gorge in Switzerland, who are sickly because of the stagnant misma that settles in the trapped, heavy air. If they would only climb up out of their marshes to the top of the mountain, they would join those hearty, healthy inhabitants who thrive on clean, fresh air. Be encouraged:
It is to such an exploit of climbing that I invite you to this evening. May the Spirit of God assist us to leave the mists of fear and the fevers of anxiety, and all the ills which gather in this valley of earth, and to ascend the mountains of anticipated joy and blessedness. May God the Holy Spirit cut the cords that keep us here below, and assist us to mount!
How I needed that word of encouragement after a day of crushing disappointments--99.9% disappointment with myself; any contributions from others was negligible. Of course, the devil happily and diligently blew up my actual shortcomings into gargantuan proportions and tried--but failed--to make me stop all constructive activity for the day. Get behind me, satan, in the Name of JESUS! Because even in a deep valley, I still believe and consummately trust my Savior!
So I took wise counsel to heart and am applying it. And most significantly of all, I carried on despite my emotions. God was more than able to help and heal me!
- God led me as I took some personal time in the afternoon to check out a senior care village for possible one-day respite care I might want to utilize for Steve. It took a mountain of paperwork, but if I need that option, I'll have it.
God provided for me upon my return home when I opened an envelope from "Anonymous,"
containing a $25 gift card to Sprouts, our local organic market.
God encouraged me in my business with positive interactions as I made quarterly phone calls.
Just about half an hour ago, I received 2 text messages from dear friends who are in serious trials: one a new mom suffering from anemia; another currently out of state for her father-in-law's funeral. When I burst into tears, completely broken, the Lord spoke to me saying, "I need you to write for me. Write encouragement for others." That is the purpose of this blog, but I have been neglectful of my calling lately, not faithful as I promised God I would be. And if only a few people read it, so be it--leading people to Today's Project is HIS part to play!
And whatever happened to the note-taking preparation for a book on our Christian family's response to Alzheimer's that I'd committed to working on weekly? Much time has stretched out between sit-downs, even though Steve is regularly spending 6 hours three times a week at Care Connexxus. Is this realization a condemnation? No.!It's Holy Spirit conviction of not keeping my word to my Lord. Jesus has made it abundantly clear: someone needs what God is telling me to write.
The enemy of our souls wants us to stay down in the "slough of despond; " the Holy Spirit calls, "friend, come up higher." Whom will we listen to?
As we ponder our Lord's passion on Good Friday 2012, remember this: to satan's delight, Jesus was crucified and laid in a tomb. But He didn't stay there, did He?
Jesus rose! And He is calling you and me to rise up also, to close, holy, and intimate communion with Him!
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