With a study group I am currently re-reading When the Heart Waits by Sue Monk Kidd. She wrote in Chapter 2:
Waiting is the in-between time. It calls us to be in THIS moment, THIS season, without leaning so far into the future that we tear our roots from the present. When we learn to wait, we experience where we are as what is truly substantial and precious in life. We discover, as T. S. Eliot wrote, “a lifetime burning in every moment.”
The quote took me back to the Imagine Museum and my fascination with a piece of art called “The Precipice.”
The lighting is not always conducive to a good photo, but hopefully you get the idea. Sue Monk Kidd cautions us not to ‘lean so far into the future that we tear our roots from the present.’ Are you able to stay in the present moment in this way?
About the same time I copied this prayer from some source.
I pray now with the sixteenth century Spanish contemplative, Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582)*:
Lord, grant that I may always allow myself to be guided by You, always follow Your plans, and perfectly accomplish Your Holy Will… Help me respond to the slightest prompting of Your Grace, so that I may be Your trustworthy instrument for Your honour. May Your Will be done in time and in eternity by me, in me, and through me.
Yes, Father, that is what I desire most of all! Please Lord, grant this I pray.
HELP ME RESPOND TO THE SLIGHTEST PROMPTING OF YOUR GRACE. Yes, and Amen.
I have been trying to compile a booklet of my writings to publish regarding prayer. I suddenly realized I did not have enough about intercession – praying for others. You are now my guinea pigs as I put these ideas out there first to you!
The dictionary says intercession is offering petitionary prayer to God on behalf of others. Also, acting as a mediator or standing in the gap before God on behalf of another. How often do you go to God on behalf of others? Is there an awkward feeling when someone asks you to pray for them?
Just like other forms of prayer, intercession takes some practice and should never actually feel comfortable. No one can assume to have the mind of Christ in its entirety. However, there are times when we glimpse the glory and power of our Savior. Intercessory prayer is asking for that intervention and movement of God in a given situation.
We ought never to forget that we have a Lord who is also our High Priest, and that this Priest is able to empathize with our weaknesses.*1 Knowing this High Priest, we can learn to come boldly to the throne of grace to find mercy and grace in time of need. Believing and practicing these verses can teach us to trust that we are heard when we pray and that the Lord cares about the needs of His people.
How to begin? Imagine someone brings a request to you. As an intercessor, you are required to listen closely when someone brings a request. Do not assume you know what they are asking for. After listening, start by clarifying what the person is asking for. It is perfectly fine to state something like “ I think I heard you say….” and then repeat back to the person their request.
Prayer does not change God’s mind, but it changes us. With every request there should be in us a yieldedness of being willing to accept that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.*2 The answer from on high might actually be different than what the person requests. We trust the highest and best God has to offer will come as we open ourselves to invite God into the situation. Stating as part of your prayer “Your Kingdom come; Your will be done” is always appropriate. This shows our willingness to come under the rule and reign of Christ.
One of the best teachers I ever heard on prayer demonstrated to his congregation how to put the method into practice. So here goes my attempt. Judy comes to you asking prayer for Aunt Lucy. Aunt Lucy is slipping mentally and has a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or Dementia. Judy tells you the family is upset and does not know what to do with her. Take a deep breath and slowly exhale. Wait upon God for direction. Listen for that still small voice perhaps giving you instruction, and then begin to pray, slowly and calmly.
“Father, we come into Your Presence with praise and thanksgiving that You are Who You are and You love us just as we are. We lift Aunt Lucy to You now. You know what the doctors have determined about her current state. We ask that You step into the situation and give Lucy and her family Your peace and comfort. Lucy must be frightened by all of this. Help her to cling to You and to trust You.
“Her family is bewildered by the changes that have come over her. Give them patience and wisdom as they deal with this current state of affairs. Guide and direct the decisions they must make on her behalf. You are the God of all comfort, and we come to You seeking Your highest and best in this situation of change and loss. Help each person adapt with Your grace and mercy to what is going on. Your kingdom come, Your will be done in these situations Lord. We look for You to manifest yourself in these various situations. And as You bring these things to pass, we will be careful to give you all of the glory. We ask all of this in the mighty Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Sit with the person for a moment and ask if there is anything else on their heart. Often your prayer will stir up something else they forgot to mention that is bothering them. If they share something take it right then to the Lord in prayer. Be certain to assure the person regarding confidentiality. We have a mandate on ourselves to lift others in prayer, but not to gossip about their needs.
I have had people mention that they could never be intercessors assuming they would just worry all the time about what happens to the person after they pray. We must learn that when someone brings a request that the request gets lifted to God and we are to leave it on the altar for the Trinity to deal with. We were never meant to carry the burdens of the world. Listen. Pray. Release. Move on.
If the Holy Spirit brings the situation to your remembrance, again then listen, pray, release. There have been a few times when the Lord wants me to pray and keep on praying. Believe me, if that situation occurs the Holy Spirit will not let me forget the instructions to continue! The Holy Spirit has been called the Hound of Heaven. The persistence of this Mighty One cannot be understated.
Intercession requires trust and faith. Trust that God is truly in charge, and we are not. We are called as intercessors to comfort the people of God. Hebrews 11:6 say, “And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” We have faith that God exists and God rewards those who seek Him. We do not dictate how God must answer but we hold as true the fact that God will answer .
Pray on!
*1 Hebrews 4:14-15 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
*2 Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
When I was a young spiritual seeker I eventually learned Jesus is the only thing going on forever.
I think this is an ideal Lenten season song. There are times during Lent when I just need to settle down with Christ. This song does that for me. Enjoy!
Recently an entry by Amy Carmichael in her book, Edges of His Ways, brought my attention to this word. It is not used much in today’s English. I was feeling worn out and weary by all the medical hoopla. I certainly need the Lord to quicken me as only God can.
The word quicken is used in the King James Version of the Bible, and it means “revive or make alive.” If something is living, it is “quick”; to “quicken” something is to bring it to life or restore it to a former flourishing condition. I seriously needed restoration and the promise in Psalm 51:12 “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.”
For many years I read 5 Psalms each morning. Because it is so bloomin’ long, I broke up Psalm 119 into 22 selections for days 1-22 of each month. Some Bibles show Hebrew letters at the beginning of each stanza. Those correspond to the Hebrew alphabet, (which I do not read).
It can be depicted this way.
Back to the main topic here! Quicken lead me to do a study of the passages in Psalm 119. Psalm 119 has so many references for this word.
Revive me, give me life, be gracious, enliven me. I imagine most of us if not all of us could use more of this from God. Perhaps the best way to present this to you is simply to list the passages with the references? That way you can read it for yourselves and apply them prayerfully to your life.
Psalm 119:25 KJV reads My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word. NIV reads My soul clings to the dust, revive me according to your word.
Psalm 119:107 KJV I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word. NRSVUE I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word.
Clinging to dust. Severely afflicted. Yep, just done worn out. God can handle this even when we cannot in our own strength.
Psalm 119: 40 KJV Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness. NRSVUE See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness be gracious to me.
As we long for His precepts {divine principles, guidelines, statutes, and instructions that God has set forth for righteous living} … as we long for these guidelines and instructions from God, God is gracious to us through righteousness. We long, God fulfills. Do you truly long for these?
This might sound all too simple, but this is the Word of God. There are promises here. We will be restored as we cling to the Word and walk in the ways God shows us to walk.
Psalm 119:50 KJV This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me. NRSVUE This is my comfort in my distress, that your promise gives me life.
If you have not chosen an activity for this Lenten season to draw you closer to the Father, perhaps studying these verses might do the trick?
Psalm 119:88 KJV Quicken me after thy loving kindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth NRSVUE In your steadfast love spare my life, so that I may keep the decrees of your mouth.
Psalm 119:93 I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me. NRSVUE I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.
Psalm 119:37 KJV Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way. NRSVUE Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; be gracious to me {give me life} according to your word.
Psalm 119: 149 KJV Hear my voice according unto thy loving kindness: O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgment. NRSVUE In your steadfast love hear my voice; O Lord, in your justice preserve my life.
Psalm: 159 KJV Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O Lord, according to thy loving kindness. NRSVUE Consider how I love your precepts: be gracious to me {give me life} according to your steadfast love.
Psalm 119:156 KJV Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord: quicken me according to thy judgments.NRSVUE Great is your mercy, O Lord; be gracious to me {give me life} according to your justice.
That might seem like a lot of digest. I hope you did not just blow through the verses. I think if you will ponder them you will find them a source for better understanding what the Psalmist knew about God and how you can draw closer for a better understanding for yourself.
Medication was making it tough to sleep. This phrase dropped into my mind. I was uncertain as to entire lyrics. You have to love this aspect of the internet. I entered the phrase and then I had entire song lyrics, author etc. Here is my story about Whittier and the song.
Dear Lord and Father of Mankind | John G. Whittier written 1872. I have a book of poetry by him that belonged to my grandfather. We had it recovered as it was starting to fall apart.
Dear Lord and Father of mankind, Forgive our foolish ways; Reclothe us in our rightful mind, In purer lives Thy service find, In deeper rev’rence, praise.
O Sabbath rest by Galilee, O calm of hills above, Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee The silence of eternity, Interpreted by love!
Drop Thy still dews of quietness, Till all our strivings cease; Take from our souls the strain and stress, And let our ordered lives confess The beauty of Thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire Thy coolness and Thy balm; Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire; Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire, O still, small Voice of calm.
In simple trust like theirs who heard Beside the Syrian sea The gracious calling of the Lord, Let us, like them, without a word, Rise up and follow Thee.
Pursuing the topic today I looked it up online. Wikipedia said:
“The text of the hymn is taken from a longer poem, “The Brewing of Soma“. The poem was first published in the April 1872 issue of The Atlantic Monthly. Soma was a sacred ritual drink in Vedic religion, going back to Proto-Indo-Iranian times (ca. 2000 BC), possibly with hallucinogenic properties.
“The storyline is of Vedic priests brewing and drinking Soma in an attempt to experience divinity. It describes the whole population getting drunk on Soma. It compares this to some Christians’ use of “music, incense, vigils drear, and trance, to bring the skies more near, or lift men up to heaven!” But all in vain – it is mere intoxication.
“Whittier ends by describing the true method for contact with the divine, as practised by Quakers: sober lives dedicated to doing God’s will, seeking silence and selflessness in order to hear the “still, small voice”, described in I Kings 19:11-13 as the authentic voice of God, rather than earthquake, wind or fire.
The poem opens with a quote from the Rigveda, attributed to Vasishtha:
These libations mixed with milk have been prepared for Indra: offer Soma to the drinker of Soma. (Rv. vii. 32, trans. Max Müller).
So I found the poem in my grandfather’s book. It has seventeen stanzas. Reading it reminded me of the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans and elsewhere where the celebrants go carnally nuts just before Lent begins. “Mardi Gras, which is also known as Fat Tuesday, is a day of indulgence that marks the end of Carnival.”
So the hymn writers took various stanzas from his poem and arranged them out of order. I want to add one that they seemed to have left out.
With that deep hush subduing all Our words and work that drown The tender whisper of thy call, As noiseless let thy blessing fall As fell thy manna down.
Yes, Lord help us to stop using too many words with You. To wait for the tender whisper of Your call, Your blessing as when Your fell manna. Feed us today with Your word of encouragement, challenge and joy. Yes, we are to once again return to stillness.
Oh crap. Remember those Post-its with so much adhesive? One took off some of the print in Grandfather’s old book of poetry, the poem entitled Disarmament. Foolish me used teh Post-it to count the stanzas and figure out what the hymn folks left out. I found the complete poem online and restored the words. But goodness! Was that necessary? Guess with this brain adjusting yet again to a higher dose of medication, I do stupid things.
There were a couple phrases that jumped out at me in our worship for the Second Sunday in Lent. During the Great Thanksgiving our priest read, “You brought forth all creatures of the earth and gave breath to humankind. Wondrous are you, Holy One of Blessing, all you create is a sign of hope for our journey. ” This language of liturgy is lofty, yet simple in truth.
Breath to humankind … we each have this breath. Do we give the Creator credit for gifting us with this life and breath? Do we recognize that every human being has been given this same holy breath? Are willing to give thanks for them, too?
Continuing with the Eucharist: “And so, remembering all that was done for us: the cross, the tomb, the resurrection and ascension, longing for Christ’s coming in glory, and presenting to you these gifts your earth has formed and human hands have made, we acclaim you, O Christ …
Dying, you destroyed our death. Rising you restored our life. Christ Jesus, come in glory!
How many times outside of a church building do we remember all that was done for us by Christ? If you make it your practice to review the things listed in this liturgy regarding all that was done for you, it is difficult not to be grateful and give praise to our Risen Lord. Perhaps copy that one sentence and make it your practice for the remaining days of this Lenten season?
Remembering all that was done for us: the cross, the tomb, the resurrection and ascension, longing for Christ’s coming in glory, and presenting to you these gifts your earth has formed and human hands have made, we acclaim you, O Christ!
This might just change your Lenten appreciation. Holding what has been done for us before our hearts and minds can be life giving and bring mighty levels of joy. And how about that Acclaim of faith? “Dying, you destroyed our death. Rising, you restored our life. Christ Jesus, come in glory!”
I think this rendition of the Risen Christ might be the most delightful I have ever seen? Have you ever pictured the event in your spirit? Do you ever just sit with your image and give thanks?
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 KJV
Looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 NRSVUE
May this Lent find you giving more attention to Jesus and His mighty work than to your own affairs. Even things done in the Name of Christ can detract from our focus on our Savior. Give Him your all and you will not be disappointed in the return on your investment. His finished work is not to be underestimated!
Before dawn today there was a four bird chorus raising praise to the Lord for His goodness and holiness. The northern Cardinal, Carolina wren, American robin and tufted Titmouse were raising a continuous singing of triumph and might. I know, because I asked the Merlin Bird app from Cornell University to identify them for me.
How have you lifted your voice today? What time did you begin? Did you lie in bed bemoaning the day or the rough night of pain?
Perhaps we would benefit more by taking a fresh look at the goodness of God to bring us through the night and unrolling before us another day of living and loving?
Amy Carmichael wrote in Edges of His Ways:
Psalm 19:10, R.V. margin: The droppings of the honeycomb. This morning I found this marginal reading which was just the word I wanted at the moment. There are times when we cannot read much or even think much. But if we are quiet we shall hear little sweet words dropping into our hearts, “sweeter also than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb.” I need not write them; they will be different perhaps to each one of us, but they will be comforting and strengthening too; and we shall go on our way for another day, fed and refreshed.
If we are willing to get still at the center point of our souls I believe we will hear “little sweet words dropping into our hearts.” Perhaps not every single time we get still, but the incidences will increase as we employ the practice.
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalms 46:10
T. S. Elliott said:
“At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless; Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is, But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity, Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards, Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point, There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.”
I pray you will get still enough to hear those little sweet words dropping into your heart.
Stillness is like coming to a center point and waiting. Not waiting on the starting block of a foot race.
Above is that point in the race where runners are poised for action. In contrast, the stillness we need more of in our lives is the stillness where we learn to wait in peace and collectedness. Listening for that still, small voice of God. The place where the promises below are fulfilled.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Psalm 32:8 NIV
And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21 NRSVUE
It takes practice to listen in this way. And practice leads to better listening during the hubbub of life. Can we agree unreservedly with Isaiah 50?
The Lord God has given me a trained tongue, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens, wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. 5 The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I did not turn backward. Isaiah 50:4-5 NRSVUE
I, for one, have a long way to go in yielding my ears to hear God and yielding my tongue to speak words of comfort and encouragement in due season! Listening, practicing stillness, will most assuredly get me to that goal more thoroughly than any other method I have ever found.
Holy and Mighty One help me to give myself over to this stillness and listening to Your voice, I pray.
The season in the church calendar called Lent is here! It does not have to be all prune-faced dislike. In an effort to draw closer to God, we can forsake (give up) something for this 40 days. I prefer to embrace something I have neglected. Confession of my sin can be one thing I tend to neglect.
Why should we have a time of self examination in the Christian church? This is one way to safeguard against delusion. A serious safeguard against just going through the motions of religion, “playing church.” Are we transparent in wanting to change our ways from self and flesh to God and the plan Christ laid out for His indwelling us? The powers of self examination and confession, forgiveness and redemption should not be underestimated.
The Book of Common Prayer has us confess “we have sinned against God in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.” We then go on to acknowledge that “we have not loved God with our whole heart; and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.” And I also add I have not loved myself as God would want me to do.
It is important to stop there and ponder in what ways are these statements true? It is far too easy to memorize a prayer and blow past the significance of how these sentiments apply to us personally.
Stop. Ponder. Confess. Pray for forgiveness. There is not a single one of us who does not need this. We all fall short of God’s highest and best for us.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Psalm 139:23 NRSVUE
God asks us to search and know our own hearts, test and know our thoughts along with Him. This is our work as well as His. We are so easily deceived. We fool ourselves more often than we might think we do!
Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. 2 Corinthians 13:5a NRSVUE
As realization dawns upon you, write down what you see as your shortcoming, and acknowledge that you are out of line with God’s ways. Then tell God you are sorry and ask for help in changing your ways.
God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us. Yes, Lord! Perhaps you will embrace self examination and confession this Lent. One of our priests says her dad who was a priest used to tell people , “Have a miserable Lent!” I, too, hope that yours would be miserably holy. As we seek to draw closer to God we see how far we fall short of His likeness. Let God help you move closer to that goal of living holiness this season.
Are you feeding upon the Word of God? Are you seeking and drinking in Living Water? Are you thriving in the dark mess the world has become?
Part 3 addresses the How to live imbibition. It takes about 7 minutes to read. Hope you enjoy it.
PART 3 You might say, “Well, Molly, that is all very nice. What am I to do to foster the growth of the Kingdom within me? You have no idea of the pressures upon me, I need a better job (or employment period). The strain of what bad thing will happen next is about to break me. I can’t get any rest. I am not a bean in a ship’s hold.”
First, in my experience, you must make reading the Word of God a major priority in your life. Not a “religious” priority, but mandatory for health, oxygen, well-being. This is the only way we are going to make it through the coming darkness with dignity and grace.
NASB Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. The Word of God has power. Power we might never understand fully this side of heaven.
As you yield yourself to the Lord God and yield to the power of His Word upon you, things will begin to change, inside you and about you. Not necessarily big dramatic changes, (though those might occur also), but remember the man scattered seed. He went to bed and he got up and the seed grew HE KNEW NOT HOW. Yield yourself to scattering seed upon your own soul. Make it a habit to allow the Kingdom of God room to have a place within you. And you begin with the seeds. You do not have to understand how it works. Just begin to do it. Ask for the Living Water to nourish the seeds you sow in your soul and mind.
Second, you must ask Jesus to give you the things He promises in New Testament Scripture. We live under the New Covenant, the new plan He brought and established by His birth, life among us, death, resurrection, and ascension. There are specific promises and blessings He promises to give us if we seek Him. He will give those to you and He tells us to ASK and keep on asking. You will grow in the things of the Kingdom. Do not ask me to explain to you how you will grow. I do not understand the how, but I do understand the promise and the results. He will give you living water to nourish the seed. You must be willing to consume, absorb, soak up that water.
More from The Living Earth book:“The power of imbibition is a common one in nature, and so is the reproduction of living cells. Combine them, as in a growing plant, and there is a force which can move mountains or easily grow through a blacktop road. A classic experiment in botany was once made with a growing squash plant to test the expansive power of cells. The squash, while still on the vine, was tightly boxed in and weights were added to the framework to keep it enclosed. At first, the young squash moved sixty pounds of weights; a month later two and one half tons were not enough to contain its power of growth.“
Now that sounds like our life, huh? See how much pressure you can put on (and did you notice the humor of what plant they tested, the SQUASH!) and the thing just keeps on growing and busting out! Sounds like a little group in Jerusalem that the religious leaders could not make shut up after their Lord was crucified, died and rose again. Jesus said He will be with us always, even to the end of the age. He told us He and the Father would come to us and live within us. He promised to send His Holy Spirit to guide us and be in us. How can we go wrong with all of them helping us?
Paul says in Colossians 1: 25-27 NIV I have become its (the Church’s) servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness–the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
This mystery, oh this mystery that we so often belittle by wanting every detail explained. Could you just go with the mystery this once and see where it takes you? Could you risk it all and gain the Kingdom? Would you try once again to soak up, absorb, and consume the living water, and grow into His image in the Kingdom, the image He had in mind when He blew life into your being and wonder into your soul?
Perhaps Paul understood this better than any of us. NIV 1 Corinthians 3: 6-9 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
In the dispute that Paul was addressing, the watering and planting were attributed to different persons. I believe that it would delight the Father’s heart if each person who reads this would determine in their heart to plant the seed of His Word in his or her own soul, soak and water that seed with living water until the Kingdom sprouts up with a force that can move mountains or burst through inches of blacktop. For we are, indeed, His Temple and His Spirit wants to live in us. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16 If we believe Acts 17:28a “For in Him we live and move and have our being” then His Word must be life and breath to us. We can share this life giving discipline with others. The more we grow, the more others will be drawn to His light and Life.
Yes, the darkness is getting darker and moving in upon the areas we thought would always surely remain bright. However, we have a great High Priest who knows all that we go through. (HEB 4:14-16) He is just waiting for us to run to His throne room to find mercy and grace in time of need. He wants to abide with us, in the quiet times as well as the turbulent hours. Yield to His ways and find His quiet strength. As you run to Him and yield to Him, even in the midst of great darkness, you will find Isaiah 61:11 becoming a reality in your daily life.
For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.
Constant fellowship with the Spirit, growing trust in the Son, and adoration of the Father will result in righteousness and praise springing forth from your lips and overflowing from your life. Perhaps the river of living water in the depth of our being is a foretaste of the river of the water of life in Revelation 22:1 that issues from the Throne of God and of the Lamb! Even so, rule and reign in us, Christ Jesus, our King of kings and Lord of lords.
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 