recent status updates

*Heard elsewhere: "God doesn't call the qualified; God qualifies the called."

*(convicting!) repost from Desiring God: “No worship...that leaves us harsh with our workers on Monday, or contentious with our spouses at home, or self-indulgent in other areas of our lives, is true, God-pleasing worship.” ~John Piper

*‎5 I's of Dishonor (from sermon by Keith Moore): Ignoring, Interrupting, Intruding, Interfering, Insulting.

*Receiving the discipline of God as a GOOD and beautiful thing is not easy, but produces SWEET fruit....Thank you, Lord! (cf Hebrews 12)

*Pride isn't sinful first because it EXALTS self; it only need be PREOCCUPIED with and interpret the world by self.

~snapshot of wk 8, lesson 7; BHT study: "Robbers of God ~ What are we depending on?"

Submitted by Leah Page on Wed, 11/11/2009 - 7:35am

"Before His Throne" week 8, lesson 7 ~ Robbers of God: What are we depending on?

Intro: Mortifying Darling Sins (see prev post for text)

Unchanging God ~ Restating Malachi 3:6-7 in our own words: "I haven’t changed. I am still the God of your father Jacob, still the one who has promised my love to you. As has always been true, return to me; see that I am still your God, see that I will return to you."

Throughout the book of Malachi, we have seen God’s rebuke of his people for their unfaithfulness. Again, now, in Mal. 3:6-7 we catch a glimpse of God’s promise. And his promise is both a call to repent (return), and a confident declaration of his faithfulness.

On p. 116-117 in our books, we had filled in charts listing the many things in our lives upon which we "depend" – relationships, jobs, finances, health, intelligence, our reputations, church – things which in and of themselves are good gifts from our Father, but which we often come to clutch and keep nearer our hearts than God our Father himself. The perhaps obvious implication being that all of these things are changeable, and therefore not dependable!

We were challenged with regards to how we have placed our faith in our idols rather than our God?

A Concrete Example ~ The primary rebuke in Malachi 3:6-12 is that God’s people are "robbing" him of his due. We studied through the week the various elements of what it meant that they were to "tithe" and make offerings. And we learned that God’s kind intention was to teach his people to fear him rightly.
So we talked about how faithfulness in tithing is one of the ways we learn to fear God (see Deuteronomy 14:22-23 as well as Numbers 18:21-29 and Leviticus 27:30-34). And how the nature of the "tithe" (similar to our earlier discussions about the nature of the sacrifices of the OT) reveals to us God’s character, especially his holiness – they were to offer firstfruits of what? Fruit of the ground, fruit of their livestock, everything. The first and the best, consecrated to God because he is worthy.

Perfect love casts out fear ~ We got back to this question from the beginning of class, from 1 John 4:13-21. How is it right and good that we are to fear God, that the fearing of God is full of so many wonderful promises, it pleases God, it receives blessing, etc., AND that perfect love casts out fear?

We talked about the tendencies of our hearts to works-based theologies, and how when the Lord reveals his grace, it's like our "Yes, but!" flip flops. I shared from my own life story, that I would repeat to myself passionately that "Yes, God is gracious, but I have to STRIVE for holiness!" and "Yes, God is the one who works in us to will and to do his good pleasure, BUT we must DO his good pleasure! we must RUN the race as to PURSUE the prize!" and "Yes, God loves us, but we must MAKE EVERY EFFORT to make our calling and election sure!" And I would punctuate each exclamation point with a clenched fist and a clenched jaw!!

But when the Lord finally "removed the scales from my eyes" as regards HIS sovereign love (my df. for grace), my sister and I would marvel that it was like our "Yes, but!"'s had completely swapped places. So now, "Yes, we must strive, and make every effort, and run this race as to pursue the prize, BUT, God is GRACIOUS, and it is GOD who will accomplish his work, because he is FAITHFUL to complete what he has begun, it is GOD who empowers us by his spirit and sustains us by his grace...." etc.

We suggested - and we may have opportunity to flesh this out more before our time together in this study comes to a close - that in effect, "the fear of the Lord" AND "perfect love" are equivalent to one another....So you COULD say, "the fear of the Lord casts out fear....."

The hinge point, here, is God's GRACE. Which is anchored in the fact that God Does Not Change.

So - Repent! Turn FROM your sin and idolatry; and Turn TO your heavenly Father who loves you and having saved you in Christ Jesus is now faithfully working to discipline you as sons, refine you and purify you as silver and to conform you to the likeness of his Beloved son in whom he is well pleased.....


Groups: Women of Grace

~snapshot of week 7 of 10, BHT study~

Snapshot of week 7 of 10, Lesson 6: "Before His Throne" GCC Womens' Bible Study
Submitted by Leah Page on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 4:40pm

Welcoming the Lord's Discipline as his Kindness which leads to Repentance

Intro: "The Two Birds" ~ see previous post for text.


Part 1: We read through the first two chapters of Malachi and the first 5 verses of chapter 3, bringing us up to the verses comprising our study for this past week. Then started in with highlight of Malachi 2:17 ~

17You have wearied the LORD with your words Yet you say, "How have we wearied Him?"
In that you say, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them,"
or, "Where is the God of justice?"

Or to put it another way ~
What's the point, God? You let the unrighteous get away with murder!
Why should we even bother with being righteous - what's it gonna get us?
If you were so concerned about justice and righteousness....
[dot dot dot]

(How often do we say, in effect, this same thing?!) These unfaithful ones receiving the Lord's rebuke in the book of Malachi (cf also end of book of Nehemiah for context) dare put the blame back on God! But it exposes their own hearts - in their accusation, they completely ignore the fact of their own unrighteousness, and expose their own sinful hearts - desiring the gifts rather than the Giver. (idolatry)

What is the root cause of their idolatry? (cf Malachi 3:5 ...they do not fear the Lord.)

In chapter three, the Lord begins to move from his REBUKE to his PROMISE, and we see mention of this one who will come to prepare the way of the Lord (Malachi 3:1) - So we visited the New Testament, and took a look at Matthew 3:1-3 regarding who was this messenger to clear the way for the Lord? John the Baptizer - and what was his Gospel message and why: "Repent! for the kingdom of God is at hand!" It is the cry for repentance that is the means by which the people are made ready for the Lord (see also Luke 1:13-17). Said again, Repentance! prepares the way of the Lord. (I think it has been credited to Martin Luther, as no doubt many other faithful followers of Christ, for saying that a believer ought to be "always repenting.")

Part 2: Getting into Malachi 3:2-3, we started to break this down - what is the means by which God (in his kindness!) leads people to repentance?

Threefold:

Disciplines us as sons (Hebrews 12:4-11)
Refines / Purifies us as Silver (James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 1:6-9)
Enables us to endure Sufferings as Christ (John 15:8-10, John 16:32-33)

df. "refine"
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/refine

1.
to bring to a fine or a pure state; free from impurities: to refine metal, sugar, or petroleum.

2.
to purify from what is coarse, vulgar, or debasing; make elegant or cultured.

3.
to bring to a finer state or form by purifying.

4.
to make more fine, subtle, or precise: to refine one's writing style.

–verb (used without object)

5.
to become pure.

6.
to become more fine, elegant, or polished.

7.
to make fine distinctions in thought or language.

—Verb phrase

8.
refine on or upon, to improve by inserting finer distinctions, superior elements, etc.: to refine on one's previous work.


df. "purify"
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/purify
–verb

1.
to make pure; free from anything that debases, pollutes, adulterates, or contaminates: to purify metals.

2.
to free from foreign, extraneous, or objectionable elements: to purify a language.

3.
to free from guilt or evil.

4.
to clear or purge (usually fol. by of or from).

5.
to make clean for ceremonial or ritual use.

(used with object)
–verb (used without object)

6.
to become pure.


Lastly - we didn't have a chance to get into this very much Wednesday night, but our week of study lands on Malachi 3:3-5 and I wish we would have had the time to break this down.

Please take a moment to again read these verses, and then ask, "What does the Lord promise to do for his people in these verses?"

Then ask, "What are the after-effects of what the Lord does?"

Here's a hint ~
Once again, we are talking about: what pleases the Lord? what kind of sacrifice pleases the Lord?

And just for good measure, because we cannot repeat this too much, how are we made to be a sacrifice which is pleasing to the Lord? (Ephesians 1:3-8; Hebrews 9:13-14)

Blessings as you continue in your studies this week, ladies!
~Leah

Groups: Women of Grace

It's Your Kindness that Leads Us to Repentance O Lord

~Grace Gem shared last night: "The Two Birds"~
Submitted by Leah Page on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 9:38am

The two birds

(J. R. Miller, "Finding God's Comfort" 1896)

....To correct, is to set right--that which has been wrong. Surely if a man is going in the wrong way, and God turns his feet back and sets him in the right way--a blessing has come to the man!

Afflictions are 'God's corrections'. They come always with a purpose of love in them. God never afflicts one of His children, without meaning His child's good in some way. So blessing is always intended by God. It is usually afterward that people begin to see and to understand the good that God sent them in their trial. "You do not understand what I am now doing" said Jesus, "but you shall understand hereafter." "No chastening seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." So when we have troubles and afflictions, we may know that God wants to do us good in some way through them.

...
He is not a true parent, who sees his children doing wrong, and yet fails to correct them for fear he may hurt their feelings. He ought to think of their higher good, and chasten them now--to profit them afterward.

This is the way our heavenly Father works. He never loves us better--than when He is correcting us. Therefore we ought not to despise this chastening. We ought not to murmur or complain when God does not give us our own way--but checks us, lays His afflictive hand upon us, and sends trouble upon us! We ought to have such faith in God--that we shall submit quietly, confidently, and sweetly to his will--even when it brings a heavy cross into our life.

A great many people need to pause at this line--and learn it. They do not treat God's chastening with reverence. Sometimes they are crushed by it, and refuse to look up into God's face with submission and love. Sometimes they grow bitter against God and say hard things of Him! We ought to reverence God's chastening; we ought to listen to the voice that speaks to us in our grief or pain.

The way in which God brings blessing through chastening, is emphasized: "For He wounds--but He also binds up; He strikes--but His hands also heal." Job 5:18. God never smites with both hands at once! When one hand is laid upon us in affliction--the other hand is reached out to help, to uphold, to heal.

Sometimes there is a trouble in a man's body which requires the surgeon's knife. There must be amputation, or cutting away, or cutting into. In such a case the skillful surgeon does not hesitate. He thinks far more of his patient's health for the future--than of his comfort at present. So he uses his knife--that he may cure disease, or save life. He wounds--to heal. He makes sore--that he may bind up. It is just so in all afflictions which God sends. He chastens--that He may deliver from the power of temptation. He hurts the body--that he may save the soul. He takes away earthly property--that He may give true, heavenly riches.

One writer tells of two birds and how they acted when caught and put into a cage. One, a 'starling', flew violently against the wire walls of its prison, in unavailing efforts to escape--only battering and bruising its own wings. The other bird, a 'canary', perched itself on the bar and began to pour forth bursts of sweet song, from its little throat. We know which bird was the wiser and happier.

Some people are like the starling--when they are in any trouble, they chafe and fret and complain and give way to wretchedness! The result is, they only hurt themselves, make themselves more miserable, and do not in any sense lessen their trouble. It is wiser always, as well as more pleasing to God, for us to bear our trials patiently, singing songs of faith and love--rather than crying out in rebellion and discontent.

Job wanted to get near to God in his great trouble; he cried, "Oh that I knew where I might find Him!" He felt sure that that would be the best and safest place for him to be. We ought not to lose this lesson. When trouble is upon us--the true thing for us to do, is to flee to God! Some people, in their affliction and sorrow--flee away from God. Thus they lose their joy and peace, missing the comfort which they would get if only they kept near to Him. The right way to respond, is to try to find the way to God's very presence. He is the only safe refuge, when the storms of trouble break upon us. The first thing always, in any time of trouble--is to find God and hide away in His bosom, as a child runs to the mother in alarm, or as the little bird flies to its nest. To find God--is to be safe!

God is our truest and best friend! He is our Father--we need never fear to go to Him. He gives heed unto our cries. He loves us. All His omnipotence is on our side. No mother's heart was ever so full of love for her child--as is the heart of God for us, His children!


~ ~ ~ ~ ~


I received this as yesterday's "Grace Gem" from the website www.gracegems.org, and it was so timely to our study! I pray the Lord would make me (and us) able to "turn back to praise" whatever we receive from his hand, recognizing even afflictions as his GOOD GIFTS, as the fire that ignites a fragrant offering to our God.
~L

Groups: Women of Grace

~snapshot of week 3, BHT study~

WEEK THREE OF TEN
Before His Throne: Lesson 2 ~ God's "Peculiar" Affection for His People

1st third - reviewed first two weeks' materials, themes of 1) the blessings we have because we are IN CHRIST (Eph. 1:1-14), and 2) what it means to fear the Lord aright (Isaiah 40, Ps. 33, Romans 1). Intro: Read an article from a medical website I had received that same day concerning "phobias" and "anxiety" - and posed the question how that differs (or does not differ) from what we mean by "the fear of the Lord." When people are "afraid" they tend to run FROM what they fear. But running FROM God in fact exposes our pride - as if we could outrun or escape from God?

We laid out the "big events" timeline from Creation up to Malachi (and Nehemiah ch 13) where the OT ends. Emphasis on repeat pattern all throughout - especially from Judges through the time of the Kings and the Prophets, when the people were brought INTO the land of promise, the land where they were to "devote to destruction" all that was unholy, so that this place, this Jerusalem, this city on a hill, would be a place where God could dwell ("abide") with his people - where they would worship him as he deserves to be worshipped and his glory would be their joy! But instead they time after time after time turned away, doing what was right in their own eyes. We saw that despite the continuous unfaithfulness and profanity of God's people, he continued to promise them restoration and a NEW covenant wherein he would give them new hearts! so they could know him more intimately, and be righteous. We had read through Malachi ch. 1-4 during our lesson time in the week, so we could see that the book takes on the pattern of a rebuke, but even in this is God's PROMISE of rebuilding and restoring and renewing. We noted that God's very first words in this rebuke are, nevertheless, "I have loved you."

2nd third - broke into small groups, examining especially Hebrews 12:7-11 concerning how God's LOVE for his people translates into his discipline of them - for he is treating them as true sons (and not illegitimate sons) and the FRUIT of this discipline, for those who have been trained by it, is the peaceable fruit of righteousness. This small group time allowed for women to have more face-to-face time. Our class is approaching 30 women, so breaking down into groups of 4 or 5 women seemed to be positively received by the ladies as it enabled names to be put with faces, and a more intimate setting for sharing. We talked about God's "severe mercies" in our lives and how what may seem unpleasant at the time is in fact the Lord's kindness. Due to time limitations, we didn't get to explore the 2nd part very deeply - I suggested the ladies may like to take the assignment home and add that to their quiet time. Namely: to review p. 35 and 37 in their books which contained a couple of assignments through other lists of verses earlier in the week, and to read Romans 8:28-39, (and Ephesians 3:14-21) and then come up with a single sentence that summarizes God's love, based on what they learn from these verses.

3rd third - we again came back together as a larger group, revisited the timeline, and talked about the "R's of Redemption" - pointing out the various places on the timeline where the terms seemed best to fit, including: Revelation - Rebellion - Regeneration - Repentance - Redemption - Restoration - Rebuilding - Renewing - Rest - even Remnant, and so forth.

Closed with quote from John Piper's recent blog entry, which was in part our "review" at the beginning of class:

***quote***
Consider two important truths in Psalm 31:19. "Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!"

1. The goodness of the Lord. There is a peculiar goodness of God. That is, there is not only God’s general goodness that he shows to all people, making his sun rise on the evil and the good (Matthew 5:45), but also a peculiar goodness for “those who fear him.” This goodness is abundant beyond measure. It is boundless. It lasts for ever. It is all-encompassing. There is only goodness for those who fear him. Everything works together for their good. Even their pains are filled with profit (Romans 5:3-5). But those who do not fear him receive a temporary goodness—a goodness that does not lead to repentance, but leads to worse destruction (Romans 2:4).

2. The fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the fear of straying from him. Therefore it expresses itself in taking refuge in God. That’s why two conditions are mentioned in Psalm 31:19—fearing the Lord and taking refuge in him. They seem to be opposites. Fear seems to drive away and taking refuge seems to draw in. But when we see that this fear is a fear of not being drawn in, then they work together. There is a real trembling for the saints. “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). But it is the trembling one feels in the arms of a Father who has just plucked his child from the undertow of the ocean.

Reflections on a Loss ~ (3rd of 3 Meditations)

There are some things that we lose for which we have opportunity to share the experience with others. Most recently, my family - as I have mentioned in previous posts - has been going through the time of life when the last remaining patriarch passes from this life to the next, and his children who have become parents in their own right now take up the role as the grandparents, and the whole lot of us shift ahead 1 full generation in the span of a week.

In that, we lose respectively our Dad, Granddad, Great-Granddad, and we each of us also lose something of our own previous innocence as we are called upon to step up into the next phase of life.

But there are other losses for which, sometimes, we cannot be prepared. Perhaps they are, nevertheless, universal experiences, but somehow the weight of them is something we must carry Alone. Like harboring some very deep and abiding Torment within our breast, and even "torment" is not strong enough a word....Some very agonizing pain as our heart has wrapped itself in love around some thing or some one, and then without warning - as if to defy that happiness or Forever that we innately expect - that some thing or some one is wrenched from our grasp, torn from our affection, and we are left standing there trying to make sense of these dripping, coagulating pieces of what once was a pulsing, life-giving organ.

In Galatians, chapter 6, the Apostle Paul states very early on in the chapter that we are to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. This is a verse with which I have been familiar since childhood. But I find it somewhat funny, then, that I didn't notice that very few verses later he states that each one must bear his own load (v. 5). My pastor had pointed this out to me in a conversation a couple of years ago, and the thought has been rolling around in my head ever since - not as though there is some contradiction, here, but how could he be stating both things, how could both be true, and NOT be opposites as they might appear to the naked eye. My pastor had also suggested the solution to the problem in that same conversation - namely; when you come alongside someone and thrust your shoulder, for example, up under a corner of his heavy load (thinking metaphysically) to help him carry it, it is NOT as though you are taking it FROM him, but simply carrying it WITH him, as was your intent all along. Thus, some of that weight is still his, and his Alone, to shoulder....

So too, I am coming to appreciate that there are some pains in life which, in the attempts to explain them to others and in this way so rid myself of them, I simply must bear Alone. Only I can feel and endure the hurt of what I have lost. And in my reflections on this - as I am currently enduring one such loss and praying to God for some relief lest I be done in - I am reminded also of the counsel I received from my much younger brother - who is, every now and again, very wise beyond his years - just this time last year.

He had been meditating on what it means to possess and cultivate that "quiet and gentle spirit" which is precious in the sight of God (cf. 1 Peter, chapter 3). And the Lord revealed to him again the passage in the account of the birth of Christ which described how his mother, Mary, had "treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." And so, the Spirit convicted my brother, and through his testimony convicted me, that one - perhaps even the Main - way in which I could [intentionally] cultivate that very same "quiet and gentle spirit" which I have so longed for and which has always seemed (to my view) to ellude me, was to recognize those moments when some thing or some one was only mine to treasure in my heart, and ponder it there, untouched, as it were, by any other onlooker.

A way of cultivating a greater intimacy with and indeed dependence on that same Christ who is by this means the only One left with whom I can share the inner workings of my heart - for joy or for sorrow - when I discipline myself to withhold that which I would otherwise (by my particular and perhaps peculiar nature) feel "compelled" to spill to any listening ear!

So the pain isn't necessarily even lessened, but it is somehow mysteriously sweetened as it becomes a means of communion with the God who made me and who is conforming me each day more and more to the likeness of his Beloved Son in whom he is well pleased.

Still, I must bear my own load. This is only mine, and by it the Lord teaches me to wait on him, to treasure up all these things - my joys and my sorrows - and ponder them in my heart, as if a sacrifice or an offering just for Him....

Worship ~ In Spite of my "Self" ~ (1st of 3 meditations)

**My Father, God - this is a morning in which I am having to FIGHT for joy. A spirit of depression is tempting me from the corners of my meditations, and I am having to keep your word ever before me lest I fail, and turn my eyes to myself. It is a weakness, to be sure, that I cannot (as if from within myself, or my own strength) keep my mind stayed on you, my eyes fixed on you, my heart treasuring that which is above - so I am laboring for discipline - setting about me quite literally various statements and promises and commands and declarations from your word, so that my eye is "caught" by YOU rather than the trappings of this world or my own emotions. My Father, God, please KEEP me, today, as I would be lost without your keeping.**

~

PSALM 118:13-23

13 I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me. 14 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 15 Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: "The LORD's right hand has done mighty things! 16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high; the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"

17 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done. 18 The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.

20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter. 21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. 22 The stone the builders rejected [Christ! HE is the gate of righteousness!] has become the capstone;

23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

Unfoldings of His faithfulness & mercy

The Sonful Servitude

...Can you say with a joyful heart, "O Lord, truly I am Your servant?" He is no hard taskmaster. Would Satan try to teach you so? Let this be the refutation, "He loved me, and gave Himself for me." True, the yoke is the appointed discipline He employs in training his children for immortality. But be comforted! "It is His tender hand that puts it on, and keeps it on." He will suit the yoke to the neck, and the neck to the yoke. He will suit His grace to your trials. No, He will bring you even to be in love with these, when they bring along with them such gracious unfoldings of His own faithfulness and mercy.

How His people need thus to be in heaviness through manifold temptations, to keep them meek and submissive! ... Never is there more gracious love than when God takes own means to curb and subjugate, humble us, and to prove us—bringing us out from ourselves, our likings, our confidences, our prosperity, and putting us under the needed YOKE.

And who has ever repented of that joyful servitude? Among all the regrets that mingle with a dying hour, and often bedew with bitter tears a dying pillow, who ever told of regrets and repentance here?

...There is a promised rest in the very carrying of the yoke; and a better rest remains for the weary and toil-worn when the appointed work is finished; for thus says "that same Jesus,"

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, and you shall find REST unto your souls."


(John MacDuff, from "The Words of Jesus")

Oppression of the Enemy? or Conviction of a loving Father?

I have been very weighed down of late - with a variety of considerations. If you know me, you may think this is nothing out of the ordinary. But I am currently trying to ascertain the difference - if there is one - between the "oppression" of a spiritual/demonic enemy and the genuine, life-giving "conviction" of the Lord by his Spirit.

Experientially, historically, I have found it very difficult to differentiate between the two and so may have been tempted to suggest they were one and the same - citing as my defense the passages of Scripture which make it clear, for example, that "even the darkness is as light to him" and Job's exclamation that "should we receive GOOD from the Lord and not also calamity?" That is to say, I HAVE known the enemy's oppression to be the MEANS by which the Lord has brought about his conviction in my life.

But of late, I am coming to realize that this stops too far short of the reality of what is going on. There is, in both cases, a very definite spiritual "weight" - a "pressure" perhaps. But just as there is a GODLY sorrow which leads to repentance and therefore life, and there is a WORLDLY sorrow which brings about death, so also I think there is a GODLY pressure and a WORDLY pressure (stress?)....

So I am meditating on this distinction - because this also ties in, I believe, to how one who is a follower of Christ DOES in fact KNOW the voice of his Shepherd, and how one who is IN Christ - though his "feelings" lie to him - is NOT under "condemnation."

I am suggesting that though all the outward signs may appear identical - weariness, perhaps anger, depression, exhaustion, weeping - there IS a way to discern, internally, the difference between whether this is caused by the chatter and condemnation of a spiritual enemy subject to the Lord's REBUKE (which would by God's grace and in due time lead to the saint's deliverance), or whether this is caused by the guiding, gentle, kind, perhaps stern, but always edifying and establishing voice of the Shepherd (which would by God's grace and in due time bring about the Lord's revelation, and the saint's continuing sanctification and even fruitful ministry).

~

**Lord - let me not be guilty, myself, of trying to minister "relief" to my spirit if the "pressure" is in fact the work of YOUR spirit to drive me to my knees in prayer, and to enable me to effectually receive your word. Many who would see me struggling would desire to minister compassion to me, because outwardly the symptoms are that of a suffering. And indeed, inwardly the weariness can seem to be quickly approaching "unbearable," though I know that you will NEVER give me more than I am able, by the strength and grace of your Spirit, to bear. But I would be more apt to minister relief to myself "too soon" - to seek for comfort before I have let the trial "have its full effect" and bring about IN me the peaceable fruit of righteousness and perseverance. Instead, Lord, teach me to seek your revelation - mindful of the fact that you yourself minister TO me during the season when your hand is upon me. Though you may be holding me or pushing me down, it is a loving instruction and discipline. And if I perceive that it is anything BUT this, let me run to you quickly that you might deliver me from any other accuser. So, Lord, whether it is a "pressure" because your hand is upon me, or whether it is an "oppression" because the enemy is prowling about me as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, let my first response always be to cry out to you - because only you will be able to bring about either my deliverance and therefore comfort, or my sanctification and therefore joy. Have mercy on me, my Father. Let me not neglect to receive your word, and to abide in your presence!**

Discipline me, Lord, that I might be Faithful

**Lord, my inclination to consider you such that my mind would be "stayed on Thee" is so weak. Thank you - as I am beginning to experience the joy of my "first thought" each day being directed to you! Please continue to make yourself known to me, teach me to surrender my desires so that they are in line with your will, and grant me your continuing discipline in my life. I may feel knocked down at any given moment, but when I turn to look at you and get up again, I KNOW I am strengthened. Let me be aware that EVERY thing that knocks down is ordained by your sovereign hand to conform me more to the likeness of Christ - I can feel, in those moments, the exposure of my heart and soul, the selfishness which is laid bare for all to see, and I need you - in your grace and kindness which I know will not give me more than I can bear! - to continue to expose me to myself, and in the exposing not to make me mindful of condemnation but your mercy. Let me, therefore, be GLAD for your discipline, and let me receive it joyfully, as a true "son." Lord, let my continuing prayer, this year, be that you would make me faithful - and for that, I must endure. Thank you, so, for your grace. Without your kindness, my God, I would be undone!**

~

Hebrews 12:3-13
3 Consider him [Christ!] who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives."

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.

11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

12Therefore 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.