Inside Knowledge

     God gives us His wisdom and understanding and knowledge through the Word and the guiding of the Holy Spirit. Bending our knees and bowing our heads in obedience to Him brings us deep and abiding joy. This week we are looking at the heart and soul. The external fades in significance to our Lord.

     The Bible makes it clear that our bodies are the temporary tent for our soul and spirit. If only we would spend as much time focusing our attention on what God finds valuable. King Solomon knew this as he taught his son through his proverbial wisdom.

For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Proverbs 2:10

     I pray you find this proverb to be true in your own life. May God’s wisdom and knowledge become pleasant to our heart and soul.

Lord,

We thank You for leading us to deep truths. Your wisdom is beyond the external, beyond this world. It comes directly from heaven. Give us a hunger and thirst for more and more of You.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Guard Your Heart

     God weighs the heart. All we do and say comes from the condition of our heart. It begins with a heart for God and, through Him, our lives will be lived out with love. Listen to this Proverb:

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23

     Above all else? The condition of our heart is vital for a healthy life, both physically and emotionally. Guard your heart with God’s Word. Let it fill you with all good things, until all we do flows from its bounty.

     Jesus calls Himself the bread of life and He reminds us that when we have Him we will never hunger and thirst again. Our souls will be satisfied and well. Go deep and drink and eat! Your heart and soul will be richly filled with food for the heart.

“But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14

Father,

Teach us to guard our hearts. Keep them safe from the hatred surrounding us. Give us the bread of life and the living water You promise to those who believe. Fill our hearts and souls to overflowing, giving us a life of peace, joy and hope to share with others.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Holy Ground

     I love going barefoot. Socks? Despise them and I toss them aside as soon as I walk through the door. I love to go barefoot around the house, spring, summer, winter or fall. The impossibility of going barefoot through months of long Minnesota winters only makes my anticipation and appreciation grow as spring and summer draw near. One day while reading the Bible, I paused at the following Scripture verse.

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Exodus 3:5

     Moses was called to meet God. We can only imagine the encounter and what it meant. The ground was holy. No sandals allowed. Imagine my surprise. God asked Moses to be barefoot while in His presence.

     In Old Testament days, only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies. This was the inner sanctum of the temple. No ordinary folk allowed. It was a sacred place, a reverential place. It contained the presence of God.

     After Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, He gave His followers a foretaste of heaven. He left His disciples (including us) with the gift of His Holy Spirit. Yes, the Spirit of God within us! No more outer temple. The very temple of our God lives within.

     Not only is Christ beside us, around us, and in front of us, His Holy Spirit remains in us.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you whom you have received from God? You are not your own. 1 Corinthians 6:19

     Now that the temple of the Lord is within us, everywhere we step can be considered holy ground. Wherever you are right now is Holy ground. Wiggle your toes. Where will you step today? Will it be in God’s creation?

     You may feel the rough terrain of a mountain path or sift through the soft sand of a sunny beach. Let the fertile soil of your backyard garden ooze through your toes. Tap the linoleum of your kitchen floor as you wash the evening dishes. Feel the texture of the carpet as you tuck your kids in bed. Wrap your feet around the rungs of the chair beneath your desk. Feel God’s presence around you. Wherever you stand, walk, sit or dance is indeed Holy ground.

     We are the temple of the Spirit of God. Jesus is with us each day as we visit the magnificent and the minute, the extraordinary and ordinary, the mountaintop view and the laundry room floor, the miraculous and the mundane. What a profound thought. We are His ambassadors as we walk the earth.

     So take off your shoes as you wash, and tuck, and type, as you speak and listen, as you walk through your day.  Maybe you can lead others to see the holiness around them, too.

     And, one day soon, Jesus will walk us from the pull of the earth’s blessed ground to step onto heaven’s eternal garden path. As I meet Him finally, face to face and He asks me to take off my earthly shoes, I will gladly obey and run barefoot with Him forevermore.

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Let that Spirit grow so strong that wherever we are and whatever we do, we recognize Your power and presence with each step.

Amen

Spirit Power

     The Holy Spirit begins His work in us by convicting us and convincing us of our need for a Savior (John 16:8). When we first believe, God seals us forever with His Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14).  The Holy Spirit within us testifies to us that we now belong to God and that we are His beloved children (Romans 8:16).

     Read through these verses and believe in the work of the Spirit. He lives within us, ready to teach us, to strengthen us, to counsel us and to lead us into truth.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being. Ephesians 3:16

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  John 14:26

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another counselor to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him for He lives with you and will be in you. John 14:15--17

For God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of love, and of power, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

     Just as the moon’s light is a reflection of the sun, so we reflect the light of the Son. Allow His Holy Spirit to shine from within with the light that will never fade.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness, with every increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18

Jesus,

Increase Your glory within us through Your Spirit, so we may continue to shine until You bring us home.

Amen

Unending Love

     Jesus picks up the broken pieces of our lives. He forges the path ahead and straightens our path for the future. He speaks to our inner souls with the power of His Spirit. He is always and forevermore on our side. He is working for us. He protects us. He will answer our prayers.  His presence surrounds us, and nothing, no nothing will ever separate us from our Savior.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

     The height of our pride will not separate us. The depths of despair will not separate us. The demons tempting us will not separate us. Death will not separate us. He is here, there, and everywhere, our ever-present Savior. He adores you.

Jesus,

Thank you for Your uncompromising and unconditional love that far exceeds any earthly love. Your promises are eternally true. You are the way, the truth and the life.

Amen

Forever His

     Along with my husband, many of our friends have retired. What’s next? Do we put our feet up, sit on a beach and indulge ourselves for our remaining years? It’s a tricky question. Certainly, God has placed enjoyment and pleasure in His creation. The warm sunshine, good friends, refreshment and relaxation.

     On the other hand, He never tells us to retire from His service. He has purpose for our lives until He takes us home. What is He asking you to do? Moses did not lead his people out of Egypt until he was 80 years old. Abraham and Sarah had Isaac in their 90’s. Caleb was just as strong at 85 as he was when he began serving God as a young man. John was given the revelation of Christ when he was well over 90.

     No matter what we do, no matter where we land, He gives us the ability to encourage, to share, to teach, to serve, to show mercy, to gain knowledge, and to love. What an adventure! We have only just begun.

They will still bear fruit in old age; they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright. He is my Rock and there is no wickedness in Him.” Psalm 92:14-15

Even to your old age and gray hairs, I am He. I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you. I will sustain you and I will rescue you. Isaiah 46:4

     How wonderful! Only God knows the number of our days. If we are blessed to live into old age, we will stay fresh and green in Spirit as He continues to sustain us, to carry us and to rescue us. We all need rescuing, don’t we?

Father,

We want to bear fruit at every age. Give us purpose and opportunities until we walk through heaven’s door. Give us more and more love to share.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Cracked Pots

     Have you heard the ancient story of the cracked pot? A servant carried a pole across his neck with two pots used to fetch water, one hanging from each end. One of the pots had a large crack in it, yet the man continued to use it each day. Why? He found that as some of the water oozed out of that crack, it watered the flowers planted along the way to his master’s house.

     I personally have several cracks. We are all cracked pots in one way or another. Fortunately for us, Jesus uses our weaknesses to show his strength.  He covers our flaws with His faithfulness and He brings good from our frailties and our failures.

     How does He do it? The only way to explain it, is through His mighty power. As Paul reminds us, His power is made perfect though our weaknesses.

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

     Let it go and let God water some of the seeds that need tending in your heart. He is ready to grow some healthy spiritual fruit in each of us. He is the vine and we are the branches. Let Him prune a few of the pesky foliage blocking your view.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. John 15:2

     Abide with Him.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me, and I in you, you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” John 15:5

Father,

Thank You for the work of Your Son in us. His strength gives us power through our weakness. Teach us how to trust and abide in His Spirit.

In Jesus name,

Amen