Rooted

And I pray that you [and I], being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17b-19

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Longing

Earlier this afternoon, I came across a blog entry that I saved last month, I thought, for a friend. Now just a few weeks later, God has used it to speak to me. Though I have felt a bit lost these last few weeks, I know there exists in me a desire for more. A longing to see God's glory again, to feel His presence in my life and in my relationships. I have found much encouragement in the following statements:

"Even if your inner motions are presently sluggish, lethargic, and barren, are they nevertheless not there?--namely, displeasure about your condition, and a desire to be lively in all spiritual exercises... Is not your deadness your greatest burden? Wherever there is feeling there is life. Since you are therefore sensitive to your spiritual deadness, is not this then an indication that you have life?"

Today, I am thankful that God promises to renew us, to fill us with His spirit. I am encouraged knowing He is still at work in my life, even when I don't feel it or understand how. I am also increasingly burdened for the friend I originally saved this blog for. Realizing now how grateful I am to be uncomfortable in my current level of deadness, I feel called to intercede at greater levels for this individual. For far too long, I have seen him struggling to find any desire to draw near to God. So this afternoon, I renew my commitment to pray for an outpouring of God's spirit in both of our lives, a restored connection with God, and a revived understanding of Christ's power.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10
You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground. Psalm 104:29-30
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. Isaiah 40:31
(You can read the inspiring post here.)

I will praise you in this storm...

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People of His Pasture

Wordless Wednesday (sort of)Psalm 95

O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods,
In whose hand are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are His also.
The sea is His, for it was He who made it, and His hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
When your fathers tested Me, they tried Me, though they had seen My work.
For forty years I loathed that generation, and said they are a people who err in their heart, and they do not know My ways.
Therefore I swore in My anger, truly they shall not enter into My rest.

Lord let me be reminded today to keep my heart soft
to you and what you are doing in my life. Though
I may be in the wilderness, you are directing my paths.
May I be ready to let go of my worry and anxiety
and desires in order to enter into your rest.