Moments of Quiet Truth

" O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore." Ps. 131      The psalmist is speaking back to the Lord His working of grace in his life. This is speaking peace after a turbulent storm. The Lord brings still and calm after overwhelming storms. He speaks peace into our hearts and assurance that He is there and loves us fiercely. " The love of God reigning in the heart, will subdue self-love. " Matthew Henry      So often our storms are the results of self-worship and a striving for our own will. So often, in these storms, we feel overwhelmed by emotion and pressure and uncertainty. But the Master is in the boat with us. He sends us through storms to encourage us, nay, force us to f...

"T hen Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying, "I called out to the LORD, out of my distress , and he answered me ; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ' I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple. ' The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD , and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you ; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to th...

     P aul goes to Jerusalem in Galatians 2. He brings a Gentile with him - Titus. Jerusalem - the city of peace - becomes the display case for the reality of gospel peace. Paul brings a non-law keeping Gentile into the headquarters of legalistic Judaism to show the world the freedom Christ brings from the bondage to the law. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." 3:28      God displays His glory and His pleasure in crossing every wall of partition imaginable - social, racial, economical, religious. . . . . .      Titus was accepted, without circumcision.The Jewish church leaders understood that Christ's law-keeping and penalty-paying death removed the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile, between uncircumcised and circumcised.  He had circumcised their hearts. The blood of the Lamb of God had atoned for, payed for, more th...

Q uiet streams,  . . . still waters, . . . .green pastures, sufficient grace. Grace for the moment - that's what He promised. And He gives it. Breathe deep and be still .  "he is God." Ps. 46:10 "Be still and quiet and calm, cease striving, stop.    His call is as quiet as a whisper and as loud and strong as a thunderclap.       How hard could that be? Seriously?        As a young child I would race everywhere I went, never sitting still, always in  a hurry. I was once dared to sit still for 5 minutes with the expectation that I couldn't do it. My stubbornness kicked in and I tried to prove them wrong, for all of about 5 seconds.   "I shall not want [lack, miss out on, need] nothing" - I shall not be without any good thing. I will not be left destitute. He will NEVER  fall short or run out of His supply. I will lack no good thing - if I wait for Him. " O LORD, my heart is not lift...

     T he man sitting in front of me at the folk dancing program smelled as if he had just come in from wasting a cigarette - I could barely breathe at first! I didn't know how I would last the program in that seat, but there was no moving elsewhere. I prayed for grace to endure and to breathe.      The clothes thrown in bags in the back of the van for the church give away reeked of smoke. They were tightly sealed in big black trash bags when they reach the church so that the church doesn't pick up the odor. I was disgusted and full of self-righteous indignation. Didn't they know how badly they smelled and how quickly others could pick up the same odor by being in contact with them or standing next to them? Didn't they care that their habit was so inconvenient to the 'purity' of those around them?      I got to thinking. I was so disgusted by the smell of someone's sin and so full of pride and self-righteous indignation at ...

" E v'ry morning that breaks there mercies anew.    Ev'ry breath that I take is Your faithfulness proved;     And at the end of each day, when my labors are through,      I will sing of your mercies anew.  When I've fallen and strayed, there were mercies anew;    For You sought me in love and my heart You pursued.      In the face of my sin, Lord, You never withdrew,       So I sing of Your mercies anew.  When the storms swirl and rage, there are mercies anew.   In affliction and pain, You will carry me through;    And at the end of my days, when Your throne fills my view,     I will sing of Your mercies anew.  And Your mercies, they will never end;    For ten thousand years they remain.    And when this world's beauty has passed away,     Your mercies will be unchange d." - Mercies Anew ...

       G od knows where you are. He knows how exposed you feel, how vulnerable. He knows the storms you're living through, without end in sight. He know that you've opened yourself wide and have not quenched the flood of tears so long pent up. He knows and sees the emptiness and the barrenness that screams from cavernous depths of a lonely heart. He knows how long you've waited to have that need met and filled. He feels the ache of your heart - your hearts are one. He weeps with you.      He does not judge or condemn your need. He created it. He does not scream platitudes at you. He listens. He listens as you come to Him raw and without strength. He is there. When you feel unloved or unworthy of love He holds you. He heals.      Let Him heal your heart. Let Him hold your needs and lacks and emptiness. Let Him redeem them and give Him thanks. Let Him fill your cup to overflowing. Let Him dog your steps with goodness and...