Psalm 16:11

Someone shared this verse with me yesterday, and I was blessed by it.

Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

I won't comment on it. The verse speaks for itself.

Stagnancy

Ever sit through a convicting message and not been convicted? Ever pick up your Bible with confidence and think things are basically going okay so devotions shouldn't be too "painful" this morning? Ever sung about Christ's death and not been moved? Don't leave me out on a limb by myself. I think we've all been here at some point. Slowly our depravity fades away and we grow complacent in our supposed self-righteousness.

Two verses come to mind. Paraphrased: "let everyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." and "search me O God and know my heart and see if there be any wicked way in me."

I was thinking about this all week. It's not a pleasant thing to have known sin in your life and go through the humbling process of giving it over to God, of confessing it before Him, and if necessary, before others, of letting go of the idols you cling to. Unpleasant as it is, nothing frightens me more than searching my heart and not knowing what sin to confess. I don't want to grow callous towards sin, and I certainly don't want to become stagnant in my Christian walk.

Praise Him! That He who began a good work will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

I prayed

I prayed, "God give me wisdom."
And He said, "I did. It's there in your hand."
All the wisdom I'll ever need is pressed within this leather cover.

I prayed, "God, teach me."
And He said, "I am. Are you listening?"
I waited for a shout, but he spoke in a still, small voice.

I prayed, "God, make me like You."
And he said, "I will. One day, one truth at a time."
And when I see Him, I shall be like Him.

I prayed, "God, be glorified."
And He smiled.

Just Listening

Tonight I held music--touched it, felt it, tasted it, saw it. Sitting on the floor of a practice room, I listened as the piano come to life, singing a thousand emotions that I do not have the skill to express nor the desire to minimize with words. The music became a duet, and interplay, an exchange of expresion between the one who pressed the keys and the one whose keys were pressed. Every vibration seeped through the floor, and I felt them, and none escaped. Those of you who can hear should cover your ears sometime and hear was music really sounds like.

Thank you, Brittany for your music.

One of my favorite quotes:

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury; and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony."

William Henry Channing

Compromise

This has been the topic of numerous dinner conversations, countless room debates, and many unresolved, opinionated discussions. I don't intend to resolve it, only to discuss it.

Consider the matter of carbonated beverage (termed intentionally thus to remain neutral). We have the many that call it soda, the rather equal number that call it pop, the few that call it coke, and the handful that call it sodapop. I can deal with soda. I can deal with pop. (We won't talk about coke). But it's the peacemaking, compromising, fence-walking, standard-bending sodapoppers that need to be addressed. As Kathiann so aptly put it, "It's like theistic evolution. They can't both be." Let your yea be yea and your nay, nay. This attempt to please everyone, this willingness to merge the vocabulary that so distinguishes our culture and the regions of our country is a violation of who we are. So in defiance to this battle of words, may we all drink milk.