Prompted to Praise

When they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped. Exodus 4:31b 

It is my faith that God is concerned and sees my condition that prompts me to praise -- long before I see God act.  Just believing that he cares brings comfort and peace and hope. My relief in knowing that I am not alone, that God is aware, prompts me to thank Him and to wait confidently for him to take action.

Peace before

“Just be patient, my daughter, until we hear what happens. The man won’t rest until he has settled things today.” (Ruth 3:18) 

 It is the belief that God has heard my prayer that brings peace long before the answer to the prayer comes.  Naomi assured Ruth that once she had taken her appeal to Boaz she should be patient and wait for him to act. When I take a burden to God, he gets to work and I get to rest.

RANDOM #1

I can but follow for when I arrive I find You already there.  (Psalm 139:7-11)

Other "random" blogs:

#7, #6,
#5,  #4  #3,  #2,  #1

Mull this over

Josh 1:8 Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed.

Meditation is like rumination – mulling something over, again, and again, again. We ALL meditate – it’s a matter of WHAT we meditate on. Do I meditate on other people’s words and actions, rehearsing over and over again in my mind slights and offenses?  Do I mull over things that worry me or fret about things I fear?  Or do I focus my mind on what God says?  Meditation on the Word brings peace. Isaiah 26:3: You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

To Let

Mark 4  What keeps the seeds of the Sower from taking root in my life? It seems we have an 'opt-out' clause:  Colossians 3:16  "let the word of Christ richly dwell within [me]..." .  "Let" sounds like I have a choice. To 'let' or to 'not let'?  The word of Christ wants to dwell in me richly -- the Sower wants to plant his seeds -- and I can choose to let that happen, or I can choose to 'let' the soil of my heart stay hard. If I don't let the seeds of the Sower into my heart, I wonder whose word I do let dwell in me instead?

Only a few miracles

Mark 4  The Sower has scattered his seed upon my heart. But some parts of the soil have rocks beneath the surface. Just as rocks keep seeds from burrowing down deep for full growth, so the rocks of unbelief block the work of God in my life. My life is in desperate need of his work -- his miracles.  I must dig the rocks out of the soil of my heart lest it be said of me, "I did only a few miracles in Carol's life because of her unbelief" (taken from Matthew 13:58).

Pockets of unbelief

Mark 4  The Sower has scattered his seed upon my heart. But sometimes the soil is rocky. I think of rocks as 'pockets of unbelief'. Even if the top soil is soft and receives the seed, rocks can get in the way of the seed's growth.  My faith may soften the soil so it accepts the seed readily, but as the roots start to dive below the surface they hit places of unbelief and the growth is stopped. Unlike hard soil, rocks are scattered. I may have deep faith about some things, so the word makes its way to my core being. But sometimes the word may 'hit a rock'. The solution is not to get rid of the problems that come my way, it is to dig up the rocks of unbelief so my faith can grow through those trials. “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

Yielding

Mark 4  The Sower has scattered his seed upon my heart. If humility is the tool that keeps the soil of my heart soft and able to receive the word of God, then it is pride that keeps my heart hard and therefore barren.  Where are the places in my life where I do not see God at work? Perhaps those are the fields where I am trying to grow my own crops and be the sower in my own fields. Perhaps that is where I have become confident that I can do it myself.  Instead, I need to 'yield' to the sower for my soil to 'yield' good crops.

Humbly accepting the implanted word

Mark 4  The Sower has scattered his seed upon my heart. How do I keep the soil rich and healthy so the word can do its work within me? What makes good soil?  Perhaps the answer is found in an aptly placed adverb: humbly.  "...humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts..." (James 1:21) . Is humility the trowel that harrows through the hardness and makes my heart ready to, "let the word of Christ richly dwell within [me]..." (Colossians 3:16)  ?

Hard Soil

Mark 4 God, the great sower, spreads his word upon my heart daily, but sometimes his truth doesn't make any difference in my life because it lands on hardness in my heart. The tragedy is not just that God's word can't do its work if it can't burrow down. The deeper grief is that I miss the bumper crop of fruit He intended to produce through me. "Today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts." (Ps 95: 7,8; Hebrews 3:7,8)