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Praying in Faith Part 4

by | May 24, 2008 | Uncategorized

Just wanted you all to know…I woke up 5:45. What I saw and heard made me smile…”Good Morning, Lord.” I want to share it with you:

I can’t wait for Daniel to get up this morning to see! I did join him in praying for the rain…so I even get in on this blessing…which is kind of cool.

Praying in Faith Part 3

by | May 23, 2008 | Uncategorized

I wanted to follow up on my previous posts about Daniel’s praying.

I like to sit out on my deck early in the morning to have my quiet time. But for the past couple of weeks, since Daniel’s prayers for rain have intensified (and sometimes been answered with a 5 minute cloud burst!), I have to drag the cushions for my chairs (one chair is for my feet) outside. I also haul my quiet time basket with bible, books, workbooks, pens, post it notes out there each day, too. I wish I could LEAVE it all out there and have it STAY out there! …or DO I? 🙂

You see, each day, all of these things get dragged inside by Daniel, who remains convinced that I am foolish leaving all of that out there to be rained on.

This morning, I once again had to take the extra time to drag everything out here again as he had so diligently prepared for rain, protecting the chair cushions, bibles and books.

Now it is only fair to say that, for the record, we NEED rain. Yesterday we had a fire instead. It is so dry up here, 100 acres became toast in nothing flat. This is where I ride my horses:

This photo was taken before the fire had consumed 100 acres.

When it comes to the rain, I guess I remain ever the skeptic. I mean, when have *my* prayers really amounted to much? Ah….perhaps in that simple statement we have the issue here… Have I given up believing that praying will make a difference? Did I *ever* believe they mattered? I mean, have I *ever* believed like Daniel believes? Do I doubt that prayer matters at all, at least *mine*? It comes back to the fact that I don’t often pray like Daniel does…where I then get off my behind and go do something that shows that I anticipate that God will answer.

True confessions.

I simply have to share something with you. I have a little thing called “Desktop Weather” that is tied in to Weather.com. This is what greeted me this morning after I hauled all my stuff back out on to the deck and then fired up my laptop–THIS is the forecast for the next few days:

Last night, Daniel changed his prayer to account for temperature…what we actually will have remains to be seen, but my Desktop Weather thingummie had the following message for me today. We are in the foothills…

I wonder about the faith that can move mountains. It boggles my mind. I am really wrestling with this prayer thing, in fact. I have long been on a quest to understand prayer more. I seem to have breakthroughs and then things go south. The last time I had a “crisis of belief” I studied a book diligently to help me understand. I wrote the author and asked her questions to clarify…and I think something in me got so disheartened that my cynicism was given birth during that time.

Maybe God is now calling me to set aside the studying about it…and to learn from a child.

Maybe instead of analyzing all of it over and over again, I should just follow Daniel’s example in my praying and in my doing.

(Are you tired of witnessing my grappling with this? Why is it so hard for me to grasp this kind of faith?)

Praying in Faith Part 2…

by | May 21, 2008 | Uncategorized

I was just thinking about what I posted earlier about my son while I was doing horse chores this evening. The Lord spoke to my heart about my final statements in the blog entry. That if I was going to pray that God would do a work in me, I should act like I believe he would…like Daniel did when he made the effort and moved the hay after praying for rain.

I heard the voice of the Spirit whisper to my heart: “But do you *want* to be made whole?”

This surprised me.

I was then reminded of John 5:5-7, which says:

One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
When Jesus saw him lying there
and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time,
he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

This man had been disabled for THIRTY-EIGHT years! He was there waiting for a way to get well. His presence in that place, his condition…it all seemed to indicate that he, of course, wanted to get well! So, why did Jesus ask him the question?

As I was pondering the way my son had prayed in faith for rain and taken action based on that faith, I considered…he really WANTED the rain. In fact, he wanted it enough that he planned for it, to welcome it. He put effort into receiving the rain. He DID something in preparation for the rain–the answer to his prayers. He anticipated the rain. When he prayed for rain, had Jesus asked him, “Do you want it to rain?” Daniel’s prayer *and* his actions would have indicated “YES! You BET I do!”

What about me? When I pray that God would take away my desire for food beyond what I need…well, do I *want* to get well? Do I *really* **want** the answer to my prayer to be yes? Or is there some way in which I continue to cherish sin in my heart?

Psalm 66:17-19 says:

I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
but God has surely listened
and heard my voice in prayer.

If I am to be like Daniel when I pray, if I am to believe that God will bring it about, if I am going to act like it is going to happen…what kind of actions will that illicit in my life? Jesus asks me, “Do you want to get well? Do you really want to be free? Or are you comfortable with this ‘issue’ in your life? Does it ‘work’ for you?”

Ouch.

Am I making provision for the flesh? Or am I making provision for Him answering my prayer?

n the New American Standard Bible, Romans 13:14 says this:

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the flesh
in regard to its lusts.

If I think about Daniel, what would it have looked like if he hadn’t believed his prayer for rain would have been answered? He would have left the hay alone, but he might have gotten on sun screen and gone to the lake to go swimming. He would have left my bible out on the back deck instead of bringing it in. He might have even turned on the air conditioning or opened the windows in the house…he would have made provision for anticipating that the Lord wasn’t going to answer his prayer for rain.

Instead, he was convinced…he believed, he asked, he wanted what he asked for enough to DO. Could this be, in part, what James means when he said:

In the same way, faith by itself,
if it is not accompanied by action,
is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds,
and I will show you my faith by what I do.
– James 2:17-18

Daniel’s faith caused him not just to pray, but also to act, to do…a “deed” or two. Not to win God’s “yes,” but to anticipate it!

If I pray in faith for God to forever remove an unhealthy attachment to food in my life, if I anticipate that His answer will be yes, what DEEDS will I DO that show that I anticipate God acting in response to my prayer? Will I make provision for the flesh, expecting that I will never be free from an ungodly attachment…or will I expect not to feel the compulsion to eat to excess any more and choose to act, to DO something(s) that demonstrates to God and to myself that I know God is at work doing a new thing, changing my lusts, passions and desires? Am I making provision, if you will, for His affirmative answer to my prayer? Or am I making provision for my flesh, demonstrating a lack of faith *and* the answer to Jesus’ question “Do you want to be well?” that says, “No…no thanks…not really. Silly me…I didn’t MEAN to ask you to heal me…”

Hmmm….

As I sit here editing this blog entry, I am smiling. God has such a sense of humor. Can you believe it? I actually, literally hear rain outside…the windows are open (my doing…). Maybe I better shut them.

Praying in Faith

by | May 21, 2008 | Uncategorized

My 15 year old son is on the autism spectrum. Having made a proclamation of faith in Christ at a very young age, his walk with God is nevertheless hard for me to figure out now. I can never tell if his praying is somehow related to his obsessive-compulsive tendencies or if there is truly a tender, believing heart. All I know is that when he gets it in his mind to pray for something, it gets added to what sure sounds like a “vain and repetitious” prayer at bedtime. It might even be added to mealtime prayers, too. Then on and on, forever and ever…until the prayer is answered one way or the other…he prays it.


In fact, sometimes his prayers sound so repetitious to me from night to night (or meal to meal) that I can say them with him…I know precisely what he will say “And protect Grandma and Grandpa and heal Leslie’s cancer and may she come to know you and may Andrea come to know you, too…” I kid you not. I have heard those words every night for at least the past 2 years since his other grandma died (and the prayer was only slightly different then) and my cousin developed brain cancer.

Since we have had only two days with a bit of rain since February (we live in DRY California), Daniel has added “Please bring rain” to his nightly (and mealtime) prayers. Sometimes, I must confess…I get such an attitude about it all…I am tempted to roll my eyes and I lip sync his prayer.

Truthfully, who is the one who needs the attitude adjustment? It is obviously me! Nevertheless, I have had a real hard time swallowing the way he seems to carelessly enter God’s presence and spout off the same old requests. I wonder sometimes if his heart is engaged at ALL in what is going on. (Gosh, do you suppose that his way of praying might just give God a lot more joy than my criticizing it does? Duh!)

One night when he prayed for the rain again…I rolled my eyes and sarcastically told him now would NOT be a good time for rain as the hay delivery had left 2 bales of hay out of the shed…they would be rained on and ruined and I would prefer NOT to have the hay rained on.

The next day, without a cloud in the sky, Daniel felt *badly* that he had prayed for rain. He went out there and moved the two 118-pound bales of hay…he was so convinced that God was going to bring rain that he didn’t want to be responsible in any way for ruining the hay.

I realized that my son, who is all too eager to save energy and not flex a muscle for much of anything, felt he *had* to move that hay before it got rained on…even though there was NO cloud in the sky.

Gee… This sure seems like believing faith to me. THIS is praying in faith. To him, if he prays for it, then it really might happen. In fact, it is SUCH a possibility that he *plans* for it to happen. Go figure.

Hmmmm…seems to me that I can learn something from the “vain and repetitious” prayers of a teenage autistic boy…maybe if *I* were to believe like that, some things would be different in my life.

For instance, if I prayed that God would remove the desire from me to have more food than I need, would I perhaps live expectantly…like God was really going to answer YES to this prayer? How would this affect *my* actions like praying for rain affects Daniel’s?

If I prayed that God would help me to say NO to the cookie dough in the tub in the fridge, if I believed he would actually say YES to keeping me from *wanting* it, and then I made choices based on expecting God to act…what would that look like?

Hmmm…..I think I have decided that I want to pray like Daniel. I want faith like my son. I want to pray, believing that what I have prayed for is God’s will and that it will happen. If it will happen, I better PLAN on it happening. LIVE like it will.

Wow…I have a feeling that doing this will change my life quite a bit. In fact, maybe I will pray that I will have praying faith like my Daniel has…that I will act believing that my prayers will be answered. What will it look like right now if I pray for that and then believe that God will make it happen?

Lessons Learned From the Brambles

by | May 18, 2008 | Blog

By 9:30 a.m., I had weed whacked the entire dog yard. My shoulders and back were stiffening up. The temperature had climbed into the 90s. The last thing I wanted to do was go back out into the heat mid-day and attack the blackberry bush(es).

But what I wanted less was to go another day with them continuing to grow and spread.

When my daughter and I had a falling out, I found myself hurt and angry more than just a bit. Suddenly, I had a lot of angry energy and the adrenaline surged into my aching muscles…I didn’t feel any pain. I plugged my iPod into my ears (nothing but worshipful music wafting into my head) and began my work.

As I began on the perimeter of the briar patch, God’s Spirit went to work on my heart. It was like with each rotation of the nylon string at the end of my “weapon” slicing out against the plant infestation, God’s Spirit sliced at my resolve. I could hear the Holy One…”Child…isn’t this like what *you* allow in your life? The seduction of the ‘sweet,’ the prideful way you are enamoured and choose to believe that ‘this won’t affect’ you? You thought that the ‘little blackberry bush’ would produce sweet fruit and not demand so much of you in return…didn’t you? And now it owns your yard. It rules, doesn’t it? Who would have thought?”

God showed me that I had made little compromises–even when it came to the anger I was allowing in my life right then. But so often, something appears (like the ‘little blackberry plant’) to offer promise of a reward of some kind. Maybe instant gratification. Maybe yet in the future. With this promise there is a minimization as to the consequences or cost. Who would have thought that the “harmless” little desire for sweet fruit (no less!) would result in a bramble that would take over the yard!

The Spirit revealed to me that occasionally I would even assault these little compromises in my life–conviction that things were getting “out of control” would cause me to come at it with my spiritual “weed whacker.”

Without really rooting it out, without digging down deeply, like with the blackberries, all I was really doing was a temporary fix. If I leave my blackberry mess down there on my hillside without a follow up…without more done to prevent its regrowth, chances are all I have really done is provide MORE of what is needed for MORE proliferation of the plant in my yard.

Last November (for instance) during a retreat for 3 days where time alone with God showed me things I needed to root out of my life with an overly full schedule, I didn’t apply follow up treatments. I provided, in essence, “short-term canopy reduction.” Yes, the appearance is that of “Well, that has been taken care of!” But the truth is, for blackberries and sin, assaulting it this way…”In many cases…stimulates the formation of suckers from lateral roots and induces branching.” The result is, in time, MORE of the same!

This reminds me of Hebrews 12:15:

See to it that no one misses the grace of God
and that no bitter root grows up
to cause trouble and defile many.

My plan now for the blackberry brambles is NOT to rest on my so-called laurels and assume that I have taken care of it. In fact, I assume that I have only provided the way for it to thrive! I will *follow* UP the work done yesterday. I will rake the pieces, I will spray (ugh) anything that yet remains in the ground…and, hopefully, when we have a California Department of Forestry declared day for burning, have my burn permit in place and burn whatever is left.

If this bramble wasn’t on our leech field I *would* rototill as well…but I can’t do that. This blackberry bush (if it had a brain) was very clever about where it settled…I can’t rototill it without affecting the leech field which also probably gives this blackberry the moisture it needs to thrive. It is protected there in some ways. Just like sin sets up residence in subtle ways…insidious yes, but sometimes protected or even cherished and nurtured in a corner of our lives. From that place of protection it appears harmless enough…and before you know it, it has taken over the entire life.

The lessons in the brambles showed me that I need to approach sin in my life with a same aggressive multi-facted approach. I must not just assault it head on, but I must follow up…like saturating any remnant with herbicide, I must saturate my life with God’s Word. With the blackberries NOTHING will be given sympathy and allowed to remain. Likewise, I must not allow one single solitary shred of sin to remain. It must be destroyed.

A part of me feels badly for the quail who have nested under the protection of the brambles in the past. Their thicket is gone. But I must not allow this “false compassion” to lure me to compromise. It MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO GO ON.

Like the blackberry bush(es) took over the yard intended for something else, so too will sin not “behave” and stay in the place I hope it will…it will also send out shooter roots and suckers and branches…and it will take over if I allow it.

Song of Solomon 2:15 says:

Catch for us the foxes,
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards,
our vineyards that are in bloom.

It is the little foxes, the little compromises that spoil the garden of God in our lives. Let us refuse to allow these “little compromises.” No matter what they promise…sweet fruit that is “good for you,” or even something more, I will choose to be mindful that I must remain wholly devoted to God and His purposes in my lives.

Assaulting Wild Blackberry Brambles

by | May 18, 2008 | Uncategorized

To look at the picture above is to stimulate the taste buds for many of us. Naturally sweet, wild “California Blackberry” can be found throughout California–along creeksides, riverbeds and, yes, even in backyards in riparian woodland…here, where the Bylsmas live! Michaela and I have gone on horseback on our “berry tasting tour” every August for the past few years, delighting human and horse tastebuds alike. (You should see Breezy scrape the berries off the top of the prickly branches! It is quite humorous!)

Five years ago, when we moved here, there were no blackberry bushes within sight of our house. Definitely *not* in the area outside that became our dog yard. Our dog yard is enclosed by a 100 foot fence along each side. It is a hillside, marked by a number of oaks and Douglas Fir trees and makes a great playland for our two dogs, Jordan and Daisy.

Two years ago, my daughter and I saw the first sign of a little wild blackberry plant spring up in our backyard. Enamoured with the idea of having sweet, fresh blackberries right outside our door, rather than having to go hiking or on a horseback ride to find them (we have done both), we allowed the “cute little plant” to live–even during May when it is time to be sure we weed whack everything living that could contribute to the threat of fire (like lots of weeds in the backyard). We live in California fire country…

The first year, the “little” blackberry bush grew quite a bit–but modestly nevertheless. So last year, when it was time to do our “fire safe” work on the place, it was CLEAR we had to cut some of it back. While it hadn’t provided fruit in its first year, we were just sure it would in its second year. We cut it back quite a bit, being oh-so-careful to leave some of it. We eagerly waited for the end of summer, when all the blackberry bushes that we have ever seen have marvelous fruit exploding from their branches.

August of 2007 came and went with NO blackberries. Not only that, but the bush branches themselves went nuts. The cutting back we did previously was just what the bush(es?) needed to receive permission to grow exponentially. Quail made their home what could easily be known as “Bylsma Bre’er.” The dogs certainly weren’t impressed by the way the brambles were taking over their domain. They love chasing the quail, but the stickers that find the dogs’ paws when they venture too close to the briars is another story entirely. The dogs have learned quickly to keep their distance.

This spring, it was clear that the California Blackberry had about taken over the dog yard. NOT a good thing. The NASTY thorns dominated much of the yard! The quail have had their babies and have moved on. And for the record? Last year, the bush didn’t produce fruit either. In fact, not even flowers (yes, I know the two are related..LOL!).

This morning dawned and the deadline for being “fire safe compliant” is upon us (nothing can be more than 4 inches tall and these bushes have been taking up about 50×20 feet in the backyard…they were growing as tall as 4 feet high in places!). At 7am, I took my weed whacker out there, equipped with a metal slicing blade, ready to make mincemeat of the blackberry…once and for all! I would WIN this war if it KILLED ME!

Hitting a rock a couple of times, seeing sparks fly into the dry weeds about made my heart stop and I rethought my strategy. One thing led to another…I abandoned the metal blade, bought a machete, tried it, abandoned that, equipped my weed whacker with beveled thin string, had a fight with my daughter :-(, found myself energized (funny how that is)…and went out there and attacked the blackberries with a vengance!

There is now carnage everywhere. I definitely won that assault round.

As He often does, God used the experience to bring home some truths to me. I will write about those tomorrow…I give all of this account as background. But I wanted to share some things that I read *after* I assaulted the blackberry bushes today…after I proudly boasted to my family of my triumph!

I read the following…AFTER I had gone my rounds with the plant vermin, at this website (UC Davis, an agricultural resource in our area):

“Wild blackberries are able to regenerate from the crown or rhizomes following mowing, burning, or herbicide treatment. This makes them difficult to control, and control measures often require follow-up treatment. Land managers often rely on a combination of mechanical and chemical control methods followed by a prescribed burn to dispose of vegetative material.

“Because of the extensive underground root system, digging out the plants in a home landscape is a difficult undertaking. Home gardeners generally must rely on foliage-applied herbicide treatments to control an infestation of wild blackberries.

“Bulldozing can also cause resprouting and can spread the weed by means of root and stem fragmentation.
“Mowing is not an effective means of controlling wild blackberries. In many cases it stimulates the formation of suckers from lateral roots and induces branching. Despite the lack of long-term control, however, mowing or chopping can provide short-term canopy reduction that will encourage the growth of grasses and broadleaf plants.

“Burning, like mowing, is not an effective long-term strategy because wild blackberry plants vigorously resprout from rhizomes. However, like mowing, it also provides short-term canopy reduction.”

Did you catch all of that? This stuff is TOUGH to get rid of. I have once again just done what this “little” plant needs to become BIGGER and MORE PROLIFIC than ever! Our little flirtation with the notion of letting “sweet blackberries” exist right “out our back door” has resulted in a major INFESTATION that we may NEVER get on top of! Short of mowing, removing the stalks (stickers not withstanding), spraying with HERBICIDE (gasp!), and burning whatever is left and being ready to repeatedly rototill the remains…I am not sure we WILL win this war. We have merely prolonged the inevitable. In fact, my best effort to win this have, as in the past, resulted in PROMOTING MORE OF THE BRAMBLES to take over!!!!

Tomorrow’s blog entry I want to share the things God whispered to my heart while I was out there in my self-righteous frenzy, hacking violently away at the blackberries.

Another Mini-Bible Study for you!! Jeremiah 6:16

by | May 17, 2008 | Blog

The last week, as I prepared to share in my life Thin Within group on chapters 28-30 in the Thin Within book, I looked at my lesson notes from the last session I taught. Boy, God did it again! He used those notes to really encourage ME! But beyond that, there are things that he showed me on the pages of the book, Thin Within, and in His Word…again…His Word really IS living and active…I want to share this with you.

This is what the LORD says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is,
and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
~ Jeremiah 6:16

With all the words that it is so easy for me to spout off and all the messages and voices that are crying in this world to be heard, when I read this verse *this* time, I felt something…it penetrated my heart.
Questions for you that God asked me…I hope they lead you along a joyful time in His Word.

1.) WHO speaks these words? Journal what it means to you that the God of the universe, the One who spun the universe into existence, who called, by His Word, everything into being…that HE has something to say to YOU.

2.) What do you believe about His character? Can you support this in scripture? If you think that the one speaking in Jeremiah 6:16 is an ogre, a “boss” that you have to impress with your “goodness,” or a disapproving, crotchety Father, then that will affect how you see *what* he says in these verses. If, however, you see Him accurately, as he IS, you will be more likely to have a correct perception of his intentions and desires for you, His precious child.

3.) Are you familiar with the designation in many translations of the bible when the word, “Lord” is in all capital letters? When you see “LORD” as opposed to “Lord?” Traditionally, when you see LORD in all capital letters, it is when there were four letters there, known as the tetragrammaton. It is the Name that God used to reveal himself to Moses. It is often translated “I AM” as well. In John 8, Jesus told those listening, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I AM.” Journal what it means to you that I AM speaks living words to you in this moment. Can you still your mind and heart and know that He is God? That He is I AM? When all questions are asked in our lives, He is the I AM…the answer…

“Stand at the crossroads and look…”

4.) When you “stand” what are you NOT doing? What must you do (with forward movement) in order to be able to STAND? Is your life characterized by GO GO GO? How might it change if you stopped…and stood…

5.) Where do we stop and stand?

6.) What is implied by the idea of “crossroads?”

When we have a “crossroads” in our lives, we have a choice. In any given moment, we have a choice as to who will own the moment. Flesh? Or the Spirit? God? Or self?

7.) In your stopping, according to this passage, what are you to do? Stop and _________.

The great I AM speaks…He gently admonishes. “Child…it is ME…I AM speaking to your heart. Deep calls to deep! STOP your frenzied pace for a moment. Stop…stand….be still…and now…look. The choices are before you. Which will you pick?”

“…ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is…”

8.) What verb is mentioned twice in this part of the verse?

9.) If one “asks,” what does that imply about their knowledge? About their need?

10.) Who is the One we are to ask? (implied at the beginning of the passage…)

11.) Prideful, humble. Which of these two attitudes accompanies the ability to “ask where the good way is?”

As we choose to stop, stand, look at the choices before us, ask God what HIS way is, we are choosing a heart of humility. In that moment, we are taking captive our willful stubbornness, our rebellion. We are offering ourselves to Him…to ask Him, to hear Him…and then…

“…and walk in it…”

12.) Once we have stopped, stood, looked, evaluated, asked…this part of the verse implies God WILL answer. He won’t hang us out to dry! What are we to do then?

Re-read the verse putting emphasis on the word “IT”…

This is what the LORD says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in IT,”

13.) Once we have stopped, stood, looked, asked, and heard from God about which way at our crossroads we are to go, what are we to do?

14.) How would your life change if you took a single moment captive for the Lord and did what this verse teaches? What if you took another moment captive for the Lord and did what this verse teaches? And another? And another?

A godly life is comprised of a godly choice in a moment, connected to another godly choice in a moment…those moments are opportunities where we have stopped, stood, looked, asked, and heard God say “This is the way…walk in IT” and done it in that moment. Try not to think about an entire LIFE of godly choices…that is next to impossible to fathom and will put us on tilt. Don’t think about losing 56 pounds or 120 pounds or 15 pounds. Think about THIS MOMENT. Can you do something with THIS moment? You can. You know you can. Now this one? See there? You have already captured a bunch of moments for the Lord just by hanging out at this blog! 🙂

“…and you will find rest for your souls.”

15.) List all the things you are to do from all of Jeremiah 6:16.

16.) What will GOD do in this passage? (There are at least two…they may be implied…do you see them?)

God will answer if we ask. But he will also give REST to our SOULS IF we walk in His way.

17.) What does “rest for your soul” feel like, sound like, LIVE like to you?

18.) Can you stop, stand, look, ask and walk in His way for a moment? If so, what are you promised?

19.) Respond to this material. Journal a prayer or sing a praise to God!

But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.‘

20.) What is another choice a person can make?

A related passage is found in Isaiah 48:17-18:

This is what the LORD says—
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the LORD your God,
who teaches you what is best for you,
who directs you in the way you should go.
If only you had paid attention to my commands,
your peace would have been like a river,
your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

21.) IF only what?

22.) Then what?

Surrendering to God’s authority, submitting to Him…brings peace…the visual images used in this passage are of a never-ending river and ever-rolling waves of the sea…your peace would be never-ending and your righteousness steady forevermore IF…IF… (Note, too, who it is that is speaking here in this passage, too…again, it is the LORD, the “I AM…”)

Look up Matthew 11:28-30 in your bible or here. The Thin Within book points out that we can experience the rest Christ promises in the midst of our busy lives by:

1.) Coming to Him when he calls.

2.) By admitting we are weary and burdened.

3.) By bowing our heads and willingly placing our burdens in His yoke.

4.) By learning from Him.

–> Which of these four things are hardest for you?

Let’s cease striving. Let’s stop trying to do this in our own strength. Let’s take THIS moment captive for the Lord. The next moment we will worry about…well…in the next moment!

He calls, He beckons, He draws you close, further still, deeper yet…will you come?
Journal a prayer of commitment about how you will allow these truths move you to action today. What will you do in response to Jeremiah 6:16, in response to God’s voice?