Don't you love the mornings when you wake up knowing that God had surrounded you as you slept. That His protective helmet of salvation had kept the worry away. That's how I felt as I woke this morning. This was a welcome relief from the temptation to worry and fret that has been hovering around me this week. As I fully woke and realized that God had pushed back the worry, I began to glorify God as the song "Worthy, you are worthy",rolled through my head and lifted my heart. As I prayed I remembered an acronym that I heard from a pastor. She used ACTS to remember the following:
A---Adoration
C---Confession
T---Thanksgiving
S---Supplication
So, that's how I proceeded. I adored God for who He is, I confessed my lack of belief and fear, I thanked Him for all that He is to me, and I surrendered anew to his direction and power.
It was funny really. Each time I started to pray for someone I was directed to hold off--to continue in my ACTS. After a period of time, the Holy Spirit began to pray for the needs of our body but somehow I knew that they were covered already. I knew that as long as I continued in ACTS that He would take care of those things. I realized that what He wanted most from me was my love and to trust Him.
Then I jumped into the scriptures. I was determined to print out the promise that God gave my hubby this past week (just before he was laid off from work). It was I Chronicles 28:20. He wept when he told me. His heart is so softened because he has spent so much time in the Word lately.
1 Chronicles 28:20 (New King James Version)
“Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God—my God—will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD."
Is that great or what? I just printed it out in big letters and posted it around the house. This will remind us that God indeed will be with us--never going to leave us nor forsake us.
But then, as God does it sometimes, I ran across this scripture.
Luke 24:30-34
30When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them.
31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.
32They said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?"
33And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them,
34saying, "The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon."
It made me stop in my tracks when I read "were not our hearts burning within us.... while He was explaining the scriptures to us."
Wow! and wow! I realized that this is what should happen every time we read the scriptures--our hearts should burn within us--knowing that the Holy Spirit himself opens up our hearts to the truth of the scriptures. Just as the disciples knew that they had been with Jesus when they realized that the burning sensation within them was there to verify Christ's identity.
John 14:26
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you
That tells me something--it tells me a lot in fact. It tells me that I need to be in the Word more often. It tells me that I can experience a passionate response to those scriptures the more I read and allow the Holy Spirit to verify Christ's identity and love through those very scriptures.
Lord, this very day give me "heart burn". Cause my heart to burn as I read the Scriptures. I want that passionate response to the scriptures Lord. Holy Spirit, rise up in me to teach me and light that fire of passion within me. Thank you God, for you are faithful to do just that. Thank you for your gift of the Holy Spirit.
No comments:
Post a Comment