TerryLema

That is the way it is with many of our spiritual treasures. They are sitting on our “spiritual shelf” just waiting for us to discover their value. How often do we fuss, when peace is available to us? Or how often do we struggle along in our own weaknesses, when God’s strength is waiting for us on our “spiritual shelf?” God has so much for us, yet we often get by with so little.

In church Sunday, we talked about a life-long partnership with the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who releases God’s treasures into our lives. “…those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires…. the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” [Rom 8:5-7NIV]

In Romans Chapter 8 (NIV), Paul mentions the Spirit 19 times – 19 times! It is one of the most amazing chapters on our partnership with the Spirit of God. Take a moment to read it today.

Father, I don’t want to live one more day without Your Holy Spirit operating in my life. I don’t want to live in my own strength, or my own thinking. Spirit, make my thoughts Your thoughts, enable me to walk daily in partnership with You. Amen.

The Scriptures use other words to imply surrender, words such as commit … “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him….” [Ps 37:5 NIV]
Or the word bow … “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker….” [Ps 95:6 NIV]
Or that word worship … “Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. Say among the nations, ‘The LORD reigns.’” [Ps 96:9-10 NIV]
Or kneel … “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.” [Eph 3:14-15 NIV]

Kay Arthur was correct … committing our ways, bowing in worship, kneeling before the LORD our Maker, are not a onetime occurrence, they are to mark our everyday, sometimes every hour, surrender to our Lord and Master.

Father God, I must surrender daily, sometimes hourly, especially as this world and my own flesh far too often assert themselves. By the power of your Spirit, may I always rise ready and willing to do as You command. Amen.

After Jesus quieted the storm by simply telling it to do so, and after chiding His disciples for their lack of faith, Mark recounts that “They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’” [v41 NIV]

I love this story for a couple of reasons. First, that the disciples were afraid of the storm while it was raging but were even more terrified by what they had witnessed after the storm quieted.

Second, I always wonder why they woke him. They certainly didn’t think he could do anything about the storm, attested to by their amazement when He did. Did they just want some company in their misery? Were they a bit put out because He could sleep so peacefully while they were afraid?

The disciples were human, like us. We run to Jesus when we are frightened by life’s circumstances, but are we really expecting Him to do anything or do we just want some company in our misery. If we are standing in faith and expectation, then why are we amazed when He does “quiet our storms?”

Father, forgive us our lack of faith! Amen.