dependence

Saturday, July 4, 2009 (7:49 a.m.)

Blessed Lord,

Independence Day. A day for celebrating all You have provided us as a country through the years. Thank You Lord. Thank You for the blessings that abound for each of us. You are such a good and generous God. Thank You for providing us Your power and strength.

Lord God, I look to You dependently. What freedom there is to be found in loving You and following Your will. Thank You Lord.

As I’ve continued learning to take better care of myself this past week, I see many of my relationships with others growing and changing. Thank You Lord. This is all completely related to my dependence on You!

Two verses in the New Living Translation speak to our dependence on You. Hosea 12:6, “So now, come back to your God! Act on the principles of love and justice, and always live in confident dependence on your God.” James 4:10, “When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on Him, He will lift you up and give you honor.”

How often do we insist on going our own way Lord? We choose to bow down before false idols. We waste time and energy chasing things that are not nourishing or ultimately satisfying.

Thank You that You never change! You are always here inviting us back to Your fold.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009 (6:27 a.m.)

Oh My Goodness God!

Just being able to sit here again, with my Bibles spread all around me, reading others’ thoughts on Your Words I have the silliest grin on my face. It is so comforting to read of Your faithfulness.

This has been a particularly tough week for me Lord. Not having felt well, things around here have kind of spiraled to a place nearing chaos. So of course, You would provide for me to turn to a commentary that speaks directly to this. The Bible Handbook writes regarding The Prayer of Faith (James 5:13-18) “Health is an inner and spiritual state as well as a physical one.” Oh, but it doesn’t stop convicting me there. No, no. “This suggests perhaps that the illness is related to bitterness against someone wronged, and cleansing that relationship is vital for healing.”

Father, as I read Your Word, I realize again how very grateful I am to You. Thank You so much for loving and providing for me so well. Digging deeper, I read Your verses and I confess to You Lord just how ugly my anger towards others was. My stubborn refusal to “just let it go” when requested by Terry truly backfired on me. Father God, I confess to You there was absolutely nothing loving (as described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7) in my approach to our quite petty misunderstanding.

Lord, I believe that very anger worked devastatingly hard against me to create my current medical state. Even as I shake my head here, another small smile comes across my face. I consider my own righteous indignation as I held so tightly to my ‘right’ to be that angry and I confess to how wrong I was. Nowhere in Your Word do I find anything that even remotely supports that mistaken idea.

Thank You Lord that You have allowed my body to react so acutely to such negativity. I feel embarrassed Lord that I had to get this sick to remember that unreleased anger is never the answer to any of our problems. As in every other aspect of my being Lord, I am grateful that my dependence is in You.

I love You so much Oh Lord. Thank You for all You are and all You do. Truly I would appreciate Your healing hand in my return to much better health. Continue Your work in teaching me all You have for me to learn Dear Lord. I love You. Amen.

(636 words ~ 8:31 a.m.)