Who or What?

Big difference.

When someone blows up at me, is my first reaction to defend myself or am I willing to step back and evaluate WHAT is right? How did I come across to that person (even if I didn't mean it)? If there is a possibility I left an impression other than what pleases God, will I take the high road and make an apology? If I wait for others to apologize to me, simply because I know I'm right, my relationships will suffer. Pride hurts relationships; humility builds them.

Do I console myself that I was "more right" than the other person? How does that communicate my care for them? Is that how Jesus would respond?

"When he was reviled, he reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." I Peter 2:23

There is only one RIGHTEOUS JUDGE: God. I can't judge a situation perfectly and neither can the other person. If I commit myself to HIS safekeeping, I will let Him be the judge of my situation. When I know the Righteous Judge is on my case, I don't need to defend myself. I can trust in any situation, He will set it all straight.

"He shall bring forth thy righteousness as a light and thy judgement as the noonday." Psalm 37:6

Because of this, I can "rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him" and "fret not {myself} in any wise to do evil." Psalm 37:7

I can "cease from anger and forsake wrath." Psalm 37:8

Family life and church life will be much less complicated if I will simply let God be the Judge.

Trying Hard

"I'm trying."

How many times have you said that about your Christian walk?

"I'm doing my best."

I believe that this is many times my problem! It's "I" and "me"; not "He" and "Him."

Galatians 2:20 says, "...not I, but Christ liveth in me... and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God..."

It's not even my faith! It's His faith!

"That I may KNOW HIM, and the power..." Philippians 3:10

Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit {at salvation}, are ye now {in sanctification/spiritual growth} made perfect by the flesh? Galatians 3:3


When we got saved, it was all HIM, so why do we think now we can mature spiritually in our own strength and "trying harder"?


Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left [us] of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. Hebrews 4:1


There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his {God's} rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God [did] from his. Hebrews 4:9-10

One thinks, well, we have to try or else nothing is accomplished. Yes, it's true that I still have a choice to yield to the Spirit inside me when He tells me to pick up my Bible and read it. Yes, it's true that I still have things to accomplish in my day. In order to get them done, I do need to focus my mind and actually put one foot in front of the other--actually fill that cleaning pail up with soapy water.

It's not that "doing" goes away and we just lay around "enjoying God's presence" all the time! It's just that the "doing" is not ours to accomplish; our responsibility is just to yield and rest in His power, strength, faith, and love. I take my orders from Him, but--here's the key: He bears all the responsibility and burden!

My husband handles our finances, and I am happy that he does! Numbers are definitely not my forte! There is such a comfort and rest for me in this, because I trust my husband to bear the responsibility of the finances. He gives me a budget, and I follow it. Then I don't worry about the money. I have great freedom in this!

This is the way it is when I am in Christ. He bears all the burden and responsibility, and He takes care of me. All I have to do is listen to His voice telling me the very next step to take. His Holy Spirit lives inside me, and in Him, I have all the power I need to respond to that irritation in a godly way, to love that annoying person, to have patience with that toddler, to clean up for the millionth time after someone else!

Do I "get it"?

Today, as I peck away at my "to-do" list at home, I want to focus on "being"... "feeling at home in the presence of Jesus... laying way back in His love."

When I rest confident in His love and acceptance, I am so humbled by it, that I can extend grace to the next person.

I feel honoured to serve.

I feel compassion for the unseen hurts that cause another's insecurities, and I can show love to them in the face of their immature actions.

This is not an opportunity to put myself on a pedestal... when my attitude is right (remembering and being humbled that I am in Christ and His Spirit lives in me, I have no desire or reason to be proud!


Instead, I hide myself in the Secret Place of the Most High, and allow HIS life to flow through me. What a privilege!

A Strange Phrase

Paul wrote in Romans, "I die daily." What a strange thing to say! How can one "die daily"? If you're dead, you're dead! You can't die again the next day! Of course, it's a metaphor. Paul was not speaking literally, but he was definitely speaking spiritually.

This passage came up when Psalm 116:15 caught my eye in a different way.

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."

In the past I always supposed that to be in reference to a martyr's death or the death of an old saint who had walked with God many years and was now called Home to Glory. However, when I read the next verse along with it, I saw it in a new light.

"O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds."

For me to be "truly God's servant," I must die to myself--my will, my desires--and surrender or yield to His Holy Spirit Who lives in me. When I do this (on a moment-by-moment basis), I am "dying daily," as the Apostle Paul said.

When I accepted Christ, "I yielded myself to His tender embrace, and faith taking hold of the Word..." as the old hymn says ("The Haven of Rest"). Then what happened? "My fetters fell off and I anchored my soul! The Haven of Rest is my Lord!" And look back at verse 16 again (Psalm 116):

"...thou hast loosed my bonds."

How did this happen? By my simply yielding to Him, to His Holy Spirit power that is already living in me. Not by my trying harder to be good or to do right. It is nothing about me! All I do is yield, and I am free! Look at verses 13-14 of Psalm 116:

"I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord" (first step: salvation). "I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all people" (next step, and every step on the way to Heaven: yielding to Him)!

The Psalmist repeats it again in verse 18:

"I will pay my vows..."

To die daily is to yield. To "pay my vows" is to yield to Him Who loves me unconditionally and has only my good in mind (Romans 8:28)! In this case, I'd be crazy not to lay down and die!

Rest, Contentment, Satisfaction, Purpose, Joy...

"It is the faith that continually closes its eyes to the weakness of the creature, and finds its joy in the sufficiency of an Almighty Saviour that makes the soul strong and glad." --Abide in Christ, by Andrew Murray

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." --John 15:4-5

Only when I recognize that "I can of mine own self do nothing" (John 5:30), and believe and claim HIS power that already lives in me, can I find true joy in Jesus.

When I choose abide in the Vine (freely yield to His Spirit--that already lives in me), I find rest, contentment, satisfaction, purpose, joy, and so much more!

Oh the struggle in my soul when I do not yield to Him. Believing in His sovereignty and believing that He IS good--His very nature is GOOD!--helps me yield.

My grandbaby Kyla is a living example. At times, she chooses to fight sleep; she is cranky and grumpy, and twists her head around as I try to feed her the bottle. She pushes at me with her arm and tries to sit up when I'm trying to rock her to sleep. Yet if I allow her to sit up, she cries because she is so tired! She just won't yield to the one who knows best for her and loves her so much!

How like her I am when I fight what God is doing in my life and refuse to surrender to Him, the One Who knows best for me and loves me so much!

"...Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." --Jeremiah 31:3

I can trust the goodness of God Who is in control of everything that is happening in my life.