Quote

If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place of training and correction and it's not so bad.

C S Lewis

Isaiah 21

Isaiah 21
Today we read a chapter filled with a lot of description of coming plunder and betrayal, pain and suffering. The fight is coming. The watchman is at his post and waiting til daybreak so they can see what is happening. There isn’t much good news here. People are out of their homes and are refugees in the desert. But two words jump out that I think we all need to grab hold of: “hold on”. “God of Israel says so”. We are told to just hang in there. Too often we throw in the towel when things get tough. We want to give up and not keep fighting. But there are tough days, there are difficulties we all will face and the truth is, sometimes we just need to hang on and trust God to deal with the details. We have to stay focused on the One who can deal with the problems we face even when it seems overwhelming. The enemy wants us to feel like it is a helpless situation. He wants us to really just walk away and say the fight is not worth it. But God is faithful, and He is able, and He is more that willing to get involved in our lives. We just need to hold on. My life verse in 1 Cor 15:58 puts it this way: “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding….”. We need to stay connected and just hang on to Him!

Spiritual Workouts

by Dennis and Barbara Rainey
October 18

Needed: Spiritual Workouts

1 Corinthians 9:26,27
Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim...I buffet my body and make it my slave.

I'd like to invent a spiritual workout system with machines similar to those in health spas that can zero in on specific muscles you want to develop. My spiritual spa would be a place with individual stations where muscles of the faith would be purposely developed, a place where we could be intentional about cultivating spiritual stamina.

My first station would help bridle the tongue when it is tempted to say harsh words, and toughen it up when it needs to speak out boldly for the Lord. It would build control of our gossip muscle, and teach us to clean up our language.

I'd have a station that addresses the faith muscles of the eyes. Above this machine would be pictures of biblical heroes whose lives were ruined when they lost control of their eye muscles-Samson and David, who were deceived when they allowed their eyes to gaze too long upon the opposite sex.

I would also have a machine that works on the spiritual muscles of the neck. It would increase flexibility in those who have become "stiff-necked"-especially those who are too proud to admit mistakes, too stubborn to ask for forgiveness or too arrogant to admit they need to depend upon God.

I'd have an exercise that would require a person to be on his knees, with neck bent downward in prayer. Prayer loosens muscles that are tied in knots by worry, pressure or long hours of hard work.

Sweating yet? Any increase in your heart-for-God rate? Out of breath? Sore? Like any good workout, it wouldn't be good to overdo it the first time out...or can it be overdone?

Prayer:
Ask God for the courage to exercise your faith daily and grow stronger in Jesus Christ.

Discuss: What areas of spirituality in your own life need strengthening? What pressures keep you from devoting more time each day to spiritual disciplines or "workouts"?

Whatever It Takes

A strangled smile fell from your face
It kills me that I hurt you this way
The worst part is that I didn't even know
Now there's a million reasons for you to go
But if you can find a reason to stay

I'll do whatever it takes
To turn this around
I know what's at stake
I know that I've let you down
And if you give me a chance
Believe that I can change
I'll keep us together whatever it takes

She said "If we're gonna make this work
You gotta let me inside even though it hurts
Don't hide the broken parts that I need to see"
She said "Like it or not it's the way it's gotta be
You gotta love yourself if you can ever love me"

I'll do whatever it takes
To turn this around
I know what's at stake
I know that I've let you down
And if you give me a chance
And give me a break
I'll keep us together, I know you deserve much better

But remember the time I told you the way that I felt
That I'd be lost without you and never find myself
Let's hold onto each other above everything else
Start over, start over

I'll do whatever it takes
To turn this around
I know what's at stake
I know I've let you down
And if you give me a chance
And believe that I can change
I'll keep us together whatever it takes