Dwell on What is True

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
Psalm 131:2

In my process of being weaned, there are moments of discouragement. Falling tears leak my memory from my mind, making biblical truths difficult to recall. In order to compose and quiet my soul, I need to talk myself through what I know to be true though. A written list is helpful during these times; it reminds me of what I know to be true and prompts right thinking. Following is my list, provided for a special someone in need. A pdf version without links is provided at the end of the post for anyone desiring a printed version of truths “on hand” for those difficult moments.

Do Not Love the World

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
1 John 2:15-16

Knowing God

The day after I realized that I might have to stop writing posts for this blog I remained in bed praying for a while before I got up for the day. I asked God to help me know Him more even though my struggles to see well prevent as much Bible reading as I had been doing. In this precious time spent with God, I became aware of the Father watching me, desiring to give me the answer to my prayer. I thought of Jesus standing at His Father’s side advocating for me and the Holy Spirit living inside of me, helping me along this process called sanctification. An hour passed peacefully as I pictured manna raining down to feed me while I tried to find God’s way in my desert.

Salvation – Praise God!

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
1 John 2:1-2

After a difficult weekend that resulted in continued fatigue and brain fog at the start of the week, I was unable to focus on commentaries for the verses I was studying for the day. Instead, I closed my eyes to think about 1 John 2:1-2 and pray. Jesus’ name and the word propitiation were foremost in my awareness. Salvation was my meditation for the next hour while I praised God for this gift.

Hold My Hand While We Limp to Jerusalem

NOTE: This post is much longer than any of my other posts. However, for ease of access, I am providing it here at the request of several people. For a printable pdf version, please scroll to the end of the post.

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The blessing of Christian fellowship is a wonderful gift! God “comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). Sometimes though, it is difficult to know how best to offer this comfort even when there is a sincere desire to do so.

What Moths and Rust Cannot Destroy

In an attempt to cheer myself a few weeks ago, I tried to think of something I could look forward to, but it was difficult. Through a tearful struggle, I came up with a few things and kept my eyes on them with the expectation that I would be cheered once they happened. This gave me a precarious sensation of hope amidst circumstances that had been brimming with loss for several years. But… this was simply a recipe for additional disappointment.

My Song in the Night

At the end of my last post, I commented, “Preaching truth to myself instead of listening to thoughts that cause despair is what I must do in order to be filled with joy, peace, and hope.” However, I also realize that prayer is essential in my desire to draw closer to God. Recently, my prayers have come in the form of pleading cries for relief and comfort. I know that God notices my tears as He did with Hannah (1 Samuel 1:10) and doesn’t grow weary of listening as written by David (Psalm 6:6-9). As I pray though, I find myself wondering, as David did in Psalm 13, “How long, O Lord”?

An Eternal Perspective

With the threat of additional medical issues looming on the horizon, the Holy Spirit reminded me that my thoughts questioning why I may have to endure more affliction were not helpful. Instead of looking for God in the situation, I was focused on my fear of feeling physically worse than I do already. Thankfully, there is no end to the number of places I could find comfort and guidance in the Bible. My study for today included this passage:

Being Still

All block quotes are from “Stephen’s Martyrdom” by Charles Spurgeon

“To be calm amid the bewildering cry, to be confident of victory; to be still and know that God is God; to stand still with the children of Israel at the Red Sea, and see the salvation of God; this is hard, so hard that only the divine dove, the Comforter, can bring us from above the power to be so; but when once the art of being still is fully learned, what strength and bliss is in it!”

Let Him Hear

As He prepared to tell a series of parables, Jesus said to His listeners, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke 14:35). When I reflect on this, I think of the love He was showing. He wanted people to draw near, because He wanted to teach them something. God cares that we understand what He has to say to us.