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To do this, I work and struggle, using Christ’s great strength that works so powerfully in me. Colossians 1:29 (NCV)
Do a study of the Old Testament and you will see a phrase from time to time that goes something like this: ‘And the Spirit of the Lord came upon them/him/her.’ When God’s Spirit comes on the scene you know something exciting is going to happen. When the Spirit of the Lord ‘came upon’ people in the Old Testament there was no question that the actions taken by the person ‘under the power of the Spirit’ was acting on God’s behalf.
People were raised from the dead; received supernatural powers; were given wisdom beyond comprehension. Nations fell and lives were changed when God’s Spirit ‘came upon’ people.
Fast forward to some of Jesus’ last days on earth. The time was fast approaching when he would be brutally murdered on the cross. His time with his followers was short. In John 14 Jesus gives the disciples a totally new revelation, one that when completed would change the course of history. Jesus promises that after he is gone God the Father would send his very own Spirit to help, to guide, to teach and to empower the followers of Jesus to do the work of the Kingdom!
In the Old Testament the Spirit ‘came upon’ people. Now, the Holy Spirit ‘lives in’ people! What a marvelous promise. We no longer need to wait for the Spirit to come to us, He’s here! Living inside me! He sees all the things I see, hears the things I hear, feel the pain I feel, lives through the hardship I live through. He feels the pain of my loneliness; sees the heartache of my failures; hears the words of my accusers!
It’s so easy in the Christian life to ‘know the fact of the Spirit’s presence’ without experiencing the ‘power of the Spirit’s presence.’ We get distracted by the cares of the world and start to believe that we are in this struggle alone. We start to rely on our own efforts, seek the praises of men, or measure our worth by the gifts, talents and abilities others consider worthy.
Don’t let the things you see and feel in this world take away from the power that lives within you. Paul says, in our verse for today, that he struggles using Christ’s strength, not his own to do the work God called him to do.
What work has God called you do to today? Do it in the strength of the Spirit, not your own. Whether it be managing a huge corporation or tending to children in a day care, whether it is flipping burgers at the local fast-food shop, or cleaning rooms in the local hotel. God has called you to a work and given you his Spirit to strengthen you!
PRAYER: Father I thank you for your Holy Spirit that lives in me every second of my day. Forgive me for the times I try to take matters into my own hands and do them in my own strength. Help me use the power within, the power of your Spirit to live. Amen.
The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD will answer my prayer. Psalm 6:9 (NLT)
A small boy sits by the curb looking down the street. A passerby asks if he needs help. The little boy looks up and states confidently, ‘No sir, I’m just waiting for my daddy. He said he’d be home at 5:00 and it’s almost that time. I don’t want to miss him.”
Intrigued by the little boy’s faith, the passerby asks, “How do you know he’ll come?” The child looked up with confidence and said, “Because sir, my daddy always tells me when he’ll be home and he’s never been wrong.”
A simple story. A simple faith. What was it that caused the little boy to wait with confidence? Faith in the consistency of his father. Consistency is defined by the character of an individual. In essence a consistent person is one that does what he says he’ll do. And, because he did it in the past, he can be counted on to do it in the future.
Why did the woman risk ridicule by reaching through the crown to touch Jesus? Why did Mary and Martha send a message to Jesus that Lazarus was sick? Why did four friends dig a hole in the roof to drop their paralytic friend down to Jesus? Consistency.
Jesus could be counted on to do what he says he’d do.
David writes in Psalm 6:9 “The Lord HAS heard my plea, the Lord WILL answer my prayer.”
Was David’s reliance on prayer an act of blind faith in a religious activity? Not on your life. David knew God. He’d seen God deliver him from lions and bears. He’d seen the giant fall before him. He’d felt his presence on cold, dark, lonely nights and in the midst of the storm. He knew God and God’s track record assured him that he’d be heard.
Often times, when our prayers aren’t answered we fall back on the idea that if God didn’t answer it’s because he didn’t want to because of his anger towards us, or his disdain for our past, or because he is powerless to do so.
He may not always answer in the time or manner we’d like, but history shows that we serve a God who is consistent. He does what he says he’ll do time after time. The original word picture David paints in his statement refers to mercy and grace. He knew his God was a God of mercy and grace and because of that, because of what he’d seen God do in the past, he knew he could count on him for the future.
Regardless of what you are going through today, the Lord God, knows your heart and your need. He’s been meeting needs for 1,000’s of years. He’s not about to change that now. You can trust that he’ll do what he says he’ll do.
PRAYER: Father, it’s hard to comprehend what it means to be consistent in faith since there are so few things that are consistent today. Marriages fail, friends leave us, religion seems empty. Help me to rely on your consistency in my faith walk. Amen.
Have compassion on me, LORD, for I am weak. Heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony. Psalm 6:2 (NLT)
I love plants, but I am not even close to what some may call a person with ‘a green thumb.’ In reality, if my plants could talk they’d probably describe me using the words ‘abusive’ or ‘neglectful’. Not intentionally of course, but the plants I have sit silently every day and quite often go unnoticed until their leaves droop. When that finally catches my attention I water them and hope they ‘come back’.
The Psalmist describes himself as being weak. That phrase ‘for I am weak’ may be better rendered ‘I am as one who droops’. That phrase gives the word picture of a plant in drought conditions…or a plant in my living room from time to time. The ground beneath it yearns for water. The leaves droop under the stress of trying to grow with no nourishment.
We get that way from time to time, don’t we? For some of us it’s not an occasional thing but a daily condition. The burdens of the day weigh us down. We yearn for even a little respite from the agony of worry, the fear of failure, the shame from poor decisions, and the demands of addiction.
We walk (on the inside) like the little boy I saw in the mall the other day. Obviously done with a long day of shopping and wanting to be carried he drug himself down the hall, arms drooping, head down, staggering under some unseen load, and moaning “I’m tired. Carry me.” (You can add the drama according to where you are today!)
In Old Testament times ‘for my bones are in agony’ didn’t refer to the skeletal system that upholds us. It referred more to the emotional make-up of the person. Not only did David feel like he was drooping under the pressure of the day, the pain went to his very soul. He was tired physically and that fatigue went all the way to the very heart of his being.
Another Old Testament author, Jeremiah, voices a similar plea when he says, “O LORD, if you heal me, I will be truly healed; if you save me, I will be truly saved. My praises are for you alone!” (Jeremiah 17:14)
There are times in our lives when we feel like my plant in the corner. We keep doing the things we do, we keep giving, serving and tending to our daily routines, but in the midst of the activity there’s a whole lot more going out than coming in. We can feel unappreciated, unnoticed, neglected or even abused.
That’s when we come to the Father for the refreshment we need from his spirit. Like the woman at the well, we come to the one who promises us water, refreshing water that lives within us to encourage us along the way. His healing is eternal and available regardless of the reason for our stress.
PRAYER: Lord there are times when the stress of my day seems to overwhelm me. Like David, the pain seems to go to my very soul. Heal me with the refreshing water of your Spirit. Help me to find my strength in you when the demands of life seem too great. Amen.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they don’t know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34 NCV
When life doesn’t turn out the way we’d like it too our first inclination is to put the blame on someone else. We get stopped for speeding and blame our boss for being so unbending about getting to work on time, or blame the kids for taking so long getting ready. We fight all the way to church and blame the pastor for not having a good sermon rather than considering the fact that our anger kept us from hearing the Spirit’s soft, gentle voice. We put on extra pounds and rather than exercise and make wiser choices we blame the fast-food place for not serving ‘healthy fried foods’ (whatever that means). We spill our hot coffee as we leave the drive through and blame the coffee shop for having hot coffee!
I still find it humorous to see some of the warning labels on the products we buy. “Warning: Items taken out of the oven may be hot and cause burns.” Really? Perhaps the best one lately is the commercial with a computer generated pickup snowboarding down a mountain side with the disclaimer warning us that “We shouldn’t try this at home because pickups can’t snowboard.” Again. Seriously?
We spend millions of dollars a year trying to protect ourselves from ourselves because we’ve never really learned to accept responsibility for our actions. It started in the garden of Eden. Adam blamed Eve who blamed the snake (Satan) and we’ve been blaming ever since.
But the ultimate ‘blame-game’ we play started in the streets ofJerusalemabout 2000 years ago when we sent an innocent man to the cross. Jesus of Nazareth was condemned to die, not because of the Romans, not because of the Jews. He was condemned to die by a group of angry people who needed someone to blame for their struggles. Someone to blame for the oppression of the political system they were under. Someone to blame for the burden religion had placed on them. Someone to blame for the physical pain and the relational wounds they suffered.
So who did they blame? A man who’d spent his entire life serving others for no profit of his own. A King who chose to leave the splendor of his throne to live in the ghettos and wilderness of Palestine. A ruler who gave up his authority to be governed by the selfish, greedy subjects of his own kingdom. A Savior who came to show life to the very people who would put him to death.
It’s no wonder that this man prayed “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.” They didn’t! To this day there are people who continue to blame the one who promised us tribulation and that he’d be with us throughout the pain. We continue to blame the victim.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus. I humbly bow before you today in praise and thanksgiving for giving your life so I could live. Forgive us for the times we blame you when we need to take responsibility for our own rebellion. Thank you for the grace you give us to move on. Help me extend that same forgiveness to others who still ‘don’t know what they are doing’. Amen.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:29
In New Testament Palestine the Ox was the primary piece of equipment for the farmer. Attached to various loads by a yoke the ox would carry the burden of the farmer all day long.
When a young ox was in training it would be teamed up with an experienced ox with a double yoke. The straps on the experienced ox were bound tightly to the animal, while the straps for the younger ox were loose. In this way the bulk of the burden for the load was placed on the more experienced ox.
Jesus uses the picture of a yoke and oxen to teach us a lesson about his expectations of us and our assurance from him that he will walk beside us along the way.
There are times in our lives when we, either vocally or inside ourselves, voice the statement, “This is too much for me to bear. I can’t do this anymore.” Each of us carries a multitude of different burdens. Some of those burdens are ‘self-inflicted’ such as addictive behaviors, the affair we can’t leave, the pornography we can’t stay away from, the anger we can’t let go of, the person we refuse to forgive.
Other burdens we bear have been placed on us from other sources. The wounds of an abusive spouse or parent; the feelings of abandonment we harbor, even as an adult, because of parents who left us or were too busy with their career to tend to their families; the rules and regulations of religious dogma; the limitations due to health or age issues.
Whatever your burden is, whether self-inflicted or otherwise, Jesus’ promise is the same. He walks beside you. You may feel your burden is too great, but he is bearing the brunt of the load and feeling the majority of the pain.
As he walks the path with you remember that he is gentle, not demanding; understanding, not judgmental; grace-full, not critical. Jesus has no desire to make our lives burdensome and harsh. Because of his passionate love for us, Jesus comes alongside us to help us carry the burdens that weigh us down on the journey we call life.
What burden are you bearing today? Worry? Fear? Guilt? Shame? Disappointment? Physical burdens? Jesus wants to come alongside you to help ease your burden as you learn to walk with him and love him. He doesn’t promise to take the burden away, but he will never let you bear it alone. It’s good to have a friend like him to help along the way.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I have many friends and family that love me and encourage me. But none of them understand the weight of this burden I bear. Until now I’ve tried to carry it myself. I ask that you would walk beside me and help ease the load I carry. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 