I'm feeling down today, for some reason. I don't know why. But maybe this time with God will help.
CHRISTIAN LOVE
O Lover of the loveless,
It is thy will that I should love thee with heart, soul, mind, strength, and my neighbour as myself.
But I am not sufficient for these things.
There is by nature no pure love in my soul;
Every affection in me is turned from thee;
I am bound, as slave to lust,
I cannot love thee, lovely as thou art, until thou dost set me free.
By grace I am thy freeman and would serve thee,
for I believe thou art my God in Jesus,
and that through him I am redeemed,
and my sins are forgiven.
With this freedom I would always obey thee,
but I cannot walk in liberty,
any more than I could first attain it, of myself.
May thy Spirit draw me nearer to thee and thy ways.
Thou are the end of all means,
for if they lead me not to thee,
I go away empty.
Order all my ways by thy holy Word
and make thy commandments the joy of my heart,
that by them I may have happy converse with thee.
May I grow in thy love and manifest it to mankind.
Spirit of love, make me like the loving Jesus;
give me his benevolent temper,
his beneficent actions,
that I may shine before men to thy glory.
The more thou doest in love in me and by me,
humble me the more;
keep me meek, lowly,
and always ready to give thee honour.
Wow. What can I say to that? It's like that was written about me...only centuries ago.
3 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. 14 For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.
Asaph heads a little further down the wrong path, here. Of course, he warns about this back at the very beginning of the psalm when he says his feet had almost slipped, he nearly lost his foothold. And, sincerely, who among of have NOT felt this way when we constantly see the "wicked" continuing to be prosperous and never seeming to have any trouble in their lives?
"Why am I bothering to try to follow God's commands? It's doing me no good, and all these wicked people around me are doing just fine, while I continue to suffer! It's all useless!"
Yeah. I've had those thoughts before, and I'm man enough to admit it.
Don Wyrtzen, in A Musician Looks At the Psalms, calls these two verses "the third step down the ladder of faith to defection." I like that. "In effect, Asaph is saying, 'I can't take it anymore!' He's about to take matters into his own hands and remove the Lord from the throne of his life."
But God is merciful and longsuffering. He does not chasten us for these thoughts. He patiently waits for us to come back to our senses, which Asaph did, and which I usually do. Because, once again, we know where I reward is. And we have faith that our Father will be faithful, even when we are not.
How incapable of love, I am, Father. Once again, the prayer of the Puritan nailed me perfectly. But I am so grateful that you have begun to free me so that I can love. You, in your mercy, have begun the painful process of teaching me how important the Family is; how important it is for all of us to love each other in the same way that Jesus Christ has loved us. It is so difficult, especially for someone as old as I, who has had years of bad training from well-meaning, yet misguided Christians. I pray that we will all be able to come together someday and love one another the way we are supposed to, instead of focusing so much on negative things.
I'm praying this morning for Roger, Lord. He was to interview at 10:30. I pray that it went well.
I'm also praying for Kathy this morning, who is now facing more surgery, because, apparently, one of the previous ones was not done properly? Lord, save us from our doctors!
I pray for my interview on Monday. Help me exude confidence in myself more than anything. I know what I know, and I can't know more than that. However, my self-confidence in what I know is lacking. If this is the right job, let it be. If it is not, then so be it, also. Just help me be my best for the interview.
PRAY FOR OUR CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS
Members of the Senate are focused on gradually pushing out increased federal Medicaid payments to states in order to
reach a deal on a tax extenders package. Such action would further damage state budgets.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Maryland) said that tax increases will eventually be necessary to address the
nation�s mounting debt, raising a difficult election-year issue.
Pray for our leaders as they seek ways to bring the federal budget and national debt levels under control.
Grace and peace, friends.