The Watch-Tower

"If you told God on your knees that you had reached an impasse and ...were handing it to Him, then leave it with Him.  Do not go to the first christian you meet and say, 'You know, I have an awful problem; I don't know what to do.'  Don't discuss it. Leave it with God, and go on to the watch-tower." 
      - D. Marytn Lloyd-Jones

"I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint."
Habakkuk 2:1

Salt & Light

I found this devotion at the Daily Encourager (InJesus) and it was so challenging.

Salt and Light

"Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." Matthew 9:50

Some of the characteristics of salt are:

1) It Enhances flavor, adds richness to a otherwise bland food.
2) It Preserves.
3) It Restores balance.

When a person is injured, we pump saline (which is a salt water solution) into them in order to restore balance to their system. The body needs sodium and potassium in order to survive. The nervous system conducts electricity by pumping salt in and potassium out of the cells of your body. Salt is an essential nutrient for the survival of the body.

We, as Christians ARE the body, therefore we need salt in order to survive. We are to be the lifeblood of the church. We can only conduct electricity by getting up and actively pursuing people and sharing our faith.

As Christians, we are called on to be salt and light to the world. We are called to enhance and enrich the lives of others by bringing the love of Christ into an otherwise bland and drab existence. We are called on to preserve the way of Christ; not only to preserve it, but to live it. If we are not living it, we are casting our salt under the feet of others to be trodden and destroyed.

We are called to restore balance to a dying world. We are not able to find peace and balance by our own accord. The only way we can find peace is to call on the name Jesus, Lord and Savior, Prince of Peace, Emanuel, Almighty God. It is when we realize our depravity and the need to have salt to enhance our lives, that we can truly taste and partake in the Salt of the world.

My question is this, are you the salt shaker who sits on the table, happy and content to have the salt sitting there, bound up inside, or are you the person who picks up the salt shaker and shakes the salt into the world?

Carl Holmes
http://www.dailywisdom.com/

Psalm of Single-Mindedness

Lord of reality, make me real,
...not an actor playing out his part - a hypocrite.

I don't want to keep a prayer list
.......but to pray,

I don't want to agonize to find Your will
.......but to obey what I already know,

I don't want to argue theories of inspiration
.......but to submit to Your Word.

I don't want to explain the difference between eros and philos and agape
.......but to love.

I don't want to sing as if I mean it
.......I want to mean it.

I don't want to tell it like it is
.......but to be like You want it.

I don't want to tell others how to do it
.......but to do it;

I don't want to have to be always right
.......but to admit it when I'm wrong.

I don't want to be a census taker
.......but an obstetrician

Nor an involved person, a professional
.......but a friend.

I don't want to be insensitive
.......but to hurt where other people hurt

Nor to say "I know how you feel"
.......but to say, "God knows"
........and "I'll try if you'll be patient with me"
........and meanwhile I'll be quiet.

I don't want to scorn the clichés of others
.......but to mean everything I say.

"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ." (Philippians 1:9-10)



Joe Bayly
"Psalms of My Life"