“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13)
This week I am beginning to work through the Jennifer Rothschild Bible Study entitled “Walking by Faith”. My heart is smiling as
I consider the implications of following a blind woman in a walk! I suspect this servant of the Lord who has learned to walk by faith not by sight in two realms has much to teach me! “Walking by faith means taking a risk…” Jennifer said. I guess from our perspective it seems like a risky lifestyle, but how could it be risky to entrust your life to an all powerful, all knowing, perfectly loving God? It seems more risky not to walk by faith!
Quote of the Day: The Religious Sinner
The “religious sinner” scorns outward acts of wickedness and drives his sin inward to the sanctuary of his soul where it remains in a state of high compression. The notorious unloveliness of many religious people can be explained in this way.             A.W. Tozer
Quote of the Day
“When we walk by sight, all we can see are the price tags of life;but when we walk by faith, we discover the values. Outlook determines outcome.”
Warren Wiersbe
A Heart Like His
“Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him. Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.”Â
1 Samuel 16:14;23
When the Spirit of equipping power left Saul he was left with such a moral vacuum that it scared him to death! Into that vacuum rushed every scarey thought that can take a sane person captive.Â
Fear of failure – of defeat; of loss of influence; of being disregarded by those who used to value you; fear of being alone. His torment was so evident that his servants took notice and tried to help the King find relief. Can you imagine?Â
The mighty king, so paralyzed by the spirit of fear that he needed to rely on the wisdom of his servants to find a path of relief.  Into the discord and disharmony that fear created comes the harp playing, anointed David. He, with the Spirit’s presence, brought harmony and refreshment to Saul’s troubled heart.Â
How powerfully this reveals the call of God to Spirit indwelt believers! We enter into service to the fear-filled, tormented world playing a harmonious melody that refreshes and relieves panic in others. That harmony is created not by our efforts but by the very presence of God’s Spirit within us! We are vessels of grace to a scared world.
Lord, today please use me to bring harmony out of discord. Spirit, move me out of self imposed solitary pursuits and into the world seeking to relieve and assist others to feel better! Show me who I might serve today Lord. Give me a song of relief for your people! Amen
Waiting…
Psalm 130 shouts to my soul that waiting is a purposeful attitude of the heart!
 “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord…”
So many times my inner thoughts shout back, “Lord, why so much waiting–what have you got against “now”?’Â
My impatience is conclusive evidence of how much unbelief still lives within. Impatience has become a siren that lets me know that I am resisting and rejecting the truth.Â
In waiting, I have noticed that my faith mushrooms from childish, spoiled ranting to a settled, secure confidence that no matter how long it takes my God is worth waiting for!Â
That movement of the soul is from wanting something to wanting the all-satisfying someone! Waiting whets my appetite for God and what I hunger for is to know Him better. When that happens Warren Wiersbe says, then living becomes not a mirror in which I see myself better but a window through which I see the Almighty!