300 M.P.H Torrential Outpour Blues

I'm bringing back ghosts
That are no longer there
I'm gettin' hard on myself
Sittin' in my easy chair
Well, there's three people in the mirror
And I'm wonderin' which one of them I should choose
Well, I can't keep from laughin'
Spittin' out these 300 mile per hour outpour blues

Jack White

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. Psalm 23:2-3a

The good news of the Gospel is that by His death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ, has secured salvation, redemption, adoption, and sanctification for His people. Jesus says in the Gospel of John, "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture....I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."1 I believe this. I know this. Yet in my mind, there is a war waging. The crucified flesh, the old man, rises up and causes unrest in my soul.

Often times we misunderstand what it means to walk with the Lord. We go to church, we read our bibles, we pray before each meal, but we live defeated lives, waiting for the Lord to come and rescue us. Waiting for the Lord to "show up" while we drown in a puddle. This is not the life intended for us. Surely, the battle with sin, though it be dethroned, is still a hard battle. The trials of life can be tedious and knock us off the path intended, but we must always remember two things. The Lord has secured the victory and the Lord is present with us. It is in this victory that we can approach the throne of God with confidence that our prayers will be heard and our needs met and it is with this confidence that we can assert that not only is the Lord presently with us, but carrying our burdens. It is a hard thing to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, but this walk we must do if we expect to reap the benefits of being one of God's children.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Phillipian church, giving them this command based on an eternal promise. "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."2 The command is to work out our salvation. To seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, to be holy and blameless, to walk in a manner worthy and so on and so forth. The promise is that God will work in us, to will us to seek Him and to work through us, producing much fruit, quieting our souls, and destroying indwelling sin, conforming us to His image.

So let us not fret. Let us not be overcome by our defeated flesh. Let us KNOW and LIVE like the sons and daughters of God. If you feel stuck in a rut, do not wait for a miracle. Do not wait for the thrill or the "God goosebumps" or any other emotional experience to shake you out of your doldrums. Do not be like one of five thousand fed by five loaves and two fish, and yet still demand a sign or a miracle. Live in the reality that Christ is present, working in you, for his own good pleasure. He will make us lie down in green pastures and restore our souls. He is with us and working in us. Let that be all we will ever need.

Spoonful

It could be a spoonful of diamonds
Could be a spoonful of gold
Just a little spoon of your precious love
Satisfies my soul

Howlin' Wolf

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want

Psalm 23:1

How often do we preoccupy our minds with the trivial things of this world? Often times when I go to bed, my mind rambles with injustices done to me that I want to make right, or with my plans for the next day, the next week, or the next month. I set up confrontations in my mind and then formulate a conversation or action where I come out as the victor, and my enemy is left feeling shamed. I plan out what I am going to do or how I am going to respond to certain situations that I think are unfair. Or I make grandiose plans and hope they come to fruition. Worry about tomorrow not only keeps me awake all night, but is blatant sin against my Holy Father, who has provided a way and a path, and has set all things in motion to work for my good. David realized this when he wrote this Psalm.

When we think of "want" it is often associated with some sort of material possession. I can't think of one "material thing" that I want. But I can think of thousands of "wants" that keep my mind rambling all the day. I want to be right. I want to show them who's boss. I want to make them pay. I want to be liked. I want to be thought of as smart. I want to be respected. I want my revenge and I want to use sinful means to accomplish it. I want to do nothing when I should do something and I don't want to do the things I ought. My wants ensnare my mind and make it hard to take captive my thoughts and make them obedient to Christ.

I want, better yet, I yearn for the Lord to be sufficient and to want nothing but to know him. Christ spoke about the emptiness of our worries and wants in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6:25-34.

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. My prayer is that seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness will be my only want, my only desire. Then I will truly know what it is to trust the Good Shepherd and to not want.