“Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.”
At first, this cry for help seems very demanding. However, closer inspection shows that this is really the cry of desperation. Have you been there? I surely have and I regularly hear from folks who are there now.
But, read how this Psalm ends! What is the secret to surviving a long agony? I believe three things are important: 1) honesty in our prayer life with God, 2) confidence that God hears and cares even when our prayers sizzle with pain and frustration, and 3) genuine praise for God included in our prayers even when things seem bleak. It's not a magical formula, but it is a Spirit-inspired one — check it out in Psalm 4!
2 Corinthians 5:21
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
When was the last time you thought of yourself as "the righteousness of God"? What does that mean anyway? It means that we have the best of qualities, found in the best of beings! But we know we are not god-like! We know our fallibility and flaws! We know our imperfections and our inconsistencies! How can we be "the righteousness of God"? Jesus, the perfect and sinless Righteous One of God, became our sin for us so we could be his righteousness. More than grace, that's a miracle! And a miracle, dear friend of Jesus, is exactly what you are!!
Quotes
.. A lie is like a snowball. The longer it is rolled on the ground the larger it becomes. - Martin Luther
..There is no relief so sweet as the relief of coming clean to God and living again in the truth. -
Christine Dallman
Think it over…
~ We want to be saints, but we also want to feel every sensation experienced by sinners; we want to be innocent and pure, but we also want to be experienced and taste all of life; we want to serve the poor and have a simple lifestyle, but we also want all the comforts of the rich; we want to have the depth afforded by solitude, but we also do not want to miss anything; we want to pray, but we also want to watch television, read, talk to friends, and go out. - Ronald Rolheiser
At first, this cry for help seems very demanding. However, closer inspection shows that this is really the cry of desperation. Have you been there? I surely have and I regularly hear from folks who are there now.
But, read how this Psalm ends! What is the secret to surviving a long agony? I believe three things are important: 1) honesty in our prayer life with God, 2) confidence that God hears and cares even when our prayers sizzle with pain and frustration, and 3) genuine praise for God included in our prayers even when things seem bleak. It's not a magical formula, but it is a Spirit-inspired one — check it out in Psalm 4!
2 Corinthians 5:21
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
When was the last time you thought of yourself as "the righteousness of God"? What does that mean anyway? It means that we have the best of qualities, found in the best of beings! But we know we are not god-like! We know our fallibility and flaws! We know our imperfections and our inconsistencies! How can we be "the righteousness of God"? Jesus, the perfect and sinless Righteous One of God, became our sin for us so we could be his righteousness. More than grace, that's a miracle! And a miracle, dear friend of Jesus, is exactly what you are!!
Quotes
.. A lie is like a snowball. The longer it is rolled on the ground the larger it becomes. - Martin Luther
..There is no relief so sweet as the relief of coming clean to God and living again in the truth. -
Christine Dallman
Think it over…
~ We want to be saints, but we also want to feel every sensation experienced by sinners; we want to be innocent and pure, but we also want to be experienced and taste all of life; we want to serve the poor and have a simple lifestyle, but we also want all the comforts of the rich; we want to have the depth afforded by solitude, but we also do not want to miss anything; we want to pray, but we also want to watch television, read, talk to friends, and go out. - Ronald Rolheiser
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