Charis

Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace…

I started reading Anne Graham Lotz’s I Saw the Lord a few days ago. Lotz uses the word revival to describe what she hopes to inspire; I would use the word passion. She makes an interesting point that Isaiah preached before his famed encounter with God in chapter 6, but he became passionate after seeing the Lord on His throne. As a modern counterpart to Isaiah, Lotz offers the story of Carole, whose already good life was transformed by a new vision of God and the resulting new perspective on herself. Carole states,

Revival, for me, isn’t about leaving behind what the world has to offer. It’s about leaving behind sin so that I can embrace the richer life the Lord has to offer…

This morning, I had to do something I was dreading. I had no good reason to dread it, but those of you who have had problems with anxiety or panic attacks know that the lack of a good reason for fear doesn’t make the fear any less real. My emotions were about to get the better of me in spite of my mind saying, “There’s nothing to be afraid of.” So, as I was on my way, I prayed. I said, “Help me, Jesus!” Immediately, I heard the Spirit tell me,…

My father was telling me recently of a friend, a godly man, who had been very sick; after receiving prayer, he had what could only be termed a miraculous recovery. Though the man was happy to be well, he had a crisis of sorts because his theology didn’t allow for God to heal in that way. He turned to Scripture to study healing and concluded that he was a fluke. He was blind to the truth—or even to the possibility of another perspective…

On this holy day…a new people is born with whom God has sealed an eternal covenant in the blood of the Word made flesh, crucified and risen. (Pope John Paul II)

Through the cross, we have “newness of life” (Romans 6:4), an awesome fact that I often forget. Consider:

• Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)
• Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)…

About a week ago I downloaded Ashley Cleveland’s Men and Angels Say, a collection of hymns. Cleveland is not a well-known name in Christian music; nevertheless, she’s incredibly talented, winning the Grammy for Best Rock Gospel Album in both 1996 and 1999. More to the point for this blog, she’s one of my favorite artists, and this CD has been about the only thing I’ve listened to over the past week…

This song has been on my mind for a while this morning; it’s a beautiful prayer:

Keep my heart tender before You, Lord
Able to hear Your voice and follow
Keep my heart yearning to know You more
Eager to hear Your word and obey
Keep my heart flowing in Your direction, Lord
Keep my heart, Holy Light,
So innocent and undefiled
King of Love, Lord Most High
So beautiful and bright, Morning Star
Keep my heart
(Paul Baloche, *God of Wonders*)