Writing is nice. You get to let everything out, you exhaust your mind, or at the very least, you’re making space for more thoughts and data to flow.
Boxing is nice. Any sort of exercise is nice. You sweat. You literally get everything out, you exhaust your body, and you’re spending fat and/or carbs – stored bulk items of energy – so, after every session, you’re able to move more efficiently; Less space to cover, less bulk to move.
Prayer is exceptional. Any sort of meditation on the Gospel is more than nice because you aren’t just letting everything out, you’re letting all that matters in.
And I’m telling myself this more than anyone else – it’s the Word of God that is above even S-tier in providing the best value for our time in this life. I’m telling myself this, in this season of dragging. I’ve told myself to dwell, to wait on the Lord, to be still and to know that He is God, and I am now seeing more into what it really means.
It doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be moving. Being still doesn’t mean being immobile. The world moves, and like it or not, we move with it – the question is if we’re letting the world push us around, or if we’re flowing with the Word and the Spirit.
And flowing with the Word and the Spirit does a bit of redirecting, refocus – Meaning you can ‘dwell’ all you want according to your terms, but don’t be surprised if you’re being graciously brought back to what matters.
I mean, I’ve been doomscrolling and gaming in greater proportions over the past days, and I blame the resultant frustration and anxiety on everything else besides myself, but see, here, I don’t think it’s my own effort that’s taking me back to boxing, and to writing, and consequently, to the Word and the Spirit.
All that’s on my mind right now is to give thanks – And I give thanks to God, who is faithful to me; He has always been faithful to me, trustworthy, ready and reliable, even if I was the one who was veering to the left and to the right.
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.
22 You will also defile the covering of your images of silver, And the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing; You will say to them, “Get away!”
Isaiah 30:21-22
Give thanks to the Lord, o my soul. And, yes, you reading – whoever you are. Give thanks to the Lord, because by Christ’s finished work and the power of the Holy Spirit, I have no doubt that we are ALL being reminded of the paths set before us by the Most High, especially when we are walking in other directions.
Give thanks to the Lord, because we are all being reminded of the things that matter less – That even if they are covered in all that is valuable and attractive, we see how ultimately worthless they are. And in my case, I’m not only reminded of how certain things take less priority – no, those words are a direct hit; there are certain things that are ultimately worthless. Dead weight.
Funny, because I have not forgotten how this Scripture (verse 21, to be precise) was shared and spoken to me in Jerusalem by a certain Pastor Daniel. And sure as he prophesied, my paths are being revealed, my luggage is being sorted out.
There were other things he said, and, well, some things have been fulfilled (I have a tribe), and some others are still on their way. Not sharing them here but let’s just say I continue to meditate on the Word, as Isaac did.
Speaking of, thank You, Lord, for the reading of Your Word.
Psalm 101
Promised Faithfulness to the LORD
A Psalm of David.
1 I will sing of mercy and justice; To You, O LORD, I will sing praises.
Before anything else, I just want it written, and I want to remind myself that while small things done consistently compound, things we also don’t do consistently compound. I’m talking about hard conversations getting harder the longer we hold them off, but I’m also talking about how cutting carbs and fasting also gets our bodies to operating closer and closer to peak efficiency.
That out of the way, yes, thank You, Lord, for Your mercy, and Your justice.
Your mercy is new with every morning, and Your justice is as Your righteousness – full and absolute, divine and infinitely superior to anything we could come up with ourselves.
We ought to sing praises. We’re brought to sing praise because this mercy has clearly been made available and overflowing unto us; and in His justice He has thought it good to save us – proven and guaranteed by the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, His Son and our Savior.
And the way I see it, the more we meditate on the Word of the Lord, the more we take in His benefits, the more we realize how His goodness and glory goes more than impacts but shapes our entire reality. Consider that David does not stop at singing praises to the Most High; The rest of the Psalm lights up a literal fire into his soul.
2 I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me.
4 A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.
5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure.
6 My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, That they may dwell with me; He who walks in a perfect way, He shall serve me.
7 He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.
8 Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land, That I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the LORD.
I’m reminded here that our movement in Christ is not one that focuses primarily on behavior modification, but on Christ – Our living Word and our Word of Life; For it is from Christ that we move as David did – behaving wisely, moving from the promise that we have been perfected by Christ.
It is from beholding the goodness and glory of God, by and through Christ, that we would see filth and wickedness for what it really is.
It is from listening to the Word and meditating on the Truth that we prioritize speaking the Truth over slandering our neighbors. The Word works Life into our ears and eyes just as much as it works pride out of our hearts.
We cut off wickedness, because we have been brought into grace.
That’s right, we say that all are welcome and call one and all to fellowship; but we do so with the hopes of everyone seeing the goodness and glory of God – not stopping at tolerating unwise behavior, we would do well to keep encouraging Christ, and also expressing grace by loving rebuke.
I give thanks to the Lord, because in the reading of His Word, and today’s word in particular, I am reminded of how true repentance and rearrangement comes certainly through seeing Christ, and through seeing God’s goodness and glory in His Word.
May the Lord continue to bless us, and may we continue to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. May we continue to be renewed in our minds, by the consistent, compounding meditation of His Word.
All for the unity of His body, for the expansion of His kingdom, and the glory of His name. Amen.
More to come, soon, hopefully. God bless us all, greatly..
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