Monthly Archives: October 2023

You Restore My Soul

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“You restore my soul, and You give me rest.” (Matt Maher, “Rest”)

The morning sun, in all its glorious colors, quietly made its way above the horizon to bring light to my morning. 

As I drove into the rising sun, the song above came on and grabbed my heart, causing me to be still, not in the same way but much like Psalm 23, from which they were derived, has done time and again.

“O my Lord, beside still waters, You repair my heart. I trust in You….You restore my soul and You give me rest.”

We all yearn for rest!

We all long to be restored!

We all need The Shepherd to repair our hearts and settle our souls!

We all need the One who is strong to walk with us, hold us, remind us of who He is and who we are in Him.

He walked with Adam in the Garden in the cool of the day.

That has always stopped me – Adam walked with God and had conversations with the Creator of the universe and he walked in “rest.”

Because of Jesus, I can do the same.

His Word, the Bible, is there to refresh and remind, but His Spirit also comforts and convicts. Through my time in that Word, I can walk with God throughout my day as well.

He is with me; “His rod and staff comfort me.”

Yet, at times, I lose sight of that.

When Adam and Eve believed the lie of the enemy over the truthful word of the Lord, God Himself showed His kindness in the midst of His discipline and took care of their need for clothing.

Yes, He then sent them out of the Garden, out of that rest but with the promise of One to come who would cover them in a greater way.

The world is shaking all around us.

The world is shaking for people I love dearly.

And because of that, and at times through waves and winds of my own, my world is shaking too.

But the God who set all things in motion,

The God who spoke the world into existence and said, “It is good,”

The God who is both justice and mercy and who set a promise and plan for our deliverance long ago,

The God who fulfilled that promise and sent His Son to bridge the gap between us and God the Father because of His holiness and our own unrighteousness,

This same God is the Shepherd, my Shepherd.

This same God carries His sheep.

This same God holds us when both the world and our world are shaking.

This same God walks with us in the cool of the day, through the fears of the night, and in the shadow of death.

This same God is our Savior who hears our cries, sees our tears, and comforts in ways we may not even realize.

This same God cares about our fears and our concerns and is already going before us making a way in the desert even when we cannot see.

This same God knows our tremblings and is giving us the grace we need for today while preparing the grace and mercy He will give in the days ahead.

Psalm 23 reminds us that He is our Shepherd and will not leave us alone.

He will seek us when we are lost and will draw us to Himself by any means so He can tend His own.

He will carry us when weariness overcomes us.

And, in the midst of the hard and difficult places we don’t want to walk but sometimes have to pass through, He will show glimpses of His grace and pour out His steadfast love that endures forever, even to the end of time.

As part of that grace, He gives us His rest that we could not create on our own by any means.

“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him.

He alone is my Rock and my Salvation;

He is my Fortress, I will never be shaken.”   Psalm 62:1

We can pray expectantly and pour out our desires before His throne boldly because of Jesus, and He hears the hearts of His children.

Sometimes His answers will delight us; other times those answers will make us tremble and threaten to undo us.

In either place, He is with us.

He is our Emmanuel

We can set our gaze on Him, even through tears, speaking to ourselves the words of Scripture that are His very words to us – about Himself, our living and enduring Hope – and the promises that are without fail even when we can’t see the reasons for His answer.

We can rest, not in what we see and experience and feel, but in who He is!

He is my Rock, my Salvation, my Fortress.

I choose to rest in God alone!

“I will fear no evil, for You’re here with me.
Your goodness and Your love, they will never leave.
Just a closer walk with Thee, just a closer walk…
Even though I walk through the valley of death, You restore my soul, and You give me rest.
All the memories of Your faithfulness.
You restore my soul, and you give me rest.”





Matt Maher – “Rest”

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for You are with me.

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

The Only Source of Light

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“This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” ( I John 1:5)

We see the stars shine, the moon and the sun in their respective times do as well.

We observe the fireflies dancing in the woods or across a grassy field.

We warm ourselves before a crackling fire or settle in beside the flicker of a candle.

Each shines according to God’s design for creation; each shine at His command.

Even the lights that make it almost as bright as the day in the cities, that light up our homes, that create delight in celebrations, that pave the way for us to see down a road or a shadowy path are a means to cut through the night.

Darkness, especially without even a hint of light, can create fear, even dread.

For darkness is simply put, the absence of light.

And, for the most part, we love light!

Yet sometimes we prefer the obscurity to hide us not realizing what is absent in the dark.

Lies and deceit live in darkness because lies and deceit are the absence of truth.

Sin and evil grow in the darkness because they endure absent of God.

Darkness cannot exist with God for He is light.

And light cannot exist without God.

He alone is righteous.

He alone is true.

He alone is peace.

He alone is light.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

Light breaks through the darkness, shatters dread and brings peace.

Peace breaks through fear, enables rest.

Truth breaks through lies, establishes trust.

Good triumphs over evil, displays righteousness, because God alone is good, and God alone is holy.

God is the Light that breaks through the fog of our sadness, our fear, our deepest longings.

God is the Light that shatters our own darkness of sin and self-rule.

God is the Light that reveals our rebellion and calls us to turn from it and walk by faith in His grace, submitting to Him.

God is the Light that exposes our deceit and calls us to walk in Truth.

We don’t need to tremble in the Light if we set our gaze and our very lives on the One who IS Himself that Light.

His Light is for His glory.

His Light is for our good.

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” (John 14:6)

We need not fear the darkness nor those who walk in it.

He triumphs and will always triumph because He is the only Light, the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life!

He calls us to Himself.

Walk in the Light of the glorious grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and you can “fear no evil, for (He is) with (us).” (Psalm 23:4)

Even when trembling, you can stand as you stand in the Light of His Presence.

“Blessed are those who know the joyful sound, who walk, O LORD, in the light of Your presence.” Psalm 89:15

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light!” Ephesians 5:8

They Believed God

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Photo credit: Mili Cook

The wonder of God!

The glory of God coming in flesh to rescue us!

The awesomeness of the Holy Spirit indwelling those who are His, to reveal, to comfort, and to convict!

The dangerous delight of the presence of God.

It can bring peace, and it can rattle the soul!

But are we sometimes too complacent?

Are we so familiar with God and His Word, so lazy with His truth and conviction that we don’t believe Him as we ought?

Are we so self-satisfied and even puffed up with our knowledge of Him that we are too casual with His grace and mercy as well as when He cuts to our hearts?

Are we functionally unthankful for it all in the midst of life, from the incredibly good days to the hard and even the mundane?

Do we, who are truly His, sometimes settle for mediocrity in our walk with Him?

Do we too quickly forget the riches of His mercy in the midst of our every day?

Are we often in danger of being reckless and even losing the wonder of the scandalous beauty of redemption?

May it never be!

The LORD came to a pagan named Abram and promised him something physically impossible, and he believed God. (Genesis 15)

Let that sink in!

The LORD spoke, and Abram believed Him!

He believed what He said, and He trusted Him.

“Abram didn’t believe IN God – THAT He exists.  He believed GOD and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:22)  (Study on Jonah, Page Brown)

And the people of Ninevah did the same when Jonah proclaimed the Word of the LORD.

They didn’t believe Jonah.

They didn’t just believe IN God.

They BELIEVED GOD!

And that belief led to repentance.

That belief led to an awe of God and a different way of thinking and living.

That belief led to new life.

That belief led them to become new creations.

Do we believe God?

Do we, who have access to the Word of the LORD, the Bible, 24/7, believe God enough to trust Him, to submit to Him, to obey His commands (the ones we find easy and the ones we would rather not exist), to truly repent and be the new creations He has redeemed for His pleasure?

Do we believe Him enough to share the glorious good news of His steadfast love with those we enjoy being around and those we have “written off” as ones who won’t come?

Do we believe Him enough to let go of unforgiveness and/or roots of bitterness for either right or wrong causes?

Do we believe Him enough to be humble in our dealings with one another as believers, walking in freedom from sin and to righteousness, and so able to live with one another in full not partial truth and without deceit because we walk in mercy from God and for each other?

Do we believe Him enough to live a life – in words, attitudes and actions – that reflects Him to unbelievers as well, who know we claim Christ and who are watching to see if it makes a difference in who we are?

Do we believe Him enough to rest in His sovereign will for us even if it feels mundane, ordinary, uncomfortable, or, on a completely different level, devastating?

Or do we have lots of knowledge of Him, believe in Him, and live in two worlds that cannot co-exist rightly – faithfulness to Him and self-rule?

The one is where we see and acknowledge Jesus as LORD and Savior, God as King and the supreme authority in our lives and so submit to that rule and allow Him to change our desires and die to self. 

The other is where we decide which commands we will obey and what commands we will tweak to fit our comfort, our self-determining hearts, and what we feel and desire apart from the LORD, where we live as if we are repeating the deceitful question from across the ages, “Did God really say?”

There is freedom in BELIEVING God!

There is joy in BELIEVING God!

There is a steadiness in BELIEVING God!

There is danger in only believing IN God – “…even the demons believe and shudder.” (James 2:19)  It is for that reason some wander from the faith and will hear on that final day, “Depart from Me. I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:21-24)

It doesn’t mean we will not wrestle, but our wrestling must always lead to rest in Him, to submitting our lives, choices, and circumstances to Him knowing He is good and His commands and His will for us are good…even when it doesn’t feel good or is contrary to our wants and desires, even ones rooted in what is good and right.

It must always lead to yielding our lives and saying, “Not my will but yours, Lord.  Use me where and how you will.”

It must always lead to surrendering our time, gifts, and all we are and have to His purposes.

They BELIEVED God alone and were able to walk away from everything that kept them from walking in freedom.

They BELIEVED God and were able to come to Him in true repentance when “self” got in the way.

They BELIEVED God alone and found relationship with Him!

They BELIEVED God alone and found delight!

They BELIEVED God alone and found rest!

BELIEVE God, be still, and know!

Crushed in Spirit

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“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; He saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18

There are a lot of things that can crush our spirits.

Circumstances we can’t change.

Broken bodies.

Weary souls.

Words spoken and words left unspoken.

Unforgiveness and an unforgiving heart.

But the LORD IS close to the brokenhearted, and He will hear and be near those who are crushed in spirit.

We may still feel the weight.

We may have to endure broken bodies and weary souls.

We may need to ask the Lord for the grace to endure whatever pain and the fearful unfamiliar of a hard diagnosis.

We may have to pray for the words and the will to bring healing and seek to mend relationships.

We may have to choose forgiveness or pray for another to forgive.

We may have to ask Him to give rest to our souls when nothing about our life feels restful.

But we will not do that alone, even in the unknown.

He knows.

He sees.

He guards our way protectively.

We can cry out, with groanings too deep for words, to the One who remains close and who can bring His peace through the hardest of places, strength to the weary, reconciliation and restoration to the distant ones.

Seek Him, even through tears.

He is able.

He is willing.

“…the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words…the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27