Living in the Spirit
July 15, 2020
Scripture Reading: Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it. –Psalm 139:1-6
No secrets from God and God still loves us. There is something special about not being alone with our personal truths, while not having to share them with any other person. The phrase Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely changes my life. God could verify how good or bad I am at not saying the words that come to my tongue. The words that I should not say, and I say anyway. I think I am getting a little better at holding my tongue when what I want to say contributes nothing to my role as a part of the Body of Christ. Probably because God lets me rant my thought to God as I toss and turn in my bed until I find rest for my soul allowing me to be wiser in my speech. The other side of that is I also am more apt to say things I would have feared to say when I was younger because, after my wrestle with God over an issue, I realize I may be the only one who calls an injustice to the attention of others. I had learned what Jesus meant when he said in his triumphal entry in response to the Pharisees complaint about how noisy Jesus’s followers were, He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’ (Luke 19:40)
Prayer:
1 Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after thy will,
while I am waiting, yielded and still.
2 Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Search me and try me, Savior today!
Wash me just now, Lord, wash me just now,
as in thy presence humbly I bow.
3 Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!
4 Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Hold o’er my being absolute sway.
Fill with thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!
*Have Thine Own Way, Lord by Adelaide A. Pollard see at https://hymnary.org/text/have_thine_own_way_lord
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.