More of You God and less of me
>> July 20, 2010
The other day I had a friend tell me that she was struggling with sensing God and was struggling with how to get out of the slump.
Don't we all go through seasons like that?
I know I do, but I am starting to realize how my pattern works.
Something happens either physically, emotionally or spiritually that causes me to seek God and lean on Him. I spend QUALITY time with Him MORE than once a day. Eventually, I am at a place where I am sensing His presence everywhere I turn around. I start to get comfortable and start spending less QUALITY time with Him in my day and before I know it, I haven't picked up my Bible just to meet Him in over a week.
And sometimes that week turns into a month.
And then I struggle to find God again because I'm so caught up in ME.
I read this devotion from Charles Spurgeon the other day and wanted to share it with you. I urge you to read it more than once or maybe even read it out loud to yourself.
“The ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven wellfavoured and fat kine” Genesis 41:4More of You God and less of me.
Pharaoh’s dream has too often been my waking experience. My days of sloth have ruinously destroyed all that I had achieved in times of zealous industry; my seasons of coldness have frozen all the genial glow of my periods of fervency and enthusiasm; and my fits of worldliness have thrown me back from my advances in the divine life. I had need to beware of lean prayers, lean praises, lean duties and lean experiences, for these will eat up the fat of my comfort and peace. If I neglect prayer for never so short a time, I lose all the spirituality to which I had attained; if I draw no fresh supplies from heaven, the old corn in my granary is soon consumed by the famine which rages in my soul. When the caterpillars of indifference, the cankerworms of worldliness, and the palmerworms of self-indulgence, lay my heart completely desolate, and make my soul to languish, all my former fruitfulness and growth in grace avails me nothing whatever. How anxious should I be to have no lean-fleshed days, no ill-favoured hours! If every day I journeyed towards the goal of my desires I should soon reach it, but backsliding leaves me still far off from the prize of my high calling, and robs me of the advances which I had so laboriously made. The only way in which all my days can be as the “fat kine” is to feed them in the right meadow, to spend them with the Lord in His service, in His company, in His fear, and in His way. Why should not every year be richer than the past, in love, and usefulness, and joy? I am nearer the celestial hills, I have had more experience of my Lord, and should be more like Him. O Lord, keep far from me the curse of leanness of soul; let me not have to cry, “My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me!”, but may I be well-fed and nourished in thy house, that I may praise thy name.
3 responses:
I'm not generally a big Spurgeon fan (too Calvinist for me) but this sermon piece is fantastic! Plus, it's good to know that people other than seminary students read the thoughts of great Christ followers. Nice find, Rhoda.
thanks for this Rhonda.. thank you a lot. Im glad I met Jess too, she is a sweet lady... how random and small this world is.
We totally went to the Sears outlet first, but that was where the sticker shock I referred to took place, they were high, we bought a scratched model at Lowes... but paid a lot more for some of the allergy and ashtma relief features for Rylan, im praying it helps her.
praying a lot.
Hmmm. This was good. Very thought provoking.
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