STRENGTHENING YOURSELF IN THE LORD

Greetings! A very chilly day we're having considering it's July! What an unusual summer. At least the weeds are kept at bay for a bit! I was out in the garden today and grieving over how badly it needs weeding and tilling-both gardens. I have been babying my back since Monday. I had trouble with it some time ago after doing a rather ignorant thing--I took a full hamper of wet clothes to the clothesline balanced on one hip, twisting and jerking to walk out there. Very ignorant move on my part. Everything was better after Clint prayed for me, then I tilled the entire garden plus all the other bending and heavy duty work I do which aggravated it again. Walking on the soft dirt behind the tiller, row after row, was probably the final straw. So all week, I have basically been doing nothing too heavy or challenging, trying to be wise. If you want to be healed, sometimes it requires acting in wisdom. It was very difficult for me to stay away from the garden work. With the weather cool, it was the perfect opportunity to weed and work in comfort. I just had to use common sense and rest instead. Sometimes when you take a stand for healing or to receive some other benefit that you know the scripture promises you, you will face opposition. That's what I have felt like most of this week. I'm not a sit still type of person and not doing the work around here has been a challenge to say the least. Thankfully, I was much better today.

I was out in the garden (mostly just enjoying it!) and saw that a couple of my yarrow flowers were lopped off and laying in the pathway. I sure don't appreciate whatever is doing that to my stuff! Probably a rabbit. The yarrow is top heavy and was leaning over into the pathways. I really should support it with something like I did for the delphiniums. Sometimes certain plants just need some support to remain standing, especially out there in the wind. My garden takes alot of straight wind from across the field.

Thinking about needing support, today when I was reading scripture, I noticed that a certain verse was "quickened" to me as I read in Ephesians, chapter 3. (The Holy Spirit will quicken verses to you if you are listening for His still, small voice!) It was verse 16, "that He would grant you, acording to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man." I just had to take time to meditate on that for awhile. David is said to have "strengthened himself in the Lord his God" during a particularly stressful time in his life (1 Samuel 30:6). People were thinking of stoning him because they were mad at him. How much worse could life really get than that? But more importantly what does it mean to strengthen yourself in the Lord? I believe that growing believers learn to "strengthen themselves in the Lord." You get to a point sometimes in the Christian walk where you need to know how to find support directly from the Lord and not rely on the pastor or the leaders of the church to feed you, after all, they might not always be available! Strengthening yourself in the Lord involves getting into the word and meditating on it, soaking so much of it in that you cannot help but be changed. I have certainly had to do this many times in my life and this week was one of them. I just felt challenged by a number of things, including physical challenges. Long ago some older, wiser Christians spoke into my life by challenging me to rely on scripture by selecting verses and praying them or meditating on them, actually using the Word of God to conquer whatever was bothering me.

Just like the flowers, I needed some support. Praise is another "strengthener" that we Christians can rely on. When we lift up praise to the Lord our focus shifts from ourselves and our problems to how great and awesome and powerful God is. This makes any of life's problems pale in comparison and we receive strength to go on. I suspect that this is the principal way that David "strengthened himself in the Lord," since we know he played the harp and wrote many psalms of praise. In addition to that, he would not have had the full scriptures at that time, since they weren't yet written in their entirety and even if they were, he would not have had ready access to a copy like we do with our Bibles. If you need strength, consider using these methods; meditating on scriptures specific to your situation, and praising the Lord!

I got to work a bit on my sweater today, the lace shell that's been under construction too long. I made some real progress and if I am diligent, I suspect I could have it done in a few weeks. I also took a trip to town to get groceries. Found a few bargains and saw one of my blogging friends--hi! Took a little time this morning to proofread several chapters in my second book. It's moving right along more rapidly than I had thought. Praise the Lord for that! Didn't accomplish much more than that today except helping Clint in some ministry duties and minor dusting around the house. Longing to be back in the garden! I saw a new lily that had opened out there today. It's burdungy with yellow background tints. Also hostas are opening and a few larkspurs. They did not reseed as well as I had hoped either, but I was glad to see a few.

I hope my thoughts about strength today will be of benefit to you. I am so encouraged by the verses in Ephesians. Blessings, LORI