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The Language of Love

Wednesday Wanderings with Dr. Sherri is a time we set aside to wander in the Presence of Jesus and ponder His truths. When you are ready, prepare your mind, body, and soul to have a transformational conversation with Jesus.

Watch the Wednesday Wanderings Welcome for this week.

Now  that we have cleared our minds of the clutter, we can wander on the journey of exploring the language of love.

Loving Jesus with your all

PREPARATION: 

In our last Wandering we examined talking and hearing.  This week we will listen in on the psalmist conversation of adoration and investigate the languages of love.  When you are ready, you may begin the dialogue with Jesus by stating:

“Jesus, I invite you to help me to wander into your Presence where your everlasting and reckless love can influence me. Illuminate my spiritual senses to encounter you. Prepare my heart to focus my attention on loving you with my whole being.

PROMISE: Love is a demonstrated and expressed language between lovers. In Matthew 22: 37 Jesus commands us to convey our love to the lover of our soul, holistically. He states, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (New International Version). Our devotion to God is considered the first commandment. We are instructed to withhold not one ounce of affection and to lavish God with a cumulative love of our heart, mind,and soul. The song writer is living out this commandment and transparently shares his adoration to Jesus.

Love blooms

PSALM:  My Jesus I love Thee was originally a devotion poem written by William Ralph Featherston around 1864. In this poem, Featherston shares his love language of affirmation in his transformational conversation with Jesus.

Chorus:
Lord Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the pleasures of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou,
If ever I loved Thee, Lord Jesus, ’tis now.

Encounters with Jesus grow like roots within the soil of our heart, mind, and soul. When we spend time with Jesus the seeds of our will, understanding, and affections bloom into an anthem of adoration. As each day passes, our soul has an unction to obey the commandment of Matthew 22:37 to love Jesus MORE with all passion, prayer, and intelligence. This is evidenced when our worship and praise grows into a field of loving devotion.

PARABLE: The psalmist uses the love language of affirmation to declare his love for Jesus. The word NOW jumps out of the lyrics in real time.  Notice that the proclamation of the writer’s love comes after the pronouncement that there is a personal covenant love with Jesus (I know Thou art mine) and after a promulgation of the characteristics of the love Jesus has committed to displaying (gracious, redemptive, and saving love). What makes the love that the writer has so present and profound? I don’t know the answer to this question but I do empathize with an intensified love that is occurring NOW. 

Time is a stimulant in the language of love.  The more you experience time with Jesus and the more you come to understand and receive His endless love, the more your heart responds and reciprocates the love. After graciously being redeemed from a two-year post-traumatic stress disorder battle, now more than ever I understand the ever-present healing love of Jesus. The love language I speak in response to the love of Jesus is now different.

Love is a language

Have you considered that love is a language? Gary Chapman describes that God speaks all Five Love Languages fluently. 

The Five Love Languages are:

  1. Words of Affirmation (Hebrews 13:15 communicate love through praise and thanksgiving)
  2. Quality time (Deuteronomy 17:18-19  communicates love by spending time in God’s word and with God)
  3. Receiving gifts (Romans 12:1 communicates love by giving ourselves to God)
  4. Acts of service (Matthew 25:31-40 communicates love by loving and serving others)
  5. Touching (Mark 10:13-16 communicates love through physical touch and acceptance of others)

Do you know your primary love language? If not, you may take the 5 Love langauge quiz to learn your primary love language. Most likely the love language you communicate in with people is the same love language you will choose to communicate with God. The song writer reveals that his primary love languages through the lyrics indicating that he was spent quality time with Jesus and his response was to affirm his love for Jesus.

PONDER and WANDER:

Ponder the question: What love language do you think Jesus speaks? Jesus also speaks every love language and is an interpreter and translator of our love language. He understands every word, thought, and emotion behind each act of love. He individualizes His love language to each believer. As He speaks to us we experience the unconditional, gracious, redeeming, and saving love of Jesus and it provokes a response within us to express our language of love to Christ. Each time we wander in the Presence of Jesus and encounter His love, we become more fluent in our love languages.

This week our wandering will assist us in growing our emotional relationship with Jesus by strengthening our expression of love in the areas of quality time and affirmation.

Like William Featherston, you may chose to set aside some quality time to write a devotional poem affirming your love to Jesus. If you choose to write your poem, keep in mind that it is your personal expression and is not confined by length, rhyming, or any other myths you have about poetry.

Love letter

When you are ready, you may begin by taking a moment to breath in and out inviting the Holy Spirit to activate your spiritual senses. Next allow the Holy Spirit to bring to your mind what words will best express your adoration for Jesus based on your relationship with him in time.  Consider your love affair with Jesus in:

  • The Past
  • The Present
  • The Future

When you are ready, let the Holy Spirit guide your pen as you write a devotional poem of adoration to Jesus expressing your love to Him for the gracious love He has given you in the past, for the redeeming love He is giving you in the present, and for the saving love he will give you in the future.

Love emojis

If you prefer technology over the traditional method of paper and pen, you may choose to contemplate expressing your poem in emojis. When you are ready, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, ponder what emojis represent your relationship with Jesus in the past, present, and future. Now select the emoji’s and craft a love text to Jesus.

PRAYER: My Jesus how I love THEE! Let me count the ways. I love thee with my affection. It exceeds that which I have for any other. I love thee to the point of exhaustion. My whole self is spent in my love for thee. I crave thee. Refresh the cravings of my mind, body, and soul with your everlasting and ever-present love. I love thee in other tongues. Help me to seek opportunities to diversify my language of love. I love thee with everything. You are my everything and my everything is YOU! In the name of Jesus who is the Lover of my soul I pray, Amen.  

PRAISE: Now that you have emptied your mind of the clutter and wandered with Jesus, take a closing moment to offer God your gratitude. Let the work of your wandering fill you with the love of Jesus and utter a word of thanks in the love language of affirmation.

Then take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes of wandering into the next ones and beyond.

Until next time, be Resonant.

Image attributions:
Love Jesus with all: Google images
Love blooms: Google images
Love is a language: Google images
Love letter: Belovedwomen.org
Love Emojis: Pixabay

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How to Love Jesus More than Sin

Fire on the Shore

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
  For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

My Jesus, I Love Thee
By: William Ralph Featherston (1848–1875)

Listen to this simple piano arrangement as you read.  

Over these next four weeks we will look into this timeless hymn, written in all likelihood by a 12-16 year, which examines several different moments in the life of the believer.  In each of those “now” moments, we are encouraged to express our love to Jesus in a variety of ways.  Let’s tune our hearts.

Fire

This hymn gives voice to the words in John 21 where Jesus reinstates Peter.  As they finished their meal, Peter declares three times his love for Jesus.  Peter had only days before denied Christ as he stood around another fire.

They shared some bread and fish together shortly after sunrise.  Jesus drew Peter close and warmed his heart with the invitation  to follow, again.  How sweet those moments with the resurrected Christ must have been for them.

How often our love for Jesus has grown cold and He invites us again to follow.  Not because we deserve it or have gotten our act together, but because He knows what is best for us, and that is it.

Jesus, I love you.  Many times over these weeks we are going to examine different moments of our life.  The “now” of each of those moments presents us with unique opportunities to demonstrate our love for Jesus.  We declare in each of them with the hymn writer “if ever I loved You Jesus, it’s now.”  May that become more true in our lives as we consider and determine our responses in each of those “nows”.

Mine

I Am My Beloved’s

The first passage that comes to mind for me with the word mine is a very personal one.  On the inside of my wedding band are the words, “I am my beloved’s”.  It is referencing Song of Solomon 6:3a, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.”  I have not always lived that out well, but it has always been and will always be my intention to do so.

The same could be said of our commitment to Jesus.  We have not always lived that out well, but it has always been our intention to do so.  Why?  Because it is the only appropriate response to Jesus giving Himself so selflessly to pay the penalty our sin deserved.  He put it like this.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.  John 15:13 (ESV)

Jesus has clearly and in dramatic fashion laid down his life for us.  We know He has done this for the glory of God and for our good, both simultaneously, as an extravagant expression of love.  One unlike any other other across all time and space.  The kind of expression that demands a response.

Resign

“To Thee all the follies of sin I resign.”  That is quite a response.

We use most of those words today, some 150 years after these were first penned, with the exception of one.  Follies.  Here that is meant to imply foolishness.  So essentially we are committing to cease our involvement in the foolishness of sin.  Sounds easy.  But in practice, not so much.

We would agree with the writer and confess this is the right response to being delivered from the consequences of sin, yet we still struggle to refrain from engaging in its foolishness.  While an entire book could be written on this struggle, and indeed it has been, consider this one line from it and the wisdom of its instruction.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:11 (ESV)

I think the danger is trying to be dead to sin, without actually spending the bulk of our attention on being alive to God.  It’s the old negative versus positive conundrum.  Allow me to illustrate.

Don’t Run

When you yell to a child running down the hall, “Don’t run”, the last thing they hear is “run” and you are reinforcing the negative behavior.  If instead you say “Walking feet”, you create a positive alternative and make clear the right behavior.

Though there is no simple formula to help you love Jesus more than sin, the next time you are faced with a temptation remind yourself of this conundrum, and ask the Holy Spirit to be that positive voice in your heart.  As opposed to telling your self, “Don’t sin”, allow the Spirit to speak to your heart “Love Jesus”.  I know it seems simple, but it has helped me to keep that commitment of love countless times, and I believe it can help you too.  And we will keep providing resources like this to help you love Jesus, and become Resonant, 7 days a week.

Positive Tuning!

Jesus, I love you.  I am so thankful you gave yourself as a sacrifice for my sin, delivering me from it’s folly.  I commit to love You again today, and ask for Your help to do it.  Holy Spirit, help me to resign to sin by  focusing more on loving Jesus.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

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Subscribers enjoy this video! Everyone else, the transcript below.

Video 9.1 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
  For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

When you know Jesus is for you, and what He has done to demonstrate that to you, the only appropriate response is to love Him.  The One who made all things and is remaking them wants to save you. Tell Him you love Him.

Foolishness, that what follies are.  Seems like a simple thing. Give up the foolishness of sin to fully embrace the wisdom of Christ’s love.  But it is not as easy as it sounds. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any follies you have yet to resign.

The realization of the truths of the third line are what I believe empowers the worshipper to declare the other three lines.  When we confess that He is the only One who can redeem us, purchasing us back from sin, saving us from the wrath of God, our worship begins.  Declare He is your Savior and Redeemer.

The use of the word now to describe the immediacy of the worshippers love here is intriguing, especially since the hymn takes us to four distinct, different moments in our journey of love.  This initial one seems to be those moments when we first determined to love Jesus. Recall your love for Jesus in those moments to kindle it again in these.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

Sing

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
Fire on the Shore – https://pixabay.com/photos/sunset-water-dusk-outdoors-shore-3097772/
I Am My Beloved’s – https://pixabay.com/photos/wedding-rings-engagement-rings-3611277/
Don’t Run – https://giphy.com/gifs/ted-talk-vaJquoRYdcN0c

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So Be It

Daily Walking

Just a closer walk with Thee,
  Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
  Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Just a Closer Walk with Thee
 By: Anonymous

Listen as you read.  This is a really nice gospel instrumental version.

As we close out our walking/talking journey here, the simplicity of this final prayer is striking.  We are pleading for a closer walk with Jesus.  But I wonder if we can even grasp what that may mean.  Let’s think about that.

On the Move

These last two lines focus in on a few key principles that bring some clarity to what it means to walk close to Jesus, with the first being movement.  The image above portrays this well.  It is not so much about a lot of movement, as much as continual.  There is implied in this prayer of daily walking close to Jesus the awareness that there is a journey we are invited to join.

One of the things I have noticed with the passing of the years is a proclivity to move less.  Whether it is because there is some pain in the moving or simply that it takes a little more effort to get going, it is easy to live a sedentary lifestyle.  The same can be said at any age of our spiritual lives.  It is easier to remain stationary.  It requires energy to move.  But the benefits are staggering.

Are you willing to move every day as Jesus moves?  There are two parts to that question.  Are you ready to move, and will you model your moving after Jesus.  It reminds me of Jesus instruction to the disciples, which we must strive to emulate.

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”  John 5:19 (ESV)

Ask Jesus to give you that same ability and willingness to identify His movements and mimic them.  Commit to moving every day with Jesus.

Close to Thee

Like Jesus

Here is where things get really interesting.  Let’s make it clear.  Jesus taught it this way.

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  Luke 9:23 ESV

If we are going to walk closely with Jesus, we will have to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily.  This is what it means to follow Him.  No part of this is easy.

  • Denying ourselves.  Ouch!  I will not pursue what my natural inclinations would be.  Instead I will pursue the supernatural desires which Jesus introduces me to.  All those things you want, you must lay them aside.  Why?  Because carrying a cross requires you carry nothing else.  Look at the image of Jesus.  He is only carrying His cross.  What must you lay down today to follow Jesus?
  • Taking up your cross.  Not Jesus’ cross.  Your cross.  You will likely not be crucified, but you will have some opportunity to learn obedience through suffering like Jesus did.  [Hebrews 5:8] Are you able to identify what your cross may be today?  If so, ask Jesus for the grace to bear it.  If not, ask Him first for the grace to identify it.

Amen

As Jesus reveals to you what you need to lay down and what you need to pick up, be prepared to surrender to them.  “So be it” is the meaning behind this closing line, which is so important the writer encourages us to say it twice. And that is also effectively what the word means we often use to close our prayers, “Amen”.   All that stuff I just prayed Lord, so be it, Amen.

Let It Be

How does the prayer of this final stanza stack up against the things you have been praying about lately?  A quick recap.

  • Just let me walk closer to You Jesus
  • That is all I am asking
  • Daily walking close to You
  • Amen

If you were to hear my recent prayers, there might have been some of that, but there are a whole lot of other things.  Mostly for others, but a good bit for me, and not enough of this.

Ask Jesus to help you adjust your talking with Him, so that it reflects a deeper desire to be walking with Him daily.  As you do, prepare to surrender as He reveals what you need to lay down and what you need to take up.  It is not the easy road, but it is the far better one.

Jesus, thank You for the reminder of what I should be asking for when I pray.  Thank You for the opportunity to examine my walk and identify what I need to lay down so I am free to take up what will help me learn obedience.  Give me the courage to follow You.   In Jesus’ name.   Amen.

Deliberate Thinking!

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Everyone enjoy this podcast! It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures shared.

Podcast 7.4 Transcript

Welcome to Thursday Thoughts at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s think about this.

Just a closer walk with Thee,

2 Corinthians 5:6-7 ESV

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,  for we walk by faith, not by sight.

Seems like walking would not take much courage.  It is such a simple thing, just trust your sight.  But walking with God is no simple thing, and courage is required to walk by faith.  Walking with Jesus requires eyes of faith. Ask Him to sharpen your spiritual sight.

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,

Colossians 1:9b, 10 ESV

…we have not ceased to pray for you…So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

We join Paul in prayer and echo the one he offered for the believers in Colosse.  It is a prayer driven by our desire to walk worthy of our Lord, fully pleasing Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.  Make this your plea right now.

Daily walking close to Thee,

Luke 9:23 ESV

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Daily walking close to Jesus will require us to follow His lead, His example.  His was a life of self-denial. For the good of the world He went to His cross.  For the glory of God we must carry ours. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you take up your cross so you can walk close to Jesus.

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Philippians 4:20 ESV 

To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Amen means “so be it.”  We want to walk closely with Jesus so we can bring glory to God our Father, just like He did.  There is a lot of weight in this straight-forward prayer.  

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has come to your mind, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then I will read our text once more.

Just a closer walk with Thee,
  Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
  Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
Daily Walking – https://pixabay.com/photos/movement-run-go-walk-autumn-536650/
Close to Thee – https://pixabay.com/photos/jesus-christ-cross-cross-carry-1248835/
Let It Be – https://pixabay.com/photos/amen-message-notice-letters-1510175/

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Plea’s and Thank You

Walk

Just a closer walk with Thee,
  Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
  Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Just a Closer Walk with Thee
 By: Anonymous

Listen as you read.  This is a really nice gospel instrumental version.

We turn our attention back to Just a Closer Walk with Thee one last time.  And as we do we come to the core prayer of this hymn, echoed even in the title.  Oh, for a closer walk with Jesus.  Let’s finish this out strong, settling into a strong stride with Jesus.  Let’s tune our hearts.

Just

This is such a simple word, but it can be used and taken very differently.  I have heard people use it in prayer almost like an apology that they are asking for anything.  “Lord, just help me make it through the day.”  Have mercy on us Lord!

That is not at all what the writer is saying here.  Of all the things I could ask for Lord, I am going to ask for the best of all things, the thing which ushers in all the other good you have in mind for me.  I will ask for nothing more than to walk closer to You.

That is not intended to be a “Lord, I guess I will only ask for a closer walk,” but rather “Please Lord let me at least walk closely to You, no matter what else may come.”

So when you get ready to put your feet in motion, is this the prayer that is on your lips?  “Jesus, as I walk, let me walk close to You”.  As you are walking along, do you keep praying this?  “Jesus please help me walk close to You.”  When you journey is over do you stop to thank Him for helping you walk closely?

Determine to make this a normal, regular prayer.  When you are done reading, before you get up and into the next thing, simply ask Jesus to help you walk closely with Him.  If you are walking and reading, first be careful, and then ask Jesus to help you walk closely with Him.  Developing these little habits are one of the best way to tune our hearts routinely.

Plea’s

Plea

When we sing a line like this, it can be so calm, and the assumption can be that this is how we always ask to be closer.  Should be regularly ask Jesus to help us walk closely with Him in the normal things of life?  Absolutely!  But sometimes abnormal things happen and we lose our calm demeanor and make an urgent, even emotional request of Jesus.

Is it ok to come to Jesus stressed and uncertain of where else to turn.   Absolutely!  Make no mistake, Jesus is not our easy button, or a get-out-of-jail free card, but we can, and even should come to him when we find ourselves in the midst of situations that are bigger than us.

Prayer is the access to the One who has the help and even is the answer.  How often we have not availed ourselves of this access which Jesus makes available to us!  Let’s determine to get better at that, and make it a habit to reach out to Jesus when challenging times come so we can develop a normal rhythm of asking.

What was the last urgent, emotional request you made of Jesus?  Did crying out to Him immediately change the circumstance?  Often times it does not.  When it doesn’t, ask Jesus if part of what needs to change is you.  It is a tough prayer, but one that we must learn to make a part of our walk with Jesus.

Thank You

Gratitude

And when He answers your plea, and He will, take some time to thank Him for responding.  It may not seem like much, but that kind of response informs your next one, and so on.  It is a small part of learning to walk closely with Jesus, a grateful heart, aware, alive, connected, and yes,  Resonant!

Urgent Tuning!

Jesus, help me to make my walk with You a priority and something I regularly take time to develop by asking for Your help.  Even on days when I don’t, and I suddenly become aware of my great need of You, help me to come quickly to You.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

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Below is content available only to Subscribers.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here, or the Free Member Content Library with some examples of the Subscribers content, click here.

Subscribers enjoy this video! Everyone else, the transcript below.

Video 7.4 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Just is an interesting word.  I have often heard people use it in prayer to mean, at least or barely, for example, Lord, if you would just help me make it through this day, as if we are afraid to ask for much. Here I believe it means I will be satisfied if only I can be close to You.  Is that what you want?

Plea means to make an urgent, even emotional request. What was the content of the last such prayer you cried out God?  Was it just to be close to Him? This simple sung prayer is taking us to the woodshed. Jesus, help me make this my plea.

And here it is again:  Daily walking close to Thee.  Each of the stanzas ends with this simple prayer.  Jesus, I want to follow You closely. Is there anything keeping you from praying that prayer, or from truly meaning it? 

An appropriate ending to this refrain which concludes each stanza of the hymn.  One way to interpret “Amen” is so be it, phrased here as “let it be”.  Dear Lord, I want to walk closely with you.  Make that your simple prayer right now, all day, and every day.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

Sing

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
Walk – https://pixabay.com/vectors/footprints-footprint-feet-foot-42972/
Plea – https://pixabay.com/vectors/help-button-red-emergency-support-153094/

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Peace from the Fire of Prayer

Prayer Wheel Turning

Now let us have a little talk with Jesus
Let us tell Him all about our trouble
  He will hear our faintest cry, He will answer by and by
And when you feel a little prayer wheel turnin’
And you will know a little fire is burnin’
  Find a little talk with Jesus makes it right.

Just a Little Talk with Jesus
By: Cleavant Derricks (1909-1977)

Listen as you read.  This is an updated version of this old hymn.

On Tuesday we continued our walking and talking journey with Jesus by rehearsing the advantages of taking all our troubles to Him.  Today we consider the effect that such confidence can have on the intensity of our prayers.  We find things made right as we let the practice of taking things to Jesus become the norm in our experience.  Let’s think about this.

Prayer Wheel Turning

The second half of this chorus introduces a very unusual illustration.  It is odd to see a reference to prayer wheels in a Christian hymn since they are very common in Buddhism, originating in Nepal or Tibet.  What are they?  Important prayers are written on metal or wooden wheels and it is believed that spinning the wheels has the same meritorious effect of orally reciting the prayers.  I honestly wonder if the author was familiar with this Buddhist tradition.

What I imagine he is actually making reference to is the momentum that grows as we increase the fervency of our prayers.  Think of it like this.  You begin to talk with Jesus about your troubles.  You are moved to tears as you speak about the burden you are carrying.  Even as you are praying you begin to get a sense that the answer is on the way.  That sense encourages you to pray even more fervently as a zeal not only for your answer but the glory of God in it begins to burn within you.

Momentum.  Energy.  Heat.  These things can all build on each other.  And so can prayer.

Have you ever had the experience of your heart burning within you as you waited in a group for the opportunity to pray?  The Lord was putting things on your heart that you just had to express.  Maybe your heart rate increased?  It may have even effected your breathing.

A Little Fire is Burning

Fire Burning

Or maybe that has happened as you read the Bible and it begin to come alive to you, seemingly opening up before your very eyes.  I like to read the Bible and then leave it open before me as I begin to pray.  One of the ways Jesus speaks to us is through the Word of God.  Never was that more true than on the Emmaus road after His resurrection as He walked along with two unaware disciples.

They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”  Luke 24:32 ESV

It was not until Jesus blessed their meal and broke the bread that their eyes were opened to reality of who He really was. They asked Him a few questions and Jesus talked to them.  Can you imagine what that must have been like?  

This reminds us that prayer is not a monologue, but a dialogue. When we have a little talk with Jesus, we need to be quiet and let Him do at least some of the talking, otherwise we are talking to Jesus and not with Him, like those disciples on the road to Emmaus. Take a few moments and try that right now.  Have a little talk with Jesus.

A Little Talk With Jesus Makes It Right

Those disciples on the road were sad.  They were talking as they walked along about all that had happened surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus.  Jesus entered into that conversation with them.  That little talk with Jesus had a remarkable impact on them.

Peace Coming Like the Dawn

Though these words come from a different encounter, this is effectively what He was saying to them.  It is effectively what He wants to say to all of us as we face troubles of many kinds.  As you read them,  know that Jesus is speaking them directly to You right now.  Let them begin to give you a different perspective on all the things in your life are are going wrong.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”   John 16:33 ESV

Let peace begin to settle your mind.  What are the tribulations that you facing?  Talk with Jesus about them.  Ask Him to cause His  peace to well up within you.  As it does, trust Him to cause a new day to dawn as He begins to make things right.

Jesus, thank You that I can talk with You.  When I face trouble, help me to talk with You.  Light a fire in my soul as the intensity of those prayers increase.  Flood my soul with Your peace as I wait on You to make things right. In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Peaceful Thinking!

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Everyone enjoy this podcast and the transcript below!

Podcast 8.3 Transcript

Welcome to Thursday Thoughts at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s think about this.

Now let us have a little talk with Jesus
Let us tell Him all about our trouble

1 Peter 5:7 ESV 

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

How do we cast our anxieties, cares and troubles on Jesus?  We pray. We have a little talk with Him. What is causing you anxiety today?  Take a few moments right now and tell Him all about it, or at least get started.

  He will hear our faintest cry, He will answer by and by

Psalm 34:17 ESV

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.

What an incredible promise!  He hears and delivers out of all trouble.  But did you catch to whom this incredible promise is made?  The righteous. And what makes someone righteous? Rightly responding to Jesus’ offer of grace for deliverance from sin, and then relating rightly to all He has commanded us.  Determine to walk in righteousness today.  

And when you feel a little prayer wheel turnin’
And you will know a little fire is burnin’

Luke 24:32 ESV

They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

These words are spoken by the disciples on the Emmaus road when Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection.  It reminds us that prayer is not a monologue, but a dialogue. When we have a little talk with Jesus, we need to be quiet and let Him do at least some of the talking, otherwise we are talking to Jesus and not with Him.  Try that right now.

  Find a little talk with Jesus makes it right.

John 16:33 ESV

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Listening to Jesus gives us peace even in the midst of tribulation.  Maybe as you listened above, you began to get a sense of what Jesus is saying to you.  If this is a new experience for you, I want to encourage you to open your Bible when you are listening because what Jesus says will always be in line with it.  Take heart, and listen again.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has come to your mind, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then I will read our text once more.

Now let us have a little talk with Jesus
Let us tell Him all about our trouble
  He will hear our faintest cry, He will answer by and by
And when you feel a little prayer wheel turnin’
And you will know a little fire is burnin’
  Find a little talk with Jesus makes it right.

Take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
Prayer Wheel Turning – https://pixabay.com/photos/kathmandu-nepal-old-cylinder-3205674/
A Little Fire is Burning – https://pixabay.com/photos/christmas-love-romance-heart-red-2141493/
Peace Coming Like the Dawn – https://pixabay.com/photos/nature-landscape-kaçkars-mountains-3048299/

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