Ezekiel 36:26-28 (English Standard Version)
26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

what a promise. to know that God completely redesigned my insides, carving me like a pumpkin and cleaning out all the guts. He puts a new spirit inside me to light the way for me to follow...

thank You, Father.

i heard this saying recently:

my Father knows the way through the wilderness. all i have to do is follow Him.

how comforting and true! we don't have to figure the Way out for ourselves. God has put the Spirit inside us and It's always there with us, teaching us God's will and guiding us in the making of decisions and speaking to us when all the other false gods are vying for our affections. but are you listening?

and good friend gave this illustration at FCA once:

imagine a huge lake with trees all around. it's a peaceful, calm day. an acorn falls from a tree next to you into the water and you watch, fascinated by the ripples made on the surface. over the next few months you get busy with school, work and your friends and family. you barely have time anymore to sit by the lake and think. but you still manage to make it out once or twice a week. one day, a storm brews up. winds begin whipping the trees and stirring up the surf. an acorn falls, but this time, you didn't even notice. the storm was too powerful and consumed your attention.

sometimes, we think we're doing so well in our spiritual walk. and we get lax and forget what's important in our day. you have one bad day that simply wipes your energy away and your time with God that day isn't as long or deep as it normally is. soon, this becomes a pattern, then a habit. we get so wrapped up in the material and terminal things in our lives that we miss God's little hints and when He speaks to us through His Spirit.

my life as of late can be describe in this way. i've lost sight of the purpose of my life. my quiet times have been forced and not as edifying. i'm seeking to mend this and it's not an easy task. one i will be working on for quite some time in order to restore it to the way it used to be. but God's love is steadfast. he will not leave me.

praise be unto You, Father. Solo deo gloria!