OCTOBER 2010 - I turned 47 last week.
One of my spiritual mentors called me with good wishes, well-timed encouragement and a list of
Bible verses he told me he was praying for me for this year. It was, I believe, just about the best birthday present I’ve ever received.
DJ's spiritual insight, wisdom, heart for discipleship, encouragement and personal testimony have made him the go-to guy for questions of spiritual maturity. He is the guy who reminded me that this God I pray to is the God who created space and time. This is not a direct quote, but Dolly once said something along the lines of, Have you ever had more than you could do in a single day, and yet, and the end of the day, realized it all had gotten done? That’s because God reached out and stretched time just for you. Have you ever wondered how you have called or bumped into somebody at the exact time that you needed them or they needed you? That’s because God bent space and put you closer together.
DJ is also the guy who said we, as Christians, ought to delight in the law of the Lord and that we ought to desire to know more about Him. And, when we admit that it’s not that way for us, we can be honest and tell God that. Then, we just need to ask Him to create in us a delight for His Word, believing that He’ll do it. I tried it. It works. So, when DJ tells me he has some scripture for me, I want to drink it in and meditate on it.
Here are the birthday verses DJ had for me:
• Ephesians 5:18 … be filled with the Spirit.
• Jeremiah 20:9 … his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
• Psalm 35:10 My whole being will exclaim, "Who is like you, O LORD? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them."
• Psalm 119:103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
• Deuteronomy 32:47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.
Thanks DJ. If my 47th year is Spirit-filled, God-fired, grace-amazed, Word-savoring and Word-dependent, I will have had the most successful year to date.
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