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It’s been a long week (or several weeks). As I sit down for my time with the Lord this morning, I feel beaten down, worn out, discouraged, and yes, old. It’s time to do a little preaching to myself (what David calls meditation in the Word). I turn to one of the darkest books in the Bible, Lamentations, and find where (chapter 3:19-33) Jeremiah, when he was beaten down, worn out and discouraged, preached to himself. While this is just me preaching to me, maybe it will help you preach to you at some point:

I was reading an article from another Christian blog recently where the author was extolling the virtue of experiencing God through nature. I was whole-heartedly on board up until the last paragraph where the article suggested that if you struggle connecting with God through the Word, connecting with God by nature is a good alternative.

This is a note to me and to all those who spend too much of their time frustrated by their spiritual mistakes and not enough time enjoying their spiritual successes. In Luke 6:43-45, Jesus tells us that every tree is known by its fruit, and that our words/deeds are the fruit that shows what kind of tree lies at our heart.

As we’ve been studying the Lord’s prayer together, I hope the model has enriched your prayer life as it has mine and as it has for so many brothers and sisters down through the generations. When I follow the model prayer in my prayer time, one thing that has really benefited my heart’s relationship with the Father is to add an emphasis on thanksgiving. This too was regularly modeled in Christ’s prayers.

I’ve been reading through the book of Joshua over the last couple weeks. Each time I read a book something different catches my attention. This time my attention kept going back to what some might consider a supporting actor – Caleb. Reading Joshua 14:6-12, I saw that at the age of 85 years old, Caleb was energetic and full of zeal for the Lord. We have a few examples of folks like that in our church, and I pray that I can be like that someday. It got me thinking, what was Caleb like that positioned him for this enduring zeal? Searching around a little, I saw that Caleb was consistently described as one who “followed the Lord wholeheartedly” (Deuteronomy 1:36; Numbers 14:24; 32:12; Joshua 14:8, 9, 14).