Not If But When

I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. (Ephesians 3:16 NLT)

The strength of the Lord's people is none other than the strength of the Holy Spirit in the inward man. Right at the very center of the being, deeper than thought or reason, deeper than emotion or feeling, deeper than all that which comprises the more outward man which, under given circumstances, may prove weak and incapable of standing up to the situation. In the variations of our soul life, the changes of our moods, our ideas, our attitudes, our feelings, our minds; deeper down there is that strength which does not let us go. That is the true nature of spirituality. 

It is not the tremendously forceful conviction of our intellects or the mighty power of our wills. When these cannot stand up to conditions of intense spiritual antagonism, opposition or perplexity, there is that more inward thing, right in the inward man, which is of God – the Holy Spirit: “Strengthened with might by His Spirit into the inward man.”

Test that out and the result is that when the mind is bewildered by the perplexity of a situation, and the arguments are all in the direction that a mistake has been made, a wrong course has been taken, everything is false – when all the feelings are churned up, disturbed, anxious, fearful, or when there are no feelings at all, they are simply petrified by the position – when circumstances are all arguing in the opposite direction of that which we, in the purest moments of our fellowship with God determined upon. 

The world around us – and very closely around us, even within the sphere of our own natural life, our own soul life – is an inexplicable mystery. Then spirituality is proved by that inward strength which abides: that standing when you cannot go forward; that holding when you can do nothing; that remaining when all the forces are seeking to sweep you off your feet. That represents a measure of spirituality. That is the true nature of the child of God. 

The opposite is to be carried away by argument, reasoning, appearance, circumstance, and all such things. That proves a lack of true spirituality. In a sentence, true spirituality is not to live on the outside; it is to live with God right down deep in the inner part of your own being, where He, the Spirit, is.

By T. Austin-Sparks from: Filled Unto All the Fullness of God - Chapter 11 

For Him,

Meema

Real Dads

This is when I say some loving words about dads. Allow me to be frank, if not crude here, I am not referring to sperm donors. No. What I want to bring some deserved attention to are the real men who step up and take care of the children given to them  regardless the circumstances. 

These are those:

• Who do whatever the job calls for no matter how tough or thankless it seems sometimes.

• Who pace back and forth at two am, colicky baby on a tired shoulder, even though he has to get up and go to work in a few hours.

• Who go to work and provide for their families, sometimes two jobs if necessary, putting his own desires aside for as long as it takes. 

• Who take every opportunity to spend time with their kids, reading to, teaching how, sharing, kissing boo-boos, answering toy phones, sipping pretend tea, building lego space ships, dancing with, laughing with, mentoring in as many life skills he knows.

• Who are strong to discipline and hold accountable in the short term for the sake of a good long-term.

• Who never stops fathering even if he lives somewhere else.

• Who never allows any other relationship to supersede the love he has for his child.

• Who never puts the value of money and possessions above his child’s best interests.

And if the kid(s) he is fathering does not share his DNA...

* He does his job as though he never understood DNA anyway. 

Happy Dad’s Day to all the men who are real father’s, you are the true heroes.

For Him,

Meema