The Cooling Stream

Christians should be different!

No matter what they look like on the outside, within them there should be a beauty that reveals God’s love and work in their lives.

In their inner being, Christians delight in God's law. (Romans 7:22)

In their Spirit-controlled mind, Christians enjoy life and peace. (Romans 8:6)

At the ripe time, Christians will produce the fruit of the Spirit, a beautiful array of qualities such as love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness. (Galatians 5:22)

Christians delight in the Scriptures. And the Holy Spirit works in their heart to make them look good on the inside.

Christian beauty comes from the inside.

In times of distress, familiar faces offer strength beyond description. They provide comfort for the deep feelings of loneliness setting in from the loss.

Martha and Mary were surrounded by friends and mourners who comforted them when their brother Lazarus died (John 11:19). Then the One they most longed to see, Jesus, came and wept with them.

In loss of any kind, Jesus always gives His comforting presence. We must do the same.

Often the best comfort is just being there.

There is no limit to the foolishness we can get ourselves into. And there is no limit to the damage we can create by our foolishness and the choices it fosters.

David poured out his struggle and complaint to God in Psalm 38. He recounted his own failings and the painful consequences he was enduring because of those failings. He made an insightful comment: “My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness” (Psalm 38:5).

The answer for such destructive foolishness is to embrace the wisdom of God. In Psalm 38:15 David said, “In You, O Lord, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God.”

Proverbs 9:10 reminds us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Only by allowing God to transform us can we overcome the foolish decisions that cause so much trouble. And with His loving guidance, we can follow the pathway of godly wisdom. 

We need God’s wisdom to overcome our foolishness. And we humbly ask God for it.