Today I gird myself/with the strength of God to direct me,/the might of God to exalt me,/the mind of God to lead me...

  - Anonymous, Faeth Fiada (Irish, 8th century)

...for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

  - Philippians 2.13

Whenever I consider that the power of the Holy Spirit within me is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that I could ever ask or think, I wonder, Why am I not more fruitful for the Lord?

God is able to work in me according to His good pleasure, so that I can grow in Christlikeness, be more obedient to His holy Law, and bear more consistent and effective witness for Him. So what's my problem?

What's yours?

I suspect that our problem is the same, and it's not God. He's able.

Are we willing?

Or do we fear that God will take up too much of our time, demand too much of our treasure, put us in situations where we might not feel comfortable, or leave us hanging out to dry in the face of some angry unbeliever's arrogant objection to the Gospel?

I think many Christians are just not willing to be more committed to Jesus than they are.

But I suspect they would like to be. More willing, that is.

Easy enough: Start your day every day, and sustain it through the day with this simple prayer: "Lord, make me able and willing to be used to the max for You."

The able part comes as we take steps of faith in the direction of Christlikeness. But the willing part has to precede that, or we'll never move toward anything beyond our present zone of comfort.

"Lord, make me able and willing..." Pray that prayer every day for a week and I promise you, you'll surprise yourself. No, what I mean is, the Lord will surprise you. Because He'll show up and do just that. He'll make you willing. He'll make you able. He'll start giving you new desires, opening new doors of opportunity, empowering you for a ready witness, leading you to reach out to others with the love of Jesus.

If we're willing, He's able. If you want to be willing?

He can fix that, too.

Today at The Fellowship of Ailbe

ReVision - I'm on this culture roll, and before we get too far into it, you'll need to jump in, too. Part 2 on why culture matters is ready to read.

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.