"Peace Through Strength"

"That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets." (Psalms 144:14)

  Just so you know, there was another verse I was going to share, following the overflowing blessing, which is where God says that He "will rebuke the devourer for our sakes." It is said, 'whatever you don't give that belongs to the Lord, will end up being devoured by the devil.' Something to think about as you debate between your heart and mind about giving your tithes; because it is most likely going to be taken anyway, so why not put it to good use? Anywho; this verse has me being pulled in several directions; which is kind of crazy, because it pretty much speaks to the opposite reaction. As I was pondering the title, which is what I set out to do, before I even type out the verse, I couldn't help thinking about something Jesus said about plowing a field, saying, "No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62) That is pretty much the picture I see here in a nutshell: if you can picture what it might look like to plow straight lines, verses what it looks like to plow lines that are just all over the place. And about that title; it speaks to the fact that we must, with all of heart, look for Jesus to be our strength, and forgetting about whatever it was we counted on before for strength! Otherwise, that is what you are going to get, a bunch of crooked and squiggly lines; which pretty much means that your testimony is all over the place: saying one thing and then reacting in a totally different direction. I'm just saying; if your really what to know what real peace feels like, then you have got to have your eyes fixed upon something that doesn't move, like we are so prone to do: and that Something is Jesus Christ! As to the second part of this verse, we have really got to stop complaining about each other, because each and every one of us has flaws. You might have heard this said, "If you are looking for the perfect church and you find it, don't join it - or else you will ruin it!" Which goes right back to the title, because if you are putting any faith in man, including church leaders, you are going to get let down and upset. There is absolutely nothing that should surprise you about the actions of the heart, because the Bible clearly says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9) If you could ever want to find a contradiction in the Bible, that might be one for you to use; if you were looking for a single verse as the example. However, the verse is not complete because it ends as a question. Plan and simple: Nothing is higher that God's love, especially not the heart of man; and I think I know Someone that knows the human heart! Talk about peace through strength...

"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12-14)

"Good and Plenty"

"That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store; that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:" (Psalms 144:13)

  To the manner of store, it too is very much about the matter of the heart; because God surely does love a cheerful giver, which is the type of giver who knows from where all blessing flow! Talk about something that is increasingly getting a bad rap, the giving of tithes and offerings is really not meant to be something that is any sort on an issue; it is meant to be something that is as much a part of our worship, as singing praise, or just acknowledging God for all of His mercy and grace. Whenever I can, or whenever God gives me the opportunity, I love to share about the importance of giving. Not that my life has no financial problems, because there are issues and problems that I have with money. But what I do not have is any worries when it comes to God's provisions and my obligation to give my tithes and offerings. And yes, I said obligation! If I expect to be cared for by God, then I am obligated to give Him at least ten percent of everything I receive; it is more than just a commitment, it is a responsibility. I have been dealing with IRS problems since 2003; actually, maybe since the very beginning of starting my business in August of 1990. Paying taxes is also our responsibility, but if you are structuring a budget to base your needs upon, you have got to remember to include tax payments into your budget! I might have overlooked that little item in the list of expenses and needs; probably because they were something that was previously just taken out of my pay, so I never really had to write a check for paying taxes. Anywho; the forms that they give you to fill out, when you are structuring a settlement, do not have a line in the expense column for giving tithes or offerings. I really could not believe it, but it just was not anywhere on the form; so I wrote it in and listed it as if it was an expense, the same as food and housing. The agent that was working with me tried of object, but I was very persistent that it needed to be part of my expenses. In fact, I assured him that it was not going away; and if I did stop paying my tithes, chances were, I would not be successful paying off my back taxes. So I made him and offer, saying, I will pay you a monthly payment equivalent to the amount I put in there for my tithe; but I will still pay my tithe, and I will let God work out the difference. The amount was not really the concern, because I knew that God was more than faithful; but the offer was excepted, and within no time at all, God was supplying all of my needs, and then some! There are somethings that God expects us to just trust Him on; things like working out all of our trial and tribulations: but there is one thing that God wants us to prove Him on; to test Him and see if what He says is not true. It surely isn't jumping off of a building, or drinking poison, or walking into traffic; but when it comes to giving of that which you have been given; let's just say, test and see for yourself. What have you have got to lose, is nothing compared to what you have to gain...

"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." (Malachi 3:10)

"Pleasant and Desirable"

"That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:" (Psalms 144:12)

  There are a couple of phrases that I have heard repeated several times over the last few days, one was, "Nothing happens in a Vacuum," and the other was, "What you don't know can't hurt you." If you cannot change what is going on around you, then it is probably time to change yourself; the way you look at things, or don't, might be your problem. Is the glass half empty, or is it half full? Not that it really makes that much of a difference, but there is an old song by one of the first Bands that I bought an album to listen, "Who'll can't stop the rain," was one of the things I remember from it; that, and the song, "Bad moon rising." Two things that are just what you must deal with, because you really cannot do anything about. The whole point of this is really quite simple: Stop trying to stop the things that you can do nothing about, and focus your attention upon the things you are able to do! I may not be able to stop anyone from doing what is bad for them to do; but I can pray for them and do as much as I can to help influence them into the right direction. There is a little something that they like to call, "turning a blind eye," which in the case of judging others, it is important to consider the impact of how you approach the matter; because there is another little something, called, "turning a deaf ear." Don't get me wrong, if anyone is guilty of this, it is me! I have several things I wish I could do over, focusing of my son's bad qualities, instead of lifting him up for the good qualities, is about the worst thing that I could have done. Blame it on the lack of patience, if you will; but in all honesty, I would blame it on the lack of commitment and love. I guess if you are going to place this into a picture, something that is easy to look at and figure out what the artist had in mind; then it would look like the description given, where you sons are plants: fertile and pleasant to look upon, actually able to be considered good; versus bad, such as weeds, which just get in the way and choke out all that is good. And your beautiful daughters, are just that, polished stones that are set upon the corners of a palace, as the example of motherhood and nurturing, a future refuge and a home. Sometimes it is best to just focus upon what you want to see, not what you think that you see...

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Philippians 4:8)

"Know Your Foes"

"Rid me, and deliver from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is the hand of falsehood:" (Psalms 144:11)

  As far as I can see, this is an answer to prayer; just by giving thanks and believing, we can actually see more clearly what we are up against; but more importantly, where our help comes from! If you could relate this to any current social or spiritual issues, we have more than enough going on around us to associate this with; because the generation of children growing up have been indoctrinated into something filled with vanity and falsehood. Evolution, climate change, one world order, confusion in their sexual orientation; you think it up, and it is all about Judges 21:25, "and every man did that which was right in his own eyes." The sad thing is, they really do not know any different, because they have been taught that this way is right. That is pretty much what the picture is that David is showing, because the right hand is meant to be the hand of prosperity or honor; so, in their minds, they truly believe that the wrong way is the right way. It is no different than the Woe in Isaiah 5:20, that says, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" In a nutshell, knowing that God is in control, and knowing what you are up against, is not only the answer to prayer, but it is the reason we can actually say, Thank You LORD! In other words, this is no longer a threat, because God in going to take care of it! What freedom we have in knowing that, is the reason we can now focus upon other more important things; like all these wonderful things spoken about in the rest of this Psalm. If you really want to see what the victory feels like, then you give away all the defeat, and fill your life with all of the promises of God, and we stand...

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For our weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds:) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." (2 Corinthians 10:3-6)

"Reasons for Reason"

"It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword." (Psalms 144:10)

   Before you go and try to figure out what the why of anything is happening in your life, you must, first and foremost, remember the Who, and how faithful He is to watch over you! That might have been the greatest part of the message Pastor Rick was sharing on yesterday; because no matter what it is you might be dealing with, inside your own heart, or even inside the body, He is the One you are going to answer to, and He already knows the outcome! That might be the most incredible thing of all, that God is not only able to see us through something, but that He knows the outcome of what it is you are going through. It is the second part of this verse that we should consider in this light, because there is the sword, and then there is the hurtful sword; there is a very big difference. Yes, God will not give us more of a challenge then that which we can handle, because He is the one that will deliver us from any challenge. Maybe we don't even realize the extent by which this might happen; and then again, maybe there might be something else we end up giving the credit to. But one thing is for sure, God is the one that supplied the need or the resources, in one way or another. I think the biggest thing that we can do when dealing with disorder, no matter what kind of disorder we are dealing with, is to trust in God to be delivered. Even if you are the subject of the disorder, or even if you are the cause; the bottom line is that God is a God of mercy; He loves to show mercy to those that ask for mercy! And yes, only God can change our hearts, but it is at our willingness to let Him change it, that our heart gets changed! Looking at this from a totally different angle, the first part of this verse speaks to the point of the powerful, which are kings, in that they are not all that powerful compared to God. If they are going to count on any sort of deliverance, it is only by God's will that deliverance is given. Taken up a notch, David is looking at from the angle of God's servant; not just as the King of Israel, but as the one placed into that position by God. Something of a side-note, whatever you are doing for work, as Pastor Rick said yesterday, work is worship; so if you want to worship God, then anything you do for work, you do it as unto God! (Colossians 3:23) Which is primarily what David is saying, that he is not only a king, but that his duty as king is to serve God, first and foremost. No matter how far up the ladder you go, God is holding the ladder...

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your relevant fear of the Lord. Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. But if you do wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong that you have done. For God has no favorites." (Colossians 3:22-25) NLT

"A New Heart" -Too

"I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee." (Psalms 144:9)

  It is really not just a matter of forgiveness, although it is a really good start; it is a matter of the reason behind our need to forgive, because it is a matter of the heart. As I was praying about this post this morning, I had a vision of Jonah as he was sitting under the bush that God had made to cover him. We know that this message about Jonah was important because Jesus used it to illustrate His three days within the tomb and the heart of the Jewish people, (Matthew 12:39-41); but it ends rather odd, because Jonah really does not change his heart. As a matter of fact, Jonah became bitter and unhappy; a simple case of "Stinkin-Thinkin" had come over him and was causing his own heart to actually wish the he would just die. This might not seem to some that it has anything to do with David's song; but it has everything to do with giving thanks to God! The challenge we have when it comes to forgiveness is not the actual act, but the reason! If we could see the reason clear enough, we would not only want to forgive, we would want to make up for anything that resembled hate in our hearts. Remember what Jesus said about hate, that is was the same as murder; just as lusting over someone else was the same as adultery; it is a matter of the heart! Basically, that means that there is something a matter with my heart, if I feel hate towards my bother or my sister. In the case of Jonah, his hate was towards 120,000 people; which was not only wrong, but it was contrary to God's will, which was to have mercy on them and make them an example of His great mercy. The Book of Jonah ends with a question from God to Jonah; which might cause someone to question asking Jonah, whether it was a fish or a whale, if we see him in heaven. But then again, the Book ends before he has a chance to answer...

"And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. Then said the LORD, Thou hast pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: and should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?" (Jonah 4:9-11)

"A New Heart"

"I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee." (Psalms 144:9)

  Let me never get to a place where I do not feel that God needs to change my heart, ever! We can never be there, because like an onion, there is just so many layers and layers of stuff that needs to be dealt with in our hearts. Just when you think you have surrendered everything and all is well, you are opened up to a whole new area of selfishness and vanity, something that you never thought was even there. Reading this verse reminds me of that song from long ago, the one that says, "Change my heart, O God," which happens to be the title. When we are confronted with something that needs to be dealt with, is needs to be something that we embrace and come to God with an expectant heart; a heart that wants to be made new and newer still, each and every day. It is actually a very good thing, and it should be taken as such, not with a feeling of rejection or judgment; but with a feeling of God's acceptance and deliverance; to keep on working out His perfection upon our lives. Yesterday I was reminded of how little I had let God change so many things in my life; especially the things I felt were the things that I felt deserving to keep; even if they were only just stored up for a rainy day. I won't get into the details or the particulars; but I think you know what I mean. One thing I feel that I can share, is that of unforgiveness; which is actually rooted in offense, the act of being offended by someone and the scar that is left on our heart. Oddly enough, this too is something that can be given to God; but like any other sin or iniquity within us, we must own it first. It just gets a little harder to own it when you see it as something put upon you by someone else; which is why we need our heart to be changed, because it might have been someone that offended us, but it was our heart that got offended, and it is our heart that needs to be changed; regardless of how we feel about it or how hard we want to store it up. I really hope that makes sense to someone, because it is very important that we want our hearts to be more like God's: Very Very Important! I really hope we can see that...

""For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."" (Matthew 6:14-15)

"Worthlessness and Falsehood"

"Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood." (Psalms 144:8)

  What a seriously sharp contrast, power and might, to worthlessness and falsehood. Now you might be able to see why this is a separate post, because there is no comparison, at all! That said, there is a movement afoot, or underfoot, if you will, to try and place the Holiness of God on trial; it might not actually be apparent or advertised with flashing lights; but nonetheless, there are certain people who say that they represent the church, that are trying take issue with the Holy Bible. It really has been a thing that has been around forever, so we shouldn't treat it as something new; but it has become more and more brazen. Enough said, just saying that we need to be aware. There are several things that I believe we must hold onto with all of our might: the truth of God's Word, the power of the cross, and the victory that we have been given in Christ. No matter what anyone might try to say otherwise, if we do not believe that the Bible is 100% true and authorized by God, as in He has anointed it and calls it His words, then we need to pray for God to change our heart and make our minds right! It is not even something that needs to be debated, we just need to do it, and do it right away! I don't care who says what, if what they say takes away from the truth of God's Word, turn away and reject it as worthless words of falsehood. Do not even give it the time of day! As to the power of the cross: we have got to believe in God's forgiveness! So much was spent on this, it must never be made cheap and common; it is just as Jesus said from the cross: "It is finished!" Whether you realize it or not, His blood bought and paid for your sins; never to be needing any other sacrifice again, because His was the final sacrifice for sin! As if it ended there, some might assume; there is nothing that is complete in a vacuum! When there is something that is taken away, there is something that is put in its place: Victory! Jesus spoke to this, using the story of the possessed man that was cleansed, but did not put anything back in; as He used the reference to his body as a house. (Matthew 12:43-45; Luke 11:24-26) Paul too, uses the reference to how we must reckon our old selves dead unto sin, but now alive unto God. (Romans 6:6-14) I know we sometimes feel powerless to sin, because there is so much sin all around us; but the victory is ours, because Christ Jesus defeated both, sin and death! By one man, all were born under the curse of death; by another Man, all have been made alive unto God! If you really want to see a sharp contrast, there is nothing greater to be looked upon. Wow, do you realize what that looks like and how that works...

""How are these things possible?" Nicodemus asked. Jesus relied, "You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don't understand these things? I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won't believe our testimony. But if you don't believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life."" (John 3:9-15) NLT

"Power and Might"

"Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;" (Psalms 144:7)

   Again we find ourselves faced with something that is out of our control and beyond any of the resources at our disposal. Tell me you know what I mean, because it was only yesterday that it seemed David had full confidence that God had it all under control. Strange, isn't it, that the way we look at something, starts out with the proper focus, but then gets distorted by our natural tendency to put it into a human perspective. One of the cross-references for the verse above is Matthew 27:43, "He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God." We might not be able to see the whole picture; scarcely enough, do we ever even have a clue what picture we are even looking at, let alone any sort of detail that we might think is being revealed. In the case of those that dared to imagine what sort of relationship Jesus had with His Father; they were so far off from reality, their foolishness was put on display by their own words. In the case of David's plea, something we sometimes don't see, although we really don't care to imagine, is the fact that what we might be dealing with is something to benefit us, not hinder us. I really wish I could better explain what God has shown me, but it is way too complex and beyond description of mere words. All I can say, is that we must simply trust God has it all under control; regardless of what it might look like, where it might appear to be headed, and whatever the outcome might look like; nothing is actually the way things might appear, when it comes to the workings of God! To David's point, he was totally hoping for some serious intervention; not just for his immediate issue, which in and of itself was so far over his ability to understand, he felt as though he was drowning; but for what might become of anything else, something that might come forth, unforeseen and undetected. One more reason that we must not try to figure out what God might be doing, because there is absolutely no way that we can verify what we think we might know, at least not in our lifetime. The closing Scripture from yesterday is proof enough, God is not only in full control, but most of what we see, it is stuff that does not even matter, because it is not unshakable. Then again, what do we know; we simply must just say, "Thank You LORD!" and believe...

"Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." (Hebrews 12:1-4)

"And Then Again"

"Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them." (Psalms 144:6)

  If you really want to see something, something that might actually make a difference, then open up your Bible and discover the power of God; His love is not reckless, on the contrary, it is persistent and well thought out! Maybe some might think that is being simpleminded or misconceiving what happenstance plays in everything; but I am not one that believes in luck or coincidences; when God shoots out His arrows, they hit their marks! Sorry for the emotions, but I have almost had about as much as I can take from people that do not believe that God has a handle on everything going on; whether it is good or bad, it is what we do and how we act, not what God is doing. We break things all the time, He fixes things and works all things out towards the way He wants things to go; because He already knows the end result. Unlike you and I, He doesn't even need to look where He throws out His arrows, they are His, and they will go and do what He intended them to do. You can call that reckless if you want, but never ever consider it thoughtless or out of control! I love the way Jesus shared with those two brothers who were walking home after they witnessed His crucifixion. They did not know who they were talking to, but they were so distraught over the whole ordeal, and He was acting as though nothing bad had even happened. Amazing, is not even close; it was more well thought out and more complex than anything that could have ever been written. You know what I think about the writer of Hebrews; I have shared on it before, because I believe they were three. I know that speculation is just what it means; but it also involves a little common sense and experience of what men do when they start talking about the workings of God, especially when they are writing about it from jail or being held captive. Anywho, I imagine David was getting a little carried away in his visions of how God could destroy his enemies; but don't think for a moment he ever envisioned God out of control; on the contrary, nothing that gets done is ever out of His control. This is such a wicked and cruel world that we must live in, yet He continues to work out His purposes within it...

"No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. You have come to the assembly of God's firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: "Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also." This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshipping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire." (Hebrews 12:22-29) NLT

"Speaking of Mountains"

"Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke." (Psalms 144:5)

  Have you ever wanted God to just show up and show off His awesome power? Pastor Bryan touched upon something this last Sunday, as he was sharing about the chances for those that cannot bring themselves to give their lives to Christ, now without any threat or physical consequence, doing so during the tribulation, when they will be subject to death or even starvation; that God would give them a strong delusion, which, for lack of a better word, is total vanity! It is funny when you look up that word, delusion: one example given is that of scientist who initially thought that the Earth was the center of the solar system. In other words, the chances of anyone who will not surrender their life to Christ now, without the fear of persecution, because they refuse to give up their sins; they are going to even be more stubborn and hardhearted when to comes to giving up their lives; because, truth be told, it is all about them, as it always has been: Me, Myself, and I. This is quite an incredible picture that David is painting here, because it actually has happened in one way or another. I know David was wanting God to show up to make his enemies frightened or feel a little small; but in reality, God did come down and touch the mountains! And they surely did smoke! To see this point of view, which I hope you don't mind looking at, the word smoke is actually talking about anger, as in, fuming with anger. Jesus said something to the Jewish leaders, those that told Him to silence the people on Palm Sunday; He said, "I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." (Luke 19:40) There is really no difference in these two concepts; except one depicts wrath, while the other depicts praise. Interesting enough, the mountains were touched, the moment Jesus died on that cross; and they were angry! The earth shook and graves were opened; and those that stood by were temporarily under a strong delusion. What have we done? they thought; until the mountains quit being angry; then they went back to their same old hard heart. Isn't that the way it seems to work? Signs and wonders don't really change anyone's heart...

"Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal. You know that afterward, when he wanted his father's blessing, he was rejected. It was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears. You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai." (Hebrews 12:14-18) NLT

"Above All of This"

"Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away." (Psalms 144:4)

  It really does not have to be this way; I hope you realize that and grab hold of the abundant life that is available in Christ Jesus! To be perfectly clear, vanity is something to be compared with nothing much; much like the power of a gentle breeze, or the force from the breath of your mouth; it might be something that is detected, but it does not do much, and it really does not stick around very long. The colon between these two sections dictate that the same thought is bing continued, but the second is a definition of the first: which means that the same affect is given within the second description, that shadows really don't yield any power, and they surely don't stick around very long. Looking at this in context with what was shared yesterday, we can rest assured that our lives matter, regardless of this lack of power and shortness of life, because we are known and loved by our Creator! Jesus tried to make this point perfectly clear, saying, "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith." (Matthew 6:30) If we look at from a little different perspective, like from God's point of view, our nothing much is worth a lot to Him: more than we can fathom with out little minds! Here is that thing Jesus did, "O ye of little faith." As I said before, it really does not seem as though it is a put down, but more of an observation or a fact. Your faith is only as good and as strong as what you put your faith into or on. We might not be able to see all the power available though faith in the Lord; but that same power is there, it's just in the Lord and not in us! We don't show up with it, and we don't leave with it; it is strictly by His power and might that might things get done; we simply are allowed to walk in the midst of what can be done though Him. Oddly enough, that is a pretty good illustration of that word vanity above; because it is really not about us, it's all about Him...

""You don't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."" (Matthew 17:20) NLT

"Known and Loved by Him"

"LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!" (Psalms 144:3)

   This verse was in my heart yesterday morning, as I was punching out words during a portion of my post; it was between the thoughts about learning to trust and being subdued; something else that the word subdued means, is to overlay, as in, to be overlay with gold! Maybe the hardest thing for us to have faith in, is in that fact that God truly loves us, personally and individually. We generally get the idea about His love for mankind, that He sent His Son to save man, each and everyone that wants to be saved; but to place your name in the forefront of His mind, we sometimes just can't buy it or accept that it is true. After all, what am I to such a big God? Why would He waste any time concerning Himself with my life? David knew who he was and why he was chosen; it was to be the king of Israel, God's people. Plain and simple, it is for the people that he was where he was; and in that regard, the subdued is more about overlay than it is about any kind of a beat down. The first king, Saul, might have physically met the qualifications of a leader, but when it came to honoring God over himself, his example was far from what the people actually needed. Not to change the subject, but the one thing that I think President Trump best expresses, is his love for all that is good and right, especially when it comes to law and order, fairness and what is best for the common man. You might not agree with everything he says or does, but you cannot accuse him of lying or saying something that he does not mean. And, if the church ever needed someone to do what is best for them, then he is there to get it done. If you don't believe that, you need to pay closer attention to what he does and less to what he says. Anywho, that is my rant on that; but the strange thing about what was just said, is the things God does in my life, they are real and I know it! I have more and more reasons to believe that He not only knows me personally, but that He makes account of my life! I cannot begin to tell you of the amount of times that He has spoken into my heart, and almost immediately, someone will say almost exactly what God has said to me, in one way or another. Think of that what you want, but I will tell you this: God does make account of me! If you don't quite know what that might mean, it means that He plans things out for me, way in advance, and always to make me feel better. You want to know why I know that it is always to make me feel better, even if it convicts me? Because I know He is thinking of me and that He loves me! You have got to realize that, and how that exact feeling fell upon David's heart when Nathan said, "Thou art the man," he thought, O, my God knows...

"So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose. And furthermore, it is not angels who will control the future world we are talking about. For in one place the Scriptures say, "What are mere mortals that you should think about them, or a son of man that you should care for him? Yet you made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them authority over all things." Now when it says "all things," it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all things put under their authority."
(Hebrews 2:3-9) NLT

"My All in All"

"My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me." (Psalms 144:2)

  Yes, this could have been all included in verse one and in one big post; but the way I see it, in order to get all of this stuff right, we must first understand the basics; it's not us that needs to do the work, we are only the vessel by which God gets things done. A simple little thing like being humble, might not be all that easy to make happen; so why not try and just let it happen? We have five things listed here that are listed as aspects of security: fortress, high tower, deliverer, shield, and whom I trust; the first thing, goodness, is very much in order with the strength mentioned in the last verse; because if there is going to be any goodness within us, it is going to come from God. Jesus verified this when someone came to Him with a question, saying, "Good Master," and Jesus replied, "Why do you call me good? For there is none good but one, that is God." (Mark 10:18) It just so happened that the question was asked by you know who, The Rich Young Ruler. On the other hand, it is by God's goodness towards us that all these other securities are depended upon and why we can seriously put all of our trust in Him. In a must peculiar way, the basics are to learn how to follow orders, which are essential to actually having trust; you cannot even begin to know what trust is, without first following the orders you are given to carry out. Abraham did not know how to trust God until he actually packed up and did what God told him to do: "Get thee out of thy country, and from the land of thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee." (Genesis 12:1) God's presence always comes before place or position! (Just a little something I have written in the space below that verse.) Now, to be perfectly clear, I can hardly make out what is being said at the end of this verse, because that word, "subdueth," is a word that primarily means to beat down; which has a root word, that means, to tread in pieces. However, if we are looking at this from the eyes of a king, the subduer is best to be God and not the king! If there is one thing I have learned from administrative working in the church, the Senior Pastor needs to be kind and gentle, while letting his elders and lower pastors administer the discipline and settle arguments within the body. But that is just my observation...

"The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me. He delivereth me from my enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore." (Psalms 18:46-50)

"Basic Training"

"Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my figures to fight:" (Psalms 144:1)

  Keeping a level head, is only possible if you are keeping a pure heart; and a pure heart is only possible if you are keeping in fellowship with God. If any one has every been through Basic Training in the military, them you have got to remember what the number one goal was of your training: to get you to follow orders! It is really not that easy; and some people are so hard to break, they don't even make it through basic training. It's really not about how smart a person is, but more about their willingness to simply lesson and do what they are told, without trying to do everything their own way. How else can I put this, other than to demonstrate how difficult it is to simply follow orders. The first thing we need to observe in this verse is the difference between hands and fingers; they are just as different as the words, war and fight. The general idea is about knowing how to deal with certain issues; as the word, "strength," is a word that means Rock, yet it also means pebble. Thank God, for He is not the kind of God that gives us what we deserve; but He is a God that knows how to apply discipline when it's needed. This is what we might call, being level headed; because you might have the power to overcome someone, does not mean you need to use it, because you only apply what needs to be applied; which is like the difference between war and fight. I guess to try and put it another way, is to say that war will always require force, while to fight, may just require standing up for what you believe. There is the main objective of basic training, because in either case, whether by force or by reason, the military wants to get you to see and do what you are told, without trying to change it. I know that might be putting it lightly, but without keeping it simple, we can get into some really long and boring talk about hardheadedness; because in reality, the real problem starts in the heart, not the head. Solomon had a point to what this might look like: he called it vanity; which is not so much about how you think, but how you feel compared to someone else. In other words, if you feel like you know best, no matter what you might actually know, you will try to figure out another way to do what ever you are told. In that regard, Peter being called a pebble, makes perfect sense in light of how stubborn he was; yet, Jesus being, The Rock, overshadows his stubbornness. Which is exactly why the Lord needs to be our strength, because we are so not level headed...

""Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. I have spoken by my own name; I have spoken the truth, and I never go back on my word: Every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to me." The people will declare, "The LORD is the source of all my righteousness and strength." And all who are angry with him will come to him and be ashamed. In the LORD all the generations of Israel will be justified, and in him they will boast." (Isaiah 45:22-25) NLT

"David Thanks God"

PSALMS 144  [A Psalm of David.]

  Whether or not you believe it, God is in total control. Things might not appear that way, with all the unjust things that are happening throughout the world; but the world is still ultimately under the ownership of God: He created it, He owns it, and He gets to remake it, any way and any time that He chooses. If you are looking for some sort of utopia or world peace to happen, you might be very disappointed by what you see; but if you are, as you should be, looking for the Lord to come for His church, then what you see should make you excited and expectant for His coming! The previous four Psalms were most likely written during or about the time before David was actually king; during the times when he was being pursued by Saul, or the times when he was hiding out and wondering what to do next about his situation. This Psalm is different, in that David is king; yet his troubles are not over, they have just taken on a different appearance and a level of responsibility. Not sure if I have shared this before, but having owned a business for the last thirty years, I have had the chance to see and live out a little bit of what David might be feeling. The carefree experience of just working for someone and just being told what to do, it is something you lose when you have your own business. The grass is always greener on the other side; but once you get on that other side, your find out how hard it is to keep your grass green. There is no such thing as 9 to 5 when you are working for yourself or running a business. That said, David is now experiencing life on a whole new level. This is where we need to start, restart, and continue with, all the days of our lives: by giving thanks to God! Not only is God in control, but everything that we have is His; nothing we have belongs to us, it is all on loan from God. As this is the case, the more stuff the Lord allows for you to manage, the more responsibility you have in your life; that includes people, such as family and employees, and even friends and enemies. We must acknowledge the fact that this is how it is; appreciating God's goodness, no matter what anyone else might have, we have enough; because what we have is really not our property, but God's. If God wants you to have more, than God will allow you to obtain it; but we must remember that it still will always belong to God. That is pretty much the motivation behind a cheerful giver; he is not giving away his money, it is God's in the first place; he is just cheerful that God has blessed him with it, so he is happy to give some back. Anyhow; I hope you can see where David is coming from, because his responsibilities in life have taken on a whole new set of troubles...

"O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods? Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD." (Jeremiah 16:19-21)

"Extermination"

"And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant." (Psalms 143:12)

   The completion of a otherwise complex prayer, one that had several different realities, some taking a look at the weakness of man, while at the same time, considering the strength and the power of God. Things couldn't end up any better than this! There a couple of different ways that we can view this verse and what it represents; but if you are wanting to find which one has the greatest victory or outcome, it would be the way that puts it in the light of Christ Jesus, and what He will accomplish, in the end. Mathew Henry sums up this entire Psalm as not just a prayer, but a prophecy regarding Christ and His Kingdom. As tuff as it might get, we have nothing we can suffer through that compares with what Christ went through on our behalf. It was not just about the suffering He withstood on the cross; it was the fact that He stepped down from heaven to this earth, taking on the punishment for His creation, while at the same time being punished by His creation. That is some pretty heavy burden to overcome; just the heartbreak alone, how can anyone else compare to that kind of suffering; it is in a league all be itself! Yes, the punishment for sin was paid in full; but the rest of the story involves those that will not have Him rein over them; much the same as those who cried out, "We will not have this man rein over us," after Pilate declared, "Behold, your King!" Little did he know, he was 100% correct! I know we have some behavioral problems when it comes to being holy and righteous; it is for that reason He came to set us free and give us the victory. But our inability to be perfect was completed in His perfection; the same way that He took the afflictions that were to be ours: the utter affliction of our eternal soul. The word, "destroy," is what is represented in the title above; oddly enough, I know a little bit about how that works. In my line of work, it means that the target pest your after in any particular place within a structure, is completely killed off. You cannot give a guarantee that the pest has been eliminated if you have not eliminated the pest. It only takes one or two survivors to continue the infestation; and within no time at all, your right back where you were, but sometimes worse off; because the survivors offsprings might be immune to the product that was used before. Fortunately for you and me, Jesus is KING; and everything and everyone will be completely brought under His rein...

"But thou, O man, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: which in his times he shall show, who is blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen." (1 Timothy 6:11-16)

"To Go Forth"

"Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble." (Psalms 143:11)

  There are just some things you don't know how to pray for; they have outcomes involved which could go either way, no matter which way you see the matter turning out. This is why it is best just to give any matter to God, let Him deal with it and let it be done! Continuing on with what was put on my heart yesterday: we have been given life; a life that is bigger and better than anything we could have ever been given on our own. This life that we have in Christ, it is made for so much more than we could ever imagine, because it not only has purpose, but His purpose; and all that we need to do, is to just show up! I know, here I go again, headed into another discussion about Living Water. Yes, and why not? The dead sea will not be dead forever! And do you know why it is dead? It is dead because it has no outlet; the water that goes into it, just sits there and goes nowhere. I don't even know how that is possible, but that's what they say happens. Oddly enough, trouble is something of a vexer; to put it mildly, a rival wife; something a little similar to Paul's suggestion about remaining unmarried, if you have the power to do so. Don't get me wrong, marriage is good, and I love being married to my wife. But my situation is a little different than most, because my wife is pretty easy to please; she just wants to be changed and feed; and she loves to have her hair washed! But as for where we live or how, she really no longer has any concern over that. However, I am still restricted and obligated to care for her; so, regardless, she is still my responsibility to have and to hold, till death do us part. Whatever state David was in when he wrote this, he felt restricted and unable to live the way that he wanted to; or more to the point, the way that God wanted him to. This is really not all that hard of a place to be. We have all no doubt had those moments where we have felt God tugging on our hearts to do this or that, but then we start thinking about doing it, and more we think about it, the harder it appears that it will happen. Yes, you see it too: the vexer comes in many shapes and in many forms...

"For all these things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." (Isaiah 66:2)

"A Level Place"

"Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness." (Psalms 143:10)

  I wish I could say that this is a reality in my own life, but I would be lying if I did. There are days that come extremely close, with very few exception; but truth be told, almost every day comes with some sort of challenge, even if I were to be sick and stay in bed. Basically the point is for God lead us by His Spirit; so much so, that we not only love it, but that it is a place where we walk upright and level; any sort of difference is not only easy to detect, but it uncomfortable and throws us off. I think you know what I mean, so I don't think I need to explain it any further. But, this is God's will for us, to do all that we can to learn what it takes to live in, "the land of uprightness." There is really such a place, spiritually speaking, where you are walking in the Spirit, totally and completely dependent upon God's leading, and you are unremoved! That is a word I just made up; but it is a real thing, none the less. Paul demonstrated it on several occasions; him being bitten by that poisonous snake on Malta is one such example. For me, I can think of the time when my wife was in a code-blue at the hospital and I was ministering to the Chaplin. The Chaplin came in to minister to me, but when I requested that we pray, his pray seemed as though he didn't know who it was he was talking to. I was pricked in the heart to share with him about a message I recently gave, where I spoke about the hands of Jesus on the cross. His pray reminded me of the song, "Put your hands in the hand," so it only seemed fitting. For the next month or so, I lived in that level place; even though my life was turned upside-down, everything I did, or wanted to do, was by walking in the Spirit. How else can I say it; other than relating it to when I took my niece and my wife on a 7,000 mile RV trip. Every point of that trip seemed to be rushing and trying to make the next stop; except the point when the RV had mechanical problems and we were stranded in Tallahassee, Florida. For the whole next few days, it seemed as though I was finally able to rest and enjoy the trip. We were fortunate to be able to attend a Spanish Full Gospel Church, the one I shared about in the post from the summer of 2010. Anywho; this is the main thing we need to know about this level place, in that it is where God is in control and we are not...

""These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."" (John 14:26-27)

"To Be Covered"

"Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me." (Psalms 143:9)

  There is just nothing that can compare to the power you feel when you know that God is not only on your side, but that He is also protecting and watching over you. Call me whatever you want, because it really does not matter what man says, my God says that He loves me, and His lovingkindness is all I really want to hear; everything else is just chatter! I remember back in the late 80's going to a man's retreat where the teaching was about the battle belonging to the Lord. The main teaching of the weekend was based upon David's stand up against Goliath, and how he was not afraid because it really wasn't his battle, but it was God who would defeat the giant; he was only a servant. It takes a little faith to believe in a very big God, because our faith is not in what we can do, but is in what He can do. Jesus had something He said to His disciples, on several occasions, He would say, "O ye of little faith." I am not really of the opinion that it was a putdown, as much as it was an observation or more about Him saying, "If you only knew." The closing Scripture from yesterday was more about what God does, not about what happened to Jacob. Jacob was changed that night: physically, he was made weaker, but it was his faith that was made stronger, because now he had been given purpose and direction. What is your calling? What is it that God is calling you to do? Jacob was given a new name, one that not only had purpose, but it came with protection; no longer was he just aimlessly moving around without a plan or direction, he was now a man that was governed by God. A man that God called, a prince, and not just a prince, but a prince that has power with God and with men. What gave him that power was God, an eternal and everlasting power that compares with nothing else! If David needed a little faith, it was more than enough to just put his little bit of faith in his very big God; a God that not only could defeat that giant, but if He chose to, could have instantly wiped out the entire Philistine army, in a single blow. The kind of deliver that we see here is that of being snatched or taken up; much as if you were no longer subject to any harm from the enemy or from whatever was coming against you. If you were to see this in the light of David's stand against Goliath, it was the moment that his heart was pricked when he first heard Goliath speaking out against God. In that moment, is when he realized that the battle was God's and not his own; he was only a servant, a little servant in the hand of a very big God...

"Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 6:16-20) NLT

"Morning Prayer" -2

"Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift my soul unto thee." (Psalms 143:8)

  As for the 4th point, this is it: Morning Prayer is what I have written above this verse; a reminder that every day is a new beginning and an opportunity to trust God to show me what He has in store for me today. Not like I don't have things already planned, because like most people, living requires some kind of structure and things that need to be done around the house or in the office. Saturday is usually my Sabbath; a time when I do not do any work, per say, but spend as much time with my wife as possible; just hanging out with her, singing and napping and telling her how much I love her. But even in a day filled with work and plans, we still need to do all that we do as doing it unto the Lord! Which is pretty much the concept here, that whatever we are doing or facing, we start each day with devoting our life to God's leading and guidance. It might get no further than the front door; but your a lot better off if you at least start off in the right direction. If it causes us to start off each morning with a desire to walk in His ways, it is so much better than ending your day wishing you had asked God for guidance. I don't know about you, but there are things that happen some days I wish I could have avoided; but if God is guiding you life, even those things might have something that works towards the good. I'm just saying, we don't really know how anything is going to turn out. Our brother that shared at our Men's Breakfast last Saturday, had a pretty good point on that, saying that even when we think we are doing someone a favor, it might not be the thing that they need. The message was about, "kindness," one if the fruits of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23. The meaning of what is spoken of in that regard, is to furnish what is needed. This is pretty much the same thing we are asking of God, with regard to His lovingkindness: trusting Him to furnish today what is needed...

"This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob's hip and wrenched it out of socket. Then the man said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!" But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." "What is your name? the man asked. He replied, "Jacob." "Your name will no longer be Jacob," the man told him. "From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won." "Please tell me your name," Jacob said. "Why do you want to know my name?" the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. Jacob named the place Peniel (which means,"face of God"), for he said, "I have seen the God face to face, yet my life has been spared."" (Genesis 32:24-30) NLT

"Morning Prayer"

"Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee." (Psalms 143:8)

  As you might have heard me say, I firmly believe in morning time devotions. Not to say that night time devotions aren't good; because I love it when I remember to read my Bible and pray before I close my eyes to sleep: but morning devotions are more important when it comes to starting another day. I seriously have not missed a morning devotion since January 1st of 2010. That is mostly due to the fact that I have not wanted to miss a single day of posting this blog; and with very few exceptions, these posts are completed by 7am, whether I feel like it or not, it gets done. Thinking back to what it was like before, I had a certain amount of consistency, but never like this; this is something that I have involved others into, so I have a little more accountability. What does that say for accountability to God? What might make us neglect to meet with Him at our routine time or place? Time is pretty much the biggest excuse given; people do not have the time, because they wake up 20 minutes before it is time to leave for work. My phone goes off every morning at 4am, with a little reminder on the screen that says, Time To Pray. I wish I could say that I jump out of bed and get on my knees; but most mornings I wake up a 3am and turn on Fox And Friends; depending on the topic and what is going on, in might lay there next to Marianne until 5am, with the thought of still having two hours for prayer, reading, and posting by 7am. I am sorry if that might sound too much like works; but to me, this is a time of day that matters the most for learning. When I was in the 11th grade, I was for the very first time in my childhood life a straight A student; and it was because I did all of my homework in the morning before school. If I had two hours of work to do, then two hours before I would need to get ready, I would start my homework. I never bothered doing any homework at night; as far as I was concerned, night was a time to relax and prepare for the next day. That might sound strange, but it actually works! If we allow ourselves to try something that helps us be better, why not keep it up and make it a habit? This is David committing himself to morning prayer; that God would cause him to hear him in the morning, and not just that he hears, but that what he hears is how much God loves him! How important is that, to hear how much God loves you, before you get ready to start your day...

"And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed." (Mark 1:35)

"An Urgent Matter"

"Hear me speedily, O LORD; my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit." (Psalms 143:7)

  If you experience the least bit of what true worship does in your heart, then you can realize the urgency you feel to correct any sort of a flaw in the relationship you have with God. The closer you draw to Him, the more likely you are so see your sin and transgressions that are hidden in your heart. As with most verses that end up on six and seven, my natural tendency is to relate verse six to man and his weaknesses; while applying verse seven to God and His abilities or power. And, as with most cases, there is a case for that here as well. In a strange sort of way, we are made more visibly weak and fragile in God's presence; but at the same time, we are also feel safer and better off with Him by our side. The weakness comes from our tendencies to sin, as we examine ourselves and our right to be in His presence; those things that might hinder us are made clear, even though we might not have seen them before. The fragile state of our existence is manifested by the fact that we are here based upon the will of God; something that we have absolutely no control over, whatsoever! There is a powerful verse that speaks to this illustration, "For our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:29) Actually, if you really stop and think about what it takes to refine precious metals; we are His precious metal, and the Refiner's Fire is a really good thing! In contrast to the state of man, God has the ability to quickly change our condition and our failing spirit; the spirit being that little bit of strength within us to do anything at all. He can do anything and everything; we can do nothing at all to save our souls! We do not want to die in a condition that is outside of the covering of Christ, so anything that we see that might hinder us, needs to be dealt with, like right now! This might be another good example of what religion might have to do with our relationship; because there is such a contrast between the ability we have and the power of God; how can we rationally think a relationship is possible in that, outside of a religious experience? Thank you Jesus for all that you have done! The religious part of this relationship is for me to have faith in Christ and the work that He did on the cross; the relationship part of this religion, is that He lives! and not only does He live, but He lives in me, and I live in Him...

"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 7:24 - 8:1)

"Worship" -2

"I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah." (Psalms 143:6)

   Maybe the problem isn't how we worship, but how much we need to worship; because the thirst is never really satisfied enough to carry us very far at all. As I was thinking about this verse and how it relates to the need we have for a personal relationship with God, I couldn't help but think of something Pastor Bryan said Sunday, that we need both, religion and relationship with God. I think it speaks to the need we have for structure and a foundation; a way to stop people from moving away the religious aspect of worshipping God, because He is God, and simply focusing on a relationship, as if He is more like a friend. By the way, what is going on in the S.B.C.? I think that there might be a little religious aspect missing down there, because someone has totally left off following the Holy Scriptures. That might be what it looks like when we get a little too friendly with God, we start thinking that we get to make our own rules, no matter what the God's Word might have to say on any particular matter. The main point I guess that God is speaking into my heart about, it that of our need for daily worship; every day is the same, in that we need to filled and dedicated to serving God on a daily basis. That is where I believe the religious aspect comes into play, because we must practice to make ourselves dedicated to fellowship with the One that loves us. That might seem a little legalistic, as if we might be working too hard at loving God; but if we would put the same sort of effort into our marriages, we would find that we would have less chance of divorce and separations. Actually, the religious part of this is based upon the fact the He is God, and He loves us so much more than we could ever love Him back; no matter how hard we might try, we can never love Him as much as He loves us. So we must also keep that in mind in our relationship, then we can really see the thirst...

"Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." (Isaiah 26:8-9)

"Worship"

"I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah." (Psalms 143:6)

  This is the third point, worship, that is what we were made for, and what we do best: to worship the One that created us! When people think of worship, they automatically think of singing or what we do before message is given at church. But the most important part of worship is for us to want God's presence to shine upon us; whatever it takes for that to happen, worship is us wanting to draw close to God. Interesting thing, but thirsty reminds me of when Jesus spoke with the woman at the well, from John 4:4-42, as He needed to go through Samaria on His way to Galilee. The thirst that Jesus talked to her about, He said that the water from the well could not compare to the water that He could give to her, calling it, "Living Water." If you think about what happens to water that falls upon thirsty land, that it dries up quickly and is absorbed into the soil. Worship is very similar to that, in that by singing, we get saturated in God's presence, and then we walk away sometimes feeing drained, as if we need more and more worship. Living Water is what takes us out beyond our own personal experience and lets us experience true worship, which is to share the experience that we have with God; which is what the Samaritan woman did, as she ran back down to share the conversation she had with Jesus. I know it might not be something that everyone feels called to do, but if you really want to experience what true worship feels like, sharing your relationship with Jesus is better than singing any day of the week. Jesus made that point to His disciples, saying, "I have meat to eat that ye know not of." There is nothing more satisfying than to share the Good News and to have someone receive it; it is pretty much the opposite of what happens to water on a thirsty land. It is actually more like water the comes up from out of the soil...

"Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirst land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes." (Isaiah 35:4-7)

"Ponder"

"I remembered the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands." (Psalms 143:5)

  I made a mistake, because I said that there were three points, when there are actually four; it is just that the fourth is about what this is all about, just a little more specific. Anywho; we might not get the just of what is taking place, but it involves a technique where you take your focus off of your problem and instead you focus upon the solution; the solution being God and His wonderful works! There are some things that just are too big for us to handle; but there is nothing too big for God, because with God, all things are possible. I can think of two instances in the New Testament where that is said, almost word for word: the first is in Mark 10:27, after the disciples were astonished by what Jesus said about it being easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, that for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God, Jesus said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." And the second of which is recorded in Luke 1:37, after Mary asked Gabriel, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" And then Gabriel said what shall be, and added, "For with God nothing shall be impossible." There might be others, some of which say similar statements; but the point is that God can do anything, and that there is nothing too difficult for God! I don't need to remind you about who it is that I believe Mark was; but if you don't know who, I don't want to try and convince you, but gently persuade you that he was that rich young ruler. There are a couple simple things that have me convinced: the wealth of his mother, his description of the encounter, the way Jesus looked at him, the saying above from the mouth of Jesus, and the naked young man in the garden the night Jesus was arrested. But, that is just my opinion, as well as several others, including the late Dr. Chuck Missler. Actually, the thing that makes me more amazed than anything is the fact that there are so many connections throughout the Bible that are interwoven and so complex. The study I did in the book of Ruth just blew my mind, as I realized the connection between Ruth to all of those other women: the firstborn daughter of Lot who had a son by her father, she named Moab; Tamar who had a child from her father-in-law, Judah; Rahab, the former prostitute from Jericho, who was the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth; and Bathsheba, who ended up married to her great-grandson, David. When you think about the complexity of that bloodline and what it involved and included, you have got to admit that God always knows what He is doing, and He does it well...

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

"Despaired"

"Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate." (Psalms 143:4)

  You need to realize that everything we go through, we go through it for a reason. I know that there is no logic in some of the reasons, at least none that we can see or understand; but God can use anything for something good, even if whatever it is, appears to be absolutely horrible. There are three points of interest that I have marked in my Bible throughout this Psalm; this verse is the first of those, and it has written below the verse, "Despair." Whether or not it was what David actually felt, that is a question we can ask him in heaven; but it is here for a reason that we need to take hold of and make it a lesson on how we should coupe. We have no idea what God is doing in or though any situation we might find ourselves in; if we attempt to try and figure it out, it becomes overwhelming. Basically the word for "overwhelmed" means to be covered over, or to cover. I don't know if you ever did this as a kid, but I think I remember doing it once or twice: when you did not know what was going on around you, you covered the blanket over your head and tried to hide yourself. I can recall one instance that I did that, when my mother and step-dad were drunk and fighting really hard and loud. Things were breaking and the walls were shaking; it seemed like everything I needed to survive was falling apart. I think I was about ten, maybe even nine; but for that brief moment, life seemed very faint, and I realized how feeble and weak my life could be. Despair does not need to bring us to an end, it is actually intended to bring us to a new beginning! That is the reason for the title above, because in our lives, as children of the KING, every moment we have despair, it needs to be given over to Him, the One who has conquered everything; then it becomes something past tense and not present. Besides that, there is nothing here on this earth that can destroy your soul, even though the spirit might be overwhelmed; it is pretty much only the part of us that makes us do this or that, it isn't the soul; our soul belongs to God...

"And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:41-44)  

"Dark and Dreary"

"For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground, he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead." (Psalms 143:3)

  There are some things that might set us up to focus more upon our circumstances than we should; obviously, David is no one to be free from that sort of thing, whatever that thing might have been. For myself, it might be the fact that I have a wife who has serious brain damage and that my married life is not what I had imagined it would be. I have always imagined us enjoying each others company in our many travels, watching sunsets from varies places around the world. If there were some sort of contrast to what I imagined, then yes, I could make this out to be one of those; if, that is, I choose to do so, because there are other options in these circumstances! As a matter of fact, there are several different ways to look at any set of circumstances; even those mentioned above, as David in pouring out his complaints to God, the majority of his complaints are things that are not even real, but are the things that he feels like is happening to him. Let's break it down, staring with the one which is the most obvious, "the enemy hath persecuted my soul." I don't care how hard this life might get, or how many people are out to destroy you, there is only one that can harm your soul! Jesus says, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28) There is only One that is able to do that, and last I checked, He is for me, not against me! Just as He was on David's side also; but David was not feeling it in the moment; or so it might appear. The second one is about being "smitten down to the ground," which is a lot like saying, "I might as well be dead, because I am that much close to it." First of all, that is not what God has planned, it is only something he was feeling in that moment; besides that, there is nothing that can stop what God wants to do in us, even when it might be us that get in the way. Your life is not over till it's over! The third is that anyone can make us to dwell in darkness; because if we have the Lord in our lives, we have the Light! And finally, that thing about, "as those that have been long dead," we might as well slap ourselves over that, because He gives us life; so much more abundant than this current life. Which takes us to the next verse; but not without mentioning this one important detail: Abundant life now is felt in the abundant life that is coming tomorrow; so no circumstance has got to affect us like that...

"Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts." (Ezekiel 37:11)

"Complex Reality"

"And enter not into judgments with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified." (Psalms 143:2)

  Before we go trying to make something out of nothing, my first reminder to anyone that might be in the least bit concerned about what David is saying, remember that he is a believer too; he looked forward to the cross of Christ and the redemption of his soul. I have heard several different pastors use the example of a credit card verses a debit card; whereas, those that lived before the cross used salvation like a credit card, which Christ paid in full on the cross; while we that live after the cross have all been given salvation like a debit card, that seems to never run out of funds. In that regard, something is actually made into nothing; which basically means, that the something we should be judged over, has been taken care of by the blood of Christ; so when God looks upon us, He sees us through the blood of His Son. I know it might seem complex, the fact that we are living makes it that way; which is precisely why Paul reminds us that we have been crucified with Christ; it s no longer we that must strain to accomplish that which the Law says we should be and do, but Christ Jesus that lives through us to easily fulfill what He has already accomplished on that cross. Basically the only concern that we must be straining with, is not even anything that is a strain at all: we just need to abide in Christ; or, if you will, stand, doing all that we can to stand! Surprisingly, it actually will look differently in the end, because we will realize then that all the efforts we used to keep on standing were to keep us leaning on Him, because all the time we were abiding; and the love of Christ is abundantly far and wide, and deep and high; therefore there is nowhere we can go outside of Christ! Besides, this is all about a prayer; and as far as David is concerned, God is listening and he can say nothing that God does not already know. It is you and I that need to learn what God has to say to us: because He has the words of eternal life...

"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2:16-21)

"Fortification"

"Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplication: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness." (Psalms 143:1)

  A new day for some new beginnings; so why not begin by making Him LORD! We cannot begin to compare our righteousness, or lack thereof, with the righteousness of God; He is the faithful one, we are in need of every bit of God's mercy and grace He gives to us. What peace we get from knowing that He is willing to listen when we cry, not because we are obedient, but because we are His child and He loves us! I may have wrongly stated my admonishment, which I believe was intended as a warning to myself. Thankfully, God does not hold certain things against us, because there is really nothing we can do or say that He is surprised over or did not know we were going to do. David has no doubt whatsoever that God hears his prayer; but he is simply pleading for direction and an answer. Sometimes that is all we really need, just to get an answer; it might not be the specific answer we were looking for, but any answer is good enough if it comes from God. Do you know why that is? I hope you do, because He loves you more than you could ever know! No matter what His answer might be, it is far better than anything you could have thought of on your own; because He knows what is best! Why settle for anything else? You know something else that makes us fortified in His love: He knows every single thing about us, and yet, He still loves us! He is faithful at His word, on that we can totally be assured of; and because He is faithful at His word, He will honor everything that He has promised us, even to the very end. I know the natural law of give and take does not match those principles; but God's law speaks louder than all of that, because His love knows no bounds. If He has promised you something then, then it is a promise to the end. Special treatment is not the thing we should be thinking of, but that He is special and treats His children special because they are His. I hope you don't get the wrong idea, because special treatment involves discipline and correction. If we are not being corrected when we do wrong, something might be wrong in our relationship with God. At the very least we should feel some sort of admonishment followed by the shame. That alone is sometimes all it takes to cause us to fall on our knees and ask for His forgiveness. He is always faithful to forgive us, we never need to worry about that! This is about us counting on His ability to hear, based upon His faithfulness and His righteousness; of which, there is no doubt...

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

"Hear My Prayer!"

PSALMS 143 [A Psalm of David.]

  Well, welcome to the new year! May it be not only a good year to hear the Lord, but a even better year to listen and to obey! As with the last Psalm, this one is very similar in the David is still dealing with trouble and asking for God to help. Forgive me for being a little simple-minded, but I don't want to ever think that I don't need God's help, in any way or fashion. The day that I think I have this life handled on my own, will be the biggest mistake of my life. Unfortunately, I hate to say this, but there are times when I act as though that is the case; times when I might feel as though I do not need to listen, that I can do whatever I want. I know, it might be something we all do from time to time, but I pray that it does not become any sort of habit. I was wondering where that word came from, habit. Is it derived from dwelling in something or on something a little more than we should, and therefore that thing actually dwells within us and inhabits there, consuming our soul. Anywho, this is not really about New Years resolutions or anything like that; this is about maybe wanting to make this day count for something new! Are there any sort of habits that you might want to get rid of? I might have a few; and I believe that prayer is going to be key for getting rid of them. As I was saying before, if you really want God to hear your prayer, then you really need to listen to Him. Call it respect, if you want to; but if you are trying to live your life pretending that God is only there to listen, then you are not even close to having Him be Lord of your life. He needs us to give Him all; or at least to be willing to give Him all. At least if we are willing, then He will have something to work with; and you can bet your bottom dollar that He will work it out, one way or another. But, we must be willing! I guess the hardest part is to realize that there is something wrong that needs to be made right. If we do not think that it is wrong, then we will never be willing to let Him change our heart and make us right. Right or wrong really does not matter when it comes to making Him Lord of our life; it must be all about what He wants! Lord, whatever you want: That is my prayer...

"And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said." (2 Samuel 7:25)