"And Be Set Free"

"The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places." (Psalms 18:45) There is really nothing stranger that not being in the place you thought that you were in; wouldn't you agree? This is a very interesting verse, in that it portrays a life that becomes accustom to a certain environment or surrounding, to which that life then builds upon itself based upon those surroundings. I was reminded this morning of a little thing called 'Abiding in Jesus'; although not that little of an issue, it really is a little thing that we must do; it is not a lot of work to do, it's just hard. What makes it hard, is not the way that we must do it, it is the direction that we must face; placing all of our concerns, burdens, problems, inadequacies, sins and even our stupidity, totally and firmly into the care of Jesus Christ. It's not our concern any longer once we have given it over to Him; for He is more than willing to take it from us and replace it with something that more resembles Him. The thing that causes strangers to fade away, is that they are no longer strangers, and have been transformed into the current community; thereby making them to be strangers no more, but part of the fabric within that community. However; what makes them to be afraid out of their close places, is that, they are what they are, and have built a fortress around themselves that they might hide within. It is this that I have been reminded of this morning, and how it is that we find ourselves have taken refuge in our own personal fortified cites, instead of taking refuge in Christ. It truly does come back to pride, and how we just can hardly ever seem to stop from thinking that we must make that place in which we are to abide; putting our trust in our own abilities, will do nothing but create a place where Christ will not abide, and a very unsecured place outside of abiding in Him. Without getting all philosophical and trying to find blame for the reason that we are prone to such stupidity, I must go back to the whole reason for Saul having been placed in the position of King, and how it was that the children of Israel wanted a king to rule over them, instead of being ruled by God; not because they wanted to be ruled by any man, because that is really not what they wanted; but because they wanted to have someone to display as their king, and to be a representation to who they were as a people. Saul was that representative, but David was the representative of who they needed to be, which were broken lives that are dependent upon God...