"Real Security"

"This Thou hast seen, O LORD: keep not silence: O LORD, be not far from me." (Psalms 35:22) To be perfectly honest, you have to realize that nothing is hid from God, absolutely nothing! To think otherwise, even for a moment, is to be totally dishonest within our own hearts; taking that which we know to be true, and forcing it out of our hearts and minds, if not just long enough to satisfy some whimsical desire or craving. The most important thing to remember about our Father is how much He loves us, and because He loves us so much, He will not allow us to destroy ourselves or be destroyed by the things of this world, or any other world. (Romans 8:35-39) That said, He also will not let us go about sinning without being disciplined; but at the same time, we are never closer to the Lord than when we are suffering through something, whether it be a trial or a punishment, the Lord is always near when we are suffering. It's like the "Foot Prints in the Sand", where during the worst times of our lives there is only one set of foot prints, because during those times the Lord is carrying us through our suffering. Now, for a moment, just think about what is being said, and imagine you as a parent, knowing that your child is heading in the wrong direction, yet saying nothing to prevent them from going that way, let alone not giving them the discipline required to show them that you care; well, this verse is like the child is acting like the one who cares, and is saying, You know when I mess up, so please don't hesitate to say something, and for goodness sake, don't act like you don't care! Now imagine if your child actually said something like that; but that is what we expect from a Father that loves His children, and because we expect it, we should live accordingly: knowing that God can see all that we do or think, and that He will not remain silent, and He definitely will not act as if He does not care what we do or how we act... "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is the commandment, That we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment. And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit that He hath given us." (1 John 3:18-24)  

"Constraining"

"Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it." (Psalms 35:21) To really get to the heart of the matter, if this is not our home, and if the kingdom we belong to is not of this place, then why should it matter what anyone says concerning us? Do you think Jesus cared what people said of Him? Those that were His sheep, they heard His voice, and they knew who He was; those that were not His sheep, could not understand who He was, neither could they understand what He was saying. (John 10:1-5) When it comes to what people might say of us, our judge is God, and it is God who we will answer to; therefore, our attitude should have some sort of constraining power behind it that forces us to look the other way, much like "turning the other cheek", however, in this instance the motivation is to shy away from confrontation; because we cannot change anyone's heart, only God can do that; and until their hearts are changed, they will never be able to really see things the way that they truly are. Basically, this "Prayer for Help" has taken a turn from needing God's help from those who might be out to harm us, to needing God's help so that we might not harm ourselves. Much like what Jesus said about "walking that extra mile", or "giving your coat also when they ask for your shirt"; because we only bring damage upon ourselves when we try and fight such matters, but we heap coals upon the heads of those, when we don't; it just might not seem as though it is right, but since when does God's economy work the way we think is right? Our number one goal should be the same as Jesus' goal was, and that is to please the Father (John 4:34); it was what truly satisfied Him, and it was His purpose for coming here in the first place, which was do the will of the Father. The only reason we remain, is also to do the same; which is to take part in the 'Harvest', whether that might be sowing seeds, planting and watering, or getting to partake in an actual reaping; our reason for being here is to do the will of God, and it is God's will that man should be saved; therefore, the constraining force behind everything that we do must be motivated towards working the "harvest", not the other way around...
"Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours." (John 4:35-38)

"Constraint" -2

"For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quite in the land." (Psalms 35:20) Something I think is important to note, is that, for those of us that are children of God, this is not our land; we are but Pilgrims trying to do the best we can in the harvest, yet also trying to keep our focus on the place we call home, which is heaven. As Pilgrims, do we really keep our focus on heaven, or are we always busy talking about and getting involved in situations happening here "in the land"? Guilty as charged, is my answer; although I have tried to back away from getting too involved with heavy discussions about the shape of things going on in the world, but rather use that as a springboard to share the gospel. Besides, Jesus said there would be days like this, so why should we get all upset about something that is bound to happen? If we really want to change something about what is happening in this world, then let's change our view towards home; forgetting about that which we cannot change, and focus upon the change that God has made in us. And if we have some people in our lives that we want to be spared from the wickedness of this world, we don't try and remove the wickedness, but rather, we pray for them, that God would change them, pulling them from the wickedness. We cannot do that, nor can we change any one's heart; that is up to God to do, by the power of His Holy Spirit. Now then, regarding that peace I spoke of yesterday; the only thing that can take away the peace which we should have, is if we are holding onto things that we should not be holding onto; things which are not ours to begin with, are usually the things that we worry most about losing. Maybe it's because they don't belong to us, and we actually know that, but because we enjoy them so much, we worry that we may lose them; or maybe we have just put too much value on things, and less value on heaven. If you have ever seen the movie The Jerk, then you might remember the scene when he left the mansion, talking odd stuff on his way out the door; most of which he could not use, nor did he have any real use for; just stuff, much of which just weighed him down as he traveled down the road. That is what most of our stuff is to us, just stuff that weighs us down, actually keeping us in bondage to the maintenance of that which is not ours to begin with. Anywho; let me get back on focus. The peace that the Lord gives us is not peace that involves this world, nor the things that are in this world; just the opposite actually: for the peace that Jesus gives is based upon our home in heaven, which is the place that He is preparing for us; which will actually be ours to inherit, for all eternity... "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; while the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the window be darkened, and the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low; also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: or ever the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 12:1-8)

"Constraint"

"For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quite in the land." (Psalms 35:20) When it comes to peace, real peace has borders with a layer of protection to surround you from feeling threatened by anything or anyone; real peace is knowing that nothing can harm you, nor take away that which you care about the most. That kind of peace is only available through Jesus Christ; who not only has given us new life, but has promised that no one can pluck us from His hand; and just in case we might doubt His ability in the slightest sense, He has assured us that we are also in His Father's hand, and no one can pluck us from His Father's hand either; for Jesus and the Father are one. (John 10:27-30) To take any action which might poke holes in that layer of protection, is to try and make that assurance of protection to be limited in some way or another; which is to say, Yes, Jesus promised that for His sheep, but His sheep would not do this or that, and they surely would not hang around with them. Interesting how that plays out in so many areas; not just with David, who had gathered together an army of misfits, almost like a 1060 BC form of a Robin Hood; but with Jesus Himself, who was known for hanging around with sinners, and working on the Sabbath, or claiming even to be the Lord of the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:8) Yet, David did not speak out against the king, but was constraint, which is the meaning of the word "quite", as in, "them that are quite in the land"; which also happens to be the charge many times against the church, because those that hold their peace when it comes to matters of social correctness are somehow looked upon as enablers, or to be allowing something to happen by not standing up and fighting for what is right. What we really need to be focused on is fighting for our families, and for those that are within our circle of trust or care; if you want to really change the world, then start with you and work outwards; don't try and change what is out there where you have no control. Those that protest and parade their causes are pretty easy to figure out, but those that are constraint, they do not need to prove what it is that they stand for, except to live it out; much as Joshua said to his fellow countrymen in Joshua 24:15, as he said, "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

"Real Confidence"

"Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without cause." (Psalms 35:19) If you have ever done a study in the Book of Job, then you will maybe see some connection to this verse; not that Job's three friends were his enemies, because they were trying to be his friends; but rather, that they had no clue what it was he was going through, nor did they understand why he was going through it; and for that, they were shamed by God. Job on the other hand lacked the real confidence in God's grace and mercy; putting his focus on all those things that were wrong in his life, he took his eyes off of the God that was the Creator of all things, and the result was a heart that felt it should have never been born. Have you ever felt that way? I think I have a time or two; but it has been quite a while since that feeling has ever presented itself in my heart. As for the "enemies wrongfully rejoice" part of this verse, it speaks to the situation of our circumstances, and how those that may not care for us might have a tendency to rejoice when they see us going through something which looks like a trial; as if to say, Look at that guy's struggle, he really must have done something to upset God. We might be going through something for that reason, much like Jonah, who ran in the opposite direction than that which God told him to go; but God is the judge of us, not those that think that they know His heart better than we do; nor can they know our heart, the same as God does. What this verse displays is real confidence in God's hand being upon our lives; as David has come to the understanding of his calling and anointing by God to be king over Israel, he knows that whatever it is that he might be struggling with, that God is allowing it in his life to make him a better leader. At this point in David's life, his biggest struggle was that of being looked upon as a rebel, or someone who was in opposition to king Saul and the kingdom which he represented; but Saul did not have a heart after God, and David did; so who would be a better leader for Israel? The "wink with the eye" part of this verse is pretty much like the kiss of death, whereas someone might look upon our circumstance and then condemn us by whatever it is that we might appear to be going through; as if to say, See, they are getting what they deserve. Again, if you know Job's story, then you know that Job's problems were not caused by sin being a part of his life, but were instead caused by jealousy on the part of Satan; just as David's biggest problem, being that of isolation from his people, was not because of something that he did wrong against the kingdom of his people, but was because of Saul's jealousy towards him. With that, if we lack the real confidence in our ability to stand against the accusations of the enemy, then don't give the enemy anything that he might be able to accuse you for; in that we can have real confidence... "Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him the esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy him not with thy meat, for whom Christ died. Let not then your good be evil spoken of: for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." (Romans 14:13-17)

"Unashamed" -Too!

"I will give Thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise Thee among much people." (Psalms 35:18) It comes down to a sense of urgency, for ourselves, and then for others; the point of Isaiah 28:16 is that of there being no hesitation in knowing what we believe, and in taking refuge in the "Sure Foundation", that being the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Everything else really doesn't matter all that much if the 'foundation' is not in place, because if the foundation isn't there, the house doesn't stand for very long at all; especially if you are planning on adding onto the house, which would be the gathering of others to what you believe. As Paul illustrated in the Romans 10:4, "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes"; which is to say, the law never went away, because God does not change, but the law was fulfilled in Christ; therefore, not only was the the punishment for sin fulfilled on the cross, but the righteousness of the law was also fulfilled by His righteous sacrifice. In a sense, the "not make haste" part of our being unashamed, is akin to being set free from the bondage of the law, thereby giving those that are in Christ have full confidence in their salvation, because their salvation is not based upon them, or what they might do, but is based completely on the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and Him only! The fact that you have been called, that you have been Born Again, that you have been transformed, that you have been made complete; whatever it is that has been done in you to make you into a child of God, all is of God, and nothing is based upon anything that you have done to make yourself draw one inch closer to God, because it is God that draws us unto Himself, and it is God that has redeemed us unto Himself; and for that, HE IS UNASHAMED... "For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: that make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought. Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine." (Isaiah 29:20-24)

"Unashamed"

"I will give Thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise Thee among much people." (Psalms 35:18) Do you have a goal? For me, this is one that works real good for me! As it should for you as well. Although the actual meaning might not present itself in the definition, I do believe we can associate "the great congregation" with heaven; where else will there be that great assembly of all of God's people? and where else will we end up 'casting our crowns' before our Redeemer, as we are humbly amazed at what He has done, regardless? I think the second part of this verse speaks the most into the goal that is set before us, because the way I see this playing out in my mind, the "much people" are the multitudes of people that are standing behind me, as if to represent me as the one responsible for them being there. Now that's a goal worth fighting for, Don't you think? As Paul quotes in Romans 10:11, "Whosoever believeth on Him (Jesus Christ) shall not be ashamed", a quote which is taken from the content of the "Scriptures" and the magnanimous plan that God has displayed in His Word; those that believe now, own what Christ has done for them, and they are not ashamed to confess it, nor are they ashamed of what they have become. Reading in Isaiah 28:16, just one such example, it says, "Therefore thus saith the LORD GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste"; the point being made is that of urgency. Again, I will reference Ray Comfort's description of the contrast between desire and need for Jesus Christ, taken from his book "Hell's Best Kept Secret"; in this he describes two different people who are wearing parachutes on a passenger airplane, one has been told the parachute will make him comfortable and give him peace, while the other is told that the plane is going to crash and without the parachute he will die. This 'urgency' spoken of in Isaiah 28:16 would represent the people on the plane, which the person who knows the plane is going to crash, might care about, and his desire for all them to put on their own parachutes also... "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" (Romans 10:12-15)    

"Magnanimous" -2

"Lord, how long wilt Thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions." (Psalms 35:17) Okay, here is something to think about and place in your 'quotes to use' library of thought: "You will either be born twice and die once, or you will be born once and die twice". Interesting way to explain the concept of being 'Born Again', don't you think? But seriously, those are the actual results of our choices; because if we choose to be 'Born Again', then the only death that we shall suffer is that of the flesh, that being the death of the earthly vessel, yet our soul lives on and will receive a glorified body for all eternity; if we choose to reject God's free gift of salvation, and the spiritual birth that comes with it, then we will die in this earthly vessel, and then die again at the "Second Death" spoken of in Revelation 20:14. When David is speaking of "my darling", he is using a reference to 'his one and only', or that which cannot be replaced. Now, here is the thing God is showing me in this, and why I have chosen such a "Magnanimous" title to describe what I am seeing. First off; you do understand that this present body is going to be replaced, Right? It does not matter if you die, or get taken in the Rapture, either way, this body is going to be transformed, either from the grave, or in the air, we will have this body of destruction replaced with one that never decays! Our eternal soul, however, cannot be replaced, it's the 'one and only', one of a kind you, and will forever be yours. This body may experience only one death, but your soul will experience two deaths if it has not received "New Life in Christ"; because if you have not received God's free gift of salvation, then at the time of the "Second Death", your soul will receive a new body, after being raised from the dead, and that new body along with your soul shall be cast into the "Lake of Fire" for all eternity. The second thought is one that comes from the word "lions", which actually is speaking of young lions, because young lions have come to the place where they have learned to seize prey, but sometimes they will plunder or pillage just for the sake of the kill, which comes from a lack of knowledge or experience. Okay; we know that there are two different worlds that we live in, one being this earthly one, and the other being the spiritual one; and although we may not see or understand what is taking place in the spiritual world around us, we do understand more about what happens in the earthly one, and we can actually see what is happening. Upon our observation of this earthly world, we discover that it is seriously dying; all that is alive upon this earth is being devoured by death and decay, and there is nothing here which shall last forever. Therefore, isn't to our best interest to invest all of our attention to that which is not seen, and which is that which will last forever; primarily our one and only soul...
"For Moses described the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is to bring Christ down from above:) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed." (Romans 10:5-11)

"Magnanimous"

"Lord, how long wilt Thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions." (Psalms 35:17) We come to a place which causes us to realize the power of the cross of Christ, in that Jesus not only paid the price for our sins and for our fallen condition, but He also set us free from the bondage of the law. In so doing, we have come under a new 'taskmaster', if you will, that being the bondage of love; love that denies self for the sake of others, and that does not boost in it's self, but lifts up others, even sometimes at the expense of self. Looking on this verse today, I was reminded about something that we seldom think about while going to trials or tribulation, which is how much God is long-suffering towards man's sinfulness, and sometimes, what we might be going through, and the reason that our trial seems to last for ever, is that God is having mercy upon either us or those around us; us, because we need to get our lives right with Him; those around us, because they need to see God's grace demonstrated in our lives. You get to a point where you no longer are asking God to deliver you from whatever it is that you are going through, but rather, you start asking that the outcome of whatever might happen be one that leaves you whole and intact. We really have no worries when it comes to our eternity, because we know that once we have given our life to Christ, eternity is not temporary, but it is for ever; therefore, it's not what happens here that will compromise our eternal existence; however, that said, God's plan for our lives may require us to be a vessel that is poured out for the sake of others. I know that might sound like something hard to fully understand, but considering how merciful that God is towards those that are still lost or have lost their way, He can and will use those that are already secure in Him and in His salvation to lead others back to Him. If that is the case, and even if it might not be, because we just may not know, become a vessel that God can pour out... "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall proper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify man; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:9-12)      

"Outlandish" -2

"With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth." (Psalms 35:16) So, what is it that God desires for our lives? Primarily He wants us to love Him, but given that we have choices that pull us away from loving Him, He has from before the foundations of the world made a plan of salvation to demonstrate His love towards us, that we might have the power to turn from those wrong choices, and take refuge in His loving arms. Therefore, God's number one plan for our lives is that of humility; humility in a sense that we must know how much we need His salvation, and how incredibly impossible it is for us to save ourselves. When it comes to the difference of living by faith or by works, the number one difference between the two has to do with where you begin; in other words, if you start out from a position of humility in knowing how unworthy you are to obtain righteousness by the law, then you that's where you remain; you're still in that state of unworthiness, so why would somehow think you are better than anyone else? Had Jesus come in a position of authority among those Jewish leaders, then they would have accepted Him, but He did not; He came as an outcast, a bastard, and one that hung out with sinners; certainly not what those that lived by the law would consider for their leader. Yet you see, Jesus did not come so save the righteous, but came to save sinners; those that realize their need to be saved are the ones that will believe in Him; those that do not realize their need to be saved, will not see the real need to believe in Jesus, nor will they understand the reason that they should, even if they think that they do believe in Him. Unfortunately, what happens to many well abiding Christians, is that they come to a place where they think that they have arrived; as Spirit filled believers, they can now walk as though they are high above many of those that might struggle with sin, or that might be weaker when it comes to spiritual things; which may be the truth, and it's made obvious by their lives; however, that does not give them the right to look down on those that are weaker, nor does that give them the right to boost above those that still suffer in sin. Those that act in such a way, must find their way back to their beginning, and from a point of humility, begin again; remembering from that which they were fallen, they continue in a spirit of humility, because any change that takes place in us is not of ourselves, it is of God! How can you honestly minister the gospel message without presenting the gospel message?
"Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." (Romans 10:1-4)

"Outlandish"

"With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth." (Psalms 35:16) Continued thought from yesterday, only this ones a little over the top! Have we not seen the power of God move upon this place, yet we hold out for something new to happen, as if God must make the first move. Remember what it is that this Psalm is all about, that being 'A Prayer for Help'; more importantly, remember that God wants us to need His help; He expects us to cry out to Him for help, primarily because He is God and we are His broken vessels that need to be fixed. That said, there is a little thing called 'action', which sometimes might be reaction to something happening in our lives, but primarily it involves a disciplined movement in a certain direction; reaction on the other hand takes it's motivation from an outside influence, and is seldom disciplined, but more often than not, it requires quick response and little planning. Don't ask me what I am saying, because I really don't know; except to say, God has a plan for each and everyone of us to perform in our lives for His kingdom; unfortunately, most of the time we are reacting to His prodding us along, instead of stepping out in the direction that we should be going. Let's try and understand what God desires for our lives, and then begin moving in that direction. Now then, after saying all of that, I will speak to these "hypocritical mockers", who just so happen to have "teeth", yet they really have no bite; instead they merely grind their teeth together as they snarl and act as the buffoon that they are; not actually realizing how godless they are acting, nor how much shame they bring upon themselves. If we need an illustration of what this might look like, we just need to look at the way Jesus was treated by the Jewish leaders, as they always gathered around Him mocking and grinding their teeth at Him, wishing they could bite, but having no authority to do any such thing. The sad thing was that He came to save their souls also, yet they could not see that because they did not see their need to be saved; keepers of law they were, however, they did not actually keep the law as in performing it, they keep the law, as in owning it as if they were the ones responsible for making sure everyone else kept it. In their effort to keep the law, they failed to see the fulfillment of the law, and their own need to be made complete. This is really not that uncommon of an attitude within the church, although it might be 'outlandish' to look upon, it happens all the time; it can happen within our own hearts if we are not paying attention to the way we judge others. We really do want to be on the right side of this issue; and more times than not, it requires action, not reaction: action being the disciplined movement in humility; while reaction is having to say, Oops!
"What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not be faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that Stumblingstone; as it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumblingstone and rock of offense: and whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed." (Romans 9:30-33)

"Bad Account"

"But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not:" (Psalms 35:15) Have you ever wondered what it is that the Lord hates more than anything else when it comes to sin? Well, if you have, then you may have come to the conclusion of hatefulness being at the top of the list; not just hate, but real hateful regard for those that have done absolutely nothing to warrant the hate that you might feel for them. If God is love, and we are commanded to love God and one another, then hate goes against all that God stands for; especially when we hate with no regard for pity or innocence. As a matter of fact, this type of hate closely resembles the devils attitude towards man, and his determined nature to destroy man's relationship with God, with no regard for pity towards the destruction of man's soul, or for the innocence of the knowledge they have of his intentions; he does what he does out of pure hatefulness towards man. I have seen hatefulness within the church, and I know the results of it's workings bring death and destruction, especially towards the innocent bystanders that get pulled into the splitting of a church. If you have ever experienced what I am taking about, then you know how it grows like a fire that is raging out of control; all the love you can muster, you throw on it, and it just evaporates in the heat of the flames. If you were to look at the hearts of those Jewish leaders that were behind putting Jesus to death, then you would see hatefulness at it's very core; they had no pity upon Him as He was tormented, nor did they have any regard for His innocence; rejoicing in His suffering, they stuck to the false accusations they had planted against Him, all the way to His death on the cross... "He was taken from prison and from judgement: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken." (Isaiah 53:8)  

"Good Account"

"I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother." (Psalms 35:14) There really is a difference between accounts, as to how God will attribute the actions of our hearts to our account; don't think this doesn't matter, because to most surely does. In all sincerity, David is speaking about how he treated Saul, and how it was that he viewed Saul as God's anointed king. This is a very good example of how we should be when we are praying for our leaders, especially our church leaders and those that are pastors over our churches, whom God has anointed for that position; as an ordained leader of the church, our pastors must be lifted up in this kind of prayer, even if we might be having a conflict going on within our own hearts with their leadership; they are our leaders, and we must pray for them as those that God has placed over the church. In all my years of leadership within the church, I have seen some pretty nasty treatment of the pastors; it's as though there is no regard for God's anointed when someone does not feel like having regard for God's anointed; there will be an accounting for that kind of an attitude, because we cannot let our feelings overrun our commitment to love one another. Jesus gave several different versions of how we are to treat those that would offend us; whether that offence came from how we were treated, or if it came by false accusations, the general response of our hearts should be the same: we should instantly forgive them, pray for them, and offer them our other cheek, just in case they might feel like doing it again. If you really take time to think about how this might benefit you, as far as becoming more Christ like, then you might be more inclined to practice it more often..."He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." (Isaiah 43:7)

"Accountability"

"But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom." (Psalms 35:13) Officially, when you pray for your enemies, your prayer is to be prayer as unto yourself; in other words, you pray as though you are praying for your own welfare towards them; otherwise, you are really not praying for your enemies, but are pretty much just praying for yourself. Prayers that go something like, "Lord, cause my enemy to see things my way", are not really prayers for your enemies sake, but are for your own; instead, you might say, "Lord, I pray that you bless their life, and that you bring them into your perfect will"; such a prayer does not consider what you think or feel, but more about what is best for them. Taking into account what might be involved between you and your enemy in the area of opinions, it is not for us to try and figure out how to change their opinion of us, but rather, how they might be brought into a closer relationship with God. It is up to God to change their heart, not us; so don't waste too much time thinking about that; a closer walk with God is the most important thing for all of us, meaning that we should never consider ourselves as the one who is closer to God, so don't try and work that into your thinking, because we are all children stricken by sin. Therefore, you are not to pray for your enemy to be closer to God because that's where you are; doing so will just cause your heart to be hypocritical and your own prayers will not be answered. When it comes to humility, God takes the heart of the matter very serious; you really don't want to assume yourself to be superior over anyone else, as though you are right and they are wrong, or as though you are good and they are bad; because we all have fallen short and need God's mercy... "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6)

"Scorched"

"They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul." (Psalms 35:12) The breath of life, counted by some as the only form of real existence, has more meaning to it than just living and breathing; take the account of life for example, which is the narrative of your life, that being the story that has been written. This story has many different directions that it might travel, much as the wind is directed and travels ways that are hard to be determined, so too, the traveling of our story is much the same. The point to all this traveling stuff that I am getting at is that of our final destination, in that final chapter of our life has the same result or conclusion no matter what the story might hold within it's pages; that is true whether you are in Christ or not: if you are in Christ you are to be glorified, if you are not, then you are condemned; everything in between is just your story, or your account of life. Unfortunately this account will need to be accounted for, whether it be good or bad, each of our accounts will be judged accordingly. Okay then; here is the 'lighter side' of this word "spoiling", as in, "to the spoiling of my soul": there will be loss; simply put, we are going to suffer loss in this world; how we react to the loss that we suffer, that's what we will give our accounting for, and that's what will determine our rewards. Another way to look at what I am talking about is purification, as in God's purifying fire; as things get burned away in our lives, we can either be scorched by that event, or we can be purified by it, depending on how we accept it's outcome. Either way, something will be scorched; the things we want to count for the scorching are the things of this earth, which are going to be dissolved anyway; it's that which is added to our account that we must be concerned with; things like, our testimony of God's love, or the hope we have in our salvation; those are the things that we will be giving our account over, and those are the things we do the scorching of by the way we react to loss; whether that be material loss or the loss of personal pride; all loss is loss. And yet again, who has suffered a greater loss than Him who gave it all away... "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:2-5)

"Taking Heat"

"False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not." (Psalms 35:11) You have to wonder where David is going with some of these verses, because he is up and down the charts with so many different things that can happen in our lives; basically, he is making the case for almost any situation that we might currently find ourselves walking in. But here's the thing that we must ultimately understand: God wants us to know how vulnerable we are to every situation in life, and how much we need His help through them all. That's right; He knows that we need Him, we just need to come to terms with that fact, and start needing Him! Take this situation for a good example of how much we need His help, because who can prevent a false witness against them, especially if you have no clue what you are being accused of? Now you might have to think about this a little while, because the implication being made goes beyond character or substance; we are taking about 'justification', which is something that only God can provide for us; and if we are justified in Christ, then the greatest charges anyone might lay against us are nothing but smoke and mirrors. Therefore, there is no threat to what really matters, which is our eternity; I mean, they might do something to harm what some people my believe about our character, or they might do something to disrupt our substance in this life, but nothing they can do will ever touch our eternal rewards, absolutely nothing. Now, if you have something to be guilty over, that's a different story; but if you don't, then the best thing to be done in your defense is nothing at all; just take the heat and go about your business to the best of your ability; believing in your heart that God is your defense, and that He will defend your case. Trying to defend false charges, especially false charges that you know nothing about, is an impossible thing to do, so don't even try! Just take the heat, smile, and trust in God; besides, it could happen to the Best..."He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth." (Isaiah 53:7)

"Only God!" -2

"All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto Thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?" (Psalms 35:10) We have previously looked at this word "bones" in the last Psalm, and remembering back, you might recall how it represents firmness or strength; it also represents substance, as in self and the substance of what we are. All of our life comes from God; every single breath we take, and every single beat of our heart is given to our lives by the Creator of our eternal soul. This tent that we move around in is far more fragile then we realize; especially when placed up against our souls that live forever, they are very temporal and weak. And yet, this very flesh, that which is the weaker than our soul, is also the thing that will have the strength enough to cause our soul to be condemned to an eternity of hell. Looking at that in the context of the previous verse, we can see another "cause" for our soul to rejoice, as it says, "And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in His salvation." Without God's great mercy this soul is toast; it stands no chance of making it against the flesh; the flesh that in this world is stronger, only because the earth is what feeds it and keeps it going; therefore, the flesh is what gets to call the shots, at least most of the time. This is why it is so vitally important that we are filled with the Holy Spirit, which is the helper of our souls; because without the help of God's Spirit, we are not going to defeat the will of the flesh. Having said that, we must also realize that God knows the state of our condition; He knows how we battle against those things that we do not want to do, and how we want to do the things we do not do; which is why the word "deliverest" is being used in the verse above, because it means to be snatched away, or rescued: which to us, in our weakness, it means to be delivered from sin and from guilt... "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love." (Galatians 5:1-6)  

"Only God!"

"All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto Thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?" (Psalms 35:10) We really need to get to the place where we know our place; and where we realize that God is the one with all the power! What are we compared to such a Mighty God? I mean, really; have you looked up at the stars lately? I know that they may not look that impressive in some areas, mostly because of all the light pollution from the man made lights that come from our cities; but even still, if you gaze upon one star, it's enough to give you at least a little hint of where you are on the power meter, compared to the One that placed that star where it is, millions, maybe billions of miles away. And yet, at the same time, just the thought of that Mighty God taking the time to show us His attention, and to perform even the smallest miracle in any of our lives, isn't it enough to make us realize how attentive that He is to the secrets that we hold onto, as if nobody knows but us? Really? Sometimes I wonder how much God will tolerate before He says, Enough is enough! And yet, as you study the lives of many of the famous people that achieved great things, many of them were well within their upper years, say, their eighty's and ninety's; and yet God had given them the strength to do great things. I have to wonder if some of that had anything to do with what drove them, and what they could put all of their attention on; because man, I must admit, the amount of time we spend dealing with desires that we do not want to have, is enough to hold most anyone back from greatness; but you reach a certain age, and none of that really matters any more. When it comes to our need for deliverance, we are all in the "poor and the needy" category, even the strongest one's among us; and those that say they aren't, are the ones that don't want to be delivered. It kind of gives a whole new meaning to the "strength in weakness" side of our faith; because we can either make the choice to obey now while we are strong enough to see some of the fruit of our labor, or take the chance in God using us later, when we no longer are laboring to obey. Either way, the success of whatever is done, is based upon our weakness and God's strength; it's just such a shame that so many people wait until they are literally almost dead before they actually realize that is so... "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 bad." (Ecclesiastes 12:13 & 14)

"Just Rejoice Already!"

"And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in His salvation." (Psalms 35:9) If nothing can take our salvation away from us, then what is holding us back? Do we need more assurance in our abilities? I hope not, because it's really not based upon our ability to do anything, but God's. We just need to show up and let God work...

"Being Diligent" -2

"Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall." (Psalms 35:8) Here is the thing about being diligent in serving the Lord: you will take every opportunity that you can to please God and to deny your flesh. As difficult as that might be at times, it is the way that we must react to God's great love for us. Okay; this has been a very testing morning; here I am at the Men's Retreat, but currently I am sitting at a gas station at least 30 minutes from the retreat; all because they turned off the WiFi connection for the night; most people consider 4:00am to still be the night.
The whole point that I was trying to make yesterday, is that our life that we have been given is meant to be lived for God; anything we do, whether it be for God or for ourselves will be tested; those things that were not done for God will not stand the test, and we could end up with nothing to show for anything; what a waste that would be! God has given us so much to use for His kingdom, and the use of all that He has given us is just dependent upon our obedience to use them: if we want love, then use His love; if we want more of His Spirit, then use His Spirit; if we want more of Jesus Christ to show in our life, then we need to use Jesus as the example of our life. It's really a matter of more of Him and less of me! This verse is one that speaks of Saul being captured by his own trap, that's obvious; but what it is speaking into my heart, is about our need to not count upon our own strength, because that which we are strong in will become our destruction. It's when we are weak, that's when we are made strong in the Lord; that's when the Lord's strength comes alive in us, and when our obedience comes naturally, because it is Him that is giving us the ability to obey... "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand." (Ephesians 6:10-13)  

"Being Diligent"

"Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall." (Psalms 35:8) When it comes to "cause", what cause do we have to be concerned? or better yet, should I ask, what should cause us to be concerned, if we have no "cause"? There is something to be said of a certain saying, which goes something like this: "You will either live for something, or you will die for nothing". In the case of serving the Lord, our somethings are those things which will be tested by fire, and the nothings are those things which don't stand the test. What is it that should "cause" us to turn away from our wickedness and follow Jesus? Is it the fear of our destruction? No, I really don't think there is any real "cause" in fear; only shame and loneliness abide in fear, which causes those to hide that hold onto to it. How about the desire to do good? would you say that would "cause" us to turn from our wickedness? Nope; that's pretty much a hopeless "cause", based upon the good that is within us. I know! It's God's goodness, and all those wonderful things He will provide for us, if we would just let those things "cause" us to listen; Right? Maybe for some, that might cause them to hope in rewards in an effort to work for gaining God's favor; but it will also cause them to feel burdened and heavy laden in their efforts. As I woke this morning, I could not help but think of LOVE being the answer to all of our problems; especially our problem of being obedient to the Lord. As I laid there next to my wife, I wondered if it were possible to have so much love within me, that I could literally love her into wholeness. That's might sound pretty strange, but the amount of love I was seeing from God, and the amount that I am use to giving; well let's just say, the difference was comparable to a bottle rocket and a rocket engine. Therefore, I have come to the only conclusion that makes any sense at all: It's not just love that we need, but it is the Love of God that we need to cause us to not only be obedient, but to be diligently wanting to be obedient... "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in your inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in Love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the Love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with the fulness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)

"Gaining Diligence"

"For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause have they digged for my soul." (Psalms 35:7) If you really want to avoid falling into a trap, then you need to understand what a trap looks like; otherwise, you will not be prepared when you run across one, and your going to fall. To truly get the proper perspective on what we are called to be, we must know what it is we are not; in other words, you are not meant to sin, if indeed you have been delivered from your sins; therefore, technically, you are no longer a sinner. Although many Christians like to use the term, saying, "I am a sinner saved by grace"; which is absolutely true, however the sinner part has been removed, for now we are 'justified' by His grace, which means that we are 'made just as if we never sinned'. Twice David refers to "without cause" as he speaks of the trap being set for his soul; the whole thought of something that is done with effort, yet without cause, just does not make much sense; why would someone go through the trouble of setting a trap if they did not have a cause in doing so? Sometimes when we cannot find a good answer, it's always a good idea to go back to the beginning; the beginning being the time of creation. Jealousy is referred to the "green eyed monster", because it is green with envy; green refers to the way that it grows, meaning that it pretty much can take on a life of it's own. When we go back to the beginning, we find two examples of jealousy portrayed within the first four chapters of Genesis; the first of which was that of the devil, who disguised as a serpent, deceived Eve, and caused her to eat of the forbidden fruit; the second example is Cain, who being jealous of his brother Able, ended up taking his brothers life because the 'monster' took over. Both of these examples were performed "without cause"; although the perpetrators at the time felt justly caused to perform their acts, the acts were performed in vain, and brought no benefit to themselves. If you were to ask Saul, Why are you after David?, I am sure that he would give you a "cause" for doing so; mostly because he felt threatened by David's existence, and just the fact that David was alive was enough to give him "cause" to take him out. To try and make any sense of all this "cause" stuff, let me use Saul as the example of what not to be; because Saul is a very good example of a person who is holding onto sin; which is the "cause" of those of us that have been saved from sin, to keep on sinning... "And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door: and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." (Genesis 4:6 & 7)  

"Gaining Perspective" -2

"Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the LORD persecute them." (Psalms 35:6) Had I been David, I might have chosen to say, Let me persecute them; but that's not what was in David's heart. David was not the kind of a man that would want to take the place of God when it comes to judging someone; nor would he want anyone taking God's place when it comes to judging him. Now then; when it comes to gaining perspective on what we are not only called to do, but also what we are called to be, the closer we draw to God, the better our perspective becomes. Everyone should know that; at least you would think that they do; but it's hard to know how that works, if you are not drawing closer to God! Saul was definitely not drawing closer to God; and much like David is saying, his way was becoming dark and slippery; and very soon he would be persecuted by the angel of the LORD. David on the other hand was gaining perspective on the throne, and seeing himself as king more clearly than ever before. As with the Scripture that I closed with yesterday from Jeremiah, if we listen to God, we can see what it is that He has made for us; taking the place of what it is that we think we need to make, we can actually see that it is God, not us, that must be busy making us into His vessel: His vessel will be glorious, holy, and praise worthy; the one which we make, well, it becomes pretty much useless. Why is that exactly? Well, what are we going to use to make ourselves a vessel unto God? Works; our righteousness; maybe try to purchase our way to becoming glorious by giving all of our money away; it's really all for nothing if God is not the Potter of the vessel. But how many times do we see, or think we see the vessel that God is making, and then think we can take it from there? You end up with Mr. Potatohead, with eyes where the ears are meant to be, and the mouth where the nose goes, and it's just all wrong; all because we choose not to listen anymore because we thought we had it all figured out... "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." (Philippians 3:3)

"Gaining Perspective"

"Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the LORD persecute them." (Psalms 35:6) Here I go again, thinking about numbers and trying to link the number of the text to the number it represents. Here's a quick thought, What if Adam and Eve were not actually naked before the fall, but as God, they were clothed in Light? once they sinned, the Light was stripped away, and they discovered their nakedness. As for Saul, it would not take him long to get refocused on his will for his own life; because no sooner had he returned home, did he already begin plotting a way to destroy David. No doubt God had remove His Spirit from Saul long ago, and all that Saul knew was darkness; as a matter of fact, the only Light that Saul experienced was David and Samuel;  David he hated, and Samuel died right after he returned home, so Saul was pretty much alone in his darkness. It's a funny thing what darkness can do to a man, because without the Light, all the ugliness and sinfulness is made natural, and that which was meant for good is turned into unrighteousness and a reflection of the darkness that it dwells within. It wouldn't be long and Saul would be turning to a Medium for answers, because his heart had grown so hard, he could no longer hear from God. Do we really understand what sin does in our life? I think we really do, but we also think we can somehow get around the results of it; almost as if we can cloth ourselves in Light, and it's not God that wraps His Light around us. We really do need to have the proper perspective; because any Light that we have is not of us, it's always of God, and sin robs us of that which we have been given; we cannot replace it on our own, it is only God that can wrap us up again! Whatever opposes the will of God must be made dark; it must be pushed back behind us, and it must be part of the darkness from which we have been delivered. Returning back to that from which we came to retrieve that item is a slippery slope, and chances are your going to fall. Therefore, it is really in our best interest to give that item, or whatever it is, over to the Lord for Him to deal with it; and more than that, let Him take care of the temptation also, by removing all that makes it pleasing in our hearts. If you know that your hand will get burnt if you stick it in fire, because you have experienced the pain, are you going to put your hand in fire again? That's the general idea; it's time we quit playing with fire... "Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water. So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my lions. And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me. And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there. Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing. Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people refuse to hear My words, which walk in the imaginations of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing. For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave to Me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto Me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear." (Jeremiah 13:1-11)

"Gaining Direction"

"Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them." (Psalms 35:5) Press towards that high calling, and let God deal with the opposition; that's how you deal with that! It's really not a matter of when you get to the place God has intended for you to be, it's more about the direction you are going, and whether or not that direction will take you there. Those that oppose you and that are against you becoming what God has called you into, they represent the opposite direction, and are in a way opposed to God; they may not think that they are, because maybe they also feel God has called them, but the proof is in the material world, and for what reason they base their calling on. If Saul was told that God was taking his kingdom from him and giving it to someone else, then why was he trying to hold onto it? David on the other hand, saw the direction he was headed for, and had trust that God would bring it to be in His time; meanwhile, David would do those things that would be fitting for a king, especially a king that would rule justly. When it comes to serving the Lord, we need His help in keeping our focus on our direction; there are just so many things in this world that can pull us off track, and many of them can lead us in the wrong direction, if we allow it to happen. God can and will remove those things from our lives, if we simply ask Him to do it; but that's the thing, we don't want Him to remove some things, at least not until we don't want them any more. The problem is in our perspective of the direction we are meant to be going, and how much we need to be stripped of all that opposes that direction; does it fit into that which we see our selves becoming? If not, then let God strip it from your life! Could it be any simpler than that? God can dissolve what is in opposition to His will, and chase it out of your life, if you simply ask Him to do it. The more we get rid of that  which opposes the direction we are meant to be going, the greater we move in the right direction; it's not rocket science, just osmosis... "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling: for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12 & 13)

"Drawing Strength"

"Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt." (Psalms 35:4) If you know the story, then you must be aware of the result of David's boldness, because for the very first time Saul would acknowledge David should be king. Saul had pretty much known for quite some time that his days as king were numbered, Samuel had made that clear to him many years before, and Saul had felt threatened by David for quite some time also; however, for the very first time, Saul saw David's heart; a heart of a servant meant to be king. Doesn't that remind you of anyone? The KING OF KINGS, none other than Jesus Christ; who came first as a servant to lay down His life for our sins, and is to return as KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Before you can be strengthened you must die to yourself, and more often than not, what that requires is to lay down our lives for someone else. Basically that is what David did, or should we say, was willing to do; as he took that leap of faith, and he rushed out of that cave, he was putting his life on the line for the sake of the king. Now if you think that God will protect you, then how is that laying down your life? Well, let's see; Jesus new that He would rise up on the third day, so actually He knew that His life would not be over; and more than that, He understood that His death would bring victory over both sin and death; so not only did He know that He was protected, but He understood that He would be victorious over death. Not only did Saul acknowledge David should be king, but he made a request of David, saying, "And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house." (1 Samuel 24:20 & 21) Because of the integrity of David's heart, Saul felt assured that he would be king, and that he would be just; making David have confirmation of not only his calling, but of the heart by which his kingdom should be governed. Whatever our calling is, we must surrender everything over to God; in other words, we can not claim anything for ourselves, because when we do, we will protect that which we think is ours, including our own lives; and we cannot easily lay down our lives for another if we are protecting it as if it's our own... "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:5-8)  

"Pause For Cause" -2

"Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation." (Psalms 35:3) For those of you that may not know, Laverne, better known as Pastor Romaine, was Pastor Chuck's assistant pastor for many years; a true servant, not first, but Second. Okay then; here we have a very interesting situation; one that requires complete trust in God, and complete surrender to the fact that you are called by God for a particular reason. As I was saying the other day, David ran out after Saul after having realized what it meant to be king, and after having caused his men to consider not killing Saul, thereby letting Saul get up and leave the cave upon finishing his business. Try to imagine you were in David's shoes, just for a moment; knowing that the reason Saul was there with three thousand chosen men, was to take you out, would you run out in the open and express your loyalty to someone that was out to kill you? But this is exactly what David did; and more than that, he actually showed Saul the part of his robe that he was holding in his hand, and making him very much aware of the opportunity he had to do him harm, yet that he would not because he was still the king, God's anointed. Not a big deal? When it's not a real time situation, sure you can say that; but David was making a very bold move, taking complete trust that God would stay the hand of him that sought to take his life, and believing that he was going to be the king; yet for now, he was not first, but second; and as second, he would do all that he could to serve the first. He made that very clear, in what was only a few minutes of speaking, but a few minutes that mattered in the journey David would be taking to the throne. There are always those defining moments in any journey to fulfill that which you are called to do; moments when you have those "do or die" kind of situations; after all David did not have to run out after Saul, and take the chance that he did; but the pressure upon his heart to make things right, far out weighed the fear of anything that Saul could do to him. Understand the principle application of what happened, and when it comes do doing that which you feel is right, verses that which you feel is wrong. Always choose that which is right! And if for some strange reason you don't know what is the right thing to do, then weigh it with God's Word; let the Word of God point you in the right direction. David knew in his heart that he was going to be the next king, but until that should happen, he was servant to the current king; and as the king's servant, not only would he not cause the king any harm, but would do all that he could to prevent harm from coming to him. That's the true heart of a servant... "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself." (Philippians 3:15-21)  

"Pause For Cause"

"Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against then that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation." (Psalms 35:3) You could say, Rest In Peace, but really, I am very certain Pa Pa Chuck is not resting right now; as a matter of fact, I am sure he and Laverne are sharing a splendid time together getting answers and greeting thousands of old friends. If you did not know Pastor Chuck, he had a wonderful smile, and always was well equip to stand in for anyone that did not show up; if you wanted to see an example of being ready in season and out of season, then Pastor Chuck Smith was a good example of such a man. If you want to know what it takes to be such a man, it requires a heart that is after God; which means that your heart is closely aliened with the precepts of God's will, therefore, where ever you are in the Scriptures you are always in touch with what God wants to say; it also doesn't hurt to be filled with the Spirit, but I think you get my general meaning. Line by line, verse by verse, and chapter by chapter; that is how the Bible is meant to be studied; and that is also how it is meant to be applied to our live; which means that there is nothing that is left out! It's all relevant, and has been given to us by God for a reason and a season in our lives; therefore we must eat vegetables, the meat, and the desserts as they come, not as we choose. Pastor Chuck knew this and taught it to all the thousands of Calvary Chapel pastors that grew up under his leadership. What is really interesting is the vision I was seeing yesterday morning, and how I believe God was showing me a little shield being displayed within a larger on; almost as if it were a part of the larger shield, and was placed within the socket it was made to be placed in somewhere on display in the larger shield; yet, the vision that I saw was one of the smaller shield protruding outward, as if being displayed, all lite up and shinning, while revealing the socket behind it, that it was meant to be in. Odd, yes, but very interesting indeed. Right after this verse in my Bible I have written the words, "Remind Me LORD!" Sometimes that is exactly what we need... "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 (Glorified!). 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 (Glorified!)." (Philippians 3:12-14)

"My Cause Too"

"Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help." (Psalms 35:2) When you consider that it is His cause that you are doing, then it actually becomes your cause also; making God's will to be our will is always the best formula for success. Trying to take our will and making it God's will, will always result in a crash; sometimes resulting in more hurt than we can handle, at least in our own strength that is; because if we are a child of God, then even our biggest crashes are meant for good, no matter how it was that we ended up in the crash. Isn't that interesting how that works? Take for example king Saul, Israel's first king; a king that God did not want them to have, but gave them anyways because they insisted. Yet, in many ways, it was David that became the first king of Israel that was actually appointed by God's cause; for it was through David that God would establish His throne, forever. You really cannot figure out what God is doing in the midst of anything you might be going through; the best that you can hope to do, is to make absolutely sure that what ever it is that you are doing, it is His cause that is yours, not the other way around. When you consider the 'shield' and 'buckler', they can both represent shields; however one is small, while the other, the 'buckler', is a much larger shield, say one the covers the whole body. It's the 'take hold' part of this that makes this very interesting, because what that speaks about is to tie fast, as in to bind bonds strongly. Now think about the implication, or application of what is being said, because it's God's cause that is always going to be the last one standing; therefore, where do you want to be represented in that day? Not able to picture what it is that I am saying? That's okay, because it's not really about our plans and our purposes; so when that day comes, what is done in His will stands, while what is done in our will is burnt up in the fire; but for now, what is done in His will and with His purpose, will stand greater than anything we can display for ourselves, yet we get to be a part of that; meaning, that we are displayed in His glory, thereby making our little cause part of His great cause, regardless of what we might have intended it to be. If you would like to see an example of what it is that I just said, then the best picture we have of that is Peter and Jesus, with regard to the "Rock and the stone"... "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which art in heaven. And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:16-19)

"My Cause"

"Plead my cause, O LORD, with then that strive against me: fight against them that fight against me." (Psalms 35:1) I truly do believe this Psalm is connected to Psalm 34; they are united by a servants heart that is coming to terms with his calling verses his position, and understanding that it's all about the Master. For the servant, his cause is the doing the will of the master; therefore it is very right that the servant should ask the master to plead his cause when being hindered from doing what he has been instructed to do. The question we need to be asking ourselves, is, Are we doing God's will or our will? Because, if we are doing our will, then we really don't have the right to ask God for His assistance! Browouch! Actually, if we are not doing His will, then it is very practical that the hindrance we are experiencing in doing our cause, might just be the Lord's doing; so how are you going to get His assistance in fighting a battle of that nature? "Plead my cause" is a very bold request, because it assumes that it has the full backing of God in making it. David was at a point in his life when he felt assured of being the king; it was settled in his heart that he was, so he began to act and do the things which came with that calling. He made good judgments about sensible things that allowed him to place others first; making those that were his enemies only those that had no regard for others, with the exception of the current king, Saul, who David respected as God's anointed. Story books in Sunday School always show Saul sleeping in the cave when David cut off the skirt of his robe, which really was not the case; the actual matter was one of defecation, whereas Saul was in the cave to "cover his feet", which meant that he was squatting on the ground to defecate. It makes for a little different story, don't you think? Actually, the way things went down was like this: David and his men were hiding in the cave, Saul went in to do his business, David's men assured him that God had delivered Saul into his hand, so David was actually taking the first strike, yet not a lethal one, but only one to humiliate Saul; his men were going to be the ones that would strike the king. Yet, after doing what he did, David realized what the king represented, saying, "The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD." After saying this, David's men were caused to stay their hands from taking Saul's life; and when he had finished doing what he came in there to do, he got up and left; after which David ran out after him, and explained to him what just happen. (1 Samuel 24:3-15) I guess the bottom line to what the Lord has put upon my heart today, is that if my cause is not the Lord's cause, then my cause is just a pile of dung... "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know Him, and the power or His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." (Philippians 3:7-11)  

"A Prayer for Help"

[A Psalm of David] "Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me." (Psalms 35:1) Above this Psalm in my Bible is the title "A Prayer for Help", and written beside this title is the address, 1 Samuel 24. Now I know that there is always a reason that God allows us to go through certain forms of adversity, because He wants us to be dependent upon Him for protection; but there are instances within our adversities that God would have us allow Him to fight the battle, while we just remain humble, giving Him all the glory. David had just finished defending Keilah against the Philistines, and had delivered that city from destruction; after which Saul had set out to destroy David, until he had to return to fight off a Philistine invasion. After fighting off the Philistines, Saul gather three thousand chosen men out of Israel, and went out to find David in the wilderness of En-gedi. (1 Samuel 23-24:1) David's small army consisted of about four hundred men, all of whom had joined him after he had been delivered from Gath; making his deliverance more of an awakening to God's hand being upon his life. You can see David's confidence in God's direction and protection, as he tells Abiathar, one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, saying, "Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard." (1 Samuel 22:23) As I try to understand what it is that God is trying to accomplish in my life, I have to wonder at what expense He will bring about the change that He desires; not that it really matters, because everything I have is His anyways; but there are some things that I have grown to be fond of, and would hate to see them taken away. Any meaningful victory always has loss associated with it; it is almost certain that there is going to be loss before there can be any gain; and in the case of fighting spiritual battles, the primary thing that we must lose is our strength in the flesh; in other words, we must be weakened so that God might be strengthened in our lives... "For thus saith the LORD; We have heard the voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned unto paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: but they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them." (Jeremiah 30:5-9)