"Liberation"

"For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin." (Psalms 38:18) Jesus said, "You shall know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free"; the Truth is Jesus Christ: He is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life". We can make things so complicated sometimes, when the simple truth of the matter, is Jesus, just give me Jesus! Actually, I believe we need to get to the point where our sin is ugly and offensive, and we dare not offend the One who loves us anymore. This is a personal matter between us and God, but when it becomes an obsession, then we might think about asking a brother to help; after all, we are really not on our own, nor should we try to pretend that we are; we are all members of the body of Christ, and as such, we need to be as healthy and cared for, as we can possibly be. There is nothing more liberating than getting are sins washed away, but before they can be cleaned away, they must first be declared and confessed; being sorry for our sins will not do it alone, because feeling remorse should be part of what happens in our hearts; the real goal we need to strive for, is not to sin in the first place. There are some sins that we can take a stand against, and there are some sins that we must flee from; I believe the tantalizing sins, such as those of a sexual measure, are those that we must flee from; we cannot try to take a stand against temptations such as those, they must be fled from, just as if they were something that was going to bite you with a poisonous bite. If we are truly wanting to live like a child of the King, then we must be willing to do all that is possible to make that happen; if we do not truly want to live like a child of the King, then maybe we need to recognize who we really are, because the Truth may not be in us... "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are of after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the canal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." (Romans 8:5-11)

"Limitation"

"For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me." (Psalms 38:17) There is really only so much we can take, before we collapse and surrender; especially once we have tasted what peace and joy we can have in the sanctity of dwelling in Jesus Christ; that is when we hunger and thirst for righteousness. It does not need to be that way, because dwelling in Jesus satisfies the hunger and the thirst; as a matter of fact, the way the 23rd Psalm puts it, "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters", which pretty much concludes that the hunger and thirst has been taken care of; besides, if you see a sheep lie down in the grass instead of grazing in it, that pretty much means that he is satisfied. Another thing that happens when we have unconfessed sin in our lives, is that we are trying to deal with something in our own strength, which is obviously weakness; we cannot take that burden off, and longer we carry it, the heavier it becomes. Putting off for tomorrow what should be done today, only to suffer through another day; how long can anyone keep up with that kind of sorrow? Maybe the better question to ask, might be, how long will God wait for us to turn back to Him? Is there a limitation to God's patience? I am not sure that we can measure His patience, because we surely cannot measure His love: His love has no bounds! We on the other hand, we have limits; there is only so much that we can stand of our own demise, before we take tomorrow as too late, and make our turning today. The word "halt" is such a simple word, it really does not have much more to say than limping or stumbling, which pretty much can be summed up by two words: Stumbling Idiot! That pretty much is what we become by choice, if we choose to walk in darkness, not being clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ; because sin is darkness, and darkness is not worthy to stand in the Day, especially if that day is tomorrow... "Heaven and earth shall pass away; but My words shall not pass away. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." (Luke 21:33-36)

"Application"

"For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me." (Psalms 38:16) There really are certain times when we are vulnerable and have give more advantage to the enemy; these are usually times when we slack away from our devotions or forsake fellowship with other believers; they are also times when we have rested into a period of sin, which God forbid should happen. Yes, God does not change; and yes, He is always waiting for us to return when we slip away; but He always remains holy, which means He does not associate Himself with darkness; nor will He draw close while we are engaged in a sinful lifestyle. We must remain free from sin, which means that we must always be confessing our sins and avoiding situations that can lead to sin. That is what I believe is one of our biggest problems, the avoiding situations that lead to sin; because in truth, when we do sin, it is most likely because we are not doing what we should be doing, or not where we should be; if we are doing what we should not be doing, or we are someplace that we should not be, we have already crossed the line, and have entertained sin within our hearts. Much like a lion picks his prey, the enemy will go after those that are weak, and those that have separated themselves from the pack; we are surely weak when we have placed ourselves in a situation where we do not belong; and we are extremely weak when we forsake fellowship with our brothers and sisters. Besides that, we have got to remain to constant fellowship with God, which requires that we also remain in Christ, and in the Love of God; two things that remain above all other things in all of existence: For God so loved us, that He gave us His Son Jesus Christ, that we might abide in Him; that is where we must remain, and praising Him is what we must be doing... "Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?" (1 Peter 3:11-13)  

"Exception"

"For in Thee, O LORD, do I hope: Thou wilt hear, O LORD my God." (Psalms 38:15) Finally, something that is not complaining, and is actually a verse of hope and praise; I was beginning to grow weary and lose a little bit of joy, trying to turn all these complaints into something positive. However, isn't that how it is for us, as we earnestly pray for God to deliver us from something causing pain in our lives? We complain about the pain, and we wrestle with our condition, wondering if God is punishing us, growing us, or has just walked away from us; but in all that, one thing remains unchanging, God! We can go through hell and back, and we can spin around in so many different directions, not knowing where we have ended up, but one thing will always remain the same, God does not change! No matter where we are in any situation, and no matter how out of control our lives might appear, we can always go back to square-one, which is to get on our knees before the Father of Lights and let Him strip everything away. I am thinking of a song right now, that goes something like, "Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer"; which is a line from the song, "What a Friend We In Jesus". It is because of what Jesus did on that cross, that we can come before the Father and we can be renewed; we have been given the covering of His blood that allows us to come into the presence of a Holy God, and to have a refreshing that can only come from bathing in His pure light; a light that strips away all of the cares of this world, if not but for a moment, but to give us another perspective, on not only our circumstance, but on our relationship with the God that loves us more than we could ever imagine love to mean, because His love never fails... "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 the 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)

"Declaration"

"Thus I was a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs." (Psalm 38:14) Sometimes the greatest statement you can make, is saying nothing at all; and if you do not listen, then you do not need to answer. Talk about restraint, this requires real focus on something else, something that takes us to a place far removed from where we are at, or away from what we are facing. Talk about declaration of our faith, there really is no comparison to show how much we trust in God, than to be at peace with God; after all, He is the one who really matters, and pleasing Him is the most important thing that we can do. David was a man that loved God, and he trusted that God loved him more than he could ever imagine. Our faith must included trust for it to actually mean anything at all; we can pretend that we have faith in God, because without trusting Him, that is the extent of our faith, pretending to have faith in God. Faith must be accompanied by action that demonstrates faith; without actually putting forth something that demonstrates our faith, our faith is pretty much meaningless and does not profit ourselves, nor anyone else... "And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But if ye suffer for righteousness sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear: having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ." (1 Peter 3:13-16)

"Obligation"

"But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that opened not his mouth." (Psalms 38:13) There really is a certain amount of discipline required in order to remain silent and not try and defend yourself, it is not something that comes natural, that's for sure. When it comes to trusting God and walking by faith, we are pretty much obligated to a certain degree by the example of Jesus Christ before those that were judging and going to execute Him, as He fulfilled the prophecy about His own death (Isaiah 53:7). Having first hand knowledge of what comes next always helps, but isn't that what faith is really all about? We can always talk a good line about our trust in God, and about having faith through every situation; but it only really counts when we are actually going through the fire of a trial, or the storm of a tribulation; besides that, they are merely words that pertain to a desire to do something, yet, desire can be altered by so many things. Much like the sun is what lights the moon, it is the Son of God that gives us His Light; and just as it is the world which blocks the sun's light from the moon, so to, the world can block His Light in us. And if you think about the testimony of our faith during a trial, then it becomes like a solar eclipse, where we can actually block His Light to the world, by letting ourselves get in the way. Although they might be rare, they always catch the attention of everyone, and people will try to watch as the eclipse happens; so to, a severe trial or a storm will also cause people to take notice of our lives; we just want to make sure that we do not block the Son from shinning, by putting ourselves in the way of what He wants to do through our circumstances... "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." (1 Peter 1:7-9)

"Destruction"

"They also that seek after my life lay snares for me; and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long." (Psalms 38:12) We can only imagine what was going on in David's head, as to what part of his life he could have been speaking of, or if this part of his complaining was all in his head. But isn't that how we build up things within our minds, as we spin out devious plans which are plotted against us, all based upon misunderstanding, or miscommunication? Dwelling on things which are obviously beyond our control, or even beyond our ability to properly understand correctly, are just wasted thoughts, and they do nothing but destroy our capacity for sound thought or reason. Jesus on the other hand, He knew the thoughts of those that plotted against His life, and He could see the traps that were set out by those that wanted to destroy His work, for they only feared the crowds that followed Him. Interesting enough, but it was all part of God's plan for the redemption of mankind; every stone that was raised up against Him, every trap that was laid out in front of Him, nothing could touch Him unless it was part of the plan, and nothing that was meant to happen could be stopped. If we could just allow faith and trust to guide our lives, then the little things we might imagine are going on around us will not really matter, because we can just focus on God's goodness, knowing that He is in control of our lives, not those that might seek out our hurt. Simply put; if we could spend all that wasted time dwelling on good thoughts, we would be all the better for having done so; but all the time we spend dwelling on the unworthy thoughts are nothing but destruction to our peace, our joy, and our ability to love as we would be loved... "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)  

"Disambiguation"

"My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off." (Psalms 38:11) You really need to wonder what David was thinking as he wrote this Psalm; was it all just about him, or was he speaking as someone that was to come? Although sin can make you feel isolated and forsaken, it was Jesus who became sin for us; taking on not only our sins upon that cross, but taking on the the humiliation of being looked upon as the condemned and the cursed one, nailed upon a cross. Yes, David also suffered something along the lines of this situation; when Absalom tried to take the kingdom from him, David was pretty much written off as cursed and condemned by almost everyone that knew him. David knew why he was going through what he was going through, because he was told before had that it would happen (2 Samuel 12:10-12), and so did Jesus know what He would suffer through, as He would be looked upon as a cursed thing, as those that loved Him would abandon Him, and His family would be standing off in the distance, wondering, How can this be? And yet, there is another issue put forth in this verse, which deals with the isolation that is acquainted with the reconciliation process between the sinner and his Redeemer; what that actually speaks of is the time between confession and restoration, where you are condemned in the eyes of every one else but God. It might take a period of humiliation, or even cost the loss of friends and loved ones, but to reconciled with God is worth every bit of it. Basically, the point of which, is that there is a price to be paid for sin; although our dealt has been paid, there is a stain that is left here; although we will not be judged before God, we will still be judged here on this earth; the great news in all of that, is, that nothing that happens to us here really matters... "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulation also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commanded His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son; much more, being reconciled we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." (Romans 5:1-11)

"Self-examination"

"My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me." (Psalms 38:10) It really does not take being a doctor to detect some issues of growing old and weary; but it does take a little common sense to come to realize that our life is but a vapor: here today and gone tomorrow. Actually, these can also be symptoms of sin taking a toll on our soul, soul being the center of our passions and desires; for these are the common functions that are driven by the Holy Spirit, such as, He puts love in our hearts, boldness and strength within our inner man, and gives us Light to see the spiritual battle that is all around us. It's really not a matter of having the Holy Spirit leave us, because I am not quite sure that can happen once we have been born again; but it could be a matter of the out-pouring of the Spirit upon our lives no longer being poured out; which can take away from us the ability to have the capacity to love as we should love, have boldness and strength to fight the good fight, and to see with the Light that only comes by walking in the Spirit. Personally, I am not under the opinion that once filled always filled, because I believe that we need a re-filling of the Holy Spirit as part of our normal Christian life; in other words, we need to literally ask God to pour out His Spirit upon us, as much as we need His Spirit to be poured out upon us; for some of us, that might be once in awhile, while some might require His pouring out every single day; it all depends on how often we quench the Holy Spirit, and how often we have sin in our lives that goes on without being confessed. Basically, these are three simple things for us to do for self-examination of our spiritual condition, at any time, and whenever we might feel as though we are lacking the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit upon our lives: Do I love my brethren unconditionally? Because if I base my love for anyone upon how I am treated, or what I get out of the relationship, then I fail that test; Do I have the boldness and the strength to strength to fight the good fight? Because if I have not the mind of Christ when it comes to walking out the gospel, and resisting temptations and lustful desires, then I fail that test also. Do I have the Light guiding my sight? Because, if I do not see as God sees, then I am going to be far removed from doing what is right, and having my eyes fixed upon the things that really matter. If we find ourselves in this condition of lacking, the remedy is really quite simple, and requires just a three part transition: confess our sin, turn from that sin, and ask God to pour out His Spirit upon our lives; which might require us to keep on asking... "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" (Luke 11:9-13)

"Realization"

"LORD, all my desire is before Thee; and my groaning is not hid from Thee." (Psalms 38:9) God is not too far off. Yes, it's true; even though we fail to acknowledge His presence, and even though He might remain hidden from us; He is always right there knowing our every thought, and the real desires of our heart. That is something that should make any one that is His child consider what his response should be; just knowing that God is always there waiting for us to truly surrender everything over to Him, because He knows that we truly do want peace with Him, and He knows how our inward groaning is really an inward cry for help. This is a common misconception, to think that because we have somehow moved away from God, that He is now too far from us to reach out to; He is never too far away from His children; He is never outside the sound of their voice, or the cry of their heart. I think it is amazing how much that God loves us; even though we do not deserve His love, nor His loving kindness, He is always ready, waiting with anticipation, for us to finally give in and give our all to Him. After all, He knows our every weakness, and He knows our every strength; His weakness is greater than our greatest strength, and He is just waiting for us to realize that and to throw our lives down at His feet. What is it going to take for us to realize how much He loves us? What kind of trial do we need to finally turn our hearts inside out, that we can love Him? Not just say that we love Him, but prove that we love Him, with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength... "For our transgressions are multiplied before Thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; in transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no judgment. And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation unto him; and His righteousness, it sustained him." (Isaiah 59:12-16)

"Isolation"

"I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart." (Psalms 38:8) Yes, it goes from rejection to isolation naturally; there are really no other ways that we can explain the way being separated from God because of sin takes it's toll on our hearts. Before we became a Christian, there was isolation from God, but it did not really matter all that much to our hearts, because we were in fellowship with the world, therefore we did not feel all alone; after becoming a Christian, when we fall out of fellowship with God, things get pretty lonely out here in the world, and there is really no fellowship here for us either. It is kind of like the way of Cain, who after killing his brother was made to live the life of a vagabond, having been separated from the rest and having a mark placed upon him as a murderer. Don't think that does not happen, because it does; the world sees who we are, and they will not fellowship with us either, because they know we are one of His children; it like they don't want whatever curse might come upon us to come on them also. To help explain what David means in the first part of this verse, we could imagine what we might feel like to try and move our body once it has been frozen, or made rigid by something else; if we try and move it anyways, we are going to feel as though we have broken it. The way that relates to our hearts, is that of being unable to rejoice because of guilt; yet when we try and rejoice anyways, it only breaks our heart, because it is not a joy that counts; it's only a superficial joy that leaves us realizing how much we really lack the real joy that comes from having fellowship with God. If you have seen the movie ''Bad Lieutenant", staring Harvey Keitel, then you can probably get the meaning of "roared" that David uses as he says, "I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart". It actually is more of a groaning, or a cry of distress that is brought on by grief, because the grief brings violence upon our hearts; and the grief is brought on by being isolated from the One who loves us because of sin; sin that needs to be dealt with properly, because up to this point, all of our efforts have been rejected, because they have been halfhearted efforts... "Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save: neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgement in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. Therefore is judgement far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgement, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us." (Isaiah 59:1-11)

"Rejection"

"For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh." (Psalms 38:7) To be humiliated before God, does not necessarily count towards anything more than knowing you have messed up, because there still is the act of atonement for our sin; something that can only be accomplished by God. In the Garden, God rejected the fig leaves as a proper covering for Adam and Eve's nakedness, and He made then coverings that were from the skins of animals; meaning that there required a blood sacrifice for there to be a true covering; yet it did not remove the sinfulness. Even the burnt offerings that were offered at the alter did not remove sin, they only covered the sin; thereby allowing God to wink upon the sin, as if He were letting it slide for a moment. The word "loins" comes from a word that means flank, hope, folly, loins, or confidence; it comes to reason, that if you were to serve up the fatten calf to a guest, then it would be a calf that had fat upon it's loins; just so happens, that the fat of the animal is what was offered upon the alter. I am just saying, if God were going to reject our offering, then there would be a couple of reasons for that to happen; such as, the lack of fat, or confidence, both of which involve not being sincere, either in the offering given, or with a heart that wants forgiveness. Then again, if hope is that which we seek, then our hope is that which is "filled with a loathsome disease"; because until our sins are actually removed, we have a hope that still requires being healed and delivered from sin. It is only the blood of Jesus that can remove our sins, and all other forms of sacrifice or offerings are rejected for that purpose of atonement from sin; therefore without the blood of Jesus, there is no hope for true forgiveness of sin... "For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:3-7)

"Humiliation"

"I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long." (Psalms 38:6) Sin is that which causes us to be humiliated before God; just as Adam and Eve hid from God in the Garden of Eden, they did so because of the nakedness that they felt. Before they had sinned, they were clothed in the Light of God; pure, and innocent creatures, that shared something in common with the Creator that made them, that being that they had no darkness; nor did they know darkness, because it had not yet been reveled to them, that is, until they had sinned against God. Rather or not that forbidden tree had any power to illuminate someone with knowledge, really does not matter, because it was the act of doing what they were told not to do, that is what stripped away the Light and brought on the darkness. I really think that it is interesting how the flesh ties into all of this; how Adam and Eve realized that they were naked, and then needed to cover up their flesh to help cover up their sinfulness; and yet, Jesus spoke of His flesh being the Bread from heaven that must be eaten in order for us to have life; it was an act of eating that caused the fall of man and brought death, and it is an act of eating that restores our relationship with God and brings life. Interesting enough, it is sin that caused humiliation before God, and it is the humiliation of God that defeated sin... "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)

"Stinkification"

"My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness." (Psalms 38:5) I know I do not need to give any excuse for the title; this verse reeks from the corruption that sin causes in our lives. The word "'wounds" is more like strips or bruises, which I find rather interesting, because of Isaiah 53:5, which says, "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." It might be hard to imagine what our sins look like to God, but when you look upon the affliction that was put upon Jesus for our sin, you might come to understand how He views them. Trying to get a handle upon sinfulness in our lives, just does not work; you might try all you want to, but until you come to the realization that you need God's help, you really are not going to get anywhere trying to defeat your own sinful desires. The foolishness that David is speaking about is two-fold; one is the cause, the other is the result; the cause is our neglect to count upon God for the strength that we need to be victorious; while the result is what we are because of it. To be perfectly honest, it really does come down to the condition of our heart, because the heart is where our love for God is planted; if our heart is not producing the love for God that we need, then nothing else will grow to love Him more; not our mind, nor the strength that we need to overcome temptation. We really do not just fall into sin; we fall because of sin, but sin is something that we prepare for, by doing what we should not be doing, or not doing what we should; it does not just happen, because if we were prepared to flee, then we would flee sin when we are tempted. If we take the time to really think about the stink of our sins, especially in light of what Jesus went through to set us free from them, then we might come to realize that they need to be taken seriously. In other words, we cannot just shrug them off as if they do not matter, because they make us stink before God, and they cause us to be corrupt, like a rotten piece of fruit; the likes of which becomes worthless for anything except gathering bugs, decay, and death... "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. I am the Bread of Life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the Bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever; and the Bread that I give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." (John 6:47-51)

"Desperation"

"For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me." (Psalms 38:4) No doubt, you have heard the term, "That's above my pay grade"; well, in the case of us dealing with our sins, the task is far more than any one of us could ever try to handle; let alone try to remove our own sins from our lives, which is literally impossible. Although, there are those that will try, as they try and do as many good works as they possibly can, in an attempt to offset there sins with works; sadly, they are going to be very disappointed when they hear those four words, "I never knew you", and they discover that it was not about works, but about the grace of God, and a relationship with the lover of our souls. The Bible clearly says that we have no power over spiritual matters, only the Spirit of God can overcome the spiritual wickedness that keeps us bound to sin, (Ephesians 6:12); why should we think any different when it comes to getting sin out of our lives? as if we can just shut it off, be done with it, and it is gone? We surely would not try to operate on ourselves, to remove a cancer, or to perform heart surgery; no, we would go to a Surgeon, someone that is no only experienced to do the job, but that can also be awake while doing it. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can remove the sin from our lives; He took on the spiritual battle in our place, and He remained sinless, all the way to the cross; something that only He could do, not just because He was God in the flesh, because He was also a man, and He had a fleshly body, just like you and I; but because of His deep love relationship with the Father, He had resolve to please the Father, and to complete the task that He was sent to do. Talk about "desperation", Jesus had desperation to complete His earthly ministry, like none other! Not only did He need to make it to the cross, but He needed to do so without having sin, that He could become the perfect sacrifice. Interesting enough, that crown of thorns He wore on the cross represents our toils in trying in remain without sin; the task of becoming sinless and laboring to make it through this life without sin, Jesus worn as a crown of thorns, representing the thorns of our labor (Genesis 3:17-19). As to the weight of sin, trying to lift our sins off from ourselves, is much like what the earth upon our shoulders would look like, kind of like the Mr. Atlas image; not only are they heavy, but removing them takes a strength and a power that we not only do not possess, but we cannot obtain it, it can only be done by God; I don't care how long you have been in Christ, you still need to go to God to be spiritually clean... "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man is blessed in his deed." (James 1:19-25)

"Expectation"

"There is no soundness in my flesh because of Thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin." (Psalms 38:3) Does God really get angry with us? If you told your young child not to play in the street, and they did it anyways, wouldn't you be angry with them? And if they did it again, what would you do? If they kept on doing it, would you throw up your hands, and give up? or would you take drastic measures to try and make them understand how serious you are for their safety? Our Father in heaven is not that far away from the reality of a strong loving parent; the biggest difference, is that no one can love us like God loves us; His love knows no bounds, and is not conditional upon our obedience, but in spite of our obedience, He continues to love us; He might get angry with our stupidity and stubbornness, but He loves us no matter what. Why "expectation"? you might be wondering; besides the play on the single words that end in 'tion', I felt an eagerness in David's heart by the expression of his body feeling as though he was coming undone; much as if you were hiding from the law in some bushes, but you know that you are going to be found anyways, it is just a matter of time. If you have ever experienced that feeling, you are being pulled apart from the inside, yet expecting it to be over when you are finally caught; almost wanting to just step out of the bushes, just to get it over with; because you know that they know that you are there, and it's just a matter of time before they reach in and grab you. That might seem a little far fetched, but God knows every single thing about us, and there is no hiding from God; so the real question that we might need to be asking, is how far away is God from taking drastic measures? Maybe it might be time just to step out of the bushes with your hands up... "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the Light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:11-16)

"Lamentation"

"For Thine arrows stick fast in me, and Thy hand presseth me sore." (Psalms 38:2) Expressing grief that might be felt from sin is sometimes no easy, but I think David does a pretty good job in this short little verse. I cannot imagine what it might be like to walk around with arrows stuck in me, but I am sure there are not hardly any moments that you do not know that they are there. Couple that, with the feeling of being pressed down, as God presses His mighty hand down upon you, and you have what you could compare to a pin cushion being squeezed; making every arrow that is stuck in you, feel as though it is ten times larger. This is what it feels like to lament over the sins that we are convicted over; it not only pricks are hearts, but it make the air heavy around us; almost as if we are being forced upon our knees. However, this is a good thing, and should be something that we accept as a step in the right direction towards humility and surrender. God wants nothing more than our lives to be wrapped up in Him; not for us to be tangled up in sin, which is what happens to us when we continue in sin, as though it is okay; it begins to grow around our hearts like a wild vine, choking out our desire for fellowship with God, and our ability to get wrapped up in Him. There are really no two ways about it, sin kills; it destroys relationships; it destroys our walk with God; left undone, sin can eventually destroy our health and take our lives. So, relatively speaking, what are a few arrows and the heavy hand of God when compared to death? More importantly; wouldn't it be better to be chastened by God then thrashed by sin? because that's what sin will do to us, thrash our lives, and make us fall out of fellowship with the One that loves us more than we even love ourselves... "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour." (Ephesians 4:29-5:2)

"Conviction"

"O LORD, rebuke me not in Thy wrath; neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure." (Psalms 38:1) It is not fun to do, but it needs to be done: we need to spend some time before the Lord reflecting upon all that we have done to sin against Him: there needs to conviction before humility will happen. Sometimes, just saying, "Lord please forgive me for my sins", really does not bring out some of those sins that we like, just the ones that we feel bad for doing. But real conviction occurs when we realize what God thinks about those hidden sins; those sins that we do not included in our everyday confessions, because they are the sins that we like and we are not ready to turn away from them. God does not really want us to be afraid of Him, but He does what us to fear Him; unlike what some people might think, as they see God as holding lightening bolts in His hands, and preparing to throw them down upon us; that is not God's character, nor does it even come close to His patience that He has with us, (Thank You Father!). What I see within this verse, is that of a heart which feels conviction, and yet, that knows the mercy of God; not one that is afraid that God is about ready to smite him, but that he realizes he has sinned against the God that formed him and loves him, and he is eager to get things right with that God. Unlike what some earthly fathers might do, which is to just haul off and smack their children, our Heavenly Father is not like that, nor does He what to punish us for the sake of punishment; He punishes us to keep us under the shadow of His wings, and to show that He loves us. I see a heart that knows he deserves to be disciplined, yet, he also knows that God is merciful and kind; this is the kind of heart that David had, because he had a heart after God's heart, which judged rightly. I think if we try and understand what it means "to judge rightly", then there would be a whole lot less fighting among those within the church; we truly do fight over the stupidest things; it's almost as if we are looking for something to fight over; when what we really need to do, is to start looking into our own hearts... "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." (Luke 6:36-38)

"A Man in Pain Prays"

PSALMS 38 [A Psalm of David, to bring remembrance.] Moving on from "The Good and the Bad" to "A Man in Pain Prays", I am reminded of the times when I was a child, and I would sometimes pray to God when I felt completely lost or without hope. These were times like when my mother and step dad would be drunk and were fighting, and I would leave the house and climb a tree, or hide in the neighbors bushes; anything to get away from the chaos that was happening in that house. Other times were when I was arrested and locked up in jail, praying to God to get me out of there, and making promises I could not keep. Times like those, I thought were so hard to get through; almost as if they were the end of the world, and if God did not help, then my life was over; but that was the mind of a child. After giving my heart to Jesus, I discovered that the worst pain I could feel in my heart, was the pain of sin dwelling within me; prior to that, sin was a home in my heart, because I was a slave to sin; but once Jesus delivered me from that bondage, sin became something that made my heart ache, making me feel weak and worthless. I have learned over the years, that when I feel like that, it is time for some serious pray; it is time to clean house, and let Jesus clean out all the closets, because there is stuff that I am holding onto, and it is choking out my joy and my peace. Actually, it is not bad practice to do that every morning and every night, because we tend to step in some pretty nasty stuff in our every day lives. The problem that I find with that, is sometimes we tend to like the smell of that stuff, and we are not that quick to want it cleaned off; but the longer it stays, the stronger that odor gets, till our whole body begins stink from the smell of it. That is what sin is in our lives, and it does not belong to be attached to us, because it is stinky and filthy and will ruin our lives; if we have it attached to us, then we must get it off, which Jesus is more than happy to do; that is, if we ask Him to... "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

"God is Great"

"And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him." (Psalms 37:40) As I was preparing a message for today, and I had pondered the whole idea of God's creation being done in a week, verses six thousand years, and I felt God telling me that He is God, and He can do it any way that He wants; if He wants to make full grown trees that are mature, or planets that have the structure like millions of years, He is God, and He can make them as He feels fit, and as He thinks they should be made. If you think about the span of space, God making trees that appear to be hundreds of years old, really dwarf in comparison to galaxies that are millions and millions light years away. When it comes to trusting God, part of our trust in God is determined by what we believe that God is capable of doing, which is why the Bible starts with the creation of God; if we believe that God has limits to what He is capable of doing, then we are limiting our measure of trust in Him. Our God is greater than we can ever imagine; yet, the Bible says that He knows ever hair on our head; He knows our every thought, and He sees are every tear. The God that we serve is a personal God, who takes time with each and everyone of His children, because He is big enough to do so, and because He loves each and everyone of us the same. It might be hard some times to believe that, especially when we are going through something that is ugly, or a trail that seems unbearable; but He allows us to go through bad situations so that we might draw closer to Him, and that we might take more shelter under the shadow of His wings; that's what "trust" means in the verse above, to trust in God for refuge, and to flee to Him, because He is big enough and cares enough to help us and to deliver us from whatever it is that has come against us. We cannot put any limits on God's ability to do anything, because when we do, we take away from our ability to put all of our trust in Him...
"Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I demand of thee, and answer thou Me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hast laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line upon it?" (Job 38:1-5)

"Good Ends Good"

"But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: He is their strength in the time of trouble." (Psalms 37:39) I really think that this would be a great Psalm to meditate on during a 40 day fast; just take verse one on the first day, and then add to it every day, meditating and praying over all that God speaks into our hearts. As for this verse, we can truly understand the first part very easily, because Jesus Christ is the Salvation of God; therefore, we need not look any further for where "the salvation of the righteous" might come from; it's "the time of trouble" part of this verse that has me scratching my head; but only for a moment, (no pun intended). Actually, "the time of trouble" could mean a variety of circumstances, such a tribulation, or persecution; or it could actually apply to the time of our departure, meaning, the time of our death. We all should hope that we finish strong; not being caught up in the things of this world, but being totally in love with Jesus, and looking forward to throwing ourselves down at His feet; but there are some among us that simply want to ride His coat-tails into heaven, and are not really interested in how they might finish, just that they have been saved and have been assured eternal life in heaven. I don't judge the outcome of such an attitude, I can only be responsible for my own, and I am required to judge that only; but I will say: fruit is something that can be used and gives something back; if there is no fruit, then something has been lost in the connection with the source of Life that bares the fruit. Personally, I would prefer to know for sure that I was connected to the Vine, because that time of trouble could come at any time; James puts it like, "For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." (James 4:14) With regard to "strength", that which we have of God in the time of trouble, it has something very closely related to "salvation", that just so happens to also be of God; which also just so happens to be closely related to "The Helmet of Salvation" which Paul refers in Ephesians 6:17; which is worn to protect our minds, not wavering in our faith, because we know from where our salvation comes; which he speaks of again in 1 Thessalonians 5:8... "Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do." (1 Thessalonians 5:6-11)

"Bad Ends Badly"

"But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off." (Psalms 37:38) You may have wondered why God would need to judge evil at all; why couldn't He just speak it out of existence, and be done with it? Why not just remove all that is evil, and then have nothing but good remain? It is because God is just and extremely patient; His love for us is too large to measure, and He has more mercy for us then we actually need; but, God will need to judge evil, and "the end of the wicked shall be cut off." If you read the way that evil is destroyed in the end, it pretty much happens just as David says that it would; "the transgressors shall be destroyed together." We can read this account in Revelation 19:11-15, which is the Great White Throne Judgment, where all the dead are gathered together and judged; after which all evil, including death and hell, were cast together into the lake of fire. As a matter of fact, verse 15 puts it into a little greater perspective, and says, "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." The power of God's love was demonstrated in the way that He saved us; because His judgment is on evil, not on those that have accepted His free gift of salvation. Jesus explained this simple process to Nicodemus in John 3:18, by saying, "He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Actually, in a way, God has spoken evil out of existence, in the manner that He sent His Son, who is the Word of God, and who came in power and might, to destroy the power of sin and death for ever and ever. Jesus came and died for all the sins of this world, even for the sins of those that choose not to believe in Him; so what that means for those that are found guilty, is that they are "cut off" from receiving what could have been theirs; like a branch is cut off a tree, or as part of a garment is cut off, they shall be excluded from the atonement that Jesus gave with His death on the cross, not by God's doing, but on their own... "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: and whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:14-17)    

"Good Grows"

"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace." (Psalms 37:37) I like how the story ends with peace; not that we cannot have peace now, because we can, and we actually should; if we don't have peace now, then there is something wrong in our lives. But what I am talking about is the "end", meaning at the end of our life; just as Paul, who knowing that his time had come, evaluated his life in Christ, and had peace with all that he had done; we find this account in 2 Timothy, as Paul was now in prison as a criminal, and was pretty much just waiting to be executed. He was writing to Timothy as if he were his son, giving him exhortation, instruction, and letting him know how ready he was to be with the Lord. This is the kind of peace that David is speaking of, the kind that is ready to go, having done all that he could to run the race well and to finish his course. Whereas the wicked fades and is no more, those that are good grow and their pleasure is increased, knowing that death is not the end, but the beginning of a new eternity. That my friend is what the "good fight" is all about; it's about being prepared to stand in the presence of God, and to not be ashamed in His presence; that does not mean that we have been perfect, because no one is but one, and that is Jesus; but it means that we trust in the salvation that has been made available for us, and that we have done our best to get it right. The word "perfect" is more about being complete, as in one who lacks nothing; which is what we became the instant we were born again, we were made complete; having the Spirit of God now living within us, we now are spiritually alive in Christ, and fellowship has been restored with God; meaning, that which had been destroyed by Adam's sin, has now been restored through Jesus Christ. Perfect also means upright, but in the sense of having been made upright because of being undefiled; which again, is only made possible through faith in Jesus Christ; having been justified in Christ by the washing away of our sins, we have been made as white as snow; just as if we had never sinned. The word "upright" that David uses, is a word that means straight, right, or correct, such as would be the case for having chosen the right path, or having taken the straight road, or the correct choice in direction. Basically, that is what Paul is referring to by saying, "I have finished my course", because what might be right for him, may not be the same for someone else; God let's each of us individually know what He expects from us, and we know when we fall short; which then, our falling short is the same as missing the mark, which is sin. But God, who is rich in grace and mercy, will freely forgives us that sin, and cleanse us of all unrighteousness, if we truly confess it and ask His forgiveness; the result of which is peace... "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." (2 Timothy 4:6-8)

"Bad Goes."

"Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found." (Psalms 37:36) We can hardly understand why God loves us like He does, but we are instructed to accept that He does, and then to respond to that love as a child; not questioning why He loves us, but just believing that He does by the love that He has demonstrated towards us. It is kind of odd the way love can fade, in our relationships together as husbands and wives, as well as our love for God; you can just wake up one morning, and you don't feel like you have it in you to love any longer. But God, He does not change; nor does He stop loving us any more or any less from day to day; His love for us is always the same! It is really hard to understand that, because that is not how we love, nor are we capable of loving as God loves, because God is Love. Yes, I know, this does not seem to be in line with verse 36, and the wicked that has passed away; but I felt the Lord speaking to my heart regarding something personal; something that relates to what happens when we truly do surrender our lives completely over to Him: we fall deeply in love with Him! And when that happens, the bad goes! This is what John is speaking about in 1 John 5:3, as he said, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous"; the more we surrender our lives to God, the more we are able to love Him; and the more that we love Him, the easier it is to keep His commandments. It is pretty much the same in our relationship with our spouse, only on a much smaller scale; but if we are feeling out of love with our mate, then we need to surrender more to their needs and die more to ourselves; in doing so, we will fall deeper in love with them, and we will find it easier to please them. If the love relationship has changed in our hearts, then we need to change our heart; doing so requires a little thing called sacrifice, whereas, we must sacrifice our own desires for the desires of our mate; then the flame is kindled, and love can begin to burn again. Try that with God also... "Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

"Bad Goes Bad"

"I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree." (Psalms 37:35) You might laugh at the title, but it really is not a laughing matter to be on the side of the devil, or to be the "seed" of the devil, and within his authority. Those that have not given their lives over to Jesus Christ, and that are still lost in their sins, they have one thing in common with the devil, that being that hell is in their future unless they repent and surrender their lives over to Jesus; the devil does not have that opportunity to repent, so he is glade to have as much company in hell as possible. You can not tell someone who is in that position that he is going to hell unless they change, because to anyone that is in position, the gospel message is just foolishness and weakness, compared to the strength they see in the riches of this world. We were all born in sin, having been born the offspring of a fallen man, that being Adam; yet, to be born again, although this fallen vessel is not destroyed, the heart within this vessel is made new; something that must take place in order to see how foolish it is to trust in the riches of this world. It is like having a whole new set of eyes, where we can see the decay and the destruction of this world, and we can see the hope and the glory that is available in Jesus; two totally different worlds; two totally different perspectives. We might also laugh at something a congresswoman said about Obama Care, saying, "We need to pass the bill, in order to see what is in it"; but in truth, we need to be born again, in order to see the things of heaven. (John 3:3) This "green bay tree" that David is speaking of, is something of flourishing within a place that it cannot be transplanted, or a native tree that flourishes because of where it grows. Sad as this might sound, that is as good as it gets for those that trust in this world, a few days to spread out within a place that shall be no more; yet that word "spreading" is a word that speaks of nakedness, which is not something that is covered, nor it does retain anything, but is poured out, much like a vessel that is poured out to empty it's contents, as to reveal the bottom that is laid bare. In other words; the great power of the wicked are weakness and foolishness when compared to the riches and the splendor of God; yet they will not see this until it is too late, and by then, there will be nothing left for them here to hold onto; all that they had put their trust in shall be unattainable for taking with them, so all that they had will be lost... "The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as a high wall in his own conceit. Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before honour is humility." (Proverbs 18:10-12)  

"God is Just" -2

"Wait on the LORD, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it." (Psalms 37:34) You do understand that the devil will have his day, don't you? He knows that too, he just wants to take as many with him as he can. My mom always use to say, Misery loves company; which I came to understand as a teenager, when I choose to hang out with the wrong crowds. I don't know how, but we will be able to see God's wrath poured out during the Great Tribulation; which may be the reason there are so many who believe the rapture will take place after, because they believe they are going to be able to witness God's judgement upon the earth. However, if you think about Revelation, John is seeing all that he sees from heaven, including those things that are happening upon the earth; almost as if there is a huge theater presented, and everything is displayed for the inhabitants of heaven to see. All those around the throne of God see it also, such as the twenty four elders, and the four beasts, who all worship Him who sits on the throne, saying, "Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come", and, "Thou art worthy, O LORD, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." (Revelation 4) Then, as you go to chapter six, you see in verse nine that there are a multitude of souls below the alter, who cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" And they were given white robes, and told they should rest a little while longer, till their fellow servants and brethren should also be slain as they were; which we can see fulfilled in chapter nineteen. Basically, what I am trying to say is that heaven holds a different point of view than earth; in other words, we see things revealed and have eyes such as of God, which will be able to view more than we could ever imagine; at least that is what I have been taught to believe. I have even heard Pastor Jon Courson share about the "cloud of witnesses" from Hebrews 12:1, as those that have gone before us, and who are there in heaven watching our lives, and seeing how we perform; cheering and smiling when we do good, and groaning and frowning when we do bad... "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." (Hebrews 12:1 & 2)

"God is Just"

"Wait on the LORD, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it." (Psalms 37:34) "O What A Mighty God We Serve!" That was the song playing in my head as I just finished typing out this verse. Waiting on the Lord can really be hard sometimes; it is just so hard to not have what you want, when you want it, verses when God will provide it; but not only does He provide all good things to us, He gives them when we are best prepared to receive them. I know for a fact that God is going to heal my wife; it might not be here in this world, but she will be totally complete and without any pain or sickness when she leaves this place; in the mean time, I have promised to keep her safe and to provide for her, "till death do us part". Also, I am totally assured that I will be with her, and this love that is poured out now will be not be lost; of that I am most assured. We must never give up on trusting God, because He will never give up on us; and yet, I have got to wonder, what is harder to do, waiting on Him or keeping His way? At the same time, I also need to consider, what is His way? Okay; now I know that I am not perfect, so being perfect and holy is most likely not it; and I know that I constantly find myself walking in the wrong direction, so I am pretty sure that a path is not really it that I must keep; so what is it that we must adhere to? (Knock, Knock...) "Thomas saith unto Him, Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henchforth ye know Him, and have seen Him." (John 14:5-7)

"God is Faithful" -2

"The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged." (Psalms 37:33) Although we have been given a free will, God's will is more powerful than anything that we have; when God says that He will not abandon or forsake us, we can pretty much count His "will" to mean more than just a promise, it is done! We can not look at God's way of keeping promises the way that man keeps his word, because God does what He says He will do; man on the other hand, well let's just say that we lack what it takes to be true to anything, let alone our words. I was listening to "Every Man An Answer" the other day, and a very touchy subject was addressed, which was when a believer that commits suicide. One of the pastors said something very bold, yet if you think about it, it sounds as though it is also very true; which is, that there is only one sin which man shall not be forgiven of, and suicide is not the one. Interesting concept, because we really do not know what was in the persons heart, except that they had obviously given up on hope; yet, how often do any of us have days where we feel discouraged and full of doubt? It kind of puts a little different light on Judas, who was so torn up on what he had done, that he threw away the thirty pieces of silver, and then took his own life. What is even more interesting than that, is that all of the disciples wondered if they were the one that would betray Jesus, asking, "Lord, is it I?" (Matthew 26:22) We can all have a little betrayal in our hearts; after all, our hearts are desperately wicked; but Judas was called by Jesus for a reason, because God does not make mistakes. So, having considered this interesting concept, I have got to wonder if I will be seeing Judas up in heaven; after all, God's will is the most powerful will of all..."The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged."...or maybe not... "I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them which you have given Me; for they are Thine. And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are One. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name: those that Thou hast gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves." (John 17:9-13)