"This Ugly Flesh" -2

"An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more." (Psalms 41:8) If only it were as easy as it is simple. The simple thing for us to do, is to quit feeding the flesh, and to concentrate on feeding the Spirit; and part of what is required to feed the Spirit, is to obey what the Spirit says to do. When the Spirit of God that is within us says, Don't do that, then we need to listen; and when the Spirit of God that is within us says, Do this or that, then we need to obey Him and do what He says. The opposite of doing what the Spirit says, is to do what the flesh desires; when the flesh wants something that is not good for our spiritual walk, the Holy Spirit inside of us will say, No, that is not good; but the flesh will beg to differ, and if not considered to be dead, then the flesh will have it's way by numbing our hearts to the voice of the Spirit. Not that I am an expert in walking in the flesh, but I have walked in the flesh enough to know what it takes to become numb to the Spirit of God; if this flesh is not considered dead in Christ, then it is alive unto sin, and sin will happen; and if not repented of and corrected, sin will become more and more a part of what we are, because the flesh will become stronger and stronger, bolder and bolder, even to the point of mocking God and the holiness that is to be lived out in our lives. This, my dear brothers and sisters, is where we find ourselves coming to see the relationship with this verse above; because an evil disease has cleaved fast unto us, which is the disease of sin, and the only reason that it has taken hold of us at all, is because we have given power to the flesh, this ugly flesh that is to have no power at all. It's the "they say" part of this verse that I find rather interesting, because they say also includes "we say", as in, we have no real faith at all. If we had faith, then we would walk by that faith, and we would not be laying down in the first place; but once we are laying down, then it is harder to get up because of our prideful heart, and the hardness of our heart against God. But God, who is abundantly merciful and full of grace, He is always the God of second chances (thirds and fourths too, if need be); and the glorious thing that we must realize, is that we must not rise up again at all, but it is Christ that has risen, and it is He that must rise up in us... "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; if so that ye have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Ephesians 4:17-24)

"This Ugly Flesh"

"An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise no more." (Psalms 41:8) To be perfectly honest, this flesh can really be hard to put down, especially when it keeps getting fed. Not that this has anything to do with this verse above, because it may or may not; but then again, I just say whatever I think God is putting upon my heart; and today it's about this ugly flesh. I don't care how strong you think that you are as a Christian, if Christ is not the one who is in charge of your life, then you have not got the strength to put down the flesh; you might think that you do, and you might even pray as though you do, but if Jesus Christ is not the Lord of your entire life, then you are feeding that flesh in at least one area of your life. As was stated in the closing of yesterday's post, Jude used the term of "the garment spotted by the flesh", a term that speaks about these robes of righteousness, which are to be worn by those which have been justified in Christ, having spots which are caused by the earthly nature of the flesh, the same flesh that is to be considered crucified and buried in Christ. I heard an analogy yesterday given about a river, and it used to explain how it was okay for Adam and Eve's children to have children together, because the closer you are to the source of the river, the purer the source; put the further away you get from the source, the more the water becomes contaminated and is no longer pure. This same analogy works in our daily lives in which we are to be abiding in Christ: Christ is the source of are strength, and each and every day we must begin at the source, not each and every Sunday, or whatever day it is that causes us to recommit our lives to Him; but every day we commit our lives to Him anew, expecting Him to draw out of us those things which feed our flesh, and those things which cause those spots to appear in these robes of righteousness. The further we get away from the source, the more contaminated we become by the flesh; the more contaminated we become by the flesh, the less we are any useful for Christ, because the less pure the water is that flows out of us... "In the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of Living Water. (But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" (John 7:37-39)

"The Ugly Sin"

"They that hate me whisper together against me: against me do thy devise my hurt." (Psalms 41:7) The best way to describe what love is not, is to show the actions of those that sow discord and speak ill of others behind their backs. If you really want to love others, as the Bible clearly says that we are to do, then this practice of backbiting, spreading rumors, or devising hurt against someone should have no part of who you are, and you should have no part in any of it; that includes receiving any of it, such as when someone wants to share gossip with you, you need to quickly stop them, or stop your ears, because it is an ugly sin that does nothing to edify the body, but instead, it places images of hate in the hearts and minds of all that participate in it. The sad thing is, many that participate in the practice of gossip and backbiting do not feel as though they are sinning; many actually think that they are doing some good by their actions, as though if enough people know, maybe something good might come out of it; although, the intentions of many hearts in the process are not looking for good, but are looking for judgment and punishment more than anything else. It is almost like being a part of a good Soap Opera, only instead of actors on a television, you get to see it live; actually, I don't know of any good Soap Operas, and I am really glad my wife was never into watching them, because they do nothing but spew different forms of deceit and conduct of betrayal among friends and families. Paul gives us some very good counsel regarding those things that we put into our minds, as he says in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, 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." Think pure and lovely thoughts about one another, that is pretty much what Paul is saying; because when we practice that, those rumors and gossips will not have place in our lives, no will we have any desire to hear of them. Just say no, is what must be done; just as it works for drugs, it is the same for backbiting; you have got to let them know that you do not want to hear it, and they will let it be known that you don't want to receive it... "But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hatting even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." (Jude 17-25)  

"How About You?"

"And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it." (Psalms 41:6) There really is some truth in what is being spoken here, as if anyone can keep the iniquity of another to himself; there is just always someone that absolutely needs to know, after all, it's not like they really know who I am talking about. How about you? can you keep a secret? or do you need to share what you know with others, like it is money that is burning a hole in your pocket to be spent? We are instructed in God's word to not only confront each other over issues that we see, but we are also instructed to go to each other over the issues which we have; for those of us that are in leadership, the cat is out of the bag as to how things said in confidence are made known abroad. I get told things, and then wonder, Why are you telling me this? How about we just be happy for each other to make it through, and not be happy for someone else to be worse than we are? Because the reality is, we are no better than anyone else; no body is without sin, and no body lives a sinless life; and as soon as you think that you are above anyone else, well, you gather iniquity to yourself, just as David says that his so called friend does, as he pretends be pay him a visit because he is sick, but all the while, he just wants to gather dirt on him, so that he can go tell everyone he knows what a sick king David is. Whatever happen to, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you? (Luke 6:31) How many of us would want what was told to someone in confidence to be made know to others? I gather there would be any that say, I don't care what people know about me, or about the secrets that I keep. Well, God knows, that much is sure! Do we care what He knows? And yet, if He knows, and He still loves you, then why in the world can't we hold those things sacred that are shared to us in secret? Personally, I believe most of the time we are testing the reaction of those that we tell, just in case one day we might want to come clean on something within our own life; but that's just my opinion, because there is always some vain reason that we do what we do; it's just a matter of time, because what goes around, comes around... "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)

"Gone, But Not Forgotten" -2

"My enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?" (Psalms 41:5) And then, we have Jesus, whom the Jewish leaders had thought that they had ridden His name from being mentioned among them; and yet, even to this very day, His name has been spread throughout the earth, and continues to be spread, despite all that they did to try and get rid of Him. I watched The Passion of The Christ again last night, and I was very impressed with the look of resolve that was displayed in the face of Jesus every time He needed strength to carry on, as if The Helper was there all along pushing Him onward, even beyond that of most other men; even those that were beating Him were amazed that He kept getting up, especially after He saw His mother watching. And those flashbacks to Him speaking with His disciples, as He would look upon something that reminded Him of what He had said, and experience something that would trigger a moment of reflection as to what He had done, or had previously happened in His life. We must not ever forget God's promises and the victories that have taken place in our lives; those things are what can give us encouragement when we have moments of weakness and of suffering. God does not change, even as He does not change His mind; we are the ones that change; we are the ones that cannot make up our minds: one moment we have courage, the next, we want to curl up into a ball and die. But God, He is always the same distance from us as He has ever been; He is always just a prayer away from a sinners heart... "Incline your ear unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for He hath glorified thee. Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:3-7)

"Gone, But Not Forgotten"

"Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?" (Psalms 41:5) I had a catchy little title for today in my head last night, but I should have written it down, because this morning it was gone. But the point of this morning's blog has more to do with holding onto every word that God speaks to us, no matter what others might say; because if God has a word for you, it might be something that others will not receive, because it was not intended for them. I am not going to get to far into the reasoning of what I am talking about, but to say a few examples, such as, The Walls of Jericho, Naaman's Leprosy, Jeremiah's Linen Undergarment, The Authenticity of Amos, The Death of Lazarus; and least we forget, God's Promise To David, "and thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever" (2 Samuel 7:16). Those word's were spoken to David through Nathan, the same Nathan that later confronts David over his sin of killing Uriah for being such a faithful soldier and servant; as his heart had changed from one of compassion, to that of an uncaring murderer. However, for all those times when it looked like David's kingdom was being taken away, or that David was paying the price for his sins, God's promise remained and never changed. Some people might think that God changes His mind; a notion which might have come from Genesis 6:6, as is says, "And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth"; or maybe Exodus 32:10, as God tells Moses, "Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation." But God really does not change His mind, nor does God say, OOPS! He knows everything that is going to happen before it happens, therefore He never needs to change His mind, because His mind is made up far in advance of what any of us will ever do... "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up the ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: that they may posses the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by My name, saith the LORD that doeth this. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of My people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink wine thereof; they shall make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God." (Amos 9:11-15)

"The Healing of Mercy" -2

"I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee." (Psalms 41:4) Besides being totally inadequate when it comes to earning anything close to what is needed for our sins to be cleansed, we have another thing that puts us at the point of owing more debt, which our sin that we will commit today or tomorrow. Not that we set out to sin, because most of us don't actually set out to fall into sin; but for the most part, sin is still part of what we must deal with, day in and day out, until we are no longer living in this fallen world. Understanding what we are, and knowing what we shall become, is part of what is required to be healed; like most sicknesses, before you can start the healing process, a diagnoses must be determined of your condition, and then the proper treatment can be applied to start you on a road to recovery. Jesus is the Great Physician, and He wants so desperately to heal us of all that afflicts our souls, which is sin; healing of our physical ailments may or may not happen, because He has never promised to do that; but what He has promised us is eternal life in heaven with Him and the Father, which is far greater than physical healing or extended life here on this earth. Our greatest need is for our soul to be healed from being separated from God, that is our one and only thing that will keep us from life that matters; this life, although it has it's moments of good times and fond memories, is really not life at all, if it is not lived in Christ; only a life that is lived in Christ can be complete and profitable for the kingdom of God; all other living is pretty much wasted time, and time wasted on this world is lost, just as the world is lost. Once we see the difference between the here and there, mercy takes priority in the list of needs for living; it becomes the first thing we ask for as we rise up in the morning, and it becomes the last thing we ask for as we go to sleep... "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:19-21)  

"The Healing of Mercy"

"I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee." (Psalms 41:4) We can never get to the point where we have caught up with the debt that we owe God; I don't care how many people you help out, our debt is more than can be paid by anything we do in this life. That was the whole point of what Jesus came and died for, in case we should need to be reminded. And yet, how often do we try and count the ways that we serve God, as if we are keeping score or something? When it comes right down to it, we are all sinners through and through, and there is nothing we can do to change that; only the blood of Jesus can make us clean from our sins, works only get in the way of making us come clean before Him; not that we should not have good works, because we must in order for our faith to be real; but our works are never to be counted towards righteousness, only for the demonstration of our faith in what God has done in us, which is a little thing called love. Healing the body might buy you some more time here on this earth, and depending on who you are, that might be a good thing, or it could be a bad thing, for you; I say for you, because whether you go or stay, God's plan continues just as it were, regardless of what happens to us. A good example of what I am talking about is found 2 Kings 20, which is when Hezekiah becomes sick and was to die, yet God granted him 15 more years; some might argue whether or not Manasseh began to reign before Hezekiah died, but I tend to believe that he began his reign after Hezekiah's death, just as the Bible says; which means that Manasseh was born during the 15 years of Hezekiah's extended life, because he was twelve years old when he began to reign (2 Kings 21:1). Manasseh was one of the worst kings that there was, and killed many innocent people; so much so, that it says he filled Jerusalem from one end to the other with the slain (2 Kings 21:16). Interesting enough, but Manasseh is listed in the family record of Jesus (Matthew 1:10), which would indicate that he was part of God's plan all along, seeing how that he was part of the bloodline of ancestor's of Christ. God is always in control... "Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (James 4:13-17)

"The Strength of Hope"

"The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness." (Psalms 41:3) Maybe this is just about being sick, as in needing medical attention; and yet, if it were, there is still a whole lot that needs to be said in that regard, because the strength that we need to overcome anything is found in the Lord. We are talking about two different "beds" here in this passage; the first of which is just a bed, much as you would lay down upon whatever you have at your disposal if you were weak and in need of some place to rest, even the couch will do, if that is all that is available; yet the second, it has more purpose than that of just a place to get rest while being sick, it includes a place for sleep and for sex, and even the very act of lying down. The way I see it, the first mention of the word is that which we could consider our own strength or healthiness, which is extremely weak in comparison to the strength of God, and the strength that is found in the Lord; while the second use of the word, refers to what God provides us in those times of our sickness or unhealthiness, as He gives us comfort and peace, even patience to get through any discomfort that we might be dealing with. In other words, He makes us a place of resting that actually works to ease the pain and the discomfort; a place that is actually pleasant to be in, just as our own bed is such a place that we find comfort and pleasure. This is really not that hard to understand, because the more we focus upon our sickness, the sicker we become, both mentally and physically; yet, the more we focus upon the Lord, the stronger we are, because we gain strength in Him and in His promises for us. That is what you call hope, and hope is what gives us strength in all things, whether they be our sickness or our sin, the hope we have in Jesus is enough to overcome all that comes against us, or that must be overcome within us... "Not that I speak of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4:11-13)

"Living Prosperously"

"The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and Thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies." (Psalms 41:2) Who doesn't want to have a blessed life? And yet, we miss some of the blessings by not actually sharing that which we have been given. Some of the most prosperous people I know, are also some of the most giving people; not because they need to give, but because they love to give; giving is part of the joy that comes with having wealth. Actually, wealth can be measured on several different levels; if you have abundant riches, but you are miserable, then I would say you are really not very wealthy at all; or if you have tons of stuff, but you have no one to share that stuff with, then I would count that as a huge misfortune. For me, living prosperously includes more than just myself; I could be happy with a nap-sack and a journey, if that is what I could afford to do, but I have many obligations that do not afford me the liberty to just do what ever it is that I want to do; so instead, I just try to share what God has blessed me with, because I will surely not be taking it with me when I go. To be blessed requires a certain area of happiness to be part of the experience; you really cannot say that you are blessed if you feel as though you want to roll up into a ball and die; yet, how many believers do you see walking around as if they have been kicked in the stomach, because others might have more than they have, or because they do not realize the abundance of wealth at their disposal? Do you notice how these next two verses are structured? as David speaks of a truth, and then he expresses that truth back to God. Is this not the way we should relate any of God's truths to our lives? as we acknowledge God's truth or promises, and then we use that promise to reflect upon how it will work upon our lives... "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." (James 2:14-17)

"Tit For Tat"

"Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble." (Psalms 41:1) Without getting overly into the blame game, we sometimes get what we deserve when it comes to having to suffer through some of our trials. It comes to reason, what goes around comes around, is the reality for some that choose to turn away from having compassion upon others. Maybe you might be someone who really does not care about being cared for, nor do you really worry about what might happen if you were to lose everything and be left homeless and poor; but it could happen to anyone, at any time, because there are no guarantees in this life; except death and taxes, so they say. Okay; instead of getting the negative side, let's focus upon the positive direction of this passage of Scripture; and yes, the title above this Psalm in my Bible is, "A Sick Man's Prayer". The word "considereth" is much like the word "thinketh" from the last verse of Psalms 40; except in the case of the word "thinketh", it is God who is considering our life, therefore He has the power to make all things work for the good; yet here, with this word "considereth", we are to give attention to the situation of someone who might be poor, as someone to whom we might be of service to, as in, is there anything that we can do to help. Another way to look at this, might be to consider what you would want God to do for you, or what He has already done in relation to His mercy, and then use that as the guide for the way you look upon others, especially those that are in need of what you might have to offer. Much like, "do unto others, as you would have them do unto you"; except in this case, we do unto others just as we would like the Lord to do unto us; meaning, we have compassion upon others, because we want the Lord to have compassion upon us. The very first thing that Jesus said when He opened His mouth and taught at the Sermon on the Mount, was, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven". It is really about knowing our place, and the condition of our worthiness for God's acceptance or justification... "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." (Romans 3:21-26)

"A Sick Man's Prayer"

[To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David] PSALMS 41
So here we are at the last Psalm of the BOOK ONE, and I have to assume that whoever put these Psalms in order, had to have been instructed in doing them just as they are; whether that be Ezra, or whomever, the thing that I find most interesting, is that we end here being "sick". It's true you know, we are all sick; each and every one of us that are packed here upon this ball called Earth, have some sort of sickness, in one way or another; and so it shall be until we are taken home to be with the Lord. We can never come to the place in this life where we think we have arrived to complete security and healthiness; because as soon as we think that time has come for us, then we have taken our trust off of God and placed that trust in our own strength. As we leave off of Psalms 40, having come to the conclusion that we are "poor and needy", even though we are delivered from death into life, we still must suffer through trials and tribulations of this world; and even though we are no longer of this world, we must still journey through this life, dependent upon God to get us through each and every day of it, and safely home on the other side. Those that are of the world might look at our need for God as a crutch, as if we are crippled and in need of someone to help us through life because we cannot do this on our own; yet, if you really wanted to try and explain our condition, we are in need of a wheelchair or a gurney, because a crutch still allows us to walk in our own strength. To be completely seated in Christ, we must be completely seated in Christ; every area of our life must be entrusted into His care, and every area of our life must have Him as Lord. We can not let Him be Lord over our family and our home, but we are the one who runs the business or our lives outside of the home; each and every part of our lives are still our lives, and we will be held accountable for every part of it. Basically, what it truly comes down to is giving God all areas of our lives, and in doing so, we can really understand His rest, and known what His rest feels like; a feeling that requires complete surrender to His will and protection for our lives... "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto was the gospel preached, as well as unto them (those in the wilderness): but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as He said, As I have sworn in My wrath, if they shall enter into My rest: although the works were finished from the foundations of the world." (Hebrews 4:1-3)

"Needing To Be Cared For" -2

"But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: Thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God." (Psalms 40:17) We can go on for years without actually considering what God wants for our lives; believe me, I know from experience, because I have done it more than once over the last 30 years. It is not something that is planned out, that is for certain, nor do we wake up one morning and say, I think I will just do my own thing for a while, and see where that gets me. Actually, it happens by not seeking God first; and when I say "seek", I am talking about that which we are dependent upon for life, much like food is sought after, if you can relate to that; I know I can, because it is probably the most important thing on my mind at least once or twice a day: what am I going to eat next, and where will I get it from? That might seem a little silly, but if you eat out as much as I do, then you would totally understand what I am talking about. I liked how it was when Marianne was in charge of planning the meals, I only needed to ask, What's for dinner? and be surprised by whatever it was she had prepared for me that day. That is pretty much how we are to be led by God: He plans the day for us, and we need to only ask to prepare our hearts; then we get to be surprised by what He has prepared for that day. The word "thinketh" which David is using when he says, "yet the Lord thinketh upon me", is like to devise or to forecast: "a weaver in colored figures, properly, one mixing threads with colors". Another way we could imagine this, is that of us being a lump of clay, and God being the Potter who must make this lump of clay into something; if the Potter is not making the pot, then this pot isn't going to be made; therefore, what should the lump of clay be saying, every day... "But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: Thou art my help and deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God!"

"Needing To Be Cared For"

"But I am poor and needy; yet the LORD thinketh upon me: Thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God." (Psalms 40:17) "Seek", although meaning to long after, it also speaks of more present needs; much like our need for the air that we breath, in order to stay alive, because without air we die. We need to seek after God, because without God in our lives, we are toast; no, we are going to get toasted, is more like it; because if God is not guiding our lives, then we are being led by our own lusts and the devils influences upon this world. Hell was not created for man, hell was created for the devil and all those that follow him; if we are not following Jesus, then we are following the devil, simple as that. Therefore, when it comes to seeking God for help and deliverance, it's really not about needing to get this bill paid, or needing to be cured from some kind of sickness, it's about needing help making it through this life and into heaven; because the gate is really wide that leads to destruction, and many are going through that gate; but narrow is the gate that leads to eternal life, and few will find it (Matthew 7:13-14). I believe this passage of Scripture has more to do about hearing what you want to hear, and letting your heart settle for good enough; what that actually means, is that we sometimes settle for half-truths when it comes to turning our lives over to the Lord; it is kind of like accepting the notion in our hearts, that we can have our cake and eat it too; and the sad thing is, that there are churches out there where we can find that message taught. Every day must be a song of deliverance and a prayer for help, all at the same time; we rejoice in that we have been delivered, but we cry out for help in gaining the prize. Although what Jesus did on the cross made the battle won and done, we still need to hold onto Jesus for what He has done... "All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. 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 11:27-30)  

"The Joy of Being Loved" -2

"Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee: let such as love Thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified." (Psalms 40:16) Speaking about needing help, how about needing the 'joy of the Lord' in our lives, because we can all use a little more joy in these last days. Joy is closely related to hope, they are more a part of each other than we might sometimes realize; and yet, when we fail to experience the joy in our lives which should be established with our salvation in Jesus Christ, we sometimes fail because there is a lack of hope in our hearts. I believe this lack of hope is primarily the result of sin in our lives which needs to be dealt with; much the same as Adam had experience shame and fear, we too, if we carry around the weight of sin, will feel shameful and have a fear of being judged for that sin; which basically robs us of our joy, because deep down inside we have doubts about that salvation which is ours, which takes away from the hope that should be within us. God does not need us to confess our sins so He can know them, because He already knows what they are; He knows everything there is to know about us, much more than we even know about ourselves; but He needs us to acknowledge the condition of our heart, and the sin that we have placed before our love and loyalty for Him. Really, that is what it comes down to; have we like the harlot gone whoring after another? or have we been seeking fellowship with God? The more we play the harlot, the more we start placing our security in the ways of whoredom, and the less we place our hope in God; primarily because we begin to doubt His love and loyalty towards us is still there, and start looking for love in all the wrong places. He will never stop loving us, so we can squash that doubt right away! As interesting as this is, it still never ceases to amaze me; but God not only knows your past and current sins, He knows those sins which you will do in the future; so how can we ever think that God has stopped loving us? If He loved you then, then He loves you now; His love for us never changes. No, if there is any change in love between us and God, it is coming from our end of the relationship, not His... "When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments." (Habakkuk 3:16-19)  

"The Joy of Being Loved"

"Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee: let such as love Thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified." (Psalms 40:16) Understandably, there is nothing better than knowing that God loves you; after all, He does control everything, and "if God be for us, then who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). It pretty much comes down to those final points: God's in control and He loves me! If we truly do believe this, then obviously we should be seeking as much as we can, to be as close as we can, to the One who loves us; especially since we have come to understand His great salvation for us. I had shared something on Sunday which I knew was going to be a touchy topic to try and explain, but non the less, I felt God was speaking it into my heart, therefore it needed to be put out there. The topic was based upon Genesis 3:8, and it had to do with God's timing in walking in the garden, which was "the cool of the day". It might be easy to misread what that means, but we must understand that God is All Knowing, and He came unto Adam and Eve knowing full well what they had done, yet He came unto them in the cool of the day; verses the night, as to startle them with His anger; or in the heat of the day, as to intensify His rage towards them. He came unto them as a friend and as their Creator that loved them, knowing already that they had fallen, He came not to judge them, for there sin had judged them already. His very first question tells it all, as He called out unto Adam, saying, "Where art thou?"; not needing to know where Adam was hiding, nor even needing to know Adam's condition, because He already knew that they dealing with the shame of what they had done; but it was a question specifically meant for Adam's heart towards God's heart, as in, Where are you in relation to Me? Presently, Adam was afraid, which was an emotion never felt before when it came to his relationship with the One who created him; he was ashamed and afraid, not quite knowing what he should do, except to hid himself from the One that loved him. And yet, the answer that Adam gave to God as to where he was, dealt with the symptom of what he had done, but did not bring up the sin; God had to bring that up to Adam Himself, in saying, "Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, wherefore I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?" God needs us to acknowledge what we have done, not how we feel; He wants to deal with the sin, because after the sin is dealt with, the feelings will take care of themselves... "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." (Romans 8:32-34)    

"Pure Astonishment" -2

"Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that they say unto me, Aha, aha." (Psalms 40:15) Just in case you were unaware, this "Aha, aha" is used in glorying over an enemy's misfortune; much the same as would be the pouring of salt on an enemy's wounds, this is trigger pulled to shoot a man when he is down. Understanding the motivation of this kind of thinking, you can look at a couple different situations; the first might be what was going on in Nebuchadnezzar's head when he instructed the furnace to be heated seven times more than it would have otherwise been heated; he had already asked, "and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hand?", and he had already determined to that if they did not do what he asked, then they would be thrown into the fiery furnace; but now, his fury against them was out of control, and his compassion for them, if there ever was any, was totally gone. Another example might be the hearts of the Jewish Leaders, as they watched Jesus dying there on the cross, they mocked Him and made fun of Him, saying things like, "He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him." And, "He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if He will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God". (Matthew 27:41-43) The heart losses all sense of compassion, even to the point of making a person like a murderer who kills just for the joy of killing another person, or something along those lines. There really is no shame felt in what they do, so until they actually realize what they have done, they are totally numb to any compassion at all; but when faced with it later on, they become filled with remorse and appalled at their own doing. Paul was a really good example of one who was "desolate" over the many lives he was responsible for having persecuted for believing in Jesus; his was the case of "one to whom much had been given", for he had been forgiven much. Pure astonishment may actually fall short of what Paul had been feeling, as he referred to himself as the chiefest of sinners, knowing how his blood boiled for stopping the followers of Christ, even to the point of killing them, as peaceful as they were. Basically, the point I am trying to make has to do with the two sided coin we have in this verse; whereas, the one side you have "desolate" meaning horror and desolated, yet the other you have amazement and astonishment in God's great mercy and grace... "I am a debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:14-17)  

"Pure Astonishment"

"Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha." (Psalms 40:15) Truly, the only ones that are going to end up with the blame are going to be the devil and those who followed him out of heaven (Revelation 20:10). When we get to heaven, Jesus will no longer the suffering servant that He was when He took all the blame for our sins; seated at the right hand of the Father, He will be judging, and while books will be opened, there is one book you do not want to be left out of, and that is The Lamb's Book of Life. That my friend will be the only thing that you will be blamed for in heaven, is not having your name written in that Book; other than that, there will be the other books showing why you needed to be in that Book, by which you shall be greatly shamed forever (Revelation 20:11-15). I truly believe that we are going to be completely astonished when we see all that God has done to rid evil from our minds; for there will be no more curse, nor will there be no more tree of knowledge of good and evil, only the tree of life; and the Light of God will be so bright around us, that there will be no darkness left anywhere at all (Revelation 22:1-5) Those that might scoff at people who believe that there is not only a God, but that God loves them, need to know how important that it is for there sins to be forgiven; they can scoff all they want to, but in the end, they will be made "desolate"; which means that they will be stunned and filled with horror. I have already seen "God's Not Dead" twice, and I am going to see it again on Tuesday; the last time I watched, I brought 7 people with me, Tuesday I hope to bring at least twice that. If you have not yet seen the movie, I highly recommend that you do, because you will not be disappointed that you did. As with the case of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they knew beyond a shadow of doubt that God was alive, and that He was a Rewarder of those that do not deny Him. It is only going to get worse, and our faith is going to be tested, so you had better be prepared to take a stand for Jesus... "Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father in heaven." (Matthew 10:32 & 33)

"Shamed and Blamed" -2

"Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil." (Psalms 40:14) Interesting enough, but I think God did take some of the blame, for He included Himself in part of that curse handed down to the serpent; however, His blame stops at the door of the creation of man, having created man with the free will to choose right from wrong, which He only did so that man would choose to love Him. As far as the shame goes, oh my goodness, what shame Jesus endured at the cross; He was not guilty of anything more than showing us the Father, yet He was put to death as if He broken every sin that there was. It is one thing to be tortured and killed for something that you have done, but to be tortured and killed for what others have done, that is the height of humiliation. Did not Jesus also take the blame along with the shame? I am pretty sure that He did; as a matter of fact, He asked the Father to forgive them, saying, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." He bore the sins of the whole world on that cross, which pretty much means that He took the blame for all of us, that we could be found not guilty before God the Father; set free from sin, because Jesus took that sin upon Himself in our place. Now we have something of a new man that has been created, and there is a new door that has been established where the blame is stopped; this new man has been set free from sin and the bondage of the law, so that this new door is that of grace, and if we fail to endure through His free grace that has been given to each and every one of us, we have no one to blame but ourselves... "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we know man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:14-19)  

"Shamed and Blamed"

"Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil." (Psalms 40:14) You really have to wonder what the devil was thinking when he went up against God; whatever it was, he must have had some sort of a plan in order to cause so many of God's angels to follow him, and to be cast out of heaven. I don't care who you are, you are no match for the devil; but "greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4), so you had better make sure the Spirit of Jesus Christ is in you, before you try and take on the devil. This Sunday I have the honor of giving the message at church, so it just so happens my message is pretty much the same title as this posting today, and it will be based upon Genesis 3:7-13; maybe I will get into the curses, but I believe God wants me to focus on Adam and Eve being shamed, and then blaming that shame on something else. Adam was the worst, because he not only blamed the woman, but he blamed God as well; that really takes some nerve; he might as well have included the tree, by saying, Well if you hadn't had that tree here in the first place, then this wouldn't had happen. It is all about choice, and it is about our free will that God has given to us; and because we have free will, there is always a choice between good and evil. That word 'evil' is such a misguided word, we tend to place it at the end of a certain spectrum, as if bad is just being bad, but evil is being worst; when in reality, evil is not being good; even disagreeable or displeasing qualifies for evil. Of all the things God placed in the garden, there was nothing that He called bad or evil, except the fact that Adam did not have a woman; yet, Adam blames the woman for his fall, and blames God for having given her to him. He sure wasn't complaining when he had first laid eyes on her... "And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." (Genesis 2:20-25)

"Answered Prayer" -2

"Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me." (Psalms 40:13) Won and Done! Now how is that for haste? And yes, it did please the Father to deliver us from our sins (Isaiah 53:10). I think we spend far too much time worrying about those things that do not matter, and far too little time worrying about what matters the most, which is our eternity in heaven. That is where it's at; that is what matters more than anything we have here on this earth, even our houses, spouses, or our very own life; there is absolutely nothing on this earth that is more important than our eternity in heaven. And yet, all that is required for eternity to be ours has already been won; how awesome is that? No; How Awesome Is That! It is time to Praise The Lord! Every day, we are one day closer to forever, and yet, for some of us that are waiting for that day to come, we seem to have our eyes fixed upon the days that are upon us, as if that day will never come; but it will, that much you can count on; it will be here at lot sooner than most of us will have planned for, so we must stop messing around, and we must get ready. People complain so much about their having to wait on God, as if it is God that takes His time getting things done; however, when you get right down to it, it is God that is waiting on us! When are you going to get it right? When are you going to stop wasting your time and energy on those things that do not matter, and start putting all your love towards the source of Real Love? Not much more can be said about that, so I will move on; but it is God that is doing all the waiting; and we can all be thankful that He is so very patient... "For we know that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in heaven. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house that is in heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: for we walk by faith, not by sight: we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted by Him. For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:1-10)

"Answered Prayer"

"Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me." (Psalms 40:13) Haste is such a hasty word, but in the midst of any battle, there really is not time for small talk or sipping tea; however, God already knows what we need before we even ask Him for anything. As a matter of fact, sometimes before we even ask, He has already provided the solution in one way or another; whether it's on it's way, or it has already been put into place; either way, God had already started getting the ball rolling in order to provide for what we would need, when we would be needing it; all we had to do was to ask! That's how God rolls! His ways are so much higher than ours, and His thoughts than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9), that we can never catch up with what He is doing, because He has already done it before we have even thought it out. Even when we do not ask anything of Him, He is still working things out all around us and through us; things that we can never really understand, He has already taken care of, just so we do not need to be concerned over whatever is was, or what might have become of it. So, how important do you think you are to God? He says, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee" (Jeremiah 1:5), don't you think He watches over you also? Sometimes the most powerful prayer that we can pray, comes in the form of praise and confirmation that God is in control; just as simple as saying, "No, I can not do that, I must obey God", as was that the case of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. You did not read about how they all three joined hands, and then started praying for God to deliver them; they simply took a stand for God being the one in control, so no matter what the king said, or what he might do, God was far more powerful than anything he could dish out. Did that just happen? and for who's benefit was that whole thing brought about? Well, in my case, it was one of the first Bible Studies that I went to after becoming a Christian, that I first was shown the power and the total confidence of trusting in God no matter what, and it was through this story in Daniel 3; so as far as I was concerned then, it was for me that God allowed or made it to happen, which ever way you want to consider it. But at the time, it was for everyone in that place, including Daniel, to see the power of God displayed, and to know, "There is no god like our God!!!"; so, go ahead and make my day... "For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many rebound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:15-18)

"A Prayer for Help" -2

"For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me." (Psalms 40:12) Do you really want to know what our sin is to us? Really? Okay then, here is the Truth: our sin is more than we can handle! We can't erase or remove them; we surely can not win any prize that will make them go away, at least not anything outside of what Jesus Christ can give us; heck, we can't even stop from sinning, and the more we try, the more miserable we feel by sinning; so then why do we try to handle something that is out of our control? Give it to God! That's right; Jesus has not only died for those sins, but He rose from that grave to give us new life in Him; making that old sinful creature of no effect, if, that is, we are no longer trying to wrestle around with the flesh. The flesh and the Spirit will always fight against each other; and yet, if that old man is crucified with Christ, then why does he seem to have any power at all? Do you think it might be somehow connected to us giving him some power over sin? Paul uses the perfect example of how this works, as he illustrates dying to sin as counting that old man to be dead in Christ, not only for the purpose of not committing sin, but also for the purpose of having the victory of sinfulness; because in the flesh we are not going to win anything; therefore we are no longer under the law, but under grace; because the law was given for the benefit of the flesh, but grace was given to set us free from the law and the flesh (Romans 6:1-7:13). As soon as we start giving power to the flesh in order to have victory over sin, we are going to give the flesh power to sin; it is only by Spirit that we can yield our members as instruments of righteousness unto God, because the flesh is counted as dead, and no longer has the power to continue sinning, nor the power to stop from sinning. Do you think you have the power in your flesh to stop from sinning? Think again, because the flesh lives to sin; it's like a fish out of water, and wants desperately to get back into that water, or it knows that it will die; yet it should never have been taken out of the water in the first place... "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life. For we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin." (Romans 6:1-7)  

"A Prayer for Help"

"For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me." (Psalms 40:12) So, just in case you were wondering what kind of help David is praying for, let's just say it requires a whole lot of mercy and grace; mercy to be forgiven and grace to be strong. We can some times get carried way in our sickness of sin, kind of like a hypochondriac who is always looking for symptoms of physical failure, and then become overly alarmed by the smallest hint of anything they think might be there; only with sin, it is not a matter of whether or not it is really there, because it is, but it is more a matter of how much we dwell upon it; because, making our sins the focus of our attention is not what leads to a victorious life in Christ: Jesus died for those sins, and victory has been won and done; now it's time to move on being strong in what He has done! I am not saying that we should not be concerned with sin, because it needs to be confessed as soon as it is revealed in us; but we should not walk around as if we have been conquered by something that has already been defeated at the cross. Basically, God is saying, "Help Me help you", when it comes to having victory over sin, because it requires that we press into God for the help that we need; in other words, sin is not where it's at where we find strength, but it is in God that our strength is found, so focus upon Him not the sin! You might detect a little attitude coming up in my post today; well, it stems from all the years that I have let the enemy fool me by making me think that I am not worthy, with his, "Who do you think you are" kind of accusations; when all along, it's not about me, it's about Jesus Christ and who He is; I am just a sinner that is hidden in Christ! We take our eyes off of that, and we find ourselves very vulnerable for feeling defeated and ashamed, just as David is expressing here in the Psalm, "mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up". Don't you know that you are a son of the KING? KING JESUS... "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places: according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundations of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherefore He hath made us accepted in the Beloved: in Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: that in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him." (Ephesians 1:3-10) 

"Preserved By Love"

"Withhold not Thou Thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth continually preserve me." (Psalms 40:11) With every passing moment of every day, one thing remains constant through it all, God remains the same! It might have taken some time to figure that out, even though God declares that fact in His word, we still require learning it ourselves; some of require several lessons, in several different areas of our lives. This is the part where this Psalm takes a turn from "A Song of Deliverance" to "A Prayer for Help"; but the prayer for help is not a needy prayer, as if there were some catastrophic event going on in our lives; but rather, it is the surrender over to God of all that concerns us, no matter how big or small, God is big enough to handle anything, and He cares enough to mind the small things as well. When David says, "Withhold not Thou Thy tender mercies", I seriously doubt that he questions God's faithfulness to give him mercy, because he knows full well that God is more than merciful; but his point is more about humility and the need to have God be merciful to him because of his sin. Once we truly see how grievous our sin is before God, it gets pretty hard to sometimes accept the fact that He has forgiven us; yet, He has said in His word, that our sins are forgiven as far as the east is from the west, because of His great mercy towards us (Psalms 103:11-13). That is what it feels like to know that we have a Father that loves us unconditionally; not that we can totally understand His unconditional love for us, but we can grab hold of whatever we do understand, and we can hold on for dear life; but rest assured, He is not letting go of us. Complete surrender only requires that we completely understand that God loves us, no matter what; just a Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego totally understood God's love for them, and no matter what, they were not going to bow down before any other god or image, it was just not going to happen. They didn't even need to think twice about the matter, because no matter what, God was more powerful than anything else; and even if He didn't save them from that fire, He was still their God, and into His arms they would go... "Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said to his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them." (Daniel 3:24-27)

"Righteousness Lived"

"I have not hid Thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation: I have not concealed Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth from the great congregation." (Psalms 40:10) Here is the thing about "A Song of Deliverance", is that it sings out for people to hear; a song is meant to be shared and is greater sung the more people you have singing along with you. The greatest asset that we have is not our house, or any other material thing here on this earth; our greatest asset is the salvation we have been given by the righteousness of Jesus Christ; and yet, it is not even ours, but it is His righteousness that we get to hold onto. As I said yesterday at the end of my post, "You can only keep what you give away", it is not ours to begin with, so what makes us think that we can hide it and keep it to ourselves? Something extraordinary has happen in our lives, something that is extremely important to everyone we know that does not have what we have, because without it, they will die in their sins and be lost forever. With that said, this "great congregation" which David makes mention of, I believe, is God's elect, which means that they are those who have been predestined from the foundations of the earth to stand together before God in heaven and sing a new song together; a crowd more numerous than can be counted, will all be standing together singing a new song of deliverance, and praising God all at once, and with one giant voice they shall shake heaven and earth. Talk about a time of worship, that is going to be a glorious wedding celebration! (Revelations 19:1-8) But, it does not matter that those are predestined, they still require hearing the gospel; they still must have their opportunity to make that choice for themselves. Don't ask me to explain how that works, because I can not even try; as soon as I start trying to figure it out, I start blowing brain cells and my head start spinning. It is really not for us to know, but just to live out the righteousness that we have been given; and one part of living out His righteousness, is to share God's faithfulness and salvation to those that are waiting to be called... "He that receiveth you receiveth Me; and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no way lose his reward." (Matthew 10:40-42)

"Righteousness Delivered"

"I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, Thou knowest." (Psalms 40:9) His righteousness was delivered to us; what a glorious way for God to make us new, yet still keeping freewill and choice as part of our condition to be established in His kingdom. When it comes to predestination or election into God's kingdom, there are some things that are only known by God, and by Him alone; who has been elected into His grace is something completely between God and those that have been elected, and no one knows whether or not they are until they make the choice to receive His grace. For that reason, the gospel message must be preached, because it is God's will that everyone comes to the be one of the "Whosoever"; for God Himself has said, "Whosoever believeth will have everlasting life"; He did not say, whosoever I determine to have life shall have life. We that have our election sure are now put into a very peculiar place of having something that must be shared; whether you know it or not, the gift that we have been given is not our own, it belongs to Jesus Christ; the righteousness is His, not ours, therefore we can not just hold onto it as if it were our own. And yet, there are those who do not share what they have been given because they believe that those who are elected have already been elected, and those that have not been will never be; "No Choice" is what they proclaim, as if God has stopped moving in the hearts of the lost. Everyone has a choice as to whether or not they will ask Jesus into their heart; God has not taken away man's ability to choose, nor has He taken away our freewill to love Him or not; I don't even believe that the choice will end after the rapture of the church, because there will still be those that get saved during the great tribulation. As a matter of fact, there will be "witnesses" preaching the gospel message during the tribulation; so if they are preaching, then there must be those that are receiving, because God's word does not return void! The point that David is making has more to do with what God knows we do with what we have been given, because we have been given something that is not meant to be horded, but must be shared; it is not our gift to hold onto, but it is our gift to share: you can only keep what you give away... "Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strewed: and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strewed: thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own money with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 25:24-30)

"His Flesh Was Poured Out"

"I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart." (Psalms 40:8) I have taken the liberty to uppercase the 'M' in My because I believe these are actually the words of Jesus that are being spoken through David; as a matter of fact, verses 6, 7 & 8 are all given to Jesus Christ as the foundation by which He came, and the fountain of His offering Himself for us. It might be hard for some to accept this, but before Jesus appeared here as a baby in a manger, He was God in heaven; He choose to humble Himself to become as we are, flesh and blood, that He might be as a servant, even unto the death at the cross (Philippians 2:7 & 8). Although there are many reasons why He came in the flesh, I believe that the main reason was because He needed to prove that it could be done; not that any one of us could do it, but that He alone was able to defeat what we could not. Am I saying that Jesus had extraordinary power over sin? Yes, I truly do believe that He had a deep connection with the Father, because He came from the Father; and it was the deep connection which gave Him a love for the Father that you and I do not naturally have. Our hearts are naturally wicked, but His heart was filled with the love of God, to do the will of the Father, and to carry out His purpose for being here, all the way to the end. I know that there will be some that might disagree with me, and try to say that Jesus had no extraordinary power over temptations and sin; but if He had power to heal the blind, calm the seas, and rise from the dead, then I can accept the fact that He had a way to say no to being tempted. If you look at His being tempted in the wilderness, He was at His weakest condition; having been forty days without food and water, He is tempted three times by the devil, yet every time He defeats the temptations by proclaiming the word of God, and making the devil out to be the liar that he is; He did so because the law of God was written upon His heart, because He was the Word of God which became flesh. Sure, He was fully man, and He was tempted as you and I are tempted; but He was also fully God (Colossians 2:9), which means that He had more abilities than you and I have, of which He proved by all the miracles that He demonstrated while He was here. That said, He also had the power to not go to the cross, which was probably His greatest temptation; not only that, but He had the power to remove Himself from off of the cross, if He so choose to do so; having been mocked by the Jews, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he be the Christ, the chosen of God"; yet, He remained upon that cross, and He accepted the humiliation and the shame. Being God in the flesh, He poured out everything through that flesh; as the "real manna from heaven", He was poured out for us, not to feed our flesh, but to feed our weary souls... "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

"The Word Became Flesh" -2

"Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the Book it is written of Me," (Psalms 40:7) This has been a very big deal for me, every since that day that I received Jesus into my heart, that Jesus being the Word of God became flesh and gave up His life for our sins. I believe that there are so many faiths that would want to take away from this fact, and try to make Jesus out to be someone other than who He really was; but the simple fact of the matter is, that Jesus Christ stepped down into the darkness to deliver us from our sins; then He was briefly persecuted by, and consumed of the darkness; yet, He arose Victor of the darkness, because He is the Light! This may not be such a big deal to some, maybe because they were raised knowing who Jesus really was; but I was raised believing that He was just someone God created to be a ransom sacrifice for the penalty of our sins, much as someone would give a spotless lamb to be sacrificed; not that the Lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world, not only was God, but that He became flesh to suffer and die for us. In other words, He also took on our suffering and our death; giving up His immortality, if just for a little while, He suffered the agony of death, to be victorious over death also. I am just amazed by what God has done for us; yet, the account of what He has done has been lessened in so many churches by taking away from who Jesus actually was, and by taking away from the Virgin Birth, or the fact that He actually came in the physical body of a man. Jesus is, was, and always will be God; so let the Truth be known... "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as receive Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:10-14)

"The Word Became Flesh"

"Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the Book it is written of Me," (Psalms 40:7) Having come to the understanding of what Jesus came to do, we must realize how much of the Bible was written for His work that He did on that cross. Even little sections of Scripture that otherwise don't make a whole lot of sense, when looked at in light of the cross, they take on a whole new meaning. For example, the first seven verses of 2 Kings chapter six, which illustrate that Elisha had the power to make that iron ax head float in water; yet the power to float that ax head came from a piece of wood or a stick that was thrown unto the water, and then it was the stick that did make it float. I have shared on this before, but that iron ax head represents our sin; how that it was really not our fault that we are sinful, because we were born into sin, yet we are still responsible for reaching out to God for our salvation; and it is the cross of Christ that has made that salvation possible. Just as the young student prophet had borrowed the ax he was using, it was really not his fault that the tool was faulty, yet he was still obligated to return it; therefore, he cried out and said, "Alas, Master! for it was borrowed." But Elisha simply asked where it fell, almost as if he were asking for confession; for it is by confession of our sin, that we can receive the cleansing; and after the confession, the work of the cross is applied to our lives, just as the stick thrown on the water over where the ax head fell in caused the ax head to float. Then all that was need for restoration to take place is written in verse seven, as Elisha says, "Take it up to thee"; and the student prophet put out his hand, and took it. There is no work required; there is no price that we must pay; Jesus has completed whatever was needed to provide for our sins to be forgiven, and all that we need to do is to "Take it up to thee"; in other words, we only need to receive it! But that is just one of thousands of examples written for an illustration of God's redemption that is freely given to us; yet, when Jesus came, they rejected who He was, just as they rejected God's Word over and over again throughout the history of the Book... "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it." (Acts 7:51-53)