"Ready Made"

"For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget the statutes." (Psalms 119:83)

 Sometimes we just need to forget about all the nonsense going on around us, and we just need to focus upon the Lord and His soon return. It's not a cop-out, it is taking our hearts off of the things of this world and getting them set on the things of the Kingdom. To get right down to it, this description of a "bottle in the smoke," although it might not have much of a description in the Strong's, it does have a pretty good illustration of us in this world around us. In the day that this was written, bottles were mostly made of skins, which would represent our flesh; inside of those skins would be kept things like milk, water, and wine, which represent the Word, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The "smoke," is exactly what you might think that it is, it is a fog or vapor all around us that makes it almost impossible to navigate or figure out which direction we should go. It might not seem as easy to see what side people are on, until you get further away from the smoke; then, even those that previously appeared to be on your side, are revealed as those against you, because anyone that is not for Jesus ends up being not on your side. This might be better illustrated by think of the smoke as everyday issues, such as finances or crimes against humanity. These are two things that everyone might be somewhat equally concerned about, and the further away from the problem they might get, the closer they they might get to looking at the spiritual side of life, and what each other might believe. Basically, what I feel God is saying in all of this smoke, is that no matter what might be happening in our lives or around us, we keep Him and His statutes firming in our hearts and at the forefront of our minds. We are still human beings, and we still can get pulled in several different directions, now and again, so there really needs to be somewhere that we are anchored. Make sure that your Anchor is Christ! He is living in you, so whatever direction you get pulled into, He is always there...

""God is so great -higher than the heavens, higher than the furthest stars. But you reply, 'That's why God can't see what I am doing! How can he judge through the thick darkness? For thick clouds swirl about him, and he cannot see us. He is way up there, walking on the vault of heaven.' "Will you continue on the old paths where evil people have walked? They were snatched away in the prime of life, the foundations of their lives washed away. For they said to God, 'Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?' Yet he was the one who filled their homes with good things, so I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking. "The righteous will be happy to see the wicked destroyed, and the innocent will laugh in content. They will say, 'See how our enemies have been destroyed. The last of them have been consumed in the fire.' "Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you. Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored -so clean up your life. If you give up your lust for money and throw your precious gold in the river, the Almighty himself will be your treasure. He will be your precious silver!"" (Psalms 22:12-25) NLT