I need this today just as much as I did when I presented it at a Ladies Day event.
When I look back during the time when my family was young and activities were the main focus of our lives, I am not sure how I kept up with everyone and everything……Maybe I didn’t.
Even now, with kids and grandchildren living further away, and out mothers living closer, I still feel pulled in many different directions. We have all felt this at one time or another.
I am reminded to keep balance, NOT perfection.
Build my life around Jesus. Matthew 6:33, 22:37
Accept my humanity-I am not God. Romans 7:14-15, Ecclesiastes 10:15
Limit our activities. Satan uses our countless activities against us, just as much as our idleness.
Adjust my values. Seek what glorifies God and no other. Ecclesiastes 4:4
Nourish my life. Song of Solomon 1:6, Psalm 119:16, Deuteronomy 6:6
Commit your daily schedule to God. Ecclesiastes 3:1
Enjoy the moment. Don’t throw away your joy. Proverb 27:1, Matthew 6:33-34
In case it escaped you, the first letter of each statement spells the word BALANCE.
We need and should desire balance. God doesn’t want us to live our lives in a continuous chaotic state. He invites us to know His peace, His rest, and His comfort every day. We decide, on a daily basis, Who this day belongs to.
First, let me say, I love reading what David writes. I relate to his yearnings, his anger, his languishing, his outburst of venting, his grief, his mourning, his rejoicing, his joy, his praises to our God, and his vulnerable heart. David puts it all out there for his generation and future generations to read and know exactly who he is. He is so real. I feel a sense of camaraderie with him. The elation of God’s promises, faithfulness, goodness, and mercy which is available to all and plentiful for eternity is poured out and shared by David so vividly and so raw. I feel David’s heart and strive to emulate his example of praising, exalting, magnifying, and sharing God’s message with others. David ‘s example is attainable to me. With that said let’s look at David’s 27th psalm.
David establishes his relationship with God in the first verse. David calls Jehovah his “light” and his “salvation”. David knows he can’t have one without the other. In the original Hebrew language, the word “salvation” has a deeper and more vast implication. David is saying his liberty, his deliverance, and his prosperity is from the Lord. David also establishes where his inner strength comes from, he is without fear, and he is confident because of Who stands with him through all of this. This word “strength” in the original Hebrew language expresses “a fortified place; a defense”; this undeniable and indestructible fortification, can only come from God. David says “In spite of this I am confident!” When we are enduring our enemies onslaughts, can we know Who stands by our side? Yes!! We can know with a perfect knowledge, a perfect confidence, Who is not only standing by us, but Who is in the trenches with us!! Matthew 10:28 records “And do not fear those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” God holds US in His hands!! Not our ENEMIES!!! IF we are following Him, submitting to Him, and seeking Him, THEN His hand would feel like a comforting blanket of safety, a indescribable cuddling, and the protecting force of an army, but not a crushing force threatening to close in on us.
David states in verse 4, “One thing I have asked from Jehovah; That do I seek: To dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of Jehovah and to inquire in His temple.” David is expressing so much in this one verse. He addresses God with His most intimate name, Yaweh. David is searching, seeking out by any method, whether in worship or prayer, to be able to sit down in the presence of Yaweh. Wherever, and whatever, David finds himself doing or being, he can confidently sit before Yaweh. I can’t even imagine standing before Him. We need to be seeking God daily. It must be an intentional action. NO ONE is going to stumble into heaven. There is a way, a path, a map to follow and we must know how and desire to follow His instructions and we MUST put what we know from His Word into action, just like David. This “sitting down” that David writes, is a privilege and honor before Yaweh. David wants to live, worship, and reside in the FAMILY of Yaweh the whole days of his life and after. Many times sitting with someone is something that you do when you are completely comfortable with where you are and who you are with. David also wants to intently gaze physically and mentally towards Yaweh to perceive or contemplate with pleasure the vision of agreeableness, delight, suitableness, splendor, and grace, which IS Yaweh. David seeks to inquire, plow, or break forth to dwell in the capacity of Yaweh’s presence. This “capacity” is the temple and it is the same temple Paul writes about in 1 Cor 3:16-17 “Do you not know that YOU are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells IN YOU? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him;. for the temple of God is holy, and such are you.” A good friend and scholar stated it this way, “Wherever we go, the tabernacle/temple goes with us.”
David’s message convicts me to better understand God and His goodness towards me. I believe we can too easily take for granted what God is doing in our lives on a daily basis. David reminds me that God is everything to me. HE IS ALL THAT I NEED!!! I am reminded to remember, even when I feel disconnected, that God is with me, holding me up, and loving me anyways. David also convicted me to be more conscientious about what others see. Am I just carrying around four walls and a roof, or am I living in the capacity of God’s temple? What do I take with me as I go?
Psalm 33:9 “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.”
If you ever find yourself doubting, diluting, or down sizing the Magnificent, Glorious, All Powerful, All Knowing, Alpha and Omega, Sovereign Lord, Creator of EVERYTHING, Merciful, Forgiving, and intensely Loving God, I encourage you to read and re-read this verse until you believe it.
Not the belief that fails you when weaknesses creep in. Not the belief when trials seem unfair. Not the belief that lives in our comfort zone. Not the belief that is here and gone with the next interruption.
BUT…the inadmissible, anchored knowledge beyond comprehension that draws you to our Father in heaven. The ever wanting need to claim and grasp the very breath He exhales that allows life as we know it. The deep stirring within your soul that propels you into His Word so as to not miss one syllable of god’s divine purpose for you. The belief that refuses to budge during adversities.
This is how we have a true conviction, solidifying our hope in, and clinching the eternal peace promised to each one of us. Absorb His Word until you become a walking, talking, breathing image of His Son.
“Jehovah looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth; He fashions their hearts individually; He consider s all their works.” (verse 13)
What a powerful and mighty God we serve! He sees, notices,and knows ALL the sons and daughters of men.
Don’t let time and those around you dilute the necessary reverence that God our Creator, Master of ALL, Answers to None , the Alpha and the Omega is due, and intensely deserves.
Verse 6 starts off with the mere words spoken by Jehovah and the heavens were made. The very same “heavens” that scientist can only dream of understanding. Then… THEN, without words, the stars were exhaled from His breath! Verse 7 Jehovah gathered the waters…with what? We humans require some sort of receptacle…God does not!! He gathered a massive amount of water into a heap…how, why? We don’t know…But He did it!!
Then the writer says in verse 8 for all the earth to fear Jehovah and be in AWE of Him!! The previous two verses should have already accomplished this!! If not, check you reverence. The next natural reaction should be AWE.
Only God our Father in heaven deserves to have this word used in any description. We habitually and carelessly use the word “awesome” and “awe” when talking about earthly matters and people. My friends, this word belongs to God!! Our God who spoke our earthly comforts and necessities into existence!! God did this, not an inanimate object or human.
Verse 9 says Jehovah commanded and it stood fast…why? Because there is no other force greater, mightier, powerful, and awesome as Jehovah. No one has, and no one can UNDO what Jehovah has commanded. This verse alone puts satan in his place. Can you not see that satan’s entire plan IS to undo God? Praise God he can’t!!
Verse 12 conveys that based on all this power, might, awesomeness, and sovereignty, we are a blessed nation, people, family, son, daughter who can willingly choose Jehovah as our God. He chose us!
Now we get a glimpse of this All powerful God who also has infinite eye sight. This is not some earthly, royal man who does not know the name of his constituents. Verse 13 states Jehovah sees all sons, daughters, and inhabitants of this earth!! The writer plainly reveals Jehovah’s love for us in verse 15. Not only as a whole, but as individuals!! God takes the time to fashion/form our inner will, mind, heart, and soul as individuals. This is great love and adoration. We are not grouped and made! NO. Jehovah made each one of us different. He notices and considers all our works/deeds. Don’t ever think that God is too busy to notice what you are doing in His Name. When you take the time to consider anything important, or unimportant, how much time do you devote? Jehovah considers us, He considers our lives completely.
Psalm 56:8 The writer states that Jehovah numbers our wanderings and puts our tears into HIS bottle….He knows when we cry. He knows where we’ve been.
All of this should cause us to remember we serve, worship, and praise a mighty God who deserves our reverence, Who deserves our devotion, and deserves to be viewed as AWESOME. We need to be in AWE of the ONE WHO allow us to be recipients of His mercy, grace, love, and most important, Gods faithfulness to us. EVEN when we are not in complete faithfulness to Him. I pray we will strive to recapture the reverence God deserves and show Him in action and in heart.
“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He Who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
While I was reading 1 John this morning. When I arrived at chapter 4, John truly stopped me in my tracks. He spent the beginning of his letter testifying Who Jesus is. Johns states you are either His child or you are not. You either love Him, and His children, or you love neither. You either practice sin or you don’t. John is not saying you will never sin. He is telling you not to practice sinning. ( When you practice anything, it is to intentionally repeat the action or thought toward a perfection of either.) John also reminds the listeners that they cannot profess to love God and His Son, Jesus, and hate his brother at the same time. This is illogical and unacceptable to God. John says God will not tolerate this behavior in us. God will not recognize you as His. John warns us to NOT love the world or the things in it. If you choose to love the world, you prove to whom your loyalty belongs and it is not God.
John warns of all the Antichrist to come and the Antichrist who were present at that time. (1 John 2:22) Let’s not get carried away with that term to mean some futuristic deity. If so, how could they possibly understand what John was talking about. No, Antichrist are those who are opposed to Christ Jesus. Simple and true. John speaks of this again in verse 3 of chapter 4.
John instructs and pleads with us to abide in truth, God’s truth; not man’s truth, or any additions to God’s truth. God’s truth and His truth alone will save our souls. None other!! We are to practice righteousness. The only vice we have to understanding what love is, is to know and be convicted to the fact that Jesus LAID DOWN HIS LIFE for US! No other. We in turn, should be doing the same each and every day by our obedience to His Word! How many times does John tell us to love one another? Count them as you read his first letter.
Now we come to verses 4-6. Now, I am on the edge of my seat soaking this in!! It scares me at the same time!! “He Who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” God is greater than the one enticing, blocking, or blinding you from God. The one who is standing in your way, the one who is tempting you to be of the world, the one who owns the world…satan himself is that “he”. “They are of the world”… Who is they? False prophets, Antichrist, him who hates his brother, those who profess not to sin, those who practice unrighteousness, these are of the world!! How do you know who they are? They speak of the world more highly than of God. That last part of Johns statement in verse 5 is truly scary. “The world hears them. ”
John goes on in his letter and gives us hope. We are of God!! He who knows God, NOT knows of God, but knows God, is convicted to God…these hear us. Us, the children of God who are to speak of Him to others. Who will listen to us? Those who know God. Verse 6, “He who is not of God does not hear us.” Ouch. Scary.
John ties all of this up in a bow, “By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
I encourage you to read this passage repeatedly until you recognize what God says versus what the world says. We must teach the truth of God’s Word by the way we speak, act, and worship everywhere we go. Matthew 28:19 GO, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;” God Bless you in the study of His Word.
All things: good, bad, ugly, and in between, are for our good and His glory. We are not required to understand this, just have faith in the One Who does.
Even sunsets bear witness to His Name.
Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
I have shared God’s Word with Ladies Day/Retreat audiences, women’s Bible classes, and lately, personal texts to family and friends. After much encouragement from those who share my thirst for knowledge and growth in Him, I began searching for a forum by which to share on a larger scale.
If what I express here can lift one person’s spirits, guide one person towards God, challenge you to dig into your copy of God’s Word, and praise Him in all of this, then I have confidence in this space I call a blog.
My sharing of God’s Word will always be the subject on this site. My opinion counts for nothing. Only His Word gives life. Only His Word gives comfort. Only His Word is perfect for all who hear it.
In Spirit And In Truth 