Upholding Others (Psalm 54:4)

God has promised that he will provide to us the help that we need to endure life in this fallen world and face all its perils.  How he accomplishes this is different than what we expect.  Our mind visions God reaching out from Heaven and miraculous zapping us with his divine strength.  However, the Psalmist clearly reveals how his help comes.  Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul. (Psalms 54:4)

God's help comes from other people.  He moves upon the hearts of other believers to minister to us and uphold or prop up our soul.  It is their words, actions and prayers that are the helping work that he provides.

As we journey through life, we must recognize that we are both receivers and providers of God's help.  He will be there for us when we need him and we should be there for him when he needs to use us.  There are so many people struggling in life who just need somebody to uphold them.  Will you be the person that God uses to provide the strength that they need?

A similar passage to consider is found in the New Testament and reveals that this type of living is an essential part of Christian living.  Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)

Trust And Doing Good (Psalm 37:3)

Not long ago, my family decided to rescue another dog.  My wife found a German Shepherd that had been hit by a car and left for dead.  After months of rehab, he was put on the internet for adoption.  What a handful this dog came to be.  You could not pet him, scratch behind the ear or attempt to rub his chest without jacking him up.  He was always on the defensive and ready to respond as a means of protecting himself.  It has been nearly six months now.  He is finally rolling onto his back (a very vulnerable position) and allowing us to interact physically without any major reactions.  The reason he allows this is because he has learned to trust us.

We are much the same.  We respond to problems in life so as to protect ourselves.  Much of the time, our responses only make life's problems worse.  It is only after we trust The Lord, that our actions become good or helpful to our situation.  Trusting The Lord and doing good always go hand and hand.  The one is a product of the other. (Psalm 37:3)

Doing good is easy when everything you need just falls into place.  However, some of the most difficult times to do good or to do right is when everybody else is doing wrong or when doing the right thing has a great cost associated with it.   Being financially faithful to God is easy when the bank account is robust, but when there is not enough to go around, doing good is difficult. This is true about other situations as well, but what can you do to keep yourself in the right?

Before responding to a situation in life, first stop and a speak to God letting him know that you are deciding to trust him.  Then ask that he guide your trusting heart to make the decisions that he wants so that you will not work against his mercy for your trial.  Trusting is the first step.  Without trust, the actions will be fruitless and not pleasing to The Lord.

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Being a Helper (Psalm 31:11-12)

Everybody is in the midst of dealing with trials.  We know that The Lord is the solution to their trial and God wants to bring them to the point of trusting him.  But what can we do for others as they face trials?  The Psalmist provides some insight.

I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel. (Psalms 31:11-12)

David shares that as he faced trials, his neighbors saw him as a reproach and fled from him.  We do the same.  It seems that as soon as a person faces a trial, we wonder what the person did to allow such circumstances to occur.  Our first thoughts are that they must be under chastisement and this leads us to flee from them.  We hide behind words such as, "I'm praying for you" or "Just trust The Lord and he will lead you through".  All the while we believe what they really need is to get right with God.

If we as believers can get past this, we may be able to support such individuals and put ourselves into a position to make a difference in their lives.  We must determine that we will not view them as a reproach and flee from them.  We must decide to stand by them and provide the encouragement and support that they need.

In verse 12, the Psalmist indicates that these people are then forgotten.  Ask yourself, "Whom do I know that has experienced trouble, fallen away and been forgotten?"  Oh, you may remember who they are, but are they in your thoughts, minds, and prayers?  Decide today to be one of the rare few that will stand with those in trials and even the fallen.  By doing this, you will have the potential to make a great difference in people's live.

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Take Refuge (Psalm 28:7)

Some time ago, my wife and I were enjoying ourselves as we explored the capital city of the Dominican Republic.  We decided to rest and sit on the shore and watch a ship pass, but after some time, we noticed a storm coming in off of the coast.  Being intrigued by the sight, we lingered a bit too long and found ourselves caught in a down pour.  While holding hands, we scurried through the tiny streets of the city and finally found a small cafe to take refuge.  Needless to say, it wasn't any where nearly as romantic as the movies make it seem.  But regardless of the fact, we found refuge from the storm.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. (Psalms 28:7)

The psalmist declared that his heart trusted in The Lord.  By that, he was stating that when his trouble arose, he sought refuge in The Lord and subsequently The Lord gave him help.  God may not have necessarily removed the trouble, but he did bring help to his heart.  Sadly to say, but many believers as they face troubles do not immediately seek refuge in The Lord.  They struggle alone trying to battle the circumstances and become weary in the process.  God has never intended that to be.  He always wants us to abound in Christ and to experience joy and contentment regardless of the circumstances.

As you face trials, seek The Lord early.  He will be found and you will find refuge for your soul.

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Hold It Together (Psalm 27:14)

I remember when quite a few years ago, I was sitting in the heart station at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.  My daughter was sitting on my wife's lap as they were completing the last preliminaries before her open heart surgery the next morning.  Each of us were on edge and doing our best to deal with the situation.  It was then that my daughter said her first word.  She turned her head, looked across the room at me and said, "Daddy."  Needless to said, I nearly fell apart.

The two options that we have when we face trouble are holding it together or falling apart.  Faith is what enables us to hold our hearts together.  When we lose faith or fail to exercise faith, our heart no longer binds itself together for The Lord and then we essentially cave in or fall under the circumstances of your trial.  However, our path to victory begins with just one step.

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. (Psalms 27:14)

Waiting on The Lord and being of good courage are attributes of the heart.  We see this from the context of the verse and can understand that they essentially mean to bind the heart together and be emotionally strong.  When we have faith in The Lord to provide what we need and take that stand, God will strengthen our hearts.  We then have greater faith to take that same stand and God again strengthens our hearts.  The process repeats itself and this is what enables believers to overcome all obstacles and yet at the same time rejoice in The Lord.

You too can experience this victory.  It begins with one step:  hold your heart together by trusting in the goodness of The Lord.  After that, he will do the rest.

His Face Is Not Hid (Psalm 22:24)

At times, life can be very difficult.  Not just for a few people, but everybody on the planet.  Health issues, financial strains, domestic upheavals, death, enemies, violent crimes or any other negative experience cause difficulty for our lives. What makes those times even more difficult is the mental struggle that we endure until the difficulty ends.

Many during these times turn their focus towards God.  They either focus on him for help or question his holiness.  The Psalmist faced a similar situation, but maintain integrity in his faith by recognizing that even when it seems that God is not responding, he does not look down on our affliction and hears our prayer.

For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. (Psalms 22:24)

Regardless of how circumstances may appear, God is attentive to us and our problems.  By his sovereignty, he will accomplish his intended purposes and afterwards bring deliverance.  Victory for us is not so much deliverance from the trial, but more so in the battle that occurs in our hearts.  We must trust or have faith in the goodness and holiness of God and not allow the enemies' accusations to abide in our hearts.  This battle will not be easy, but by truth from God's word and fellowship in prayer, the battle can be won.

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The Turning Point (Jonah 2:7)

I was glad to hear recently that a friend's father had finally trusted Christ as Savior.  He shared how he and his family had prayed for this person for 20 years.  Recently the individual had become very ill.  It was during this stage in his life that more people began praying for his health and salvation.  My friend encouraged others to continue to pray for the lost because God is still working.

God is still working on the lost and he continually works on the hearts of those who have drifted away.  Many get discouraged in prayer because their prayer does not get answered in a reasonable time.  What they fail to see is that God does answer their prayer in a reasonable time.  However, the reasonable time is not determined by God, but instead by the lost or backslidden.  

What needs to occur before a person turns to God is that they must come to the end of themselves.  In other words, they get to a point where they recognize that they cannot make it on their own or they cannot face the conditions in their lives.  It was at this point that Jonah finally turned to God.  When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. (Jonah 2:7). It will be at this same point when the lost will turn to God and the backslidden will do the same.  Until that occurs, you and I may not see any change in the individual's actions or attitude, but rest assured, God is working to bring them to the point that they will turn to him.  

Be patient in your prayers and trust that God will work in your loved one's heart.  Yield to him so that he may use you in this work and keep you from trying to bring about the change that only he can bring.

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Victory Begins in the Heart (Psalm 17:4-5)

Doing the right thing is usually not easy.  You find yourself confronted with a situation and are torn between at least two options: what God wants you to do and what you want to do.  David experienced the same conflict as us and recorded it in the Psalms.

Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. (Psalms 17:4-5)

What is vitally important for us to recognize is that we alone are unable to live the spiritual or righteous life.  We need God to provide the strength and support that we need.  David petitioned God to hold up his goings in the Lord's paths and we must do the same.  What the Christian life boils down to are decisions that we make in our hearts.  We may not have the strength to live the life, but we certainly do have the ability to make the right choices.  God's plan is for us to make the right decisions in our hearts and then he will provide the support and strength needed to complete the actions that go with the decisions.  The battleground is not with the world, people or flesh and blood, but in the heart.  God's desire is that man, by faith, chooses him and his way.  If we allow him, God will take it from there.  Remember, victory begins at the heart and not the actions.

Knowledge of Salvation (Luke1:77)

As believers in Christ, we know that salvation is something that has already been accomplished for us.  We know that the complete debt for our lifetime of sin was paid by Jesus Christ and he accomplished this by becoming our substitute or sin bearer before God, but is that action of redemption all there is to salvation?  

There is much more to salvation than just the act of payment for sin.  What people fail to recognize is that salvation is more than an act performed by God, but that it is also a condition of life that he places us in.  In Luke 1:77, God records, "To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins."  The knowledge of salvation comes after and because of the action of salvation.

People know salvation when their sins are remitted or removed.  The action of salvation occurs when the debt of sin is reckoned to Jesus's account and the sinner is redeemed or bought back into a relationship with God.  Much more occurs such as adoption into God's family, God's righteousness imputed to us and being joint errors with Christ, but what also occurs is that we begin to live in the realm of salvation.  Salvation is not only an act, but also a condition of life.  Just as having cancer causes a person to live in the realm of illness and great wealth causes a person to experience the "rich" life, having the debt of sin removed by the work of salvation ushers believers into experiencing salvation.  One of the greatest things about salvation is the life that you experience after the act was completed.

When you live in salvation, there is nothing worth going back to. Oh don't be confused.  There have been many who have fallen to deceitfulness and made decisions to walk away from God, but they are like ships tossed in the sea.  Their lives again are shallow and empty.  They are not lost, just empty.  What brings hope is that God continues reaching out to them and if they so choose, they can return and again experience the wonderful life of salvation.

Gladness (Psalm 4:7)

Gladness, what is it?  It is a condition of the heart when a person experiences joy or laughter in their heart.  Some people seem to never experience it and others seem to have it as part of a daily occurrence.  Everyone is seeking for it, but few truly find it.  However, the Psalmist records that gladness is put into his heart by The Lord.

Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. (Psalms 4:7)

I cannot say that I have lived long or that I have the fullness of wisdom, but I can state that I have experienced the two types of gladness that are mentioned in this passage.  Gladness when corn and wine increase seems to relate to gladness that comes from events or prosperity.  Although each of these can bring gladness of heart, neither will have a lasting effect.  You can have all the success and money that your heart desires, but one bad phone call can rob you of that gladness.  However, find gladness in God and even adversity cannot take it from you.  Remember Paul admonishing us to be content in whatever situation we may find ourselves? (Philippians 4:11)

True lasting gladness comes from an active relationship with God.  I say active for a reason.  We initially receive gladness when we come to Christ.  Remember what you experienced?  Gladness filled your heart because you received forgiveness of sin and finally came to know the true God.  However, sin affects our relationship with the father.  When we sin, our fellowship with God is hindered and becomes distant.  Unless repentance occurs, more sin will be committed which will in an even greater way affect our relationship with God.  As we drift away from God, gladness drifts away from us because our joy and gladness is tied directly to him.  Therefore to continually experience joy, we must have an active relationship with God.

The joy that God brings, still passes all understanding.  Regardless of what conditions we face in life, God is there with us and ready to provide the gladness to our heart.  

Always Reaching Out (Jonah 1:2)

Living the Christian life is not easy.  Sometimes you need to reach out to people who have hurt you.  God will direct us to do this for our and their benefit.  What is most difficult about it is that many times we don't want to reach out and at the same time, God doesn't give us the chance to option out.

However with God, it is a different situation.  God, who has every right to punish sinners for their wicked deeds, willfully takes action which will enable him to avoid it.  For this to be accomplished, he does not require the sinner to come to him, but rather that he reaches out to the sinner.

Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. (Jonah 1:2)

God is very long suffering towards sinners.  He endured the wickedness of the Ninevites and commanded Jonah to convincingly cry out to them for repentance.  He also did not give up on Jonah in spite of his disobedience and fleeing to Tarshish.  

God is also long suffering towards us.  While lost in sin as the Ninevites or disobediently walking as a believer like Jonah, God demonstrates long suffering towards us by not dealing with us in judgment.  For the lost, he reaches out in love as a savior, for the disobedient, he reaches out as a loving father. 

God's dealings in the book of Jonah are an excellent example of how he deals with us.  As long as we are alive, his love and mercy overrides his righteous anger towards sin.  He is always ready to save and forgive.  

Protect or Provide (Psalm 97:10-11)

Why did a loving God let this happen?  How many times have people made this statement?  I ask myself, "Why are they even asking such a question?"  I guess some time along their lives they were told and concluded that God would keep evil from happening to them.  Oh, what a wonderful thought, but is it true?  I am sorry to say and also glad to say that it is not true.  Think of the biblical examples that oppose this view: Abel, Adam and Eve (death of a son), Esau, Joseph, Dinah, Tamar (raped), David, the victims of Eli's sons, and Israel as a nation.  In fact, run down the list in Hebrews 11 and you must conclude that God had never promised to keep evil from happening to us.  

In order for him to protect us from all evil, he would need to control every human being.  That was not his plan.  He gave angels their free will and one third of them kept not their first estate, but instead followed Lucifer.  God has given man a free will and that decision is a major factor in his plan.  Because man has a free will and that free will is a vital aspect of a God's plan, he rarely intervenes in the actions of men.  On occasions when God has intervened, we call them miracles.

What God did promise was that he would deliver our soul from that evil.  God did not promise to stop people from doing harm to us or to keep harm from coming into our lives.  What he promises is that whatever occurs, he will provide for us what we need so that our soul would be delivered from every evil.  Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous,and gladness for the upright in heart. (Psalms 97:10-11)

For the righteous, there is one thing that we can be most confident: God will sow into our hearts that which we need so that our souls will be preserved, guarded or protected from being overcome by evil.  He may not stop the problem from occurring like we desire, but he will stop the problem from destroying us.

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Light and Gladness (Psalm 97:11)

A few years ago, my wife and daughter bought me a fig tree for my birthday.  At first, I tried growing the tree in a large pot, but had little success.  After transplanting it into the ground, other difficulties were faced.  My greatest challenge was the winter months.  For two consecutive years, I lost all growth of the tree, but managed to salvage the root system.  Just recently, I enjoyed my first fig.  I planted, cultivated and even prayed until I reaped the harvest.

The Lord has done the same in the hearts of the righteous.  He sows into our hearts what we need and because the condition of our hearts is right, we will gain the desired fruit.  Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. (Psalms 97:11). While struggling through life, we may think that The Lord is ignoring or abandoning us, but he has not.  He is bringing to us what we need, but what we needs takes time.  God sows, time lapses and the necessary fruit is yielded.  

Two great fruit promised by The Lord are light and gladness.  When we have light, direction is clear and we know the steps that we should take.  Gladness is also pleasure and rejoicing in heart.  To face life with direction and to have rejoicing in your heart is all that we could ever ask for.  God promises to give these to the righteous, but he does it over time.  My figs did not grow overnight and neither will that which God sows into our lives.

Forget or Walk Away? (Proverbs 3:1)

It was a major breakdown.  Production had been halted for hours simply because one crane was inoperable.  Electricians with flash lights scurried from panel to panel searching for the source of the problem.  Some responded to the problem in a random try this-try that approach, but there were two men who stood back and thought about principles that they had learned.  Within 20 minutes, the crane was back online and production resumed its fast pace.

As Christians, we many times respond to problems in our lives in like manner as those that tried this and tried that.  Because that is our tendency, God has reminded us that we should not forget his law.  That statement brings about an important question: "If we know God's law, how can we forget it?"  When we forget God's law, we essentially mislay it.  Because of the busyness of life, we walk away from it and fail to look to his law for a solution to our problems.

My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: (Proverbs 3:1)

What we should be doing is constantly guarding God's word in our heart.  We can accomplish this by daily reading his word and marking principles that we learn which apply to our lives.  As we continue to read, study and remind ourselves of God's law, we will keep ourselves from mislaying or walking away from it.

Passing the Right Baton (Psalm 145:4)

Not long ago, my son, who is in the ministry called and asked, "If you had the chance to raise your children over again, what would you do differently?"  It didn't take long for me to provide my three part response: allow my children to make mistakes and even wrong decisions just as long as it would not destroy their lives, focus on the hidden sins of the heart and not so much the external appearance and actions, and search for more opportunities to praise them striving for a 4:1 ratio of praise to negative corrective responses.

My change in child raising did not come from obtaining a different philosophy of life, but instead a better understanding of God's plan for fathers and the next generation.  One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. (Psalms 145:4). My mistake as a father was placing a greater emphasis on how my children looked and acted on the outside with little focus on what was taking place in their hearts.  They, without my knowledge, could have possessed in their hearts envy, jealousy, pride and unforgiveness, but as long as they dressed and acted rightly, I thought they were okay and I was successful as a father.  However, I could not have been more wrong.

If we are to influence the next generation of believers, they need to know the true God and have a real relationship with him and not simply model an acceptable outside appearance.  Because we fail at leading young people into a relationship with God, we lose more teens than we keep.  The retention of those who transition into adulthood and live for God decreases even more so.  Jesus warned the Pharisees of this error when he spoke about cleaning the outside of the cup while ignoring the inside. (Luke 11:39)  They continued in error because of their prideful self righteousness, but we fall into the same error because of fear.  We fear what others think about our children, our parenting and our testimony for Christ.  So in our effort to deal with fear, we clean up the outside of our children and all the while ignore that which they need the most.

It is time to teach the next generation about how God meets with us, strengthens us and enables us to face and deal with troubles in life.  They need a mentor or a person to disciple them into a relationship with God.  They need to learn how to cast their cares on God and see how he supplies.  They need to see the supernatural God instead of a list of super abounding rules.  Should we continue to establish guidelines for conduct?  Of course we should, but the greater emphasis for young people should be on issues of the heart and developing a heart for God.

Broken Hearts (Psalm 147:3)

Has your heart ever been broken?  Of course it has.  Every person at some point in their lives has experienced great heart breaking hurt.  How did it occur?  It is people or circumstances in life that cause our hearts to get broken.  The term broken in scripture means to burst.  I guess that best describes how our hearts have felt when we were rejected by people that we loved, stood at the graveside of a dearly beloved friend or family member, or watched as children or loved ones made destructive life decisions.

Our hearts can also experience this bursting when people that we love are also deeply hurt.  I remember when my son received the news that his maternal grandfather had passed away.  We were standing at the top of the stairs in our home when he broke down and sobbed.  My heart too began to break: not so much for the person who had passed, but because of compassion and empathy for my son.

I imagine that God's heart breaks in like manner.  He became our high priest and was touched with our infirmities.  When we hurt, he understands our hurt and experiences it with us. (Isaiah 63:9). It is for this purpose that God wants to bring healing to our broken hearts.  He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. (Psalms 147:3)

God, who is the God of all comfort, is able to bind up and heal our broken hearts.  Some people look to him for healing and allow him to do his work.  However, there are others who resist looking to God for help and healing.  Although God wants to bind up the wounds of their hearts, they refuse to allow him and when they do, they attempt to accomplish healing on their own.  We cannot heal our wounded heart.  At best, we can harden our hearts to the pain, which is nothing more than fighting back at it.  

We fight back at the pain with anger.  Anger towards the event itself or against the person who is the source of our pain.  Both pain and anger are negative emotions and unpleasant to the soul, but anger is more easily endured.  Hurt is an emotion that we feel when we are the victim, but anger is the emotion associated with us when we are the aggressor.  Without God, we respond to pain with anger and at best shroud the wound.  However with God, there is healing.  In order to experience this healing, we must exercise faith in the goodness and love of God.  By doing so, we will trust that God, who is sovereign, has allowed the circumstances in our lives to occur and we must trust that he can and will work all things for good both for us and him.

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Dog Ear The Page (Psalm 136:23)

One of the things that I do that irritates my wife is when I dog ear the corner of a page.  You know, when you want to mark your place in a book and you do not have a book mark, you fold down the corner of the page.  I probably do this most often when I am perusing through a cook book and come across a recipe that catches my eye.  Because it caught my fancy and I may want to try and make the item later, the corner of the page gets folded down.

There are other ways to mark  favorite items.  As a boy I sorted through football cards and would set aside favorites in a specific location in my foot locker.  Others may do the same with photos, long ago worn baby clothes and even family heirlooms.  We set them aside in boxes, trunks and chests.  One thing each of these has in common is that the item, because of its own virtue or significance, catches the eye or heart and causes us to mark it or set it aside.

God is the same: he too marks items as special to himself.  However the word used for marking an item for future reference is the word "remember".  Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever: (Psalms 136:23). I would love to think that because of something special in my self, God marked me for future reference.  However that is not the case for me or any of us.  God remembered us in our low estate because of his mercy.  It was his mercy that caused him to want us.  It was his mercy that caused him to "dog the ear" on each of us, sinners, so that we would stand out and be easily recognized for future reference.  It wasn't any of our abilities or our desire for him.  It was his mercy and his mercy alone that caused him to choose each of us.  

Had it not been for his mercy, we would have been left unmarked and would be left to perish in our sin.  If it wasn't for his mercy, we would not be enjoying his goodness each day of our lives.  Oh, how soon we forget what God has done for us and instead only think about what we want him to do for us in fulfillment of our goals, plans and desires.  We need to stop and maybe even "dog ear" in our hearts God's mercy and refer to it each day.  Maybe that was Paul's secret for being content in whatever state he may be in. (Philippians 4:11)

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I Can't Hold It Together (Psalm 130:5)

When I was a kid, my mother said that life was tough.  I believed her, but I didn't know it was going to be as tough as it is.  Have you ever had days where everything just seemed to be going wrong?  Every time you turn around there is yet another problem.  During days like that, I can't wait to get the day over so I can start a new day and as is usually the case, the next day is much better.

However there are times in our lives when one bad day leads into another and yet another.  Our emotions are on edge and we feel like we just can't take another step.  At any moment, we feel like we just cannot hold it together any longer and are ready to fall apart and sometimes we do.  It is those times that we call dark trials.  What is the answer?

I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. (Psalms 130:5)

What does it mean to wait for The Lord?  When we wait for The Lord, we are holding it together until he provides relief.  The Hebrew word for "wait" carries the idea of binding together, to collect, or to tarry.  The Psalmist shares his testimony in that his soul is able to hold it together until The Lord provides.  He accomplishes this by focusing on God's word and expecting that God will supply as promised.  

You too can obtain like victory.  In order to do so, you will need to prayerfully expose yourself to God's word.  God cannot strengthen your soul for holding it together if you are unaware or unfamiliar with pertinent passages from his word.  Once you recognize a promise from God's word, you must resist all thoughts and accusations against God and his word. (See previous post: What Is A trial). As you accomplish these two steps, God will provide patience to your soul.

Forgiveness: The First Work (Psalm 130:4)

Have you ever been hurt by someone?  I mean really hurt.  Maybe you were used, abused, attacked or rejected.  Has this ever happened to you?  Chances are that everyone who reads this can answer yes to the question.  How did you feel when this occurred?  Did you feel hurt, anger, shame, disgust, confusion?  You aren't alone.  The entire world knows how this feels.  But even better than that, God knows how it feels.  We did these same wrong things to God and brought some of those terrible emotions upon him as well.  We can trust that God knows where we are and how we feel.

However in light of our terrible actions, God chose not to act with vengeance.  Instead he chose to re-establish a relationship with each of us.  He did not desire a God-slave relationship, but a love relationship.  This relationship never would or could be established by man.  If it was going to occur, it had to be started by God.  Man was unable and unwilling to change, but God who is rich in love was willing to do whatever it would take for us to return to him.  God needed to provide for man a way of salvation from his condition.   

But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. (Psalms 130:4)

Fear of judgement could not bring about the desired change in man's heart.  That type of fear only creates a self righteous sinner who sees himself this way because of what he does right, but at the same time blindly fails to see the abounding sinfulness of his ways.  What man needed was a love relationship.  Forgiveness was God's first step towards accomplishing and establishing that love relationship. 

With that work being done, man's heart would have a fear of disappointing the God that he loves.  God accomplished this condition in man's heart through forgiveness.  His forgiveness did more than remove the guilt and penalty of sin. It brought about a relationship that would change man forever.  Forgiveness from God brought the right kind of fear in man.  Love sought the relationship and forgiveness accomplished it.

...the greatest of these is charity (love).  1 Corinthians 13:13

Imagine (Psalm 129:1-4)

Imagine how many people have treated you wrongfully because of your spiritual beliefs or disposition.  People who would not forgive you, who hold back from helping you, deny you an opportunity for advancement at work, talked about you, plot against you or maybe just don't like you all because you are a Christian.  Now imagine what life would be like if God executed immediate vengeance upon those individuals.  Maybe not kill them, but bring negative circumstances in their lives for how they have treated you.  What would your life be like?  Some may think, "Life would be awesome!"  But would it really be?  It may seem that life would be good because of God's intervention in our lives, but we could also begin to feel invincible.  When anything would go wrong, look out because God will be on the move.  Life would quickly deteriorate into a selfish existence.  Instead of God protecting us from what he doesn't like, we would begin to think God should protect us from what we don't like.

Imagine further now, that God would also take vengeance on you for each and every wrong doing that you do towards others.  Life wouldn't be too happy would it?  Throughout every day, God would be zapping you and everyone else for your wrong doings.  Behaviors wouldn't change because we daily live with our sin natures and regardless of how much we try not to, we would still do wrong.  Each of us would walk in fear for the next big whack from Heaven.  Doesn't sound too promising does it?

Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows. The Lord is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked. (Psalms 129:1-4)

What God does instead of working against those who do us wrongfully, is to works for us.  Sinners will do their wrong, but God will hinder or cut back what they try to do to is.  He will keep them from being successful at destroying us.  In other words, their hypothetical whip of anger will have the cords cut short.  Oh it will still hurt, but we will not be destroyed.  Paul understood this when he said, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed." (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

God is always righteous and because of that his works towards us and for us will always be righteous.  There will come a day when he will righteously execute complete vengeance upon sin, but for now his righteousness works in a different way.  People will continue to hate, kill and oppress others, but we must remember in the midst of it all that we have a righteous God supporting us and cutting back the cords of the wicked.

Your Life's Garden (Psalm 128:1-2)

Each year, I set out to have a garden and sometime late in the winter, I begin to plan what I want to grow.  I plant the seeds for tomatoes in March and nurture them until early May when I plant them in the ground.  Much work goes into weeding and pruning the plants, but in the later part of July, I begin to eat the fruit of my labors.  What a time to enjoy.  There are others who attempt the same, but because of their lack of knowledge in gardening or because of inconsistent labor, their yield of fruit is disappointing.

This is much like our spiritual lives in that we eat the fruit of our labors.  Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. (Psalms 128:1-2)

Instead of planning, planting and cultivating, we need to fear The Lord.  Our fear of The Lord will affect our walk and lead us to follow his ways.  The bounty that comes from these two is that we will eat the fruit of our labors, which will cause us to be happy and life will be good.

However in contrast, if we fail to fear The Lord and to walk in his ways, we also will eat the fruit of our labors.  We also will fail to find happiness and life will not be good.  The decision is ours and by whatever decision we choose to live, we shall eat the fruit of our labors.  We may try to blame the undesirable fruit that we are forced to eat on God, circumstances or other people, but the gardener in our garden is us.

If you have weeds in your life's garden, pull them up.  Turn your heart away from your way and seek The Lord.  Fear him and walk in his ways.  The fruit that you yield will definitely be worth it.

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Will God Protect You? (Psalm 121:7)

What you think about a person affects how you interpret what they say.  If you believe that somebody loves The Lord and they praise him for something, you are glad for them.  If you don't see them that way, you may view them as being fake.  If you like somebody and they give you a compliment, you are grateful, but if you don't like them, you may question what they are trying to get from you.  If a person apologizes after hurting you, you may accept it as genuine, but if you view them in a negative manner, you could judge them as insincere.  For each occasion, the words and actions that people do may be the same, but how you view the person before hand affects how you interpret those words and actions.

Our perspective of God determines how we interpret his word.  If we believe him to be loving, then we see statements in his word as loving.  If we see God as a strict judge, then we will continually interpret statements in his word as judgmental.  When it comes to trials, people have varied views.  Some view God as wanting us to be happy and that he will deliver us from all trials.  Others see him differently.

The following verse can yield different interpretations.  The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. (Psalms 121:7).  Some will think this verse promises deliverance from the trials and troubles of life and some will not see that at all.  What they believe about God will affect how they interpret it.  

In this passage, God promises to preserve the soul of the believer from evil and not the person from evil.  If this were true, then Paul and the other Apostles should never have experienced the trials that they faced in life and their subsequent martyrdom.  However in the passage, God promises to hedge about the believer's heart and keep the evil that he faces in life from overcoming his heart or soul.  Trials and troubles will be in ever believer's life, but what God promises to do for us as we face such circumstances is to hedge about our souls and keep them from being overcome by evil.  God will remain faithful to us and provide the protection that our soul needs as well as an opportunity to escape (I Corinthians 10:13).

Learning God's Statutes (Psalm 119:71)

A purpose for the trial or affliction may be to teach us to live by God's statutes.  It is easy for us to declare how we would live in certain situations, but to be in them and then live by God's statutes is a different matter.  Because of our sinful nature, each statute of God goes contrary to our natural instinctive response.  Therefore, we need God to move us into the direction that he would want us to go. This teaching processes is much like when a herdsman goads his animals so as to move them in the direction that he desires.  We too must be goaded by God so as to live like him.  The trial of affliction with the Holy Spirit's leading is the goading that we need.  Without the trial, we would miss opportunities to learn of God and to live by his precepts.

It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. (Psalms 119:71)

Trials are never pleasant, but God wants us to learn of him.  Life may be difficult with the trial, but a life of disobedience or away from God is always empty, troubling and sorrowful.  We need to begin viewing trials as opportunities for knowing God better and to be drawing closer to him.

If you would like to read more of these thoughts in a hard copy format, my new book is now available at the link below.

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Two Steps To Being Happy (Psalm 119:1-2)

Everybody is in some way pursuing the same goal: they want to be happy.  Many mistakenly think that money will bring happiness.  So they strive for as much wealth as possible and come up empty.  Others seek happiness in positions of power or by acquiring desired possessions, but again the results are short lived and disappointing.  Still others turn to the vices of sin such as alcohol, drugs, and the various forms of promiscuous sex resulting with the same disappointment.  If these are not the way to happiness, how can a person be happy?

True happiness, the kind that swells up into your heart and brings the satisfaction in life that you are looking for, comes from two practices.  Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. (Psalms 119:1-2)

A person will experience happiness that comes from God when they do not allow themselves to be defiled by the world around them.  As they engage in life, these individuals battle to keep their acts aligned with God's law and resist following the wrong examples set by the world.  The second practice, which produces happiness, is to keep God's word in your heart and to seek him with it.   The word keep carries the idea of guarding or watching over something.  If we guard the testimonies of The Lord in our hearts, it will enable us to seek him with our whole heart.  This keeping and seeking brings the happiness that each person desires.  We were created by God and because of that our happiness is dependent upon that relationship with him.  

If you drift from this relationship, you drift from happiness.  If you depart from following God's laws and become defiled by the world, you lose happiness.  Happiness can be obtained by the rich, poor, all nationalities, all age groups and intellects.  God wants everybody to have it and everyone can by following two steps: stay true to God's laws while resisting being defiled by the philosophy of the world and guard God's testimonies in your heart.

Is God Good? (Psalm 118:1)

What makes a cake or dessert good?  It is good because of the pleasure that it brings to the tongue.  What makes a musical piece good?  A musical piece is good because of its pleasantness to our ears and our hearts.  Is God good?  Of course he is, but what makes him good?

We could say that God is good because of his mighty power.  To some degree we would be right, but his goodness goes beyond that.  Many who gaze at the stars in the Heaven may state that God is good because of what he has created.  Again this may sound valid, but God's goodness goes much beyond that.  A god could be all powerful and the creator of a vast universe and at the same time not be good.  Imagine if Lucifer had been successful at ascending to the mount of God and seated himself upon the throne of Heaven as god, would he act with goodness.  We know that he would act completely differently.  From the scriptures, we learn how he will act towards mankind while he is personified in the person of the Antichrist.  He will be ruthless, unloving and evil.  He will be anything but good.  Power and ability do not make a person good.  So, why is God good?

God is good because of his mercy.  To create, you only need power, but to have mercy, you must have a heart and to have mercy that will endure forever, it must be an attribute of your being and not just the result of an arbitrary decision.  O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. (Psalms 118:1)

God will seem good to you when you recognize his abundant mercy towards you.  The more you recognize and identify his acts of mercy, the more you will see him as good.  Those who fail to see God as good, fail to recognize or see God's mercy.

Some have a hard time believing that God is good because he does not act in their lives like they desire or expect.  God not coming to the rescue for Illnesses, lost jobs, accidents, financial loss, and domestic struggles persuades people to believe that God is not good.  The fault is not with God, but man.  These people have taken their focus off of the great work of mercy that God has done in their lives and instead focused on what they want or expect God to do.  God is still good, but because of disappointment, they fail to see it.

Which person are you?  They way to determine it is to ask this simple question.  Is God good to you?

Our Intercessor (Hebrews 7:25)

Did you ever wonder what takes place in Heaven?  Does God recline in Heaven much like gods are  portrayed in Greek mythology or is God constantly at work?  Of God is at work, what type of work is he doing?  How much work is it to speak into existence whatever you may need?

While driving in the car today, I was listening to scripture when the truth of this familiar passage was illuminated by the Holy Spirit.  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25). Jesus, unlike the earthly priests that die, lives forever and as he lives he makes intercession for us.  

I recall from the Old Testament when Solomon dedicated the temple and multitudes of animals were offered as sacrifices to God. (2 Chronicles 7:5) Can you imaging how long it took for the priests to offer 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep.  The work took a great length of time, but it could not compare to the priestly work that Jesus does.  

The scriptures state that Jesus lives to make intercession.  Can you imagine that?  All day today, he has been interceding.  When you get tired tonight and go to sleep, Jesus will be interceding and when you awake, he will still be at his work.  His intercessory work is unending because man's need for an intercessor is unending.  Day after day, week after week and year after year, he has been interceding.  He never tires physically and he never becomes frustrated with the work.  His work of intercession is motivated by his love for us.  When we need him to intercede, he is there.  When we forget about him and the last thought on our minds is our need for intercession, he is already on it.  Faithfully for the past 2,000 years he has been interceding and will continue to intercede until the end of time.

Wow! What an intercessor.