Psalm 119
Aleph
1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD!
2Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
3who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
4You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
5Oh that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous rules.
8I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!
Oh to be blameless; to have no charge against me. I am glad this is not perfection, but direction, or I would be crushed under the weight of "Blameless", "Whole heart" and "Do no wrong".
I desire to have all of these said of me, but I can't do this under my own power and really would have no desire to do it without the Holy Spirit moving me. I want my way to be steadfast and to diligently keep His statutes and to have my eyes fixed on His commandments, but I am a long way from there right now.
It seems that the point is not that we are perfect, but that we are walking and meditating on His commandments, so when we are tempted they are the first thing that come to mind and these are what guide our steps, not our own decisions.
He will finish what He has started and I am thankful that He has started the work in me. As I work out my own salvation with fear and trembling He works in me up to completion.
Isn't it great that we bring nothing to the table, but need, and yet when He is finished we leave with the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven. Thank You Lord for Your grace.
Lord, make me want to follow Your Word. Give me the desire to be more like You every day. Don't let me make decisions that will cause me and others harm, but show me Your way, with the clearest of vision, that I might walk uprightly and not stumble. Thanks You for Your Word and the instruction it gives. Let me not quench Your Holy Spirit as He works in my heart to make me conformed to Your image. When You have finished Your work in me, I will rejoice that You have taken me from being dead and changed me to being alive in You. You can do this and You want to do it, so keep me out of the way and do Your will.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Spiritual Snowflakes
We had a missionary come to our church yesterday. He spoke on worry in the morning message and then gave an update, in the evening, on what God is doing in Ukraine.
All very good stuff, and of course any who have been reading this know I don't have to work on worry at all:)
I was struck by something he said that I'm sure he didn't intend to be directed at the guys. He was talking about what his wife does and what her ministry is, in Ukraine. She is not a gifted teacher, but is a helper and loves to be with the grandmas. She is very hospitable.
That got me thinking about my life and spiritual giftedness. God gives each of us a very unique set of gifts that are intended to be used for His glory and to further The Kingdom. Does God give us gifts and then frustrate us by not giving us either the resources to carry them out, or the opportunity to practice them? I don't think so. I think that He gives us these gifts and expects us to hone them, to work on them, and then use them for His glory.
What does that mean to us? If God has given you the gift of teaching, you should be working in that area to be a more gifted teacher. If He has given you the gift of giving, then you should always be looking for opportunities to meet a need. If He has given you the gift of mercy, then you should be listening for people who are hurting and be His light into their world.
I believe that God gives each one of us all of these gifts to some degree. The missionary said that we are all spiritual snow flakes; snow in consecutive posts. If your gift is primarily teaching but you also have a merciful heart then you are able to speak to someone that is hurting, where if another has the gift of teaching but God has not taken them through something to give them that mercy yet, they would have less compassion than the first.
Sorry for the mess up way of trying to get the point across. Hopefully you can get the it.
When we have gone through things, like our family and Grant's event, that prepares us for events in the future that we would have no platform to speak about because we hadn't ever gone through that kind of a circumstance. Many are posting a comment on Andrew and Grace's blog who have gone, or are going, through similar situations. They have gained new insight, and care, they would have never had previous to God taking them through their trials.
It is not easy going through this things, I am preaching to myself, but when God gives us trials it is best to look at them as Him making us more useful down the road, perfecting us for the future, rather than whining about how hard it is right now. I have had so many opportunities to share Christ because of Grant's event; opportunities I never would have had previous to it.
Embrace the trials and try to see what blessing God is preparing you for in the future. Easy to say, harder to do. His strength is perfect, when ours is small. We can't do this on our own, but He wants us to be this way.
All very good stuff, and of course any who have been reading this know I don't have to work on worry at all:)
I was struck by something he said that I'm sure he didn't intend to be directed at the guys. He was talking about what his wife does and what her ministry is, in Ukraine. She is not a gifted teacher, but is a helper and loves to be with the grandmas. She is very hospitable.
That got me thinking about my life and spiritual giftedness. God gives each of us a very unique set of gifts that are intended to be used for His glory and to further The Kingdom. Does God give us gifts and then frustrate us by not giving us either the resources to carry them out, or the opportunity to practice them? I don't think so. I think that He gives us these gifts and expects us to hone them, to work on them, and then use them for His glory.
What does that mean to us? If God has given you the gift of teaching, you should be working in that area to be a more gifted teacher. If He has given you the gift of giving, then you should always be looking for opportunities to meet a need. If He has given you the gift of mercy, then you should be listening for people who are hurting and be His light into their world.
I believe that God gives each one of us all of these gifts to some degree. The missionary said that we are all spiritual snow flakes; snow in consecutive posts. If your gift is primarily teaching but you also have a merciful heart then you are able to speak to someone that is hurting, where if another has the gift of teaching but God has not taken them through something to give them that mercy yet, they would have less compassion than the first.
Sorry for the mess up way of trying to get the point across. Hopefully you can get the it.
When we have gone through things, like our family and Grant's event, that prepares us for events in the future that we would have no platform to speak about because we hadn't ever gone through that kind of a circumstance. Many are posting a comment on Andrew and Grace's blog who have gone, or are going, through similar situations. They have gained new insight, and care, they would have never had previous to God taking them through their trials.
It is not easy going through this things, I am preaching to myself, but when God gives us trials it is best to look at them as Him making us more useful down the road, perfecting us for the future, rather than whining about how hard it is right now. I have had so many opportunities to share Christ because of Grant's event; opportunities I never would have had previous to it.
Embrace the trials and try to see what blessing God is preparing you for in the future. Easy to say, harder to do. His strength is perfect, when ours is small. We can't do this on our own, but He wants us to be this way.
Moon Struck Snow
Is. 55:10 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
This morning I awakened to a very bright full moon, or at least close to a full moon. I like it when it is this way because the moon rays, I guess there is such a thing, come through the glass and cast some really cool looking shadows. It is bright and dark at the same time. But this morning there was also a light dusting of snow on the ground, which made the moonlight even brighter. I thought as first it was frost, because when the moon is bright it needs to be clear, but apparently it has snow just a bit and then cleared up.
I went to this passage looking for the "snow" but was quickly reminded of the intention of the passage. God's Word does not return empty. How great it is to know that as we are faithful to speak and teach His Word, both to ourselves and to others, that He brings the harvest. It may not happen right away, it might not happen in this decade, but His Word does not return void. He is faithful to keep His promises, so we need to be faithful to His Word. His purposes will be completed.
This is especially true as I think back on the S/R. There are many kids who have not repented, yet they heard a lot of Scripture in the 5 days there. God will bring that back to bear His purpose down the road. He will get glory from His Word going out, even if that is hardening the hearts who reject His Word.
As a high school student I wasn't a Christian. I went to a Christin school. We went to church twice on Sunday and again on Wed. night. In school, in order to play sports, you had to keep up on your Scripture memory for the month. As far away as high school is from me now, I still can be reading along, in my Bible, and remember entire passages that we memorized. Verses just pop into my mind that God has let sprout up and bear fruit.
Pray for the students that they would not let the fire die. That they would have zeal for Christ, His Word, pray and His people like they have never had before and that God would keep that zeal going. Pray that this would be the case in each one of us.
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
This morning I awakened to a very bright full moon, or at least close to a full moon. I like it when it is this way because the moon rays, I guess there is such a thing, come through the glass and cast some really cool looking shadows. It is bright and dark at the same time. But this morning there was also a light dusting of snow on the ground, which made the moonlight even brighter. I thought as first it was frost, because when the moon is bright it needs to be clear, but apparently it has snow just a bit and then cleared up.
I went to this passage looking for the "snow" but was quickly reminded of the intention of the passage. God's Word does not return empty. How great it is to know that as we are faithful to speak and teach His Word, both to ourselves and to others, that He brings the harvest. It may not happen right away, it might not happen in this decade, but His Word does not return void. He is faithful to keep His promises, so we need to be faithful to His Word. His purposes will be completed.
This is especially true as I think back on the S/R. There are many kids who have not repented, yet they heard a lot of Scripture in the 5 days there. God will bring that back to bear His purpose down the road. He will get glory from His Word going out, even if that is hardening the hearts who reject His Word.
As a high school student I wasn't a Christian. I went to a Christin school. We went to church twice on Sunday and again on Wed. night. In school, in order to play sports, you had to keep up on your Scripture memory for the month. As far away as high school is from me now, I still can be reading along, in my Bible, and remember entire passages that we memorized. Verses just pop into my mind that God has let sprout up and bear fruit.
Pray for the students that they would not let the fire die. That they would have zeal for Christ, His Word, pray and His people like they have never had before and that God would keep that zeal going. Pray that this would be the case in each one of us.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Fighting for Joy!
How are you all doing in your fight for JOY?
In our small group today, our family of high school guys and "Papa Chuck", we talked about how to keep the fire burning after the snow retreat is over and life is back to normal. Some of the guys are doing very well in their Bible reading and prayer and others are struggling.
Why is it a fight? If it were easy then Christianity would be easy. We are in a war for our souls and the enemy does not sleep. Sin doesn't wake up tired- thanks Micah. When we fight sin, sleepiness, laziness, lack of discipline and every other thing that keeps us from our time with the Lord, we are fighting against those negative things, for sure, but we are also, and I now think more importantly, fighting to keep our joy and zeal hot.
When we physically exercise it takes work to get started and work to keep it going. You work to lose pounds maybe, but you also work out because when you do, you feel a lot better. If you only focus on the pounds you will soon stop. But when you focus on the long term positive benefits, then it is easier to sustain.
Our Christian life and walk is much the same. It takes work to fight for our joy, BUT it is worth it. The long term and the short term benefits are huge. Don't let the evil one steal your joy while you're sleeping. Don't let him steal your joy while you worry about something that may or may not happen. Fight for it, because God is the Giver of Joy and He is worth the fight. He will give you joy inexpressible. He always keeps His promises.
Just a little reminder to you, but mostly to myself. Please LMK how you're doing in your battle.
In our small group today, our family of high school guys and "Papa Chuck", we talked about how to keep the fire burning after the snow retreat is over and life is back to normal. Some of the guys are doing very well in their Bible reading and prayer and others are struggling.
Why is it a fight? If it were easy then Christianity would be easy. We are in a war for our souls and the enemy does not sleep. Sin doesn't wake up tired- thanks Micah. When we fight sin, sleepiness, laziness, lack of discipline and every other thing that keeps us from our time with the Lord, we are fighting against those negative things, for sure, but we are also, and I now think more importantly, fighting to keep our joy and zeal hot.
When we physically exercise it takes work to get started and work to keep it going. You work to lose pounds maybe, but you also work out because when you do, you feel a lot better. If you only focus on the pounds you will soon stop. But when you focus on the long term positive benefits, then it is easier to sustain.
Our Christian life and walk is much the same. It takes work to fight for our joy, BUT it is worth it. The long term and the short term benefits are huge. Don't let the evil one steal your joy while you're sleeping. Don't let him steal your joy while you worry about something that may or may not happen. Fight for it, because God is the Giver of Joy and He is worth the fight. He will give you joy inexpressible. He always keeps His promises.
Just a little reminder to you, but mostly to myself. Please LMK how you're doing in your battle.
Thank you for praying, please don't stop
I wanted to give you an update on PG.
We had a nice January, not a record by any stretch, but a nice month. The guys worked hard to install everything that was ready. Often the clients sign up but aren't ready until some other things are finished, beyond our control. We had sales that almost equaled our installed dollars, so that was really good of God to give us those contacts in a crazy market.
This first week of Feb. has started the month off very well. This is the biggest week of sales we have had for quite some time. We are getting leads from many different avenues and I am always amazed at how God brings us people that there is no way they could get to us except that He brings them.
Please continue to pray for PG. He has totally blessed us along the way and He is the ONLY One who can keep it going. I told the guys last week that it certainly could be a week to week struggle to keep us going for a long time, but God promises to give us our daily bread, not our weekly, monthly or yearly bread. We will try to rest in His provision one day at a time. We really do relish the fact that so many of you are praying for us.
Thank you for lifting us up and thanks be to OUR GREAT GOD for answered prayer.
We had a nice January, not a record by any stretch, but a nice month. The guys worked hard to install everything that was ready. Often the clients sign up but aren't ready until some other things are finished, beyond our control. We had sales that almost equaled our installed dollars, so that was really good of God to give us those contacts in a crazy market.
This first week of Feb. has started the month off very well. This is the biggest week of sales we have had for quite some time. We are getting leads from many different avenues and I am always amazed at how God brings us people that there is no way they could get to us except that He brings them.
Please continue to pray for PG. He has totally blessed us along the way and He is the ONLY One who can keep it going. I told the guys last week that it certainly could be a week to week struggle to keep us going for a long time, but God promises to give us our daily bread, not our weekly, monthly or yearly bread. We will try to rest in His provision one day at a time. We really do relish the fact that so many of you are praying for us.
Thank you for lifting us up and thanks be to OUR GREAT GOD for answered prayer.
Spiritual Gluttony
Ps. 107:8 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
9 For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
What does a hungry, or longing, soul look like?
We talked a little yesterday, in our staff meeting, about gluttony. There have been times in my life that I have eaten way too much; much more than I needed. It does seem strange that the more we eat the more we want to eat, even though there is no way we could possibly be hungry.
So with that in mind; when we "eat" the Word more and pray more, our appetite for the things of God increases. What used to feel like "eating" an entire spiritual Thanksgiving dinner now seems like we are hungry for more shortly after we are finished. The difference here is that "spiritual gluttony" is the best thing for us. The more we consume, the more we want; the more we want, the more we are given; the more we are given, the more we are changed; the more we are changed, the more we are like Christ.
His Word is true. He does satisfy the longing soul and fills the hungry with good things. Both of those are filled with ALL the He is.
Give thanks to Him when He does these things in your life and ask Him to continue to give you the desire for Him.
You are Good Lord and You want to bless us with all the You are; You want us to find all of our cravings in You. You satisfy more than anything else we could long for, You are the best of everything we desire. There is nothing on earth that compares to You and yet often we look at the things here and focus on them, rather than You. Let us taste Your sweetness. Let us see Your goodness. Let us hear ourselves and others telling of Your wondrous acts, so when we lose focus on You we are drawn back by all that You have allowed us to enjoy previously. Give us a heart of thanksgiving. Give us ONLY a desire for all that Your are. Allow us to turn our eyes toward You, that we may look into Your wonderful face, so that the things here on earth grow dim compared to the light of Your glory and grace. You love us to have this attitude, so please give it to us that we may be a pleasing sacrifice to You.
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
9 For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
What does a hungry, or longing, soul look like?
We talked a little yesterday, in our staff meeting, about gluttony. There have been times in my life that I have eaten way too much; much more than I needed. It does seem strange that the more we eat the more we want to eat, even though there is no way we could possibly be hungry.
So with that in mind; when we "eat" the Word more and pray more, our appetite for the things of God increases. What used to feel like "eating" an entire spiritual Thanksgiving dinner now seems like we are hungry for more shortly after we are finished. The difference here is that "spiritual gluttony" is the best thing for us. The more we consume, the more we want; the more we want, the more we are given; the more we are given, the more we are changed; the more we are changed, the more we are like Christ.
His Word is true. He does satisfy the longing soul and fills the hungry with good things. Both of those are filled with ALL the He is.
Give thanks to Him when He does these things in your life and ask Him to continue to give you the desire for Him.
You are Good Lord and You want to bless us with all the You are; You want us to find all of our cravings in You. You satisfy more than anything else we could long for, You are the best of everything we desire. There is nothing on earth that compares to You and yet often we look at the things here and focus on them, rather than You. Let us taste Your sweetness. Let us see Your goodness. Let us hear ourselves and others telling of Your wondrous acts, so when we lose focus on You we are drawn back by all that You have allowed us to enjoy previously. Give us a heart of thanksgiving. Give us ONLY a desire for all that Your are. Allow us to turn our eyes toward You, that we may look into Your wonderful face, so that the things here on earth grow dim compared to the light of Your glory and grace. You love us to have this attitude, so please give it to us that we may be a pleasing sacrifice to You.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Perfect Peace
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee.
When shadows fall and darkness comes, He giveth perfect peace.
Oh, He is my only resting place, He giveth perfect peace.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.(Based on Isaiah 26:3)
Today our friend, Andrew, went home to be with the Lord. This is such a hard thing to comprehend, that a 28 year old would get tongue cancer, w/o ever chewing tobacco, then fight for more than a year, to succumb to this terrible killer and leave behind his young wife and 2 small children. But God knows what He is doing in EVERY situation and we must trust His care.
I also found out today that Tom and Tami's little 6 month old daughter is struggling to get set up for chemo treatment and all that goes with having Leukemia. As a dad, I know personally that this is really difficult, as I wanted to switch places with Grant when he was having his event, but we aren't in charge; God is.
There are no words that I can say to these people that will make this go away, or take away the pain. There is no one who is immune to this type of pain. But God does Absolutely loves us and He wants us to be drawn to Himself.
Please pray for these 2 families. The pain is real, the trial is hard and the fire is hot, yet Our Lord knows exactly where each one of us are right now and He will not let one of His sheep stray too long.
Lord, work in each of our lives that we might be a light to this dark world. May we have Your Words to share when we need them, may we take the time to care for those that are hurting. God, keep these families trusting in You. Show them Yourself in the sweetest way, that they might be drawn closer to you, rather than be upset or mad because we can't see Your perfect plan. Comfort them as only You can. Make Your promises real to them today. Bless them as they follow You and Your Word.
God, You are good and we want to trust You, but our faith is small and weak, and our loves are settled on lesser things much of the time. Gives us eyes and hearts for You and our final home. Give us peace as only You can.
When shadows fall and darkness comes, He giveth perfect peace.
Oh, He is my only resting place, He giveth perfect peace.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.(Based on Isaiah 26:3)
Today our friend, Andrew, went home to be with the Lord. This is such a hard thing to comprehend, that a 28 year old would get tongue cancer, w/o ever chewing tobacco, then fight for more than a year, to succumb to this terrible killer and leave behind his young wife and 2 small children. But God knows what He is doing in EVERY situation and we must trust His care.
I also found out today that Tom and Tami's little 6 month old daughter is struggling to get set up for chemo treatment and all that goes with having Leukemia. As a dad, I know personally that this is really difficult, as I wanted to switch places with Grant when he was having his event, but we aren't in charge; God is.
There are no words that I can say to these people that will make this go away, or take away the pain. There is no one who is immune to this type of pain. But God does Absolutely loves us and He wants us to be drawn to Himself.
Please pray for these 2 families. The pain is real, the trial is hard and the fire is hot, yet Our Lord knows exactly where each one of us are right now and He will not let one of His sheep stray too long.
Lord, work in each of our lives that we might be a light to this dark world. May we have Your Words to share when we need them, may we take the time to care for those that are hurting. God, keep these families trusting in You. Show them Yourself in the sweetest way, that they might be drawn closer to you, rather than be upset or mad because we can't see Your perfect plan. Comfort them as only You can. Make Your promises real to them today. Bless them as they follow You and Your Word.
God, You are good and we want to trust You, but our faith is small and weak, and our loves are settled on lesser things much of the time. Gives us eyes and hearts for You and our final home. Give us peace as only You can.
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