Seeking an understanding
Prov (NIV) 2:1 My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding —
3 indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
The second verse, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—I have one ear from which I hear better than the other. I will be on the phone with my sister and say, “Wait, let me switch to my good ear,” to which she always replies, “Carol, you don’t have a good ear.”
Today’s reading calls for me to turn my good ear to wisdom, to search for it and then store it in my heart. Wisdom is more than knowledge. Wisdom is having an insight, an understanding into Who God is and Who we are in Him.
I think I know Who God is, and after all of these years I know who I am in Him—I am a child of the One, True and Living God, a child of the King. I was made in His image, and my desire is to walk with Him all the days of my life, to love Him more, and to see others through His eyes.
May you and I walk together as we seek out God’s understanding as though it were treasure, receiving His promises that He will protect the ways of His faithful ones.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Be Strong
(NIV) Psalm27:13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
I love the Scriptures encouraging us to “be strong.” Some people have great physical strength. Others have a mental strength enabling them to overcome difficulties, while still others have a moral strength, sometimes called integrity, that protects them from falling into questionable situations.
Personally, my strength comes from the experience of seeing God work time after time.
It is God Who gives me the strength of my convictions, it is the Bible that provides the structure to know who God is, and it is prayer that connects and powers the engine of my life called faith.
So when I am in a season of waiting, I have no need to be anxious because that is when I know that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and “greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world .” And I know, believe and understand that “tribulation works patience, patience experience, and experience hope.”
May we each, today and everyday, take joy in waiting for the Lord. And may we remain strong. knowing that hope is on the horizon.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Seeking the heart of God
(NIV) Ps 119:58 I have sought your face with all my heart;
be gracious to me according to your promise.
59 I have considered my ways
and have turned my steps to your statutes.
60 I will hasten and not delay
to obey your commands
As I go through Psalm 119, I am purposing to slow myself down to allow the words to seep into my spirit. Seeking God and seeking holiness has been my life’s theme for many years.
Sometimes I feel the need to remind myself and others that I do not write because I have all of the answers. I write because I am still a student of the Word, a follower of the Rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth.
I find myself going to the Word not just early in the morning but several times a day. Sometimes I find myself looking up a familiar passage to refresh my memory. Other times I look for a particular theme.
And as I contemplate the goodness of the Lord, I find myself remembering once again one of the old songs of the church:
1.Tell me the story of Jesus,
Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.
Tell how the angels in chorus,
Sang as they welcomed His birth,
“Glory to God in the highest!
Peace and good tidings to earth.”
◦ Refrain:
Tell me the story of Jesus,
Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.
Almost every morning, songs like this one by Fanny Crosby surface. I pray that I never forget the stories of Jesus, and that these stories continue to influence my life and my treatment of others.
May we stay closely aligned with God’s Word, and may the songs extolling our Lord and Savior forever continually be on our lips.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
(NIV) Ps 118:28 You are my God, and I will praise you;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Some days, you just have to praise.
Some days you just have to ask God
To show you the way.
Some days?
Every day.
The Lord is my refuge and my strength. A very present help in time of trouble. Ps 46
He Brought me Out by Henry J. Zelley,, 1898.
1. I’ll sing of His wonderful mercy to me,
I’ll praise Him till all men His goodness shall see;
I’ll sing of salvation at home and abroad,
Till many shall hear the truth and trust in God.
Chorus
He brought me out of the deep miry clay
He set my feet on the solid rock to stay
He put a song in my happy heart today
A song of praise Hallelujah
Some days you just have to sing.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Some days, you just have to praise.
Some days you just have to ask God
To show you the way.
Some days?
Every day.
The Lord is my refuge and my strength. A very present help in time of trouble. Ps 46
He Brought me Out by Henry J. Zelley,, 1898.
1. I’ll sing of His wonderful mercy to me,
I’ll praise Him till all men His goodness shall see;
I’ll sing of salvation at home and abroad,
Till many shall hear the truth and trust in God.
Chorus
He brought me out of the deep miry clay
He set my feet on the solid rock to stay
He put a song in my happy heart today
A song of praise Hallelujah
Some days you just have to sing.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Falling in Love
Psalms 63:1-5 (NRSV)
O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips.
Psalms 42:1-2 (NRSV)
1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
the face of God?
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.
Do you recall the first time you ever felt the presence of God? It might have been while hearing a sermon, or listening to a choir sing, “How Great Thou Art.” His presence might have felt so heavy that you could scarcely wait for the altar call. And then, after falling on your knees in humility, that heaviness was lifted and replaced with a joy unspeakable and full of glory. And for a long time afterward, you wanted nothing more than to be in the presence of God. You read your Bible, even though there were parts you did not understand. You never missed a church service. You listened to Christian music, and you were the first to volunteer for opportunities to serve. You had fallen in love with God—He was your portion, your inheritance, and you knew He was all you would ever need.
But life has a way of getting in the way of even love of the purest kind. You began to miss days reading the Word, your prayers were shortened to Please and Thank You. Someone told you about a great song on a popular station and you switched over from Christian radio. Before too long, you began to skip church—you were so tired and there were so many other things to do.
But the thing you don’t understand is that the more often you miss going to church, the less you miss being in church. You still love God, of course, but you are no longer in love with Him. The sad thing is that your relationship with God has changed, and you scarcely notice.
This scenario happens all too often as we struggle to balance all of the areas of our lives. But our world has slipped into chaos. My heart is heavy much of the time because man’s cruelty to man has reached new depths. And I know the only thing that will help me is to stay in love with God.
David was a man who knew the heights of joy and the depths of despair. When counseling
folks I’ve always suggested reading two books of the Bible every day—the gospel of John and the Psalms. I love John because it is such an intimate account of Jesus’ life, and the Psalms because David experienced all of the highs and lows of life, but still he loved God.
Our pastors are preaching on Jonah and I found myself comparing the behavior of Jonah and David. When David got into trouble, he didn’t blame God. In Psalm 51 David admits his sin. But in the second chapter of Jonah, the prophet blames God for his predicament. One man accepts responsibility. The other man shifts the responsibility. One man prays before, during and after the battle. The other man only prays in the belly of the fish.
So which man had fallen in love with God? With which man would you rather identify?
Choose to fall in love with God. Choose a lasting relationship with God. Pray before and after the battle like David. Do not wait until you are in the belly of the fish.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Seeking Holiness 