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.
He Leadeth Me
Isaiah 41:10
do not fear, for I am with you,
do not be afraid, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
1 He leadeth me: O blessed thought!
O words with heavenly comfort fraught!
Whate’er I do, where’er I be,
still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.
Refrain:
He leadeth me, he leadeth me;
by his own hand he leadeth me:
his faithful follower I would be,
I am not a very fearful person. The older I become, the less fearful I am. I think of all of the “fear not” scriptures and remember that in 2 Tim 1:7 I am told God has not given me a spirit of fear, but a sound mind.
for by his hand he leadeth me.
Once again, I woke up singing, this time “ He Leadeth Me” by J.H. Gilmore. And I am comforted by the lyrics, as well as the words found in Isaiah 41 that urge me not to fear.
Join with me today in thanking God for His promises and declaring that “ today is the day the Lord has made—I will rejoice in it and be exceedingly, abundantly glad.
May we today and every day let God lead us and strengthen us as we put our trust in Him.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Is That Where the Story Ends?
(NCV) Jonah 4:9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you think it is right for you to be angry about the plant?”
Jonah answered, “It is right for me to be angry! I am so angry I could die!”
10 And the LORD said, “You are so concerned for that plant even though you did nothing to make it grow. It appeared one day, and the next day it died.
11 Then shouldn’t I show concern for the great city Nineveh, which has more than one hundred twenty thousand people who do not know right from wrong, and many animals, too?”
(NCV) Luke 15:28 The older son was angry and would not go in to the feast. So his father went out and begged him to come in. 29 But the older son said to his father, ‘I have served you like a slave for many years and have always obeyed your commands. But you never gave me even a young goat to have at a feast with my friends. 30 But your other son, who wasted all your money on prostitutes, comes home, and you kill the fat calf for him!’ 31 The father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.
Have you ever thought about the similarities of these two men and how their stories end? Both tales seemed to end abruptly, with less than an adequate resolution.
The first is the story of Jonah. You remember—Jonah was sent to Ninevah with a word of condemnation. The Ninevites were to be destroyed. But Jonah did not want to deliver the word. He did not care that these people would be destroyed—his issue was that if they received this word, he believed they would repent and be saved.
So Jonah ran—he ran down to Tarshis, down to Joppa, down to the hold of the ship, and finally down to the belly of the fish. Because, you see, that’s what sin does, it separates us from God, driving us ever downward, away from the light and into the darkness.
Jonah ultimately relented, went to Ninevah, preached God’s word, and, just as he feared, the Ninevites were saved. For the story was never about Jonah or even the big fish, but the love, mercy and redeeming power of God.
Jonah was so angry he just sat under a tree. It was a tree God provided for shade, but just as suddenly as it appeared, it died. Jonah mourned the loss of the tree, but refused to change his views of the Ninevites. And that is how the story ends, with Jonah consumed by anger.
The second story is about the prodigal son. Again we all know the story, but have we noticed that there are two prodigal sons, not one? Even as the youngest son was restored to his father, the older son became separated from both his father and brother because of his anger over what he clearly perceived as favoritism.
I will admit right now that I am a happily ever after person. I want the story to end where lessons are learned, relationships restored, and life is good. Yet in both of these Biblical accounts, there is no happy ever after, because both men were consumed by anger.
We cannot rewrite the ending to these Biblical accounts, but allow me to suggest our stories have not yet ended. May we be honest before our God, asking Him to shine the light of truth upon our lives, so that our thoughts will be aligned with His. That, for me, is my happy ever after.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
