O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners' palace is a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
like heat in a dry place.
You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
as heat by the shade of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is put down.
(Isaiah 25:1, 2, 4, 5 ESV)
God I struggle to see the ways you have been a stronghold or help to the poor? Does that mean the physically hungry and poor? When and how have you been that. God I am sorry but I struggle to see how you have helped? Is it spiritual, emotional or tangible?
God you say you have a heart for the poor. God I want to see that more. Increase my heart of love for the poor like yours. Amen
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Psalm 60: God rejects and saves
You have rejected us, God, and burst upon us;
you have been angry—now restore us! You have shaken the land and torn it open;
mend its fractures, for it is quaking. You have shown your people desperate times;
you have given us wine that makes us stagger. But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner
to be unfurled against the bow. Save us and help us with your right hand,
that those you love may be delivered. Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected us
and no longer go out with our armies? Give us aid against the enemy,
for human help is worthless. With God we will gain the victory,
and he will trample down our enemies. (Psalm 60:1-5, 10-12 NIV)
I have a hard time understanding the psalms and this view that God constantly rebukes and then saves. I am handful that I am not under the law but under grace. But Lord you are sovereign and I don't understand what that means for how you interact with your world and all that happens here good or bad. Please Lord teach me.
Amen
you have been angry—now restore us! You have shaken the land and torn it open;
mend its fractures, for it is quaking. You have shown your people desperate times;
you have given us wine that makes us stagger. But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner
to be unfurled against the bow. Save us and help us with your right hand,
that those you love may be delivered. Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected us
and no longer go out with our armies? Give us aid against the enemy,
for human help is worthless. With God we will gain the victory,
and he will trample down our enemies. (Psalm 60:1-5, 10-12 NIV)
I have a hard time understanding the psalms and this view that God constantly rebukes and then saves. I am handful that I am not under the law but under grace. But Lord you are sovereign and I don't understand what that means for how you interact with your world and all that happens here good or bad. Please Lord teach me.
Amen
Monday, October 22, 2012
Meditation Psalm 59: Trust in the Lord
Deliver me from my enemies, O God;
protect me from those who rise up against me.
Deliver me from evildoers
and save me from bloodthirsty men.
See how they lie in wait for me!
Fierce men conspire against me
for no offense or sin of mine, O Lord.
I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.
Arise to help me; look on my plight!
But you, O Lord, laugh at them;
you scoff at all those nations.
O my Strength, I sing praise to you;
you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.
(Psalm 59:1-4, 8, 17 NIV84)
This one is pretty simple but not easy: trust in the Lord our God. Trust not in our own strength or plans. But call to God and cry out in prayer. And we can rely on God to deliver us eternally an presently if it is for our good and his glory. Because sometimes like Joseph being sold by his brothers to Egypt Gld allows us into seeming darkness for his greater good and eventually for our good.
Lord, help me to trust in you more and more. God you have proven yourself faithful again and again to me and others. Thank you Lord.
Amen
protect me from those who rise up against me.
Deliver me from evildoers
and save me from bloodthirsty men.
See how they lie in wait for me!
Fierce men conspire against me
for no offense or sin of mine, O Lord.
I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.
Arise to help me; look on my plight!
But you, O Lord, laugh at them;
you scoff at all those nations.
O my Strength, I sing praise to you;
you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.
(Psalm 59:1-4, 8, 17 NIV84)
This one is pretty simple but not easy: trust in the Lord our God. Trust not in our own strength or plans. But call to God and cry out in prayer. And we can rely on God to deliver us eternally an presently if it is for our good and his glory. Because sometimes like Joseph being sold by his brothers to Egypt Gld allows us into seeming darkness for his greater good and eventually for our good.
Lord, help me to trust in you more and more. God you have proven yourself faithful again and again to me and others. Thank you Lord.
Amen
Friday, October 19, 2012
Psalm 58: Are we truly sinful an deserving death?
Do you rulers indeed speak justly?
Do you judge uprightly among men?
No, in your heart you devise injustice,
and your hands mete out violence on the earth.
The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,
when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
Then men will say,
“Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
surely there is a God who judges the earth.”
(Psalm 58:1, 2, 10, 11 NIV84)
I have a hard time understanding psalms like this that speak of wrath and justice against the wicked. As I thought about this I think God revealed that in my heart I have a hard time believing how sinful the bible and God says we are. I hold so tightly to the hope of salvation for all that I forget the depth or the darkness and sin that truly and eternally would separate us from God. I am afraid of that judgement for the world. For me I trust in Jesus death and that through his grace I am saved by faith. But what about others? What about my friends and family? I am afraid for them, because not all of them know Jesus or follow him fully.
Yet I can not fear because I am doubting Jesus and the truth that he will not lose a single one who was meant to be saved as Jesus spoke of in john 6:
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." (John 6:38-40 NIV)
Reading David's desire for Gods wrath and justice against the wicked makes my heart turn. How can he really want that death and blood even on those who are evil? For we are evil except through Jesus. But in many ways I have not experienced the full blown consequences of sin close to home: war, rape, death, hunger, abuse etc. I live in a safe little bubble in Boulder CO and go to a church that is not persecuted. There are challenges here but they are different. My sin affects other and others are affected and harmed by my sin. If I experiencedmore of these sins that obviously hurt and kill others then I know my heart would want justice. It is hard for me to see that all sins are equal and that out of the same evil heart comes these sins that manifest differently and with different consequences.
Lord I ask for your Holy Spirit to convict me of sin and to reveal to me the depths of our sinful nature and how that leads to death and wrath. I also pray that out of that understanding would come a greater appreciation and hope in your Grace through the cross!
Amen
Do you judge uprightly among men?
No, in your heart you devise injustice,
and your hands mete out violence on the earth.
The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,
when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
Then men will say,
“Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
surely there is a God who judges the earth.”
(Psalm 58:1, 2, 10, 11 NIV84)
I have a hard time understanding psalms like this that speak of wrath and justice against the wicked. As I thought about this I think God revealed that in my heart I have a hard time believing how sinful the bible and God says we are. I hold so tightly to the hope of salvation for all that I forget the depth or the darkness and sin that truly and eternally would separate us from God. I am afraid of that judgement for the world. For me I trust in Jesus death and that through his grace I am saved by faith. But what about others? What about my friends and family? I am afraid for them, because not all of them know Jesus or follow him fully.
Yet I can not fear because I am doubting Jesus and the truth that he will not lose a single one who was meant to be saved as Jesus spoke of in john 6:
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." (John 6:38-40 NIV)
Reading David's desire for Gods wrath and justice against the wicked makes my heart turn. How can he really want that death and blood even on those who are evil? For we are evil except through Jesus. But in many ways I have not experienced the full blown consequences of sin close to home: war, rape, death, hunger, abuse etc. I live in a safe little bubble in Boulder CO and go to a church that is not persecuted. There are challenges here but they are different. My sin affects other and others are affected and harmed by my sin. If I experiencedmore of these sins that obviously hurt and kill others then I know my heart would want justice. It is hard for me to see that all sins are equal and that out of the same evil heart comes these sins that manifest differently and with different consequences.
Lord I ask for your Holy Spirit to convict me of sin and to reveal to me the depths of our sinful nature and how that leads to death and wrath. I also pray that out of that understanding would come a greater appreciation and hope in your Grace through the cross!
Amen
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Conclusion of Job
Then Job replied to the Lord :
“I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.
You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so he died, old and full of years. (Job 42:1-6, 10, 12-17 NIV84)
What an interesting ending to the story of Job. God responds that he is sovereign. Then Job repents. And God shows himself to be good and loving. He is blessed with earthly things and sees his new family and children grow up to the fourth generation. God blesses him not because he is righteous but because God chooses to.
Job changes his heart because he seen the Lord. No longer is he far off. The Lord is near. This speaks to me of Jesus who was to come after this book of Job and how we now live in close relationship with God as we rile in faith in Jesus and God the Holy Spirit lives in us! And so we are blessed, not always by prosperity but by God being with us now and forever. Amen
“I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.
You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so he died, old and full of years. (Job 42:1-6, 10, 12-17 NIV84)
What an interesting ending to the story of Job. God responds that he is sovereign. Then Job repents. And God shows himself to be good and loving. He is blessed with earthly things and sees his new family and children grow up to the fourth generation. God blesses him not because he is righteous but because God chooses to.
Job changes his heart because he seen the Lord. No longer is he far off. The Lord is near. This speaks to me of Jesus who was to come after this book of Job and how we now live in close relationship with God as we rile in faith in Jesus and God the Holy Spirit lives in us! And so we are blessed, not always by prosperity but by God being with us now and forever. Amen
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Psalm 50: Gods only desire from us
If I were hungry I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
fulfill your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,
and he prepares the way
so that I may show him the salvation of God.”
(Psalm 50:12, 14, 15, 23 NIV84)
God does not need anything from is. Yet he cares about us and desires us to turn and seek him so that he will rescue us so that we will trust and glorify him. For his desire for glory often comes through bringing us joy and deliverance and salvation.
Thank you God for your amazing love to desire us and our good! Lord humble me to turn to you. To seek you and find you so that you might glorify yourself in me.
Amen
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
fulfill your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,
and he prepares the way
so that I may show him the salvation of God.”
(Psalm 50:12, 14, 15, 23 NIV84)
God does not need anything from is. Yet he cares about us and desires us to turn and seek him so that he will rescue us so that we will trust and glorify him. For his desire for glory often comes through bringing us joy and deliverance and salvation.
Thank you God for your amazing love to desire us and our good! Lord humble me to turn to you. To seek you and find you so that you might glorify yourself in me.
Amen
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Psalm 49: What is truly a blessing?
Though while they live they count themselves blessed—
and people praise you when you prosper— they will join those who have gone before them,
who will never again see the light of life. People who have wealth but lack understanding
are like the beasts that perish.
(Psalm 49:18-20 NIV)
In our world we praise success and wealth. We consider ourselves blessed when things go well. Yet the true blessing is life eternal. Maybe we are more blessed to suffer here on the earth. Yet even as Christians we often flee from suffering and turn in anger against our God. Yet he gives us life. I am sorry lord that I seek prosperity now more than resting in your promise of life. Lord I am sorry and I want to hope in you and eternal life in you.i want to trust you the provider not your worldly provision.
Amen
and people praise you when you prosper— they will join those who have gone before them,
who will never again see the light of life. People who have wealth but lack understanding
are like the beasts that perish.
(Psalm 49:18-20 NIV)
In our world we praise success and wealth. We consider ourselves blessed when things go well. Yet the true blessing is life eternal. Maybe we are more blessed to suffer here on the earth. Yet even as Christians we often flee from suffering and turn in anger against our God. Yet he gives us life. I am sorry lord that I seek prosperity now more than resting in your promise of life. Lord I am sorry and I want to hope in you and eternal life in you.i want to trust you the provider not your worldly provision.
Amen
Monday, October 1, 2012
Psalm 48 God is our hope And guide
As we have heard,
so we have seen
in the city of the Lord Almighty,
in the city of our God:
God makes her secure
forever. For this God is our God for ever and ever;
he will be our guide even to the end. (Psalm 48:8, 14 NIV)
There is this promise of a future hope secure with him in heaven. Where the troubles of the world no longer reach us for we are secure in God in his kingdom his city. But for now we walk in the world in troubles and loss but God is our God to the end walking with us to the end until we enter his hi city and dwell with him forever.
Thank you Lord!
Amen
so we have seen
in the city of the Lord Almighty,
in the city of our God:
God makes her secure
forever. For this God is our God for ever and ever;
he will be our guide even to the end. (Psalm 48:8, 14 NIV)
There is this promise of a future hope secure with him in heaven. Where the troubles of the world no longer reach us for we are secure in God in his kingdom his city. But for now we walk in the world in troubles and loss but God is our God to the end walking with us to the end until we enter his hi city and dwell with him forever.
Thank you Lord!
Amen
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