tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65611661950197644942024-03-14T05:24:04.799-04:00Life in the Valley<i>pressing on with great hope</i>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.comBlogger1080125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-9283786537842115732023-03-05T06:54:00.005-05:002023-03-05T06:54:58.471-05:00Psalm 27<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDviyL_9M71ieZ-ul3_MFEKDyyT7P00MqqGO4CMTZ7eYhV2DB20f75IFz1_QZeoQZaqRjDCG0bd5RajA_h_7q4IxRAo6UevgAmnSIvX5p7YNz4bsWcHHcsgmnrVfoPKqQidoYC6oXlbhzdqnb0d3pWpGYSxzhCd7zVrp0u3CD-zCf-9Ytb2RwC5yO/s4032/IMG_20200402_160816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDviyL_9M71ieZ-ul3_MFEKDyyT7P00MqqGO4CMTZ7eYhV2DB20f75IFz1_QZeoQZaqRjDCG0bd5RajA_h_7q4IxRAo6UevgAmnSIvX5p7YNz4bsWcHHcsgmnrVfoPKqQidoYC6oXlbhzdqnb0d3pWpGYSxzhCd7zVrp0u3CD-zCf-9Ytb2RwC5yO/w300-h400/IMG_20200402_160816.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The Lord is my light and my salvation—</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> whom shall I fear?</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The Lord is the stronghold of my life—</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> of whom shall I be afraid?</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>When the wicked advance against me</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> to devour me,</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>it is my enemies and my foes</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> who will stumble and fall.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Though an army besiege me,</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> my heart will not fear;</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>though war break out against me,</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> even then I will be </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>confident</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></i></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>One thing I ask from the Lord,</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> this only do I seek:</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>that I may dwell in the house of the Lord</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> all the days of my life,</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>to gaze on the beauty of the Lord</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> and to seek him in his temple.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>For in the day of trouble</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> he will keep me safe in his dwelling;</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> and set me high upon a rock.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Then my head will be exalted</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> above the enemies who surround me;</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> I will sing and make music to the Lord.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Hear my voice when I call, Lord;</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> be merciful to me and answer me.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> Your face, Lord, I will seek.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Do not hide your face from me,</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> do not turn your servant away in anger;</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> you have been my helper.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Do not reject me or forsake me,</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> God my Savior.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Though my father and mother forsake me,</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> the Lord will receive me.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Teach me your way, Lord;</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> lead me in a straight path</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> because of my oppressors.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> for false witnesses rise up against me,</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> spouting malicious accusations.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I remain </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>confident</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of this:</span></i></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> I will see the goodness of the Lord</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> in the land of the living.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Wait for the Lord;</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> be strong and take heart</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> and wait for the Lord.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unfortunately, I didn't have much time for blogging this week, so I'll leave you with a quick thought on Psalm 27. Yesterday I noticed that David references confidence twice in the psalm. As I have been preparing to head to Wheaton College for a week of class, I have had those moments of nerves and anxiety about what people will think of me and wanting to be evaluated well. Without a proper perspective, I can follow those temptations down trails of worry and fear. With a proper perspective - God called me to this program and has provided for me to be there; our professor is fantastic and committed to our learning and growth; the women in Propel 7 are the bee's knees and love me as much as I love them - I can have confidence.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">It struck me that the confidence David advocates for isn't in his ability to muster up more faith or courage, but instead in focusing on the Lord, his provision, his presence, his power, his mercy, and his present and future promises. What a relief! My takeaway from Psalm 27, which I pass along to you for your edification as well, is this:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The opposite of fear is not faith;</span></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">it is confidence in the <i>object</i> of our faith!</span></b></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Breathe today, child of God! He is faithful and near. In defiance of your fears and whatever or whoever assails you, speak truth about your Father, remember his deeds, <i>wait for him and take heart</i>. In David's words, "Seek his face!" God is not waiting for you to muster up faith and courage; he's offering you rest in <i>him.</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Shalom, this Sabbath day!</span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-33876430812210005182023-02-25T08:16:00.002-05:002023-02-25T08:16:52.746-05:00Psalm 23<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEI7lvZQ4cEiQtH42E4COj9W26VefH9aPjvd8KA5ZC6G4D4x1s_qRufbqD-VUe9bt-6tJAgtAaPPJWRrZX8hV_E4XFSFxC73qZVAEzGwCRWETMv4Dk6h8Mn6EQDt5uacm1FburtBCcoPnXDITL3_b88-Yf9peZLX7GC-C6Fu4S4F4G6g9QDQfCVfI/s3840/PXL_20210116_202340764.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEI7lvZQ4cEiQtH42E4COj9W26VefH9aPjvd8KA5ZC6G4D4x1s_qRufbqD-VUe9bt-6tJAgtAaPPJWRrZX8hV_E4XFSFxC73qZVAEzGwCRWETMv4Dk6h8Mn6EQDt5uacm1FburtBCcoPnXDITL3_b88-Yf9peZLX7GC-C6Fu4S4F4G6g9QDQfCVfI/w400-h225/PXL_20210116_202340764.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-3ae91c51-7fff-8fac-eaf3-7903ed668ae4"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
</span></span></p><div><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I have been reading three psalms a week and sharing them on those social media platforms, typically on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. This past Thursday, I shared briefly about how we could use Psalm 23 as a prayer of confession and gave an example of what that might look like with verse one. Today in a departure from my usual commentary, I invite you to join me in prayer as I work through the whole psalm to lead us in confession. Psalm 23 is a psalm of trust and comfort; working through it as a prayer of confession, I believe, will increase our confidence and security in our Good Shepherd. I'm going to speak in the first person so we can each read it for ourselves. Rejoice to know that others will be agreeing with you in prayer as they too read and confess.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-419db329-7fff-dc6c-c0f5-b4b7da40f024"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Join me in prayer.</span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Good Shepherd, have </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">mercy on me, a sinner, for trying to be my own shepherd and for claiming credit for what your hand has provided. I'm sorry. Restore to me the joy of dwelling in your fold as your sheep. I give you thanks for my dependence and your supreme dependability. </span></span></div></blockquote><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Good Shepherd, have mercy on me, a sinner, for not receiving the rest and refreshment you offer to my body and soul by not sleeping enough, rushing around in busyness trying to prove myself, hanging on to worry and fear, and forgetting your promises and provision. I'm sorry. Restore to me the joy of surrendering to how you created me to need physical and spiritual rest. I give you thanks that you offer me rest.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></p></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Good Shepherd, have </span><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mercy on me, a sinner, for looking around when I am walking through difficult times and determining that the problems exceed your ability to protect and deliver. Forgive me for putting you in a box, thinking you have abandoned me, and/or fearing the dark rather than remembering I am a child of Light, a sheep in your fold. I'm sorry. Restore to me the joy of knowing you have not left me nor that you will forsake me. I give you thanks for always being with me and the reminder that I'm only passing through the valley, it is not the end of the story.</span></span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-061e75f5-7fff-ed83-f86c-89d3ed79caa6"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Good Shepherd, have </span><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mercy on me, a sinner, for looking around at the good that seems to be happening to others, maybe even people who are against me, and missing the table you've prepared before</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">me and that I am your chosen and beloved child. Your blessings overflow to me in your pasture, but I look over the wall and think that grass is definitely greener. I'm sorry. Restore to me the joy of seeing your gifts and anointing for all that they are, expressions of your love for me. I give you thanks for how much you love and the lengths you go to to prove it to me.</span></span></span></blockquote><p></p><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Good Shepherd, have </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">mercy on me, a sinner, for forgetting that you pursue me and have good prepared for me, perhaps even assuming that I don't deserve your affection or that I need to earn it. Forgive me for denying - by how I live - that I have a future with you and an all-day-every-day hope in Christ, that what I see is not what evermore will be and that my now and forever are as secure as Jesus is alive. I'm sorry. Restore to me the joy of the day I first believed, knew I was yours, received the Spirit, and was enveloped in your love. I give you thanks that I dwell in your presence now and eternally.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">My Shepherd, I love you! King Jesus, I surrender to your shepherding. Thank you for Holy Spirit within to cheer and guide in this journey.</span> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">Help me to trust and honor you; thank you for always gently guiding me back.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amen.</span></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"></div></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-14624658636923421522023-02-19T07:15:00.006-05:002023-02-19T07:36:02.861-05:00Psalm 20<span id="docs-internal-guid-3a7cd0bc-7fff-d769-b62e-3dfb717128fa"><span style="font-family: arial;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrz68PDCpGkyfnaQtrLMkqT7U1r7qnPG31jPCNaZ4c_tw9g9uhJ_yBMbLeBLlqcSPK_Tp-jXhq7mqjudn5VYZpvWCxiNd2_R24fBJQmMAMd0DD2FdWuYXldU7sqn3aB-Vy3Xs6JmVJyE7jlwN8LZ8SxvSL93xzajGwgafJHVEUYnH0IMOcA9iPUol_/s640/Rohan.webp" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrz68PDCpGkyfnaQtrLMkqT7U1r7qnPG31jPCNaZ4c_tw9g9uhJ_yBMbLeBLlqcSPK_Tp-jXhq7mqjudn5VYZpvWCxiNd2_R24fBJQmMAMd0DD2FdWuYXldU7sqn3aB-Vy3Xs6JmVJyE7jlwN8LZ8SxvSL93xzajGwgafJHVEUYnH0IMOcA9iPUol_/s320/Rohan.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br />May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">May he send you help from the sanctuary</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and grant you support from Zion.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May he remember all your sacrifices</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and accept your burnt offerings.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May he give you the desire of your heart</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and make all your plans succeed.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May we shout for joy over your victory</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and lift up our banners in the name of our God.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May the Lord grant all your requests.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now this I know:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The Lord gives victory to his anointed.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with the victorious power of his right hand.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some trust in chariots and some in horses,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They are brought to their knees and fall,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> but we rise up and stand firm.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lord, give victory to the king!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Answer us when we call!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Psalm 20 is a kingship psalm. It's probably not one we will memorize or see on a bookmark. (Psalm 23 is coming up soon!) The more natural choice for this weeks blost would have been Psalm 19. It's great! But I chose 20 because it got me thinking about King David, his role and the role of the kings in Israel, God's people, and all of us being under the authority and care of Jehovah.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I picture this is a prayer being spoken over troops as they are being sent out to battle against one of the neighboring peoples. David, up above them in some way, speaking blessings over them, "May God ..." He is entrusting his men to the Lord and reminding them who is really in charge of the people, their protection, and the land. Then he moves on to his personal confidence that God will give him victory because he is the Lord's anointed. This is not arrogance. David is confident and settled in the calling God has on his life as the anointed King of Israel. He knows the one in whom he trusts and from whom the victory must come. He also knows that the battles aren't about him or Israel, but about the Lord and his soverignty. (Keep in mind that when Israel went into battle apart from the Lord's leading, they were routed!)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This psalm reminds us as twenty-first century readers that God is still sovereign over all nations and all lands. He is in his "heavenly sanctuary" still hearing our prayers and still as trustworthy to be faithful to his promises as he was with Israel and her King.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As you worship this week, whether this morning in a church building or later in the week when you're out and about, rejoice in the Lord that he has drawn you away from trusting in whatever your heart is tempted to trust for victory, to trusting in the name of the Lord your God. In fact, here's an idea for an exercise: You might not be a warrior going off to batte, but in your field and community what are you tempted to trust in other than the Lord? Often I am convinced if I can just put together the best routine and schedule, all will be well. My gods are my accomplishments and ability to be in control. I could rephrase that verse <i>Some trust in calendars and some in atomic habits, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.</i> Sounds silly, but it's the truth. (And, of course, the baseline is me trusting in myself. Lord, have mercy!)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you belong to Christ, (God's ultimate anointed one), you too have been chosen and called to be part of God's people. Contrary to public opinion, we are not warriors that need to take back anything for God; that wasn't Israel's task either. They were called to love and obey the Lord, becuase he loved them and rescued them from Egypt, and by <i>being </i>his they would be a light to the nations. We are as dependent as the troops of Israel on God's rescue and direction in our lives as individuals and the Church. And we are just as prone to idol worship as the people of Israel. (Check out <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+10%3A11-13&version=NIV" target="_blank">I Cor 10:11-13</a>.)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May the Lord use Psalm 20 to minister to us this day, brining conviction of sin and confidence in his love and care for his Church. The Lord gave victory to the King of kings, Jesus! He answers us when we call! Like David, we can rise up and stand firm in him, with humble rejoicing, confident prayers, and hopeful anticipation of his continued victory over sin and death, in our individual lives and in all creation.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="text Eph-6-12" id="en-NIV-29350" style="background-color: white; text-align: start; white-space: normal;"><i></i></span></span></p><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="text Eph-6-12" id="en-NIV-29350" style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; text-align: start; white-space: normal;">For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start; white-space: normal;"><i> </i></span> </blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: right;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start; white-space: normal;">Ephesians 6:12</span></blockquote><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start; white-space: normal;"></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Only the Lord can come out on top agains such foes! We surrender to him; he fights our enemies. He has secured the victory and is securing it. What a God!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Amen.</span></p></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-58096695649547770212023-02-12T08:37:00.001-05:002023-02-12T08:37:32.539-05:00Psalm 16<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYk-3VqmVqlmL5cAdUkDok-SwS--SRNZuXwVQCiaFKt7rDib9c4BnA_v1jhSrQYkX7OefDVM99aHuXOLCt6A_CvXO-fIzxVB8676HU35Qklg_vfHy_mbN_ziw_IyNkc7QAQDGYmxlbkTKzpVC60BxAJ0AXM_AUdJbw1BxGgBHtybvxSg5fciMTLD2V/s4032/IMG_20200807_102339.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYk-3VqmVqlmL5cAdUkDok-SwS--SRNZuXwVQCiaFKt7rDib9c4BnA_v1jhSrQYkX7OefDVM99aHuXOLCt6A_CvXO-fIzxVB8676HU35Qklg_vfHy_mbN_ziw_IyNkc7QAQDGYmxlbkTKzpVC60BxAJ0AXM_AUdJbw1BxGgBHtybvxSg5fciMTLD2V/s320/IMG_20200807_102339.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><i>Keep me safe, my God,</i></div><div><i> for in you I take refuge.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;</i></div><div><i> apart from you I have no good thing.”</i></div><div><i>I say of the holy people who are in the land,</i></div><div><i> “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”</i></div><div><i>Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.</i></div><div><i> I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods</i></div><div><i> or take up their names on my lips.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;</i></div><div><i> you make my lot secure.</i></div><div><i>The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;</i></div><div><i> surely I have a delightful inheritance.</i></div><div><i>I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;</i></div><div><i> even at night my heart instructs me.</i></div><div><i>I keep my eyes always on the Lord.</i></div><div><i> With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;</i></div><div><i> my body also will rest secure,</i></div><div><i>because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,</i></div><div><i> nor will you let your faithful one see decay.</i></div><div><i>You make known to me the path of life;</i></div><div><i> you will fill me with joy in your presence,</i></div><div><i> with eternal pleasures at your right hand.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is a beautiful psalm of trust. David speaks of God's attributes as a refuge and provider and names the many good things God has provided and will provide for him because he belongs to God. I feel like it wouldn't hurt to memorize this one!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the writing of this psalm, David needs (as many of the psalms have demonstrated through Psalm 16) protection from his enemies. King Saul wants him dead. But he knows that he is God's anointed, chosen to be the next king of Israel. This psalm is an expression of trust in him and in praise of who God is and what he does and will do. Knowing God has and will keep him safe, is his portion and his cup, and is always present with him not only gives David personal confidence and security; it impacts how he relates to others, to idols, even to death. And the tone of the psalm is joy and praise. David delights in God's people, forsakes all other gods, and proclaims that it is God who has set him up, continues to direct him, and will keep him from being shaken.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Because of all of the truth he knows about God, David also responds from within his very being, trusting the Lord with his death as much as his life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i></i></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>my body also will rest secure.</i></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><i></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In fact, without knowing it (I assume) his subsequent words are picked up by the apostles in Acts as prophesy of how God did not let Jesus' body see decay but raised him from the dead!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">David responds to knowledge of and relationship with God in his living and being. On display for us here is a picture of the <i>shalom</i> that God established for the world at creation, and that all of creation presently longs to have restored. <i>Shalom</i> is not a simple absence-of-war peace, but rather a flourishing and well-being to the core for all of creation and for each individual. We find it only in God and surrender to his authority and care. David says it this way:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i></i></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>I say to the L<span style="font-size: x-small;">ORD</span>, "You are my L<span style="font-size: x-small;">ORD</span>;</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>apart from you I have no good thing.</i></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><i></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Friends, we walk with, know, and have been chosen, redeemed, adopted, and made righteous by the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and King David! <i>Shalom</i>, though not yet in its fullness on earth, is ours in Christ! To me, the only logical question in response to reading a psalm like this is</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Will we join David in expressing trust in God today?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Will we let our hearts be glad in God, despite enemy assault; will we <i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter%202%3A9&version=NIV" target="_blank">declare the praises of God who has called us out of darkness and into his wonderful light</a>; </i>will we walk in the paths of life he has shown us; will we praise him with our words and in relationship with our fellow brothers and sisters in the faith? </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Oh, let's! We belong to God!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Turning our minds and hearts back to what is true, then saying it out loud, truly will make our hearts glad and loosen our tongues to rejoice. It doesn't mean the hard will go away automatically or perhaps ever in this life, but we know our Creator-King God knows and is in it with us with the love and power each situation requires.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i></i></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><i>The boundary lines have fallen for </i>[us]<i> in pleasant places;</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>surely, </i>[we] <i>have a delightful inheritance.</i></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><i></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;">My dear siblings in Christ, God is keeping us safe. He is our refuge. He is our portion. He is our cup. </div><div style="text-align: left;">We have a delightful inheritance. God is faithful to his people in life and in death. Let us join our brother, King David, and keep our eyes always on the Lord. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Shalom.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-85786472099010355072023-02-04T11:32:00.002-05:002023-02-04T11:32:12.551-05:00Psalm 15<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTzPC-iR8U7WiiRuSC87gRwMaZXc0HzvQCuYHnM2zuN8QQpJy15L7bCB2UbNfgLG-zonbPIxXkNV72G1XhXzkqVYsff5Blg4R91YEC4p9kJdmGFMvn51X2T4WKU4BFOS-UkTTUeqXCQCpqsNLJcfda23lYY_EfYBE-_VTHlEKueAxUL9NJsrHTRSMB/s480/tabernacle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTzPC-iR8U7WiiRuSC87gRwMaZXc0HzvQCuYHnM2zuN8QQpJy15L7bCB2UbNfgLG-zonbPIxXkNV72G1XhXzkqVYsff5Blg4R91YEC4p9kJdmGFMvn51X2T4WKU4BFOS-UkTTUeqXCQCpqsNLJcfda23lYY_EfYBE-_VTHlEKueAxUL9NJsrHTRSMB/s320/tabernacle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?</div><div> Who may live on your holy mountain?</div><div><br /></div><div>The one whose walk is blameless,</div><div> who does what is righteous,</div><div> who speaks the truth from their heart;</div><div>whose tongue utters no slander,</div><div> who does no wrong to a neighbor,</div><div> and casts no slur on others;</div><div>who despises a vile person</div><div> but honors those who fear the Lord;</div><div>who keeps an oath even when it hurts,</div><div> and does not change their mind;</div><div>who lends money to the poor without interest;</div><div> who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.</div><div><br /></div><div>Whoever does these things</div><div> will never be shaken.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Psalm 15 doesn't fit into any of the common psalm categories: hymn of praise, lament, or thanksgiving. Though it's not listed as a "wisdom" psalm as such in the books I have for reference, for me it makes me think of Proverbs more than Psalms. It is instruction in answer to two big questions. I don't know if these questions are being asked in the same way now. I think we ask them in this form: "Am I enough?" We want to know that we are okay.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>I'm not sure that this psalm offers much comfort. Or does it?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">First, some history: In David's time, God dwelled in the holy of holies in the tabernacle that he gave explicit instructions to build. Later, when David took the throne, he would centralize both the government and religious life of Israel in Jerusalem by bringing the ark of the covenant there to be settled. His son would construct the more permanent temple. The holy of holies was open only once a year for the high priest to enter and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2016&version=NIV" target="_blank">offer sacrifices for the people for atonement</a> (Leviticus 16). The high priest had to be cleansed and purified according to the word of the Lord before presenting sacrifice on behalf of the people. It was serious business to come into the presence of the Lord. David knew this.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In answer to his own questions, then, David goes on to describe the type of person who can live in God's sacred tent and holy mountain: a righteous one. If you read Psalm 14, this is intriguing, because he blatantly says in Psalm 14, "there is no one who does good." (Paul picks this idea up in Romans 3, as well.) Nevertheless, David, knowing the law, is able to pen these words about how the Lord has laid out instructions for the righteous life he desires.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I would summarize the verses by saying the one whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous is driven by a purity of heart and motive that come from submission to the greatest commandment and the second that is like it (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2022%3A36-40&version=NIV" target="_blank">Matthew 22:36-40</a>). They have an integration of faith and life that sets them on a solid foundation. The specifics include controlled speech, relating to others kindly, opposition to evil, being a person of their word and integrity, just, generous, and honest.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An honest reflection will highlight that no human lives up to this ideal. Like David said in Psalm 14, no one does good. Well, all of us do some good, but none of us is one hundred percent consistent in our righteousness enough to be confident to "dwell in [God's] sacred tent."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Is there any comfort in this psalm, then?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yes! We can be encouraged in two ways: our reconciliation to God in Christ and God's promise to carry to completion what he starts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Jesus lived the kind of life described here. He came to do so, in fact, that he could be the sacrifice to open up the holy of holies to all people. He was unshakable in his love for God and neighbor. But more than being an example or a martyr, he is the way, truth, and life. This week in a separate Bible study for our Sunday School class, I was floored by the truth that I have been <i>reconciled</i> to God through Christ. We were once alienated or enemies of God, but through faith in Jesus we are restored to God as sons and daughters. Thus, we can love God and love our neighbor as he intended all along.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That hits on the second idea that God carries to completion what he begins. In Christ, as new creations, we can set out on the paths of righteousness God has laid out for us, not in pride or fear, but in peace, contentment, and joy. Secure as God's own children, knowing he has promised to transform us into Jesus' likeness, we can forsake our former idols and habits and boldly walk in faith as people of justice, righteousness, and integrity. In that space, we are on solid ground. ("Shaken" there at the end of the psalm can be translated "stand firm forever" or "moved.")</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">God's story is all about recreating the way to be with his people. From the fall in Genesis 3, the reconciliation story unfolds according to God's timing and plan. He knows none of us is righteous, yet he made a way that we can be, so we can be with him again in his presence as he was with Adam and Eve in the garden. Nailing the righteous life is not the end goal, being with our God is. In this present time, we can enjoy growing in righteousness through relationship with our Creator-King - planting our feet on the solid ground of his love and his word. Thus we will become ministers of reconciliation in a world that desperately needs just that.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So back to our modern version of David's opening question: "Am I enough?" I think the Bible tells us we're asking the wrong question. God simply invites us to believe that he is enough and to trust his way for us is best. We have immense value and worth as God's image-bearers in creation. By sending his son, Jesus, God showed us just how much he loves us and how much he wants to rescue us from the fear that we're not enough. Further, he has given us his Spirit; the God who once dwelt only in the holy of holies takes up residence in our hearts. Wow, doesn't that make you want to praise him?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">May his blessings flow to you as you worship and rest this weekend.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-61189349228348131162023-01-29T09:10:00.000-05:002023-01-29T09:10:22.563-05:00Psalm 12<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMkdLBUGcPPJSLV79LFSraa2G_kMfPwhA_iJ2nBZQfWWARnBxXDHBjkaL32mlL6LHEZUTehQjFnAuOZ7dAO9zojsh18dg1EIu_pfzD-eha4bU14xLaKrIaTtgiDIhXdPyHduSavtaXzRpptQ9xI_xzlYR4HzfSqAu4DD2SiDGXi4zcYhe97PQR-g78/s800/talking-head-silhouette-vector-clipart_800.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="745" data-original-width="800" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMkdLBUGcPPJSLV79LFSraa2G_kMfPwhA_iJ2nBZQfWWARnBxXDHBjkaL32mlL6LHEZUTehQjFnAuOZ7dAO9zojsh18dg1EIu_pfzD-eha4bU14xLaKrIaTtgiDIhXdPyHduSavtaXzRpptQ9xI_xzlYR4HzfSqAu4DD2SiDGXi4zcYhe97PQR-g78/w302-h281/talking-head-silhouette-vector-clipart_800.png" width="302" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore;</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Everyone lies to their neighbor;</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> they flatter with their lips</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> but harbor deception in their hearts.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">May the Lord silence all flattering lips</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> and every boastful tongue—</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">those who say,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> “By our tongues we will prevail;</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> I will now arise,” says the Lord.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> “I will protect them from those who malign them.”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">And the words of the Lord are flawless,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> like silver purified in a crucible,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> like gold refined seven times.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">You, Lord, will keep the needy safe</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> and will protect us forever from the wicked,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">who freely strut about</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> when what is vile is honored by the human race.</span></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Here we find another lament of David. He looks around and says what I have often heard said these days, though the language is perhaps a bit different. "Why is there so much evil?" "Why doesn't anyone follow God anymore?" "Things have never been this bad."</p><p style="text-align: justify;">But David turns to the Lord and opens with "Help!" Did you know that is one of the best prayers? That one word communicates so much: surrender and faith. It says, "Hey, Lord, I know you're the only hope in this situation." It looks in the right direction for hope and assistance. Don't ever feel ashamed or afraid to simply say to your loving heavenly Faith and Creator-King, "Help!"</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In the pattern of a lament, after issuing his complaint/plea-for-help combo, David expresses confidence in God to shut down the proud and boastful. Then there's the stanza where God speaks. It is almost like, mid-prayer, David turns to God's word for language to express his confidence that God is going to answer his plea for help. God will arise! His word (promises) will be fulfilled!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">David closes with a word of praise to God, the one who keeps the needy safe and protects the vulnerable from the wicked, even if it seems like at the moment they are prevailing.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>A Psalm of Contrasts</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">As per the usual in wisdom literature, God's steadfast faithfulness and power to protect his people and triumph over evil are set in contrast to the pride and dishonesty of "the wicked" - those who refuse to acknowledge God. Another comparison is presented between their words and God's. The speech of these unfaithful and unloyal humans is at best unreliable, at worst harmful. God's word, however, is as trustworthy and pure as can be. Human tongues wag in confidence their plans will come to pass and nothing can stop them. But the Lord arises, able to make his word come to pass.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">It is worth the time to present a final contrast that may not be as obvious, but I find most personally convicting. The last line of the Psalm reads, "when what is vile is honored by the human race." To read that word in the context of this psalm, <i>vile</i> can be understood as lying, deceitfulness, boasting, pride, and plundering the vulnerable. If I were asked, outside of reading this psalm, what I'd put in the vile category, none of these things would make my list. I'd be thinking of gross, deviant behaviors that make the daily news and leave us thinking, "Thank goodness I'm not like that!" But lying, deceit, pride, boasting, benefiting from the plunder of the poor? Well, I can be like <i>that</i>! In contrast, we find the faithful - loyal to God and fellow humans - who humbly turn to God, trust in his protection and power, and strive to help the poor and needy.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Good News!</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, those who put their faith in him have a door opened to freedom from wickedness (dependence on self) and unto faithfulness (humble surrender to God). God takes hard hearts, prone to lies, flattery, and deception, and gives hearts of flesh in return, hearts soft toward him and toward our neighbor. The self-preservation-at-any-cost way of living is replaced by a hopeful, faithful, peaceful existence grounded in the love of our powerful and loving Creator-King who sees the poor and needy and is risen.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I am humbled by a psalm like this. On my own, without the Lord's intervention in my life, I was in the group David talks about in verse one. But he has intervened and given me faith and his Spirit. I am no longer at the mercy of my pride and desires! Nor are you if you have put your trust in Jesus. Yes, temptation will come - we are not yet in the new earth - but sin's power over us is no more. We belong to the Lord and are part of his family!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">People will fail us. We will disappoint ourselves. But "the words of the Lord are flawless." Indeed, what he says he will do. Consider the contrasts in this psalm and, as you meditate on the gospel today, rejoice! When you were poor and needy, the Lord came to your aid. Jesus' work is complete and he will return.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">When we are tempted to join in David's lament,"Lord, no one is faithful anymore! Evil is winning!" may the Spirit quickly come to our aid, reminding us of God's triumph over evil, his good and true promises, and his love and power at work in his Church (us!) and in the world. Further, may the Lord guide us into his way for us today and in the coming days, showing us when and where we can be part of his "arising" to the aid of the poor and needy.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>Shalom!</i></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-48099586060446698042023-01-22T06:54:00.002-05:002023-01-22T06:54:42.854-05:00Psalm 8<div><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzk2qwODYhzH0CQIGC2LFZb7bxV0vik-AmvKZ8L5Cmfk8u_0GzpDF1GFSYOvgbA6J_jYUwQKLv-CSQ7ScCIZImBS17Q5rI5dK-aXGtrTuhALbTE7pBaU04Nz2UNCiaiB8UflMVwvHmLmyWuauKlX7W3eQD1eFUmIns2UeFAIzQ8SsA2xpJOMeYNRg4/s960/khamkeo-vilaysing-rpVQJbZMw8o-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@mahkeo?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Khamkéo Vilaysing</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/wallpapers/nature/night-sky?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzk2qwODYhzH0CQIGC2LFZb7bxV0vik-AmvKZ8L5Cmfk8u_0GzpDF1GFSYOvgbA6J_jYUwQKLv-CSQ7ScCIZImBS17Q5rI5dK-aXGtrTuhALbTE7pBaU04Nz2UNCiaiB8UflMVwvHmLmyWuauKlX7W3eQD1eFUmIns2UeFAIzQ8SsA2xpJOMeYNRg4/w213-h320/khamkeo-vilaysing-rpVQJbZMw8o-unsplash.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />L<span style="font-size: x-small;">ORD</span>, our L<span style="font-size: x-small;">ORD</span>,</i></div><div><i> how majestic is your name in all the earth!</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>You have set your glory</i></div><div><i> in the heavens.</i></div><div><i>Through the praise of children and infants</i></div><div><i> you have established a stronghold against your enemies,</i></div><div><i> to silence the foe and the avenger.</i></div><div><i>When I consider your heavens,</i></div><div><i> the work of your fingers,</i></div><div><i>the moon and the stars,</i></div><div><i> which you have set in place,</i></div><div><i>what is mankind that you are mindful of them,</i></div><div><i> human beings that you care for them?</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>You have made them a little lower than the angels</i></div><div><i> and crowned them with glory and honor.</i></div><div><i>You made them rulers over the works of your hands;</i></div><div><i> you put everything under their feet:</i></div><div><i>all flocks and herds,</i></div><div><i> and the animals of the wild,</i></div><div><i>the birds in the sky,</i></div><div><i> and the fish in the sea,</i></div><div><i> all that swim the paths of the seas.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>L<span style="font-size: x-small;">ORD</span>, our L<span style="font-size: x-small;">ORD</span>,</i></div><div><i> how majestic is your name in all the earth!</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>David praises Jehovah (L<span style="font-size: x-small;">ORD</span>), whose name is majestic in the earth because he created it all, including the heavens. Further, David is in awe of how his Lord ordered creation such that humankind would be positioned its stewards. Psalm 8 is a psalm of praise. Indeed this one sounds more like what we sing on a Sunday morning than the lament in <a href="http://www.lifeinthevalley.org/2023/01/psalm-6.html" target="_blank">Psalm 6 that we looked at last week</a>!</div><div><br /></div><div>As I read this I thought that perhaps David wrote this at night. He doesn't mention the sun, only the moon and stars. I imagine, in an era without the light pollution we enjoy today, him standing out in a field and beholding the expanse above him. (Note in the psalm that "heavens" is a reference to the sky, not heaven as a place where God dwells.) What does he see? Probably something like the photo above. So. Many. Stars. The experience, even without all the knowledge we presently have about how immense the universe is, makes him wonder at how small he is. He says, "You have set your glory in the heavens." Glory refers here to <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h1935/niv/wlc/0-1/" target="_blank">splendor, the grandeur of an imposing form or appearance</a>. Jehovah's glory is displayed in creation, especially that vastness of the sky! David recognizes his comparable smallness and worships his Jehovah's majestic name.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then he moves on to consider that, despite his physical insignificance in comparison to the heavens, Jehovah created all things with an order, within which human beings were the crowning achievement of creation, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1%3A26-31&version=NIV" target="_blank">placed on earth to tend to all Jehovah created</a>. What a calling! God is so big, His creation so glorious, and still, God is "mindful" of his image-bearers and "made them rulers over the works of [his] hands."</div><div><br /></div><div>The hierarchy is clear. The Creator is on top. We live and rule in dependence on and in submission to Jehovah. Yet David communicates in his praise that it is not a hierarchy of fear, but of love. In the poetic style of the ancient Hebrews, couplets that emphasize an image or idea, we see the mindfulness of God described as care for human beings.</div><div><br /></div><div>You know, I have no idea how creation happened at the scientific level. People seem to like to argue about that. With this psalm, however, let's leave all those details aside and imagine ourselves standing with David out in the dark on a plain or at the top of a mountain beholding the clear night sky in all of its glory. We are tempted to stop there, simply amazed at what was created. Then the Spirit reminds us not to stop there with our adoration, but to turn our thoughts to the one who is greater than creation, Jehovah the Creator.</div><div><br /></div><div>We hold our breath a moment when we remember he calls us his own beloved children through his Son Jesus. The one who made and placed every blessed star in the heavens knows our names, set us on his earth to steward everything he created, and knit us together to reflect his image in the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>As we exhale we join David and whisper or shout,</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-2980122705877661162023-01-14T07:41:00.002-05:002023-01-14T07:43:48.829-05:00Psalm 6<div><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwAWPH8fUXXLyZo3OFovVrFKurfCrGERO4FIbi9d2ax881Gz1Cv8TRQ7uMiUYAY8ibV_noAFTALkOHry98QzXF-QwaatSWLNAEgTz7mnx1h-Kpv02X6pdvWAI2SCtiu_Wq-Nm_Ja3wa8jH4Fz-MwhoLQ4RrXhRUnGyb8gZrMPn__WEkAjLm6bE31X/s1280/ap_insideout_ff1_HPA.webp" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="1280" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwAWPH8fUXXLyZo3OFovVrFKurfCrGERO4FIbi9d2ax881Gz1Cv8TRQ7uMiUYAY8ibV_noAFTALkOHry98QzXF-QwaatSWLNAEgTz7mnx1h-Kpv02X6pdvWAI2SCtiu_Wq-Nm_Ja3wa8jH4Fz-MwhoLQ4RrXhRUnGyb8gZrMPn__WEkAjLm6bE31X/w320-h168/ap_insideout_ff1_HPA.webp" title="https://www.wired.com/2015/06/pixar-inside-out/" width="320" /></a></div><br />Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger</i></div><div><i> or discipline me in your wrath.</i></div><div><i>Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint;</i></div><div><i> heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.</i></div><div><i>My soul is in deep anguish.</i></div><div><i> How long, Lord, how long?</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Turn, Lord, and deliver me;</i></div><div><i> save me because of your unfailing love.</i></div><div><i>Among the dead no one proclaims your name.</i></div><div><i> Who praises you from the grave?</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>I am worn out from my groaning.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>All night long I flood my bed with weeping</i></div><div><i> and drench my couch with tears.</i></div><div><i>My eyes grow weak with sorrow;</i></div><div><i> they fail because of all my foes.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Away from me, all you who do evil,</i></div><div><i> for the Lord has heard my weeping.</i></div><div><i>The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;</i></div><div><i> the Lord accepts my prayer.</i></div><div><i>All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;</i></div><div><i> they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Before this Psalm, there are musical instructions: "with stringed instruments." I kinda giggled to myself thinking about what it would be like if our music team led us in a song with these lyrics on Sunday morning. Not your typical praise chorus.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And yet,</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">how many Sunday mornings do we roll into church and could easily answer, "I am worn out from my groaning," if we were to answer honestly when asked how we were doing?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Allow me to state the obvious: <b>Psalm 6 is a psalm of lament.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I don't know what tradition you were raised in or what your perspective of contemporary Christianity is if you weren't, but I know that I came out of my upbringing thinking that a Jesus follower had to be like Joy from the movie <u>Inside Out</u><i style="font-weight: bold;">. </i>(She's the one with her arms outstretched in the picture above.)<i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i>I remember a praise lyric, "I'm inside, outside, upside, downside, happy all the time!" And there are a lot of verses about God giving us joy: <i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Nehemiah%208%3A10&version=NIV" target="_blank">the joy of the Lord is our strength</a>; </i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5%3A22-23&version=NIV" target="_blank">it's a fruit of the Spirit</a>; heck, we're even supposed to <i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1%3A2&version=NIV" target="_blank">consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds.</a></i> A passage like Psalm 6 can leave you wondering. Was David not as fantastic of a God-follower as we've been told, too emotional or whiny? Is Pixar better at acknowledging our humanity than the Bible?! Or are the psalms of lament included in the canon of Scripture to teach us about the nature of God, how we can relate to Him, and a rebuke of Christians-must-be-pretutally-happy- <strike>robots</strike> -people message?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Let's see!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>What's the main idea of Psalm 6?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When approaching the Word, we always want to begin by considering what it has to tell us about God. The Bible is, after all, a book of revelation about him, that we may know him and respond to his invitation to relationship with him. Psalms of lament have some or all of these elements, with the bold being the most common: invocation, plea for help, <b>complaint</b>, confession, cursing enemies, <b>confidence in God</b>, and <b>a hymn or blessing</b> to close. In Psalm 6 we find an invocation, plea, complaint, and confidence in God. Considering the genre and what it has to tell us about God, the main idea of psalm 6 is <b>when we find ourselves in dire straights, running <i>to</i> God and declaring what is true about the situation, our feelings, and His character is the faithful move, because it expresses our trust in his love, strength, and sovereignty.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Do you see how David does this? He doesn't shy away from brutal honesty, and in the first verses one gets the impression that he's maybe a little concerned about this blunt approach. He's like, "Hey God, um, yeah, like, don't wipe me out, have mercy on me. Your anointed King is not at his best right now." But given how the Lord has guided, protected, and preserved his life so far, David knows that it is okay to come as he is. Things are just plain hard! He is literally dealing with enemies who want him to fail or, worse, die.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"<i>How long, Lord, how long?</i>" is not an unreasonable question from the man who knows he's to be Israel's next king. God made the promise, but the road has been rocky!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I believe it's important at this juncture to share a theme I see emerging from Psalms. Like in Psalm 1, we saw the contrast between the righteous and the wicked (those who trust God and those who do not), there is another major contrast presented, God and humankind. God is a self-sufficient, powerful, eternal, holy, merciful refuge. Humans are dependent, weak, finite, and very much in need of refuge.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In our psalm here we see how David is worn out, beaten down, and defeated. He needs God to intervene, so he turns to Him. Even in his grief, David recites what is true: God hears his prayers; his enemies will be defeated (God promised); he will know God's comfort; this weeping isn't the end of the story.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">David, in lament, runs to his only true refuge, the very source of his hope.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>What's this got to do with worship?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Friends, we are in the same boat as David. Yes, we live after the death and resurrection of Jesus and have the Spirit, but we still wait His second coming, the new heaven and the new earth, the end-end of all sorrow and grief. Groaning is part of this present season. David shows us how we can groan faithfully with hope. We can come to our loving heavenly Father and say, "How long, Lord, how long?" <i>and</i> we can repeat to ourselves and one another the truth that a day is coming when all of God's enemies and the sin that entangles us will be vanquished once and for all.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reading the Bible and considering the timeline of God with His people reveals two things:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ol><li>God keeps His promises.</li><li>God, in wisdom, works in His time.</li></ol><div>The second one is hard. I would hurry things along, especially the painful stuff! But I wonder what I would miss about living by faith, hope, and love if life was always Easy St.?</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh boy, one final really important thing we learn as we read God's Word to us!</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">**God is present with His people.**</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">God wants to be with us and went as far as sending His own Son to die for us so that we can live with Him eternally. Can you believe it?! Our Creator-King, whom we have offended with our constant efforts to be our own god, loves us and wants to be with us forever. He wants to restore and renew us so we can look like Him!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b></b></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>A passage like Psalm 6 reminds us of our desperate need of a delivering and merciful God.</b> </div></blockquote><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Psalm 6 teaches us that authentic coming to Him doesn't have to clean up; He comforts and leads us in our sorrow.</b> </div></blockquote><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Psalm 6 also shows us how to live faithfully while in distress: weep because it is hard; pray because He hears; look forward to His promises because He is faithful.</b></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><b></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Have you ever noticed how many hymns end with a verse of anticipation of Christ's return? That keeps everything into perspective, just like the psalms of lament closing with words of confidence in God and a blessing of His name. There's a plan for the end of all this madness. Someone is overseeing it all and He's good and able. There is hope because God is, sees, loves, and has a plan!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tomorrow is Sunday. May the Lord meet you in worship, whether you are bursting at the seems with joy this weekend or you're "worn out from groaning" like David was. God with with us when our hearts are light, when they are aching, and everything in between. He delights that we come to Him, no matter what <u>Inside Out</u><i> </i>character we resemble at the moment!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Lord, help us by your Spirit to be faithful to you in the waiting; it is hard and you know our fragility.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thank you that your Word teaches us that we can come to you authentically, that you are aware of our trials and tribulations, and that you have a plan to make all things new.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>You are present. All glory to your name.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Amen.</i></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-71080165359598160422023-01-06T09:13:00.002-05:002023-01-06T10:30:43.544-05:00Psalm 1<p></p><br /><b><span style="font-family: arial;"> Psalm 1</span></b><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Jpe48ThSII31NoX-2_COBrKouZ_oRh3BZu-08adSvvsns1ydFHreayzf93YpmFzfsZ87rf5SUlmb8InpBN-gHX4DklDaggrXH7h_6p0uKHgWJhYF47povImzru4AanRnA3Y3jrsF7P-skdvW9xAqn2A1LMawZDIWU0gF4N8Y0eZpZGII0rwqMMKt/s4032/IMG_20191021_170930.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Jpe48ThSII31NoX-2_COBrKouZ_oRh3BZu-08adSvvsns1ydFHreayzf93YpmFzfsZ87rf5SUlmb8InpBN-gHX4DklDaggrXH7h_6p0uKHgWJhYF47povImzru4AanRnA3Y3jrsF7P-skdvW9xAqn2A1LMawZDIWU0gF4N8Y0eZpZGII0rwqMMKt/s320/IMG_20191021_170930.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Blessed is the one</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span> </span>who does not walk in step with the wicked</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>or stand in the way that sinners take</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span> </span>or sit in the company of mockers,</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>but whose delight is in the law of the Lord</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span> </span>and who meditates on his law day and night.</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span> </span>which yields its fruit in season</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>and whose leave does not wither --</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span> </span>whatever they do prospers.</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Not so the wicked!</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><i> They are like chaff</i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><i><span> that </span>the wind blows away.</i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span> nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.</span><br /></i></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous</i></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span> </span>but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.</i></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The psalm above is the opening psalm of Psalms. As I mentioned in <a href="http://www.lifeinthevalley.org/2023/01/how-to-read-psalms-for-all-their-worth.html" target="_blank">the previous post</a>, the compilers of the book put it together with intention. We can thus assume that this first poetic prayer sets the tone for the book. In fact, as I have been reading the first three psalms over and over this week, I have been impressed by how all three prepare the reader for what is to come: the first lays out a contrast between ways of living; the second extolls God's authority, sovereignty, and power; the third demonstrates living righteously by crying out to and depending on the God introduced in psalm two. But today we focus on </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Psalm 1.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>What is the main idea of this psalm?</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Without understanding the main idea, we run the risk of missing what the psalmist is trying to say or, worse, misinterpreting or misapplying the Scripture. Consider this sobering thought in <u>How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth</u>, (p218, emphasis mine):</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Decontextualizing any part of a psalm is to betray the psalimst, and will often lead to wrong conclusions. Whenever one takes even a part of a piece of literature and uses it wrongly, and especially with poetry(!), that literature will be unable to do what it was intended to do, and <b>so God's purposes in inspring it are thwarted.</b></i></span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That made me pause the first time I read it! How important it is to treat the Word of God with proper respect and honor. That reminds me of Psalm 1 a little!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In this psalm, we find the main idea in the major contrast that is presented between <i>the way of the</i> <i>righteous</i> and <i>the way of the</i> <i>wicked</i>;<i> </i>the former is laid out by God and the other is not. Using the imagery of a flourishing tree in contrast to chaff that gets blown away, the way of God is presented as fruitful and lasting while the way without him as unproductive and finite. The focus is on these two ways of living; one is under God's direction and wisdom, the other not. It's not about individuals and whether or not they are good or bad. The central theme of the psalm is the two ways of living. Will we take God's wise way or will we go on our foolish own?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Remembering we are dealing with poetry, not prose, commands, or narrative helps us to keep the words of the psalm and our hearts in check. So when we read lines like "whatever they do prospers," we know it's not a promise for following a formula. Even the Bible highlights that bad things happen to good people and vice-versa! Nor can we get puffed up and think, "At least I'm not like the wicked," because we know darn well that we aren't as righteous as the righteousness described in the opening verses.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Considering Psalm 1 within the full counsel of the Bible is helpful at this point. This two-ways message is reiterated over and over again throughout the Bible. God created us to be with him. The story of the Bible is his unfolding plan to be with his people again as he was with Adam and Eve in the garden in Genesis 1 and 2. Part of that plan was the provision of the law, to show his people what his way looks like and that they could be a light to the nations by living it. To be frank, the law devastatingly (to human pride) revealed that there was no hope for them to walk in that way without complete dependence on the giver of the law. The point was not to get the list of rules, obey them perfectly, and prove their worth to the Lord. The point was to worship and fall into step with the way of the One who gave the law, that they might know the flourishing of a tree planted by streams of water that is fruitful and unwithering. The coming of Christ to fulfill the law and be <i>the </i>way is the climax of the story.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>About Worship</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I woke up thinking about how to close these blog posts this year. In the opening post I mentioned that the primary purpose of the psalms is liturgical, to guide us in worship. Let's consider Psalm 1 from that perspective then. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Psalm 1 is not an us versus them psalm. Psalm 1 is not a "live this way and you're guaranteed a prosperous earthly life" psalm. Psalm 1 is not about instilling fear of a capricious God who will blow you away if you don't get it "right."</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Psalm 1 certainly humbles us to the dust; we know we are incapable of constant meditation on the Scriptures and that our delight in God cannot be sustained by our own willpower. Yet Psalm 1 also lifts up our heads; the Creator-King God loves us so much he shows us the way that we might enjoy the blessing of walking in it with him, now and eternally! Psalm 1 is an invitation. Psalm 1 is a gift.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You know how it opens "Blessed is ...?" Well, I read once in reference to the beatitudes that it could be translated as congratulations! "Congratulations to the one who walks in God's way!" It's a way of joy, peace, hope, and flourishing. Happy is the one who finds it, indeed.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To bring this ancient psalm into the present, lest we ever be tempted to pat ourselves on the back for being "righteous," our worship is reoriented when we remember that it was <i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%205%3A8&version=NIV" target="_blank">because God loved us and while we were still sinners</a></i> that Christ - <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014%3A6&version=NIV" target="_blank">the Way, the Truth, and the Life</a> - died for us to set us free from sin and send the Spirit to enable us to walk in His way.* As it was for David, it is for us; to be a person after God's heart is a work He initiates, directs, and sustains. All glory belongs to God!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Praise the Lord, Christian. Worship him with wonder and delight!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">If you believe, that was his work.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span> </span><span> </span>If you walk in his way, that's his provision and protection.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>If you count yourself among the righteous, that is all to his credit.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Without the God who reveals the two ways, we're blind. But when we hear about Him, learn of His way, and take Him at his word, He gives us hope, makes us righteous, and walks with us in His way.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The goal is not righteous living for righteous living's sake. The end is our Creator-King Himself, who watches over His children on their way, helping them bear fruit as they abide in Him, and keeping their leaves green as they stay close to the river of life.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=lamentations+3%3A22-24&version=NIV" target="_blank">Lift up your head, dear one. God has shown us the way of life and invites us into it because of his love for us. His mercies are new every morning. His faithfulness endures forever.</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Enjoy Him and walking in His way! And, while you're at it, why not invite a friend to join you?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: La Belle Aurore; font-size: large;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span><span style="font-family: "La Belle Aurore"; font-size: x-large;">Heather</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*I realize I'm assuming some knowledge here, feel free to get in touch if you have any questions!</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-218466693052157792023-01-02T11:51:00.000-05:002023-01-02T11:51:39.751-05:00How to Read the Psalms for all Their Worth<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJY6C0_nbfMTo-QPMLDeiCrms55vtU7EQ9yL4FGJowpPAO-WonTU5HqJaZ4CiGVgNttIDUz0_xqMGfqujvR_edbJfrkxcNdIIaVJY3MekllcDyDllaW8chhEVicMpSzWOZslQmQniCw17kurQHCgmtNhehr5Xfi-IWPg7s9etrBzS6caJh0OYGVYWg/s4032/PXL_20230102_154150209.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJY6C0_nbfMTo-QPMLDeiCrms55vtU7EQ9yL4FGJowpPAO-WonTU5HqJaZ4CiGVgNttIDUz0_xqMGfqujvR_edbJfrkxcNdIIaVJY3MekllcDyDllaW8chhEVicMpSzWOZslQmQniCw17kurQHCgmtNhehr5Xfi-IWPg7s9etrBzS6caJh0OYGVYWg/w200-h150/PXL_20230102_154150209.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p>Hello and welcome!</p><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">This year you're invited to join me on a journey through Psalms as I outlined in the <a href="http://www.lifeinthevalley.org/2022/12/2023-in-psalms.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>. I am really looking forward to learning and growing together as we take in this book of poetic prayer during 2023. As we begin, it behooves us to consider the book as a whole so we know how to approach the genre, which will protect us from misunderstanding or misinterpretation. Also, did you know that Psalms has a specific structure? The editor(s) of the book put all of the psalms together intentionally. Finally, the book was written for the people of God in a particular time and place, which guides how we approach it as twenty-first-century Christians. I don't want to make this blost* too long or academic, but the following are vital things to keep in mind so we not only read, but read well.**</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>The psalms are poetry. </b> Maybe you remember your poetry units in middle or high school English class. I remember. As a concrete thinker, sometimes I had no idea what a poet was trying to say! Thankfully, the language and imagery of the Hebrew psalms are not difficult to understand. The real challenge, I believe, is accepting the invitation to surrender to the God they address!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Nevertheless, here are some helpful things to know about Hebrew poetry:</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><ul><li><b>Characterized by terseness, imagery, and parallelism</b> As you read you'll notice that much is communicated with few words, a lot of imagery is used, and ideas are reinforced or intensified by repetition and the use of synonyms or antonyms in successive lines.</li></ul><ul><li><b>Not the Bible's overly-emotional "fluff" </b> The psalms are emotional and relational <i>and</i> teach us a lot about God (theology) and how to relate to him (formation). So, as Dr. Abernathy of Wheaton College said in his lecture on 'The Composition and Organization of the Psalter' in class this fall, "Read to learn."</li></ul><ul><li><b>Different types of psalms </b>The psalms fall into three major categories: lament, hymn, and thanksgiving. The reader must understand each on its own according to its genre.</li></ul><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Psalms is a structured book. </b>I grew up with the Bible, so I knew there were little subtitles in Psalms that said "Book I" and such, but I had never really cared to learn why. Sidenote about me: I am not an investigator, because I'm impatient; thankfully, I married an investigator and he teaches me to take the time by being who he is. It's also a good thing I'm back in school where they remind me not to overlook things!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Hebrew scholars organized Psalms into five of these "books" and they have a rough correlation with the history of Israel. There's "increasing focus on God's kingship and wisdom post-exile, but not giving up on David's kingship" (Dr. Abernathy). The book of Psalms as we know it was arranged after Israel returned from exile, but had been used in worship prior. Books I (Ps 1-41) and II (Ps 42-72) focus on David's faithfulness, Book II (73-89) the experience of the exile, Book IV ( Ps 90-106) on wisdom and God's kingship, and, finally, Book V (Ps 107-150) David reappears and there's hope for the fulfillment of the kingdom. The opening and closing psalms in the Psalter also communicate the message of the book; we'll hit more on that at another time.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Psalms, Israel, God, and Us </b>Perhaps the most important thing we must bear in mind as we read the Bible is that it was written to a specific people at a specific point in history. Scripture also says it was inspired by God for us. The psalms were "<i>functional</i> ... they served the crucial function of making a connection between the worshipper and God (Fee & Stuart 218)" individually and corporately. While much more could be said, let us keep in mind that the primary purpose of the Psalms is liturgical. That is a fancy word for worship. May our hearts be open to what that means for each of us in our relationship with God and fellow believers.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">As I sat with the Lord this morning and reread Psalms 1-3, I wrote,</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i></i></p><blockquote><i>The Psalms are nice but meaningless without the God of whom they speak. Trust Him and you can tell Him anything.</i> </blockquote><blockquote><i>Don't be afraid to verbalize the questions Scripture brings.</i></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">Can't wait to see what God has in store for us as we read, study, and meditate on this poetic worship book He has given us! The picture above is this month's image on a calendar <i>of psalms</i> that my neighbor gave me, unaware that I was starting this series. How cool is that?</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: La Belle Aurore;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Heather</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">* If you're new here, I refer to blog posts as "blosts." I have this ridiculous pet peeve about people calling a single post a blog but agree that it's nice to have a single word for a blog post. Thus, "blost" was born!</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">**Pretty much all of what I share here I learned from lectures in BITH 533 from Wheaton College, fall 2022, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Bible-All-Worth/dp/0310517826/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnsqdBhCGARIsAAyjYjRrm1MxaZovV9LUClNM-cOWmmX-LrQh4tHLtRfvrJCLY-i_WzTU4zwaAruOEALw_wcB&hvadid=587159498377&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9006144&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=14169215364974488718&hvtargid=kwd-299086700291&hydadcr=22600_13378603&keywords=how+to+read+the+bible+for+all+its+worth&qid=1672674881&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><u>How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth</u>, by Fee and Stuart</a> - a book we've had on our shelves since college that I finally read when it was assigned! Really wish I would have read it sooner, but better "late" than never.</span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-55689684086379188372022-12-28T10:14:00.000-05:002022-12-28T10:14:24.557-05:002023 in the Psalms<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwj-JbJPXJgtOcBCMnydV3xfgXD0_SNE-X_MoOP2s4nZbNuzMsP7JbwUGWJ9vRbGheKXaYS2uCTxAbDevt--vEMqrLRRgaXeYo_4LKMu5CxhJjE5-4Yqcdx3fIHtlZt6bcOgKnKoXvE0V4cohUaGElZP3ElqV46bjFnx4qKE6FmAujcqy4fyhHTIQD/s4032/PXL_20221222_124816998.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwj-JbJPXJgtOcBCMnydV3xfgXD0_SNE-X_MoOP2s4nZbNuzMsP7JbwUGWJ9vRbGheKXaYS2uCTxAbDevt--vEMqrLRRgaXeYo_4LKMu5CxhJjE5-4Yqcdx3fIHtlZt6bcOgKnKoXvE0V4cohUaGElZP3ElqV46bjFnx4qKE6FmAujcqy4fyhHTIQD/w150-h200/PXL_20221222_124816998.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">What did you do this fall? Much of mine was spent "with" my Propel 7 Cohort in an online Wheaton College Old Testament course. It was fantastic! As the year draws to a close, I've been thinking particularly about how the class instilled in me the desire to spend more time in the Psalms. It is easy for me to get academic and heady when it comes to reading Scripture, which I know is not entirely a bad thing. Reading Psalms and learning more about the book got me thinking, though, about how much I'd like to connect with the Lord. I'd love to be as spontaneous in my praise and crying out as so many people in the Bible and folks I know presently. Pslams provides such useful language for communicating with God and also knowing more about his character and deeds.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Because I am a human, I benefit greatly from accountability. Hopping back into the blogosphere like it's 2005 will offer me just that and give me an outlet for sharing what I'm learning and thinking about. Over the last couple of years, I've been practicing embracing while managing my achieving personality, (any other Enneagram 3s out there?). So, with a reminder to myself to proceed with grace, patience, and realistic expectations, I have a general plan for a series that will go through the whole year!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There are 150 Psalms. To read through them in a year one needs only read a few a week! That's what I'm going to<span style="background-color: white;"> do to move through them slowly. I'll drag the blog and whoever reads this into the mix by writing a reflection on one of those psalms each week. That's manageable, right? Well, it may not be, only the Lord knows what this year has in store, but for now, I think it sounds reasonable and fun! (Yes, fun is relative, I know - nerds gotta nerd.) Oh yeah, and I'm also thinking of recording myself in my natural habitat reading each week's psalms for your listening pleasure; those would be a special social media feature.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Learning about Psalms and writing a couple of papers about two specific psalms this semester got me really excited about what these poetic pages of scripture have to offer us, whether we trust in the God of the Bible or not. One crazy fact I'll leave you with before closing is this: "Laments constitute the largest group of psalms in the Psalter, which in itself probably says something about our common humanity. There are more than sixty, including individual and corporate laments." (How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth p 220) Sixty out of one hundred fifty is forty percent! This surprised and comforted me. God is not unaware of our sorrows in this sin-ridden, challenging world and he doesn't tell us to "zip it," but rather to bring our laments before him. Even this is an expression of faith, not failure or weakness.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I hope you'll join me on this loosely-structured, modifiable-as-needed 2023 adventure in Psalms! May the Lord direct our hearts into his love and Christ's perseverance (2 Thessalonians 3:5).</span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: La Belle Aurore; font-size: large;"><i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> </span></span>Heather</i></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-81588390205450196822021-12-19T08:23:00.001-05:002021-12-19T08:23:48.756-05:00Christmas Tears<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEguiLEw-E8zC86SccNR61GDJD3om9b3YQor3hsIjBsMfmXpj6rTI4sht728-WtGtzC24a9BI9J5t3_pyUW6KFjzobphsQsB-G_c6wE9srKW1YsJ9dyBxXyc6tDG44qNyo3JMR9nWFwJCeF0OhOj_ZcwrzJ184DAK9oVsswSXKoTONSwcnb0eD7e2d60=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEguiLEw-E8zC86SccNR61GDJD3om9b3YQor3hsIjBsMfmXpj6rTI4sht728-WtGtzC24a9BI9J5t3_pyUW6KFjzobphsQsB-G_c6wE9srKW1YsJ9dyBxXyc6tDG44qNyo3JMR9nWFwJCeF0OhOj_ZcwrzJ184DAK9oVsswSXKoTONSwcnb0eD7e2d60=s320" width="240" /></a></div>Beloved, I do not know how this blog post "finds you." I can tell you why I write and perhaps it will meet you right where you are today. So far, Advent in our corner of the world has been marked with grief upon grief: pain, sickness, death, and sorrow. That's the facts of the matter. As lights have been hung, decorations placed, and gifts purchased, we have received too much sad news and been often in prayer for friends and family enduring trials we wish we could take from them - especially at Christmas time.<p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">I'm not much of a public crier, but the tears well up in my alone times when I know the Lord is near and I entrust to Him those whose suffering I cannot relieve. Over and over as my heart has ached this month, the Spirit brings to mind the phrase, "Christ is born." It has such immense significance this particular Christmas season.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Dare I say that true Christmas spirit can only be found kneeling at that manger-cradle? Can we rejoice in an Advent that is breaking us? Will we have hope in the promise that the child truly is the <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+9%3A1-7&version=NRSV" target="_blank">Wonderful Counserlor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace</a>? Is it possible for peace to flood our souls despite circumstances that batter us like storm waves the breakers?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The answer is yes.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"Christ is born" is the good news! God saw; God sees; God comes!!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">We won't always get explanations that satisfy, if ever. Until Jesus returns sin, sickness, and death will be part of life. But we can always, even in tears, speak truth to the darkness:</p><p style="text-align: center;">CHRIST. IS. BORN.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Thus, the light will shine a little brighter. Hope is fanned back into flame. Peace enables our souls to find some rest. Joy unexpectedly percolates.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">My beloved, when the Christmas tears come, let them flow and let them lead you to the One who has promised that one day <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2021&version=NRSV" target="_blank">He'll wipe away every tear</a>. Right now is the time for tears, not tears of despair but tears of longing for the fulfillment of all the promises set in motion when Christ was born.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">One other thing I have noticed in this unusually sad Advent season is that the things in this world in which we can take great delight - because our God did create all things and call them good - have become more precious and worth fighting to enjoy and celebrate. I see the sadness as sadder than ever before, but also the delightful as delightfuller than ever before. As they say, God works in mysterious ways. I trust He will the same in your life.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I leave you with this song and a prayer that "Christ is born" would be your ultimate comfort and joy this Christmas, in laughter and tears.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q8VZf8XK4wM" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: right;">Merry Christmas,</p><p style="text-align: right;"><i>Heather</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-84945229595750595782021-06-06T09:07:00.004-04:002021-06-06T09:15:04.802-04:00New Glasses and the New Heaven & New Earth<p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">I'm waiting on a new pair of glasses.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1SfuBC5ptAY/YLzFlP9bzeI/AAAAAAABGLU/YdKRZOxEEBQyG0xbNaJO5y0sh2ubJjflQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/josh-calabrese-qmnpqDwla_E-unsplash.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="133" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1SfuBC5ptAY/YLzFlP9bzeI/AAAAAAABGLU/YdKRZOxEEBQyG0xbNaJO5y0sh2ubJjflQCLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h133/josh-calabrese-qmnpqDwla_E-unsplash.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@joshcala?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Josh Calabrese</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/glasses?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">At my appointment, when the eye doctor asked how my eyes had been, I hesitantly told her that I thought maybe something had changed, but wasn't sure if it was real or I was imaging it. Eyes can be funny like that and (if I'm honest) I didn't want to look like an idiot if, in fact, my prescription was the same. The exam revealed, however, that I do indeed need a slightly stronger prescription. It was delightful to get a brief look through the lenses on the exam apparatus at how much clearer the world around me was about to be!</p><p style="text-align: center;">I'm pumped about the new glasses.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">My daughter was with me at the appointment and helped me pick a new pair. I don't really remember what they look like. What excites me most is how much better I'm going to be able to see. Every time I think about it I'm like, "Oh man, I hope they call today to tell us our glasses are ready!" despite the fact that that's completely unrealistic. The process usually takes about two weeks.</p><p style="text-align: center;">My exctiment about new glasses may be irrational.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">It feels like waiting for Christmas or my birthday or something, eagerly anticipating that maybe today will be the day they call for us to come pick up our new spectacles! Though obviously they won't call <i>today</i>, becuase it's Sunday and they're not open. Ha!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Fortunately, all this nervous energy is not a loss, because my ridiculous enthusiasm about these glasses did get me thinking about heaven. Here's where my mind went a few days ago, shortly after another "I can't wait for my glasses" moment:</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><b>What if I anticipated the coming of the new heaven and the new earth</b></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><b>with the same energy as awaiting these new glasses?</b></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">Seriously, WHAT IF?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Jesus promised He is coming back. The new heavens and the new earth will be like Eden restored. I'll never have to have another eye doctor appointment. Life won't be haunted by the reality of decay and death. We'll see Christ in all His glory, God will dwell again with us, and none will struggle to walk by the Spirit. I cannot even imagine it. But oh, I want to more!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Guys, picture not having to wear glasses, go to the doctor, friction in relationships, nations at war, diseases running rampant, or even a worry in your heart? The new heavens and the new earth will be like that!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Let's dispense of thinking of naked babies playing harps or even that we have to spend enternity singing hymns before the masssive throne of God. There are glimpses of the latter in Scripture; it's gonna be like that sometimes I think (because we'll just be busting with praise, each in their own language and cultural form - super cool). But let's not miss the additional vision of the new heavens and new earth and the dwelling place of God among men again. God is going to set all things right and really and truly make all things new. All of life will be worship as He intended for us and it'll be <i>glorious</i>!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I wanna await <i>that </i>as eagerly as, no, MORE eagerly, than I await these silly glasses.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I'll likely need stronger glasses every time I visit the eye doctor for the rest of my life. But one day, I'm gonna SEE-SEE, and it's gonna be beyond my wildest dreams!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">What are <i>you </i>waiting for these days? May God to use those fleeting moments of joy and anticipation to help us zealously anticipate the eternal, all-fulfilling, never-ending delight and wholeness coming our way through Jesus our Lord!*</p><blockquote><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p></blockquote></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><i><b>For now we see only as a reflection in a mirror, but then face to face.</b></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.</b></i></p><p style="text-align: center;">1 Corinthians 13:12</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">*If you're not familiar with God's love and what He has done for us in Jesus. Shoot me a message; I have good news for you!</span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-4862282655499471382021-04-17T08:07:00.007-04:002021-04-17T09:18:38.021-04:00Jesus is so Irritating!<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wNCqPTaGSmU/YHrN06VonMI/AAAAAAABE0s/n50rYr6tPMAtFzqYW1qc2h-_3l56YHqIgCPcBGAsYHg/s3840/PXL_20210403_210454431.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3840" data-original-width="2160" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wNCqPTaGSmU/YHrN06VonMI/AAAAAAABE0s/n50rYr6tPMAtFzqYW1qc2h-_3l56YHqIgCPcBGAsYHg/s320/PXL_20210403_210454431.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Am I allowed to title a blost in that way? I mean, can I tell the Lord that He is annoying? It's not His fault, really. He is simply busy being the Lord of my life and, unfortunately, I don't always appreciate that living under the Good News of what He's done for me means I can't just do and be whatever I want. Here's where He's getting under my skin (under my sin?!) this week. And, truth be told, I am very thankful for it!</div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Philippians 2:6-8 says this about Jesus:</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i><span class="text Phil-2-6" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" id="en-NIV-29398" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; position: relative;">Who, being in very nature God,</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="indent-1" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Phil-2-6" style="position: relative;">did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;</span></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="text Phil-2-7" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" id="en-NIV-29399" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; position: relative;"><span class="versenum" style="display: inline; font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 700; left: -4.4em; line-height: normal; position: absolute; top: auto; vertical-align: text-top;">7 </span>rather, he made himself nothing</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="indent-1" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Phil-2-7" style="position: relative;">by taking the very nature of a servant,</span></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="indent-1" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Phil-2-7" style="position: relative;">being made in human likeness.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="text Phil-2-8" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" id="en-NIV-29400" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; position: relative;"><span class="versenum" style="display: inline; font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 700; left: -4.4em; line-height: normal; position: absolute; top: auto; vertical-align: text-top;">8 </span>And being found in appearance as a man,</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="indent-1" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Phil-2-8" style="position: relative;">he humbled himself</span></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="indent-1" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Phil-2-8" style="position: relative;">by becoming obedient to death—</span></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="indent-2" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text Phil-2-8" style="position: relative;">even death on a cross!</span></span></i></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">That's really awesome, right? He was God, but made Himself nothing so that we could be reconciled to God by His death and resurrection when we believe in Him. That's the Gospel Christians talk about and celebrate.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">But guess what Paul says to the believers in Philippi just before that, in verse 5?</p><blockquote><p><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:</span></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>[crickets, or maybe an expletive if that's more your style]</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">I have been thinking a lot about how polarized people feel/are right now and how heavy everything seems. As someone who often sees the value, even if just in part, of people's perspectives on both sides of an issue, it grieves me a lot to see so much posting of trite memes and sarcastic one-liners, in general, but especially by fellow believers. It's easy and makes us feel good, but we have to call it what it is: wrong and dishonoring to our God and fellow image-bearers.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In the verses above what I read is this: Jesus had every right to be a trite meme and sarcastic one-line poster in His day! He knows what's in the heart of man (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+2%3A24&version=NIV" target="_blank">John 2:24</a>) and He knew His own righteousness; He knew how often people came to Him for selfish reasons and personal gain, but not to love Him. He alone in the history of mankind had the "right" to judge everyone He met. And what did He do?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">He <i>served. </i>He <i>died.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">He looked over the crowds and had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%209%3A36&version=NIV" target="_blank">Matthew 9:36</a>)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I guess in one sense, He did make a judgment about them. But it was motivated by compassion (love) which protected Him from writing them off as a bunch of idiots. <i>You poor fools lost in your sin!</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">This is how God directed my thinking yesterday as I vacuumed my kitchen - yup, our kitchen is carpeted; it's silly! - while trying to process all the information and opinions I have encountered on social media and in the news this week in light of the evil at work in our world. Living in the era of social media and quick access to information, no matter how true or incomplete, fuels our natural tendency to make rash judgments (not to mention fools of ourselves)! All of us do, whether we post about it to let the world know or simply hide it in our hearts, pridefully smug. I, too, form opinions and am quickly tempted to write off certain people or groups as hopeless at best, or unredeemable at worst. Can you relate? I imagine some of them may feel the same about me!</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">But not Christ.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">The only One who could have pronounced judgment, instead made Himself the way to be rescued from it! And Paul reminds the Philippians and those of us to walk with Jesus in 2021:</p><blockquote><p><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:</span></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">What must we do with our hard, judgmental hearts when they act up? Go straight back to the primary message of the kingdom of God: <i><b>repent and believe the good news!</b> </i>That is the Word of God to those responding to Christ for the first time to those who have known His salvation for decades. This is surrender to His will.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Find yourself out of step with His will, casting judgment on others?</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><i>Repent and believe the good news.</i></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Christian, you and I have been made new! The made-new listen to the Spirit, confess the sin to their loving Father, and remember the risen Savior and the glorious work He has done in their lives. All this reminds us of how eager we are for others to know this freedom: from sin and also the freedom from needing to play God and decide if people are worthy or not. He says they <i>are</i>!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">But wait, there's more! The Lord also shows us His way and transforms us into people of compassion, people who speak life, people who reflect the light of Christ in the world, people who model their relationships with others according to the mindset of Christ.</p><p>Thank goodness He provokes us by His Spirit to get us back to Him.</p><p>Praise God with me today that Jesus is so irritating!</p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i></i></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-51490795133276435262021-04-04T06:00:00.109-04:002021-04-04T06:00:00.469-04:00Happy Independence Day!: an Easter Reflection<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Friends and strangers who might read this,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">These words are my Easter gift to you.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">With affection for you</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">and all praise to God: Father Son and Holy Spirit,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Heather </i>💛</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pzMSuPxcZbU/YGhu2lD2IQI/AAAAAAABEVs/qQ-rk0qZw1ghvN_Jo7Q0aEzKQEWyQGfWwCPcBGAsYHg/s3840/PXL_20210311_155536443.PORTRAIT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3840" data-original-width="2160" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pzMSuPxcZbU/YGhu2lD2IQI/AAAAAAABEVs/qQ-rk0qZw1ghvN_Jo7Q0aEzKQEWyQGfWwCPcBGAsYHg/w113-h200/PXL_20210311_155536443.PORTRAIT.jpg" width="113" /></a></div><b>Jesus ushered in a new kind of kingdom.</b> He proclaimed the good news that included the language of freedom from bondage. The more He talked about it, the more curious it became and the less His hearers, even the twelve, seemed to understand the purpose of the newly-arrived/coming kingdom. Many Jews thought of freedom from Rome and expected Jesus to set Jerusalem free from their tyrannical reign. In the present day, here in the United States, we too can misunderstand, despite not being under the thumb of a foreign power.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our origin story is one of shaking off the rule of a monarchy. Since it's in our DNA, we are always looking to wrap our arms around freedom and liberty - values as precious to us as friends and family. Unfortunately, that orientation can influence our reading of Scripture as we filter Christ's words about freedom through our specific way of looking at the world - similar to the Jews of Jesus' time. Indeed Jesus Christ sets free from sin each one who He fills with faith to call on His name. But it's a <i>dependent </i>freedom, a liberty that binds us to a new master - the all-powerful One who is also the Good Shepherd - and a call to live for His purposes according to His values. We are set free from a tyrannical ruler <i>into</i> the kingdom of our <i>good </i>Creator, under His authority. But that rushes us ahead too quickly. Let's start by taking a look at how it all began.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Holy Week has had me thinking about Eden, that most lovely of gardens, and its connection to Christ on the cross and Christ the risen one.</b> There, as the world was spoken into being, humankind was created to worship and submit to a leader; their Creator King was in charge of setting the rules and boundaries of His creation. From then till when Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they worshiped and submitted to their Creator King as He intended it to be. But He gave them agency as His image-bearers in His creation, to choose to follow Him or not. In the end, deceived into believing that perhaps their Creator King didn't really have their best interest at heart, our fore-parents looked at and desired the one thing they could not have, and had it. Thus death became a player in the drama. We've all been born into it since.</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Their Creator King had told them that if they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would die (Genesis 2:15-17). Well, we're all here today, so they obviously didn't die-die, but a separation opened between them and their Creator King. They could no longer serve Him in purity, because they had decided to be rulers of their own lives. Sin (the condition into which we are born as sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, not individual peccadillos) was the new ruler of human hearts. According to the Bible, no one has the choice of not being in its service (Romans 3:9-20). If we are honest in our assessment of humanity throughout history, we see the ramifications of this reality everywhere: from wars, injustice, and abuse around the world to our own inability to control our thoughts and actions enough to consistently be "good people."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Let's go back to Jesus' talk about freedom from bondage then. </b> One Sabbath day, (recorded in Luke 4:16-21) when He stood up in the synagogue (think church) to be a reader from the Hebrew Scriptures during the service, they gave Him a scroll from Isaiah. After reading, he told the worshippers that the words were fulfilled in their hearing, that very day. What did he read?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i></i></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>because He has anointed me</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>to bring good news to the poor.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives,</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>and recovery of sight to the blind,</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>and to let the oppressed go free,</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.</i></div></blockquote><p> </p><div style="text-align: justify;">In the garden of Eden, they were free, abiding in the Lord's favor. What did that freedom look like? It certainly did not look like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the way we perceive freedom. It was a Creator-King-oriented freedom, set within His boundaries, full of sensual delights and shameless intimacy: God to human, human to human, even human to nature. No shame. No fear. No barriers in relationships. No bondage caused by physical, relational, emotional, or even spiritual baggage or brokenness.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Jesus came so we could get back to that with our Creator King and to ultimately restore all things to their former glory! </b> The only way was for Him to bridge the gap of the separation caused by sin and death. God had to enter into our plight, become one of us, die in our place, and rise victoriously in triumph over death. AND HE DID!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the Easter devotional <u>Suffering and Glory</u>, Anthony Carter says, "For [Patrick] Henry it was liberty or death. For Jesus it was liberty <i>by</i> death. ... The death and resurrection of Jesus set us free." p 17 I just love that so much. The freedom (and joy!) we seek are found through the ugliness Jesus suffered and the power that raised Him from the dead!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">All those longings and desires you and I have for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness*? The Bible tells us those are simply our attempts to escape death, trying to shake off the bonds of sin in our life. Yet every attempt we make, while we may have some success here and there, never truly set us free. We continue to encounter the effects of sin and death in our lives, within and without. There seems to be no escape.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">That's because, apart from a Creator-King intervention, there is no escape.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">BUT HE INTERVENED: the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ - fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament and the will of the Creator King for His beloved image-bearers - came, lived sinlessly, died unjustly, and rose victoriously so that we too might live, now and forevermore! In surrender to Him, by taking Him at His word, our hearts are satisfied.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>If Easter teaches us anything, it is that death doesn't get the final say; Jesus does.</b> Christ rose from the dead! Today the invitation is to, as Matt Maher says in the song below, COME AWAKE! Every Sunday is a celebration of our Risen King who came:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>to give life for the walking dead,</li><li>to atone for the sin,</li><li>to sucker punch shame and guilt and damn them to hell,</li><li>to rise to restore us and return us to our Creator King.</li></ul>Taking Him at His word, we can live now and forever WITH Him, under His trustworthy and benevolent rule. He makes all things new! He can make YOU new. Will you turn to Him today? His righteousness is yours through faith that He is who He claimed to be: the resurrection and the life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i></i></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, "No one who believes in Him will be put to shame."</b></i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><b>Romans 10:9-11</b></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Let those verses encourage you if you already belong to God through Christ; death is no longer your master, what a work God has done in your life! And if you have yet to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, I pray today will be the beginning of your journey with Him in newness of life and freedom from death, sin, and shame! As Matt Maher says in the song below, "Let no one caught in sin remain." Today is a great day to let Christ declare over you "This one is mine! This one is free indeed!"</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, good news! Not only today can we say <b>Happy Easter!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We can also declare to one another, <b>Happy Independence from Death Day!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again!</span></b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IExdrZGQVeI" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*You may not be from the United States, but I do think that phrase from our founding documents summarizes our human longings so well!</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-80747446721520059592021-01-10T08:55:00.001-05:002021-01-10T09:01:36.362-05:00A Prayer of Repentance Based on Matthew 5<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1HKsNEUFyGw/X_sIeIAziSI/AAAAAAABCSw/NLBR2twYEzAAktWJl2s-Qbu6jndhzh9zACLcBGAsYHQ/s300/pray-prostrate-naked-300x239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Source" border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="300" height="510" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1HKsNEUFyGw/X_sIeIAziSI/AAAAAAABCSw/NLBR2twYEzAAktWJl2s-Qbu6jndhzh9zACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h510/pray-prostrate-naked-300x239.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>Almighty God,</span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-5b84781d-7fff-a2a0-f9c2-fdf7d7e6a4b6"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We come to you today as Christians in the United States after a week of turmoil and we repent. We repent of misrepresenting you to the world, to our neighbors. We repent of not embodying the beatitudes Jesus spoke. We have not humbled ourselves before you to be poor in spirit, to mourn, to be meek, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, to be pure in heart, to be peacemakers. Rather we have been afraid, defensive, and proud, unbecoming of your people. We have cried “persecution” when we were not being persecuted for proclaiming Jesus Christ, but rather for promoting your morality before proclaiming the good news that Jesus saves sinners, of whom we are the uttermost. We are sorry. Forgive us.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Restore us. You are our only hope.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have failed to be salt and light as we have fought amongst ourselves: gossiping, slandering, and hating our brothers and sisters. We’ve all done it and we’ve tolerated it from others, even retweeting, posting, or speaking others’ gossip, slander, and hate. We are sorry. Forgive us.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Restore us. You are our only hope.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lord, we are lawbreakers, maybe not civil laws, but Your law - the law Christ came and fulfilled. We fool ourselves into believing we are good. We clean the outside of the cup and we receive your grace in vain. You have set us free and we use our liberty to promote worldly power, position, and privilege rather than to proclaim your salvation in humble awe. We are sorry. Forgive us.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Restore us. You are our only hope.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have been angry, in public and private, murdering one another, most often in the interest of self-preservation or self-interest. We believe the lie that our anger is “righteous” and gives us a free pass to perpetuate untruths, which damages our ability to share the good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. We are sorry. Forgive us.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Restore us. You are our only hope.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are quick to point out the sins of others, or simply how their behavior doesn’t suit our preferences. We are slow to see our own sin as the Holy Spirit reveals it, because we are too busy trying to play His role in other peoples’ lives. How we have offended you! How we have wronged our brothers and sisters! We are sorry. Forgive us.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Restore us. You are our only hope.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have misapplied, misquoted, and misunderstood your Word, twisting it to fit our agendas. We have used your Word to harm others, quoting Scripture and Christian platitudes when people needed us to stand up for them or be quiet and sit with them. We are sorry. Forgive us.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Restore us. You are our only hope.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have not followed the example of Christ by loving or ministering to our enemies. And we have wrongly labeled people as enemies who are not. We have not cared for the vulnerable, too lost in our own concerns and causes. We are sorry. Forgive us.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Restore us. You are our only hope.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have tried to “be perfect” in our own strength. We have listened to lies even in our own Christian circles about what it means to be a “good Christian” rather than listening to the Spirit. We have burdened others with those chains or tried to force them into our mold, rather than pointing them to Jesus, who is our righteousness. We are sorry. Forgive us.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Restore us. You are our only hope.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lord, have mercy on us. We are sinners.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Restore to us the joy of your salvation, that we be moved to acts of justice and righteousness for the vulnerable and proclaimers of the good news of Christ to all. Help us never forget our utter dependence on You. You are our only hope.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amen</span></p></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-39442510082436708312021-01-03T07:59:00.000-05:002021-01-03T07:59:05.086-05:00Why I Go to Church*<p style="text-align: justify;"><span>One early-December Sunday morning,</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/New-Morning-Mercies-Gospel-Devotional/dp/1433541386/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-p13n1_0?cv_ct_cx=new+morning+mercies&dchild=1&keywords=new+morning+mercies&pd_rd_i=1433541386&pd_rd_r=7c976a95-6460-4256-8d17-1764d59f04fd&pd_rd_w=01IK1&pd_rd_wg=hzmF7&pf_rd_p=1835a2a9-7ed8-48dc-ad07-fcd7527bd2bc&pf_rd_r=KK1CDKX4WGRVKTQBXWAD&psc=1&qid=1607258156&sr=1-1-80ba0e26-a1cd-4e7b-87a0-a2ffae3a273c" target="_blank">my 2020 devotional of choice</a> had me read Mark 7:14-23. It goes like this:</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p0sKoGoV_xU/X8zUWFGtYGI/AAAAAAABBSQ/sUicXab8FSk2p59xNVniFbaph-194ctYgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_20201011_200747.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p0sKoGoV_xU/X8zUWFGtYGI/AAAAAAABBSQ/sUicXab8FSk2p59xNVniFbaph-194ctYgCLcBGAsYHQ/w240-h320/IMG_20201011_200747.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><span class="text Mark-7-14" style="background-color: white;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></i></span><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="text Mark-7-14" style="background-color: white;"><i>And he </i>[Jesus]<i> called the people to him again and said to them, </i><span class="woj" style="font-style: italic;">“Hear me, all of you, and understand:</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="text Mark-7-15" id="en-ESV-24475" style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;"><span class="woj">There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”</span></span><span class="text Mark-7-17" id="en-ESV-24476" style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;"><span class="versenum" style="display: inline; font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; position: relative; top: auto; vertical-align: text-top;"> </span>And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="text Mark-7-18" id="en-ESV-24477" style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;">And he said to them, <span class="woj">“Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him,</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="text Mark-7-19" id="en-ESV-24478" style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;"><span class="woj">since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”</span> (Thus he declared all foods clean.)</span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="text Mark-7-20" id="en-ESV-24479" style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;">And he said, <span class="woj">“What comes out of a person is what defiles him.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="text Mark-7-21" id="en-ESV-24480" style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;"><span class="woj">For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="text Mark-7-22" id="en-ESV-24481" style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;"><span class="woj">coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="text Mark-7-23" id="en-ESV-24482" style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;"><span class="woj">All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”</span></span></span></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jesus is telling the religious leaders and anyone else listening that their primary problem doesn't exist outside of them, but rather <i>inside.</i> Following the rituals that God ordained for them was important, but they were designed to point to and instruct them about something much larger than mere obedience to a handful of ceremonial laws. The law was given to point to their very inability to obey the law and achieve God's standard of holiness. Paul talks about how once we know the law it's like, "Man, I can't do this! I need help!" And on the other side of those exclamations, we find a Redeemer, a Savior, Jesus, who came to fulfill the law and set His people free.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Of course, a fulfilled law does not mean we're free to do whatever we want (check out Romans 6-8 today if you have time). But what it does mean, is that the rescue we're looking for from these troubles which beset us - </span><span class="text Mark-7-21" id="en-ESV-24480" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-style: italic;"><span class="woj">evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="text Mark-7-22" id="en-ESV-24481" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><span class="woj"><i>coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness - </i>won't come from simply trying harder, removing people from our lives, or getting ourselves out of circumstances. Those things can help a little, but darn it if I don't have evil thoughts even in the most holy of spaces with the kindest of people! Or even when it's just me, alone.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">Gathering weekly in a space with people who I know need exactly what I need (even if they are dressed up and looking fine) to be pointed to our Great God, reminded of the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf, and reenergized by the presence of the Holy Spirit, is like a weekly treatment. The cancer of sin is still present with me, but its power has been overcome by the death and resurrection of Jesus! Praising, praying, confessing, and learning together with a bunch of sinners like me reminds me even more of the grandeur of God, the effectiveness of the blood of Jesus (ALL those people taking communion on a Sunday around the world! C'mon now!), and the glorious hope that is to come that one day the war within us will end and we will see Him and be like Him. I. Cannot. Even. Imagine.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In summary, (isn't that a classic high-school-term-paper way of beginning a concluding paragraph? ha!), I go to church because in myself I find only that which defiles, but in God - through the death and resurrection of Christ and the power and presence of the Holy Spirit - I find that which makes me righteous and a new heart, new way of living, new hope. I go to church because of who God is and His worthiness as both Creator and Redeemer. I go to church because the sick need a doctor, and until the Lord returns, I've got a chronic bent toward sinfulness that finds its treatment at the throne of my Creator.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I go to church because, to borrow from Peter the disciple, "</span><i style="font-family: arial;"><span class="text John-6-68" id="en-NIV-26326" style="background-color: white;">Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></i><span class="text John-6-69" id="en-NIV-26327" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><i>We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God</i>." (John 6:68) I go to church because I've tried myself out as lord of my life and that's more of a dumpster fire than 2020.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="text John-6-69" style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="text John-6-69" style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="text John-6-69" style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small;">*by "go to church" I pretty much mean "why I am a Christian", but wanted to emphasize the importance of corporate worship - even if, at the moment, that is happening from the comfort and safety of my home with my family.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-39528590385771594412020-10-23T07:28:00.007-04:002020-10-23T07:28:56.001-04:00Why "This Doesn't Surprise God" is so Dissatisfying<div style="text-align: justify;">Unless you've been living under a rock, you're aware that living has been hard for much of 2020. We've got a pandemic, economic and social effects of that pandemic, an intense election season, and each of us has our own personal difficulties that are part and parcel of this life. As a result, we're all searching for meaning and drive to keep going. Some days are just fine, others not so much. From the beginning, I have heard said and prayed, "<i>None of this is a surprise to God,</i>" spoken as a word of faith in prayer or encouragement to the hearer - a reminder that everything seems out of control, but it's not.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Every time I hear this phrase, I cringe.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Not because it's untrue or that the spirit behind it is wrong, of course - if you believe God is sovereign, the statement is accurate - but because it isn't comforting.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mWIqGkCbzkE/X5K7BU1bnZI/AAAAAAABANk/arbTJobVIMstoT2YX_Bg_N2LtaJaNGHGgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_20201018_134652.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mWIqGkCbzkE/X5K7BU1bnZI/AAAAAAABANk/arbTJobVIMstoT2YX_Bg_N2LtaJaNGHGgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/IMG_20201018_134652.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Knowledge that a king, sitting on his throne, untouched by a hardship besetting his people, who knows their pain and knew it was going to happen, does little to uplift the downtrodden. He may be powerful and he may have seen it coming, but the real question of the subjects' hearts is, "Does he care?" If he does not, he's under no compulsion to move from his throne. However, if he <i>does </i>care, then he may just intervene to alleviate their suffering. </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As uncertainty continues to have the day, a few specific verses keep coming to mind that encourage me and fuel hope in my spirit. One of them I shared with a friend this week as we strolled a pumpkin patch and our kids chose, abandoned, rechose, abandoned, rechose and so on until finding their perfect pumpkins. The verse popped up again today in my morning devotional <u>New Morning Mercies</u> by Paul David Trip (five stars, would recommend):</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></i></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. ~ </b></span></i>Philippians 4:19</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reading Tripp's accompanying words reminded me of <i>none of this is a surprise to God</i>. Whatever the trial in which we find ourselves, whether brought on by circumstances beyond our control or our own stupidity, God is not taken aback. True. But God never stops there! The Word reminds His people not only that He knows our needs and is powerful to meet them, but that He does indeed <i>care.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Christian builds his or her life on the Good News that while we were still sinners, alienated from the holy One who made us by our sin, He entered in and offered reconciliation and restoration through His Son, Jesus. He defeated death so that we could have life <i>abundant</i> enterally and right now. The Good News communicates that though things were dark-dark, the Creator God is light-light and has a deep affection for His creation and especially for those who, according to the Bible, bear His image in the world. So God's children fall back every time into the arms of a loving Father who is not surprised and truly does want to meet our every need according to His riches in the glory of Christ Jesus.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>So yes, Covid-19 did not take God by surprise. But let's not speak that phrase without also reminding ourselves and others of how high, wide, deep, and long is the love of Christ. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end. That's good news of great joy, and such a comfort.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These words of David (Psalm 62:11-12a) are another refrain that keep following me through my days:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Once God has spoken;</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>twice have I heard this:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>that power belongs to God,</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>and that to you, O L<span style="font-size: x-small;">ORD</span>, belongs steadfast love.</b></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Remembering God's power <i>and</i> His love is the one-two punch out of helplessness and despair into real hope!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'd love to hear what scriptures God has been using to remind you of His power and His love in 2020. Feel free to share.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">💛,</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Heather</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-32022875250153954192020-04-22T14:45:00.001-04:002020-04-22T14:45:54.815-04:00COVID-19 Meditations & an Eastertide Walk through I PeterHey all!<br />
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I haven't been active here in a while and, though I'm not going to start writing blog posts, I did want to alert you of two things I having going on on social media right now.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-daLa0I0jdFw/XqCQVGvcHFI/AAAAAAAA6qk/m5Pt10kRo6sz_gmSXER8mlFQjuGk-lYpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/00100lrPORTRAIT_00100_BURST20200419122513617_COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-daLa0I0jdFw/XqCQVGvcHFI/AAAAAAAA6qk/m5Pt10kRo6sz_gmSXER8mlFQjuGk-lYpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/00100lrPORTRAIT_00100_BURST20200419122513617_COVER.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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One is posting a video meditation on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays for at least as long as this social distancing lasts. I wanted to do this for my church family, but thought I'd share more broadly. Certainly we can all use some encouragement. You can find me on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/heather.ashe/">@heather.ashe</a> and on Facebook as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/HeatherMarieAshe?ref=bookmarks">Heather Ashe</a> or on my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Heather-Ashe-Life-in-the-Valley-120334021373377/?epa=SEARCH_BOX">Life in the Valley</a> Facebook page.</div>
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In addition, I thought it would be encouraging to walk through a book of the Bible during Eastertide, which in the church calendar is the period between Easter and Pentecost. I Peter seemed like a good option because it's written to the scattered people of God and we are certainly all feeling scattered right now. Check out the links above to follow along with that, too!</div>
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I pray this finds you well and aware that you are secure in the palm of God's hand. If not, please join in these meditations and studies - as we seek God we will find Him, and discover more of His faithfulness.</div>
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For Christ and His Church,</div>
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<i>Heather </i>💛</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-71027873171796748542019-12-21T08:39:00.000-05:002019-12-21T08:39:24.847-05:00Wondering How to Celebrate Christmas?<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ooooh, guys, I noticed something this morning that I want to share with you! I have been reading though <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Come-Thou-Long-Expected-Jesus-Experiencing/dp/1433501805/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2Z2MLLLYDQ4RG&keywords=come+thou+long+expected+jesus+nancy+guthrie&qid=1576932106&sprefix=come+thou%2Caps%2C209&sr=8-1">this wonderful little book</a> (again) to keep my head and heart focused through Advent. This morning was a reading about the wise men, and something clicked. I noticed there is one common thread in all of the usual Christmas stories from Matthew and Luke. Are you ready for it?<br />
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<li>Mary visits Elizabeth and they worship in word and song (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=LUke+1%3A39-56&version=ESV">Luke 2:39-56</a>)!</li>
<li>Zechariah's tongue is loosed when John is named and he worships in prophesy (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=LUke+1%3A67-79&version=ESV">Luke 1:67-79</a>)!</li>
<li>The heavenly host bursts into creation out in the fields and they worship (<a href="http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A13-14&version=ESV">Luke 2:13-14</a>)!</li>
<li>The shepherds hasten to Bethlehem and they worship by telling the good news and praising and glorifying God (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A15-20%29&version=ESV">Luke 2:15-20)</a>!</li>
<li>Jesus is presented at the temple and Simeon, knowing He is "the One," worships in blessing Jesus and his parents (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A22-35&version=ESV">Luke 2:22-35</a>)!</li>
<li>The prophetess Anna , also in the temple, worshiped in thanksgiving and testimony (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A36-38&version=ESV">Luke 2:36-38</a>)!</li>
<li>The wise men, after their long search following the prophesies and signs, rejoice exceedingly with great joy and fall down in worship before a child (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+2%3A1-12&version=ESV">Matthew 2:1-12</a>)</li>
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In these examples we discover the proper and ultimate way to celebrate Christmas - worshiping the King of kings, Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the world sent by Almighty God to save His people from their sins.</div>
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You want more good news? Take a look at the cast of characters: some of those folks were looking for the Savior, some were not; some were quite noteworthy and important, some were not; some were quite religious, some were not; some were quite young, some were not. Yet all had their hearts touched by the news of and encounter with this child, and the only natural response was worship.</div>
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Where do you find yourself this Christmas? Stressed, grieving, depressed, hopeless? Excited, joyful, expectant, hopeful? Perhaps swinging back and forth between the ends of the emotional spectrum this time of year provides? Well, here's were we can all stop - before the babe in a manger of whom it was said:</div>
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<i>She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save His people from their sins. </i>Matthew 1:21 </blockquote>
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<i>He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. </i>Luke 1:32-33</blockquote>
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<b>We're all equal before this child, now King of kings. Not one of us is worthy; He is most excellent and praiseworthy. Always. </b> And Jesus knows our experience; He walked this earth with all of its delights <i>and </i>griefs. What might happen in our lives if we surrender to Him before the manger?</div>
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Worship looks different at different times in our lives. Sometimes it is loud, exuberant, and full. Other times it's fall on your face and be silent. In a single hour it can be both! Let's not miss a good and proper celebration of Christmas this year. Let's allow the news to move our hearts. Follow the Spirit's lead and worship Christ, the newborn King, who you know goes on to indeed save His people from their sins and will come again!</div>
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Merry Christmas!</div>
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<i>Heather</i></div>
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PS <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_from_the_Realms_of_Glory">This hymn</a> seems like the perfect thing for further meditation on this theme: Angels from the Realm of Glory. The full lyrics are just perfect and remind us that God issues the ultimate invitation to <i>Come!</i> when we remember Christmas.</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-70691735103615285252019-03-05T06:18:00.000-05:002019-03-05T06:18:38.814-05:00You're Invited: Resources for Lent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5tE3R1sCQ6k/VOXZl6yMiTI/AAAAAAAAMI4/pI9Xo9Bv2aM/s1600/MP900400301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5tE3R1sCQ6k/VOXZl6yMiTI/AAAAAAAAMI4/pI9Xo9Bv2aM/s1600/MP900400301.JPG" width="255" /></a></div>
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(This is reposted from February 2015)<br />
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Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. Depending on your Christian tradition, you may have left a solemn service with a cross of ashes on you head or the day slipped by without a thought about it. Many denominations join the church from throughout the ages to observe this holy day and kick-start forty days of self-examination and repentance in preparation for joyous celebration on Easter morning.</div>
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I don't remember attending services in my youth or hearing many folks talk about Lent, except for my Catholic friends who mostly gave up chocolate for the duration. I was glad I didn't have to do that!</div>
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As I have learned more about Lent in my grown-er-up years, the more I love when the season arrives. Such an invitation is offered to us! We are beckoned in to be brave, look at our characteristic sins, take seriously the depth of the damage they cause, confess them, and move toward God through His healing and transformation. <i><b>His healing and transformation!</b></i></div>
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Last night at our service, there was an insert in the bulletin that began with these words:</div>
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<i>Ash Wednesday and Lent offer us an opportunity to 'go subterranean.' That is, these times in the Church Calendar bring to our attention the monstrous things that often lurk in the dark basements of our lives -- things we'd rather bury than confess.</i></blockquote>
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<i>Ash Wednesday and Lent help us to <b>excavate these crippling sources of harm and then bring them into the light of God's mercy and healing</b>. I invite you to accept the rather heavy Lenten invitation to 'go subterranean' with us. ... </i>(emphasis mine)</blockquote>
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I want to pass on to you the invitation to 'go subterranean,' too! Scriptures says that when we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If you are in Christ, already your place is secure before the throne of God. You are His kid! (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A12-13&version=NIV">John 1:12-13</a>) But Lent offers us the opportunity to GROW! As our pastor outlined in his sermon last night, we remember, we return, we obey, and we draw near to God.</div>
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Strange, isn't it, that examining the darkest places of our hearts can strengthen our relationship with the God we offend? And yet, only doing so in His presence and with His Spirit at work in us, can we find any freedom or hope!</div>
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Here are some resources you might find helpful in this season:</div>
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<li><b><u>Your Bible</u></b> I think this is your first and best option for drawing near to God! Each of the Gospels is around 20 chapters. You can read a chapter every two days during lent, or read through the Gospel twice during lent. The Word of God is living and active, it is one huge way we get to know God. Perhaps rather than giving up, you can <i>add</i> daily Scripture reading to your days this Lent.</li>
<li><b><u>On Keeping a Holy Lent</u> </b>This is a pamphlet by a fellow named Craig R. Higgins. You can find it <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57d994956a4963d203edd4ac/t/58b87a18f7e0abb1700e5031/1488484888303/Keeping+a+Holy+Lent.pdf">here</a>, and you will not be disappointed. Learn more about the history of Lent and a series of questions to challenge you in the exercise of repentance in this season. I also wrote about the pamphlet once, and you can read that <a href="http://www.lifeinthevalley.org/2013/02/on-keeping-holy-lent.html">here</a>.</li>
<li><b><u>Respectable Sins</u> </b>That is the title of a book by Jerry Bridges that will rock your world. If you like books and you feel like you're not that big a sinner, this is a book for you! (And me!!) I might dust it off and give it a re-read this Lent. The subtitle is <i>Confronting the Sins We Tolerate.</i> Perfect for Lent, right? I think so to. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Respectable-Sins-Confronting-We-Tolerate/dp/1600061400/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424348811&sr=8-1&keywords=respectable+sins">You can pick it up from amazon</a>. Looks like there's also a small group companion for it. Hey, you could start a small group during Lent, too! Just sayin'.</li>
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I know some of you probably have other Lenten resources to suggest; many local churches offer daily devotions. Feel free to suggest your favorites them in the comments.</div>
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Lent is not a season to become a "better Christian," to give up a vice for its own sake or to prove the strength of your will power, or to completely ignore because it's just some old ritual. Lent, as Higgins says, "isn't about giving up chocolate, it's about giving up sin!" And it "is the spiritual equivalent of an annual physical exam; it's a time to take stock of our lives, our hearts."</div>
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I pray that these days leading up to Easter, that glorious day, will be a time of God's blessing you in new and wonderful ways as you draw away from sin and near to Him! He is the one who heals and transforms!!</div>
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PS Sundays in Lent are days of feasting, not of fasting; they are not included in the 40 count. So if you are fasting from something for Lent, remember that Sundays are not included. Sundays are always the Lord's day, for celebration and feasting!</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-80623043321562520202019-02-17T16:05:00.000-05:002019-02-17T16:05:27.914-05:00Why Having a Relationship with God is so Hard, and What You Can Do about It.<div style="text-align: justify;">
My guess is that you, my dear reader, like many - if not most - Christians, find having a relationship with God really challenging. You were brought from death to life when God filled your heart with faith to believe and receive the Good News of Jesus' work on your behalf; it was an incredible moment! Or you grew up in the church and never know a time you didn't believe Jesus was the Way, the Truth, and the Life; you know you're saved. But beyond that, you feel like you have no idea what you're doing when it comes to relating to God. You know you should be goin' to church, reading your Bible, praying, and trying not to do bad things. But you're painfully aware that there's not much passion, so you believe that you must be really doing something wrong.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TyLCtKT_xi8/XGnMBBmXVEI/AAAAAAAAsms/_kCNyffiyMcIU224YPFiKhZqTIGRS0-yACKgBGAs/s1600/20190120_072833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="902" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TyLCtKT_xi8/XGnMBBmXVEI/AAAAAAAAsms/_kCNyffiyMcIU224YPFiKhZqTIGRS0-yACKgBGAs/s320/20190120_072833.jpg" width="180" /></a><b>May I suggest that the reason it's so hard to have a relationship with God is because you're trying to relate to Him based on the way other people do, and not the way He created you to have a relationship with Him? </b>Think about all your relationships. Each one is unique because each one is between you and another soul, both of you bringing your individual personalities into the connection. My daughter's relationship with me is different from the relationship that she has with, say, one of her friends. Neither relationship is better than the other, each one is built on some mutual history and affection, but they look quite different because though she is the same person, the one to whom she's relating is different.</div>
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Let's think about this when it comes to having a relationship with Almighty God. Each one of us was <i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+139&version=ESV">knit together in our mother's womb and is known by God</a>. </i><b>No two of us are alike. As such, the way we relate to God and interact with Him will be influenced by who we are.</b> <b>And since the way we are is the way God made us, I can confidently say that is <i>good.</i></b> So when it comes to trying to figure out how to have a relationship with God after He has brought you from unbelief to faith, begin where you are and always pursue Him sincerely as YOU.</div>
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Here's what I'm getting at. We can get distracted and stymied when we look around at how so-and-so church member or Jane Doe super-blogger has a relationship with the Lord. <b>In our attempt to have the "right" kind of relationship with Him, we copy what others are doing rather than asking the Lord to direct us by His Spirit, within the bounds of our personality and circumstances.</b> Whatever those other folks are doing is wonderful, for them, but may not be what will help you best feel connected to your loving Heavenly Father.</div>
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Of course, there are Biblical guidelines for how to deepen our relationship with God. You know these basics: the Word, prayer, hearing the Word preached, Christian fellowship, etc. But never, ever, ever let yourself get caught in the lie of the enemy that you have to have the same kind of relationship with God as anyone else. How you and God talk, is between Him and you. And it is, to borrow form Goldilocks, <i>just right</i>!</div>
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<li>You get more out of devotional Bible studies than reading commentaries and studying the minutia of theology? Grab those devotionals and ask the Lord to keep directing your path by His Word!</li>
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<li>You LOVE all that theological minutia? Go nuts with the Hebrew and Greek and the commentaries!</li>
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<li>You can't focus to pray without being on your knees? Get on your knees and don't be embarrassed!</li>
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<li>You can't focus to pray with out a pen and journal on your lap? Collect what you need, and write out those prayers!</li>
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<li>You love apologetics and discussions about such things? Read up, study, and take advantage of opportunities God gives you to talk with the skeptical!</li>
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<li>You love to laugh and have fun? Feel free to delight in your relationship with God!</li>
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<li>You really adore God and His holiness? Meditate on it, go deep, and invite others along!</li>
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<li>You're a fiery one, full of passion and emotion? Have you read the Psalms? Let God have it! He can take it and He wants to use you for His purposes!</li>
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All I'm trying to say is this. <b>The only thing about your relationship with God that needs to be exactly the same as everyone else's is that you <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+10%3A9-10&version=ESV">call on the name of Jesus to be saved from your sins and depend on Him alone for Salvation and New Life</a>. </b>Beyond that, <i>enjoy</i> growing in relationship with God by taking advantage of getting to know Him in the Word, prayer, and worship as He leads you within the context of who YOU are.</div>
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<b>Guys, Jesus talked about setting His people free! </b> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+3%3A17&version=NIV"><i>Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom</i>.</a> If you feel bound, it's time to break those chains. Don't give the enemy the satisfaction of keeping you stuck. God loves you, chose you, knows you, and wants you to enjoy being in relationship with Him: child to Father. Let Him bless you with the freedom to be who you are in your relationship with Him!</div>
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Grace and peace,</div>
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<i>Heather 💛</i></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-49602133587404244422019-01-01T09:23:00.001-05:002019-01-01T09:33:38.330-05:00New Year, New You? Resource Suggestions<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Happy New Year! </b> Last time I wrote I encouraged you to consider how you'll get into the Word this year, first and foremost, above all other resolutions or commitments you might make for the next twelve months. Please <a href="http://www.lifeinthevalley.org/2018/12/new-year-new-you-start-here.html">read that post</a>; it is my new-years gift to you, my readers. (And, also, seriously guys, thanks for reading; you bless me!)</div>
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At the end of that post I promised I'd offer some suggestions for where to start. I have a page on this here blog called <a href="http://www.lifeinthevalley.org/p/grow-your-faith.html">Deepen Your Roots</a> (see it there at the top?) with some suggestions of how to grow in your faith. There I offer several ideas: Bible studies, books, and general tips. But it has been a while since I've updated that, so I can add some things here.</div>
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<ul><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GLsKiVEOcII/XCtxJTZmpJI/AAAAAAAAqw0/vs8wm4FYO8INJ908wuitm3H1Q2_oh6BiACLcBGAs/s1600/choose-brave-journal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GLsKiVEOcII/XCtxJTZmpJI/AAAAAAAAqw0/vs8wm4FYO8INJ908wuitm3H1Q2_oh6BiACLcBGAs/s200/choose-brave-journal.jpg" width="200" /></a>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://lovegodgreatly.com/"><b>Love God Greatly</b></a> has become a favorite of mine. They offer mostly 8-week studies throughout the year on various devotional topics, books of the Bible, or people in the Bible. Starting Monday they will begin a series called "Choose Brave" or you can use one of their previous studies which you can find on the site. Their resources are free, BUT if you order a journal all the proceeds go to help with translation costs for their international ministry - super cool! With each study they include M-W-F blog posts and you can join an online group or start one of your own, to have accountability for your Bible study. Read more on their website, or let me know if you have any questions.</li>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Read through the Bible! </b> This is an ambitious undertaking, but certainly not impossible. I have done it several times and it is amazing what you learn about God and how He interacts with His people. This year I'm going to give a chronological Bible my husband bought a few years ago a read-through. It's only $8 on Kindle if you wanted to join me. But there are lots of different read through the bible options out there. Do some exploring! There's a link to another option in the <a href="http://www.lifeinthevalley.org/p/grow-your-faith.html">Deepen Your Roots</a> above, too. I enjoy the schedules that have you read Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs; helps a lot when you're in OT law books which can be a little dry! Do some poking around to find something that would work for you. <i>And feel FREE to read through the bible in 3 or 5 years instead of 1!</i></li>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i2ZwQmylgPU/XCt2Bzucj2I/AAAAAAAAqxY/sIXTMVuDoxsldNba0ss9QIHw6w37hvjjQCLcBGAs/s1600/every%2Bday%2Bwith%2Bjesus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="326" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i2ZwQmylgPU/XCt2Bzucj2I/AAAAAAAAqxY/sIXTMVuDoxsldNba0ss9QIHw6w37hvjjQCLcBGAs/s200/every%2Bday%2Bwith%2Bjesus.jpg" width="130" /></a><br />
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://shereadstruth.com/">She Reads Truth</a> </b>has come highly recommended by several people, though I have never followed any of their studies. Here's what it says on their home page: <i>We create beautiful, accessible Bible reading plans and resources, using old and new technology, for women and men worldwide to grow in biblical literacy and affection for God and His Word. </i>Sounds like a perfect place to poke around for a plan and get started!</li>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805427376?pf_rd_p=c2945051-950f-485c-b4df-15aac5223b10&pf_rd_r=VSMYZKHWVF05K6PYFWQ5"><b>Every Day With Jesus Devotional Collection</b></a> by Selwyn Hughes is a series of great little devotional guides about different topics. Years ago my Gram introduced me to these. They are fabulous!</li>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Daily devotional readers </b>are a perfect place to get started with the habit of feasting on God's Word. I can recommend three. Click on the photo of each to learn more.</li>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_16?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=new+morning+mercies+by+paul+david+tripp&sprefix=new++morning+mer%2Caps%2C129&crid=30DO6O1SJNBPC"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FVUReCweipE/XCt2Bfee-pI/AAAAAAAAqxU/u0sy7MPnEHwjN3MK9JBf0NRDysKgoCHFgCLcBGAs/s200/New%2BMorning%2BMercies.jpg" title="https://www.amazon.com/New-Morning-Mercies-Gospel-Devotional/dp/1433541386/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1546352015&sr=1-1&keywords=mercies+new+every+morning" width="133" /></a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/My-Utmost-His-Highest-Paperback/dp/1627078754/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546353115&sr=8-1&keywords=my+utmost+for+his+highest"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="972" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nRXMZqItve4/XCt2BS8PIEI/AAAAAAAAqxQ/OaNaJsQWBikZ7k7GLszJkqm86Ge1JpiUwCLcBGAs/s200/Utmost%2BHighest.jpg" title="https://www.amazon.com/My-Utmost-His-Highest-Paperback/dp/1627078754/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1546352026&sr=8-2&keywords=utmost+for+his+highest" width="121" /></a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Calling-Enjoying-Peace-Presence/dp/1591451884/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546353121&sr=8-1&keywords=jesus+calling+by+sarah+young"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="341" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nDuwWTMmqzU/XCt2BQnwZNI/AAAAAAAAqxM/AT-oyJnjuww3X-_C5Mp5ZHwWPiSQpYaoQCLcBGAs/s200/Jesus%2BCalling.jpg" title="https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Calling-Enjoying-Peace-Presence/dp/1591451884/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1546352052&sr=1-2&keywords=jesus+calling" width="136" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">Alrighty, I think that is enough to get you started. While you are eating healthy today to recover from the last month of 2018, pull out your Bible and let the crunch of your celery serenade your first Bible reading of 2019!</span><br />
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<b>May 2019 be the year you fall in love with God and His Word, to His glory, honor, and praise!</b></div>
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<i>Heather</i></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-47531786005459200162018-12-30T08:30:00.000-05:002018-12-30T08:30:17.846-05:00New Year, New You? Start here.<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--avewoZC9ZM/XCjE7jPTzOI/AAAAAAAAqr8/O9AzEHBgUMwkcAVwxFG8Adl6zAUi61EawCKgBGAs/s1600/20181230_073748.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="902" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--avewoZC9ZM/XCjE7jPTzOI/AAAAAAAAqr8/O9AzEHBgUMwkcAVwxFG8Adl6zAUi61EawCKgBGAs/s320/20181230_073748.jpg" width="180" /></a>Before you sign up for that gym membership and go out and grab all your clean eats to start the year of right on Tuesday, I have something I want to say to you:</div>
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But [Jesus] answered [the devil], “It is written, “‘<b>Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.</b>’” <span style="font-size: x-small;">Matthew 4:4</span></blockquote>
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He was quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 in response to the devil's temptation, after forty days of fasting, to turn stones into something to eat.</div>
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[God] humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, <b>to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.</b></blockquote>
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<b>And now, a question for you:</b> <i><span style="font-size: large;">Who are you?</span></i></div>
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Are you a number on a scale? A checked-off to-do list? A physical accomplishment? How your kids behave? Your salary? Your degree(s)? Your leadership position? How clean your house is? Your relationship to someone else? The neighborhood you live in? The car you drive?</div>
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Sisters and brothers, we need to give all this up! Who you ARE is none of these things! And I don't know about you, but the harder I try to find my identity in any of the above, the more miserable and dissatisfied I become. <b>Our souls were not made to be satisfied by things, accomplishments, physical appearance, or relationships. Our souls will find their satisfaction and peace only in the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came into the world to save His people from their sins. And the place we learn about who we really are and how to become what He desire us to be is from our Creator in His Word.</b></div>
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So before you proceed with your resolution-making for 2019, I must ask:</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Do your new years resolutions include a plan</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>to feast on the Word of God?</b></span></div>
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Because according to Him, we need His Word as much as we need bread to survive! If Jesus needed the Word to refute the evil one, how much more do we?</div>
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Filling up on a diet that daily reminds us that we are sons and daughters of the King of kings, who have an eternal inheritance that can never spoil, perish or fade, who are indwelt by the Spirit of God who will equip and enable us to resist the temptations of the world, flesh, and devil, who are loved with an everlasting love by which our souls were made to be satisfied, will protect us form trying to hang our hope on one or more of the idols I listed above. The Word that reminds us that we are in much greater trouble that we ever thought, but that God's rescue plan is beyond what our wildest dreams could fathom. Feasting on the Word of God keeps us in our place, not in a humiliating way, but in a humbling one that will cause us to wonder and worship the God who formed, saved, and sustains us <i>and </i>to desire to extend mercy and love to others, for we have known a love that must be shared. You will even find you love <i>you</i> more, when you look at yourself through God's lens, not the world's distorted mirror.</div>
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<b>Let's neither trust in useless idols to define us, nor invent a god in our head who is not God at all; instead, let's dive into His Word where He reveals Himself so we can know Him</b>. He has done this, and it should leave us astonished! Why God? Why? Well, 2019 is the year for you to dive into His Word and find out! The transformation He offers is of far greater value than any resolution can offer you this year.</div>
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<i>Trust in the Lord with all your heart,</i></blockquote>
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<i> and do not lean on your own understanding.</i></blockquote>
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<i>In all your ways acknowledge him,</i></blockquote>
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<i> and he will make straight your paths.</i></blockquote>
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<i>Be not wise in your own eyes;</i></blockquote>
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<i> fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.</i></blockquote>
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<i>It will be healing to your flesh</i></blockquote>
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<i> and refreshment to your bones.</i></blockquote>
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Proverbs 3:5-8 </div>
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With all my love in Christ,</div>
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<i>Heather</i></div>
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PS: I'll share some resource ideas later this week, if you need some ideas of where to begin!</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561166195019764494.post-32334404744699572292018-12-09T07:40:00.001-05:002018-12-09T07:40:57.863-05:00Fighting for Christmas (a Repost)<div style="text-align: justify;">
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I am thankful not to be feeling this year like I did when I wrote this in 2016, but I want to offer it again as a gift to those of you who may be ready to throw in the towel in 2018.</div>
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<b>Fight on; don't give up!</b></div>
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Earlier this month in an Advent devotional provided by our church, which includes Bible passages and selected readings from C.S. Lewis, I read:<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Christianity is a fighting religion.</span></i></b></div>
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<i>It thinks God made the world - that space and time, heat and cold, and all the colors and tastes, and all the animals and vegetables, are things that God "made up out of His head" as a man makes up a story. But it also thinks that a great many things have gone wrong with the world that God made and that God insists, and insists very loudly, on our putting them right again.</i></blockquote>
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<b>Christianity is a fighting religion.</b> I don't know what December has been like for you, but I think that sentence really struck me because I feel like I have been fighting this month - fighting for Christmas to win over in my heart. <b>Not Christmas-the-feeling promoted by <i>Deck the Halls, White Christmas, </i>and<i> Holly Jolly</i>, but Christmas-the-Truth proclaimed by <i>Joy to the Word, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, </i>and <i>Hark! The Herald Angels Sing</i>.</b></div>
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December has been a tug-of-war in my heart and mind between the Truth and the lies. I have been more impatient and frustrated in the last few weeks than I have been in a while, and for no good reason that I can find other than the reality of the earthly battle every Christian faces against the world, the flesh, and the devil. And oh! How the latter would love to see us stop fighting:</div>
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<li>to give up on the Advent readings with our family, because it seems like no one is listening;</li>
<li>to let go of the traditions, because they seem like too much this year;</li>
<li>to give in to all the stress of preparations, because it's more natural to complain than rejoice;</li>
<li>to take our eyes of that precious manger, because it seems more comforting to wring our hands and lament than to cast our cares on Him and live in the freedom Christmas heralds into the world;</li>
<li>to forget about loving our neighbor generously, because we aren't sure we have the reserves to care for anyone else.</li>
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<b>Christianity is a fighting religion</b>. And I'm gonna fight! Why? Because I know Jesus. Because there is victory over the grave. Because I'm in enemy territory and I want to stand firm. For What? Not a feeling, but for Truth.</div>
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<li>So my kids can taste and see that God is GOOOOOD. </li>
<li>So that in my little spheres of influence I might have the opportunity to see the Kingdom come in new ways.</li>
<li>So that I can see my Savior demonstrate His strength in my weakness.</li>
<li>So that God can be glorified, as He is worthy to be.</li>
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<b>None of us are entitled to anything, not even a holly, jolly Christmas. But Christians know the Prince of Peace. And we can let Him rule in our hearts. As Lewis points out, we can participate in God's work of <i>putting the world right again.</i></b></div>
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So when I lose my patience, I ask my kids and my Gracious God to forgive me. When I feel my pulse quickening with anxiety about gifts, or plans, or not measuring up, I stop and look to my Good Shepherd to takes my hand and says <i>I love you, always, little lamb; let's take each day one step at a time</i>. <i>I will lead you.</i> When I want to grumble, grovel, or gripe, I will turn on the Pandora Christmas Hymns station and let the lyrics permeate my mind and soul. When we pass a bell ringer and her red bucket, I dig in my wallet, the kids throw in coins, and we talk about God's love . Through all of those things I am reminded how the Lord has put my soul right with Him thought Christ, and it renews my desire to be a part of His ministry of reconciliation in the world.</div>
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<b>Christmas, true Christmas, is restored in my heart.</b></div>
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Every time we choose love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control, despite every fiber of our being wanting us to go in the opposite direction, we are fighting the good fight! Every time we repent and believe the good news, heaven rejoices and hope is restored! Every time we put our neighbor's interests before our own, the Kingdom comes and Christmas is rightly observed!</div>
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Christmas is God-come-down, true, life-changing love. That "sweet baby Jesus in the manger" came to rescue a world lost in sin and destined for death and destruction. When our hearts are filled with the faith to believe that Truth, well, everything is different. Christmas holds fresh new wonder, and will year after year!</div>
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We have a choice.</div>
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Will you fight with me? </div>
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Let's start here. Sing along and rejoice!</div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!</span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Hail the Son of Righteousness!</span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Light and life to all He brings</span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Ris'n with healing in His wings</span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Mild He lays His glory by</span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Born that man no more may die</span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Born to raise the sons of earth</span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Born to give them second birth</span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Hark! The herald angels sing</span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">"Glory to the newborn King!"</span></b></i></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/75/B82A0FFAB0CB52C8A679A212744021D5.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933651090855015646noreply@blogger.com0