Category: belief

Posted on

Anointed For Service

Isaiah 61 1 anointed image

Isaiah 61 Have you heard or even voiced: what does God want me to do? I feel like I am spinning wheels and have no direction. Messiah didn’t have that problem so why do we? Perhaps the key is in knowing that you have been anointed – selected, elected for the service of the Lord.  Peter writes:  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. John wrote:  Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, [1Jo 2:20]

Messiah knew his calling, his anointing, the reason God chose Him. He was sent to see into the hearts of men the desperate need for healing of the soul, mind and the body too. You, as His child, are also anointed to fulfill these same areas of need in the lives of those around you. It might be a mother who sees a child who has made a wrong choice, a father who has lost his job, a pastor who is drained from the heavy responsibilities of his position, a missionary in a far off land that is lonely.

Remember, if Jesus needed the Holy Spirit’s anointing so do we so we can fulfill the great commission. You are anointed precious believer!

Posted on

Seek God Early

Isaiah 55  The tenderness of Isaiah the prophet to his people rings forth in this passage. As they struggle between what is right and what is evil they need to have a fresh perspective on who God is and why they need to turn to Him. Isaiah says “seek the Lord while He may be found…” God reveals Himself to man but not always do they accept His presence. There is a warning here: God may not always be found. Beware of rejecting Him.

Jesus came as a babe and the world rejoiced but when He became a man and began to do miracles they asked: “We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.” [Jn 9] When He performed miracles they scoffed and refused to believe. But Jesus quietly refused to retaliate. He knew men’s hearts were hard and Isaiah saw this same hardness setting in so he warned them: seek God early, call unto Him while he is nearby.

isaiah 55 Jesus doo 2ar

Where are you? Are you seeking God? He is waiting for you to call to Him that He may enter and abide with you. He is knocking at the door of your heart. He promises that if you hear his voice and open the door He will come in and abide with you.

Posted on

The Riches of God!

Isaiah 40 – 42  Job and Isaiah offer the same questions from God: Can anyone compare to Me? Does any idol resemble me in form or attributes? The answer should be a resounding NO! In fact, Paul wrote to the Romans: For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse.

Isaiah 40 to 42 majesty2a

Therefore the obvious question laid at the feet of men is this: Why do you say that the Lord is unaware of what is happening to you, to the world? In fact, the psalmist wrote that when men question His authority He just laughs in disgust. Truly there is no idol or person that can equal or rival Him. One tried and was tossed from heaven!

That is why Isaiah’s words from the Holy One are so comforting: Don’t be afraid, for I am with you! Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! I strengthen you – yes, I help you –yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand!  And again in ch 42: I am the Lord! That is my name! I will not share my glory with anyone else, or the praise due me with idols.

God is the Holy One; for that give Him praise! He is due each and every word we can offer in praise and thanksgiving.

 

Posted on

Psalm 125: Be A Mountain! Trust God!

Last year as we traveled to Calgary Canada we were thrilled with the majestic Canadian Rockies. The mountains are stunningly tall, seemingly impenetrable and a reminder of Psalm 125. God has created the sea, the mountains and all of the lands in between. All of which is a reminder of the psalmist’s words in Psalm 125: if we trust in the Lord we will be like Mt. Zion.

mountains2a

A mountain can withstand a storm’s fury or stand tall and erect on a sunny day yet from a spoken word the rocks can tumble forth. As Elijah stood in the mouth the cave he listened for God’s voice which was not in the earthquake and tumbling rocks but instead in the still soft quiet whisper of God. It was there that Elijah learned to trust in the God of the mountain and it is where we can retreat to find our own peace and strength because the mountains offer us a picture of stability and security.

Where is your trust? The psalmist tells us that if we trust in the Lord we will be “like” Mt. Zion which cannot be moved or shaken but endures forever.

Posted on

Where is God?

Ps 115  How often are our eyes focused inward and not upward? The psalmist begins by saying that it is not to us but to Lord we are to bring honor and praise. In fact, he goes beyond just saying it is the Lord but it is to the name of the Lord that we are to bring honor. Think about the name of the Lord and what comes to mind?

  1. Ex 15:3 He is a warrior and the Lord is His Name
  2. Psalm 68:4 the one who rides on the clouds, the Lord is His Name
  3. Ex 17:15 Moses built an altar and he called it “The Lord is my Banner”
  4. Gen 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides”
  5. Acts 4:12 there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.

We revere and call upon His Name for the sake of His lovingkindness and faithfulness (which is new every morning). The world asks “where is God?”

arrrow psalm 115a

This is not a new question but one that been asked since the Garden of Eden! They asked Jesus that question on the cross. They scoff and sneer but God is where God has always been—in heaven where the scoffers will never set foot. It is there that those who revere and fear Him will find their place of refuge. It is where He who holds the universe in the palm of His hand sits undisturbed, his throne unshaken, and his purposes unchanged.

 

Posted on

Psalm 73 Asaph and His Questions

Are you inquisitive? Do you want answers? You are not alone! You wouldn’t think that Asaph, a court musician would be one of them but he is! King David appointed him to be in charge of the cymbals. When you watch an orchestra you will see only a few who carry that distinction. I mean how much training do you need to bang two cymbals together? Or so I thought! But, realistically there is a fair amount of training needed to know when one should clang those instruments as well as the technique. You can check it out – just google it like I did and you will walk away with a better appreciation of this simple but compelling instrument.

Asaph was a cymbal player but not just any cymbal player but one chosen for the Temple services. He also was like some people, very inquisitive and curious about life. Of all the people who walk this earth, there just are some people who are not satisfied with just an answer;  they want to know the “why!” Asaph falls into that category.

Many years ago I went to our pastor with questions. As he stood on a tall ladder fixing something I looked up at him and said I have a question; much like Asaph does here. His answer? Go home, study that topic and then come back and we will discuss your question. And so I did. Sometimes we have questions but we aren’t willing to do the homework to find the answer. That pastor was very wise. Maybe you have questions too much like Asaph. My advice—follow Asaph.

Asaph walked through his thinking about the proud. He analyzed them and discerned that they seemed to have it all together. They didn’t have the same problems as he and in fact, they were doing pretty darned good. He noted that they mocked and were not disciplined.  He noted, “I suffer all day long and am punished every morning.” He noted in his journal all of these thoughts and tried to make sense of it all. Then it was like he had a lightbulb moment when he entered the Temple. All of life flashed before his eyes and then he knew. Their lives might be okay now but had they taken time to consider their destiny?

Psalm 73 lightbulb moment2a

 

Asaph walked away from that encounter knowing all was right with his world and all was right with him and God. He drew a line in his journal noting: God’s presence is all I need.

Posted on

Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Choice–BUT God gets the glory!

Psalm 71 God – Have you ever experienced a situation when it seems that God is totally unequivocally silent? That is where we are finding David as he pleads for God to rescue him. He is saying, where are you, God? Don’t you see what is happening to me? Like him we beg God to rescue us, forgetting that sometimes we are in the mess in which we find ourselves is our own doing. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time and made the wrong choice.

Ps 71 wrong2ab

Case in point: Moses thinking the Hebrews would welcome his intervention into their lives. Wrong place: watching his people toil in the hot sun to satisfy a Pharaoh’s quest for honor. Wrong time: why wasn’t Moses taking care of palace business? Wrong choice: seeing an Egyptian beating an Israelite he stepped in to help and the next thing he knew that man was murdered by his hand.

Or, how about David’s sin with Bathsheba? Wrong place: on the palace veranda instead of in the field with his army. Wrong time: evening when bathing takes place. Wrong choice: get that woman for me.

With Moses, God sent him into the desert for 40 yrs. learning how to tend the most humble and stupid animal, the sheep. With David, God sent him the prophet Nathan to tell him a story about a tender sheep being taken from a poor man. Interesting how many times God uses the sheep as an illustration!

Yet, even when we make horribly bad choices, God will use them to bring about His work because front and center we are his children. (Romans 8:28) “know that all things work together for good for those who love God.”  He will use us in our worst moments to bring about His good and His perfect plan because in eternity past He knew and yet His lovingkindness will take those and turn them on their head.

Where can you look at your past and see yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time making the wrong choice? What did God do with all of that for His kingdom work?

Posted on

Another Backstory…

Psalm 60  Taking time to just read and meditate unearths many questions. Why is David writing this? Who is against him? Where did this happen? Why is Edom mentioned? To unearth all of this we need to backtrack to 2Samuel 8. It is here that we read: Perhaps while Israel was at war with the Arameans, the Edomites seized the opportunity to invade Israel and proceeded toward Israel as far as the Valley of Salt (a.k.a. the Dead Sea.) There is a lesson here for us; when we are busy doing God’s work, the enemy seizes the opportunity to surreptitiously enter our space.

Evidently, David feels like God has rejected them but he isn’t sure why. He begs for restoration! He begs for the land to be repaired! He begs God to deliver them by His power so that they might be safe! It is as if we are reading today’s headlines for there are many who are begging for help and restoration; perhaps even you.

ps 60 warrior God2a

Abruptly in the middle, God speaks. I will be the conqueror over Israel’s enemies, not you. This is another lesson for us; when we face enemies God will restore, repair and deliver because He is the triumphant warrior for His children.  And that my friend is why “rabbit trailing” through the scriptures encourages us to hang in there when life is tough and questions abound. God is the answer! He is our triumphant warrior!

 

Posted on

Our Invisible Shield

psalm 31 8 invislbe shield2aTeaching 6th graders has been so exhilarating! Each week we get to know these kids better and better and it is exciting to see how much they retain. But the grandest gift of all is when they leave saying ‘I can’t wait to hear what happens next.” Smile, Smile, Smile on these teacher’s faces! Last week as we walked through Acts 22-23 with Paul we really saw the truth of an invisible shield about him when the whole world was in an uproar just because he said he was going to take the gospel to the Gentiles! Yet, God in His way protected Paul step by step because as He said: “you are going to  Rome to testify of me.”

Have you ever experienced God’s invisible shield? David did. In Psalm 31-33 we find one word repeated. Like an echo, we hear “protector.”  He certainly could look back over his life and see instances where God lovingly covered over him in and from danger. In Saul’s palace, God placed his invisible shield to protect David when Saul threw his spear at him. Or again as Saul entered the cave and David could have taken Saul’s life but God’s invisible shield protected him from committing sin.

Obviously, David, as the author, realizes he has been seeking shelter from King Saul. Only God could put His invisible shield about him to blind the eyes of Saul and give David peace in the midst of the storm.

We wonder how often David stood out in the open overlooking the hills of Judea, looking for Saul as his enemy to surface. In those times he shares “you do not deliver me from the power of the enemy, instead “you enable me to stand in a wide open place.” Although vulnerable, God had his invisible shield about him and he sensed that presence.

Stop here and think, where did you see or “feel” God’s invisible shield about you recently? Did you stop and say thank you God for protecting me? Did you or would you share your experience below?

Posted on

The Character of God

Gleanings from Psalm 25: Are you one of those people that only reads the “red letter” words of the Bible? If that is you I encourage you to read beyond those words to know the true character of God from Genesis to Revelation. He is not hidden but is waiting to reveal Himself to you.

ps 25 character of god2a

Do you say I cannot fathom the God of the OT? If that is true, then it is because your eyes are blinded with scales. Reach out to Him so He may remove your scales and then you can look deep into His character and you will see a God who cannot tolerate sin yet is upright and instructive. He is the God of compassion and lovingly kind.  This is the God of the OT as well as the God of the NT.

What is the secret of the harmony of the God both of the OT and the NT? It is found in vs 14 “the secret of the Lord is for those who fear him.” If you really want to know this God you must fear him both literally and figuratively. Then you can, like the psalmist say “one thing I have asked of the Lord, one thing I seek, one thing is true: God is God and there is none like him. He will protect me and conceal me from the enemies about me. He is the same yesterday as he is today as he will be tomorrow.

Who is God to you? Is he the ogre that many people jest about? OR is he the God who is worthy of our praise.  Who is God to you? He is there in all 66 books just waiting to reveal Himself to you.

Optimized by Optimole