Psalm 46

This psalm speaks for itself. It doesn't need human commentary. God restores hope and peace in our soul, when we remember that HE is our God!

Psalm 46

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song for Alamoth.

 ¹ God is our refuge and strength,
         A very present help in trouble.
 ² Therefore we will not fear,
         Even though the earth be removed,
         And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
 ³ Though its waters roar and be troubled,
         Though the mountains shake with its swelling.  Selah 
       
 ⁴ There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
         The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
 ⁵ God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
         God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
 ⁶ The nations raged,

           the kingdoms were moved;
                   He uttered His voice, 

                               the earth melted. 
       
 ⁷ The LORD of hosts is with us;
         The God of Jacob is our refuge.  Selah 
       
 ⁸ Come, behold the works of the LORD,
         Who has made desolations in the earth.
 ⁹       He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
         He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
         He burns the chariot in the fire.
       
 10  Be still, and know that I am God;
     I will be exalted among the nations,
        I will be exalted in the earth!
 ¹¹ The LORD of hosts is with us;

         The God of Jacob is our refuge.  Selah  

trusting

What does trust look like?
I don't always understand what it means to trust God. Yesterday morning in church, my pastor spoke on walking in the footsteps in Christ. One of the ways we do this is by Trusting God Completely.  This is what looks like:

"God has every right and my permission to rearrange my life at any time and in any way in order to fulfill His plan for my life." 


Wow. Read that again. Let it sink in. I've been thinking about it almost 24 hours now, and it still gives my shivers. Can I really say that?
I want to be able to say that with every fiber of my being, but sometimes...well, I am not trusting. God is always worthy of my trust, whether I am completely surrendered to Him of not.
In saying the above statement, I am saying that anything God does in my life is fine with me, even if it's painful, even if it seems pointless...I trust Him. No matter what.
This is how I WANT to live. Lord, give me grace to trust You more.

When God Moves

What would cause a pagan emperor to be concerned about the house of the Israelite God?

What would cause a pagan emperor to give up countless wealth in order to refurbish the temple? 

What would cause people to leave a prosperous nation for a barren land?

The children of Israel have been strangers in a strange land for 70 years. They are confused; they are losing their identity. They are almost ready to give up.

Then the new king, Cyrus of Persia, issues a decree that as many of them as so desire are allowed to go home to Judea. PLUS, he provides them with provisions, money, and the previously-stolen Temple treasures! 
So many people return, overjoyed to be back in the Holy Land.  They lay the foundation for the second Temple, and the reaction is mixed. Some (the young ones) are full of joy: they are on their way! The older folks weep in anguish: this temple is nothing like Solomon's temple.
But despite it's smaller size, it's still the temple. In progress.
Then comes the opposition. "We worship your God, too. Can't we help?" Wow, what a nice offer, coming from pagan, pantheistic enemies!  The Jewish leaders rightly refuse the request. "For what has the light to do with darkness?"
But our wonderful antagonists don't handle refusal well. They write a letter to the higher authority, King Artaxerxes. They complain about these rebellious Jews who are always causing trouble, and ask permission to stop them. Wish granted.
For 15 years, work on the temple ceased. The people were in fear of their own lives, not to mention being exiled again.
But then God gave them courage. It was now the appointed time. So they resume building.
Then our "friends" send another letter, to the new king, Darius. They ask if the original decree of Cyrus carries any weight, or if they can stop this work of rebellion.
But Darius does not fall for it. He looks in the records and sure enough, sees what Cyrus commanded. He not only gives permission for them to continue building and that they are to be undisturbed, he commands the wicked men to assist them dailywith provisions for the temple.

What would cause a pagan emperor to be concerned about the house of the Israelite God?
What would cause a pagan emperor to give up countless wealth in order to refurbish the temple?
What would cause people to leave a prosperous nation for a barren land?

Ezra 1:1 "In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heartof Cyrus king of Persia..." 

Ezra 1:5 "Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem."

Ezra 7:6 "...this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him." 

Ezra 7:27-28 "Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem, and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the LORD my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me."

When God moves, my friends, there are no odds too great, no king too mighty, no people too stubborn, no NOTHING that can stand in His way. Nothing is impossible with our God. 

And when God moves in the hearts of men, trust Him. And let Him work the impossible.

The Promise

"For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you." "And thus Abraham,having patiently waited, obtained the promise.  "For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. "So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,  so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.  We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Hebrews 6:13-20
I am finding much hope in these verses today! They are preceeded by verses about "falling away," which no matter what your understanding of that term is, they are a rather frightening thought. But the point of them, as stated in Hebrews 6:10-12, is that we may press onward and seek to be even more earnest in our faith, that we may be certain on our hope.The passage above compares our hope with that of Abraham's, as we have the same guarantee of our hope. God swore by Himself, though His promise alone would be unchangable, so that Abraham would come to understand WHO GOD IS, and that nothing He says will ever fall to the ground. When God says something, you can be sure that it will come to pass. But God swore by Himself, so that the promise of blessing was doubly-insured by the GREAT I AM, for Whom IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO EVER LIE. What is the result of this truth? Why does it matter?It matters because "we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.  We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain!" If those words do not fill your soul with a joy that could explode into song...you either need to read them again, or consider your spiritual state. 
We can hold fast to the truths we have been taught, because He who promised is faithful!This Holy Word is 100% true and accurate...GOD SAID SO. Nothing He says ever fails. He is Truth. When He says that whoever believes on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life, it's true. When He says the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from all sin, it's true.When He says that Jesus Christ ascended on high, and is interceding on our behalf, it's true.When He says that Jesus is preparing A PLACE FOR US, where neither moth or rust can decay, and where thieves cannot break in and steal, it's true.When He says that to him who overcomes, he will be given a crown of life, it's true.When He says that in heaven we shall have no sorrow, death, or pain, it's true.When He says that we will be forever at peace and joyful in the presence of our God and Savior, it's True!
We can trust Him, friends! Not only is EVERYTHING HE SAYS TRUTH, but HE IS TRUTH. And when He swears by Himself, well, you can bet your life that it will come to pass!And that's what we're called to do as Christians. Give your life as insurance that every word of God is true, that you are willing to live and die to proclaim the Name of Him who ransomed your life from destruction and in whom YOU HAVE ETERNAL HOPE.
We have this sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.

"And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." Hebrews 6:11-12

Day 9: A photo I took

I was going to get up early this morning and take a picture of my birthday sunrise, but staying up late and getting up early don't really work together in my book:) 

Eighteen is sort of a milestone. It reminds me of the verse that says something like, "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child, etc., but when I became a man I put away childish things." 

I think I should feel more nervous or overwhelmed than I do. I feel as though I've been preparing "all my life" to be a responsible, mature adult, so why be scared? This is just the next step in life! 

This morning, at breakfast, we sang "Come Thou Fount" and I thought that verse 2 was appropriate. . ."Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I'm come; and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home."
If my God has led me thus far, will He not continue to prove faithful? Even when I am faithless, HE WILL REMAIN FAITHFUL! He cannot deny Himself.
Wow! That just fills me with joy and peace about the future, whatever it may hold. I know WHO holds the future, and my life is in His hands!

Open my Eyes!

I was reading in Luke 8 this morning, and was struck with reading again stories I have known longer than I remember:) Jairus and his dying daughter, and the woman with incessant bleeding for 12 years. As I read these verses for the quadrillionth time and asked the Lord to show me something new...He struck me with the obvious!
How blind we are!  Jesus feels the woman pull on the hem of His robe and asks, "Who touched me?" His disciples try to cover for His (to THEM) silly question. "Master, the crowds are pressing in all around You, how can you ask who specifically touched You?"
Jesus looks at them with superior, but loving and gracious knowledge, "I felt power go out of Me." Then the woman acknowledges herself, and He blesses her for her faith.
Then messengers run to Jairus and tell him to stop bothering the Master, for his daughter is dead. Jesus insists on going to the house anyway, where mourners are already gathered, wailing at the loss of the teacher's only daughter.
He turns to them and says, "Do not mourn, she is only sleeping." They laugh in amazement and disdain, does He really think she's only asleep? Does He think we didn't make sure she was dead? This is not the time for jokes! 
He takes Peter, James, John, Jairus and his wife up to the room where the dead girl lies. And raises her from the dead.

We don't see the way Jesus sees. Our view is limited by the black and white of gravity, space, and time. We like to call ourselves practical and realistic.

Jesus calls it unbelief.
When the angel appeared to Zechariah and told him that his wife would bear a son, he asks, "How can this be, since we are old?"
To us it appears a practical question. But GOD SAID IT WOULD HAPPEN, and that should be enough.
When will we learn to trust?
When will we learn to see as God sees?
He is all-powerful. Sure, Jairus' daughter was dead by human standards. She had stopped breathing. She was dead. But to Jesus, a mere thought would raise her to life again. A mere touching of His garment healed a woman whom earthly doctors called incurable.

Open our eyes, Dear LORD! Help us see those around us like You see them. Help us see problems from Your perspective, for the power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us! And when we cannot understand, help us trust You and believe that Your plan, so infinite above our own, is PERFECT.

God's way is not always my way

"God often takes a course for accomplishing His purposes directly contrary to what our narrow views would prescribe.  He brings a death upon our feelings, wishes, and prospects when He is about to gives out the desire of our hearts."  - John Newton

Isaiah 55:11 "For my ways are not your ways, nor are your thoughts My thoughts," Says the Lord, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways that your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

TRUST HIM.