May 14 - Psalm 103 | Psalm 108-110 | Psalm 122 | Psalm 124

Good morning everyone,

This morning our reading begins with, Psalm 103:1. The (kjv) says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.” I love that verse! But, what I really want to know is, how many of you heard Matt Redman’s song, “10,000 Reasons?” and sang in your head the lyrics, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, O-o-o my soul. Worship His holy name. Sing like never before, O my soul. I'll worship Your holy name.” I did, over and over, actually, but what does it mean to bless the Lord? Literally, according to a dictionary, to express or feel gratitude toward; thankful. In this Psalm, David is focusing on all the good God has done, all that He has provided for us with a list  of what we should not forget which includes, healing, redemption and forgiveness.

One of my favorite verses is 12, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Did you know that east and west never meet? Seriously, think about it, you can get on an airplane and fly east as long as you'd like but there will never be a time when you'll reach west. Likewise, you can fly west for all eternity, but there'll never be a time when you reach east. You can go east or west forever, but you'll never reach the other. CrAzY, right?!

However, if you travel north, you can only go so far until you're going south. And if you travel south, once you pass Antarctica you'll be headed up north again and so forth. 

Jesus has washed away our sins as far as the east is from the west. His hands were stretched out on the cross as if to say, “This is how much I love you. This big.” And … and, God didn't say He separated our sins, no, no. He said, he removed, that’s right, REMOVED our sins. Friends, they’re gone! Gone, gone, gone!!!  Just as if they had never happened. We are “justified” through the blood of Christ. Don’t ever let the enemy dredge up those sins, those poor choices from days gone by and whip you with them. He is miserable and misery loves company. Just remind that wicked so-n-so, God doesn’t remember them, they are totally removed from us to be remembered no more, then bless the Lord and sing praises to His holy name. He is very worthy of our praise. Amen?

Have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …

May 13 - Psalm 68-70 | Psalm 86 | Psalm 101

Good morning everyone,

Wow! More great psalms this morning. I am loving going through these, I love that David journaled, it allows us such good insight as to what he was feeling as he went through the different stages and trials in his life. David, when he was poor and needy as well as when he was the wealthiest man of the land, revered God and knew his position with God. It is encouraging and so awesome for me to read of how while all through David’s roller coaster ride of a life he knew God was where true peace and joy were to be found and that God would never fail him. Even when David made poor choices or wandered a bit, he quickly sought to be back with God and our dear Abba was always right there to waiting for him when he came to his senses. God’s mercy is boundless and new every morning. Romans 5:20 tells us, “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” 

Now, Psalm 68, a totally incredible psalm by the way, is a psalm of dedication. It is thought to be written for when the ark was brought from Obed-edom’s house, you recall him, right?, to a tent David had set up for it in Jerusalem after conquering the Jebusites. It begins with “May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him.” Do you remember from Numbers that these were the first words Moses spoke each day before Israel marched during the wilderness period? Coincidence? I think not.  As Moses spoke, the ark of the covenant would be raised to lead the procession. This is exactly how we should all be starting our days. Lifting everything we do up to God. Personally, there is a major difference in the way people and unexpected challenges effect me when I don’t first start my day with God. When I begin my day with prayer and reading my Bible I am a much happier person, the enemy isn’t able to push my buttons, so to speak. It is my armor, and I have grown to depend on it. It is so freeing to not have to shoulder every little burden Satan tosses at me. Chris Tomlin wrote in lyrics to a song, “You hear me when I call, You are my morning song. You crush the enemy underneath my feet, I know Who goes before me, I know Who stands behind, the God of angel armies, is always on my side.” Always by our side! Can you see it friends? Can you close  your eyes and feel it? There are armies of God’s angels all around you, all around us, all of the time protecting us guiding us helping us get through life, that’s their job. So much comfort in that if you, if we will just rest in it. Right? I believe so!

Verses 4-6 speak to praising God and that He is “a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing.” When I read this again today my heart went immediately to a woman named Hannah Overton who in 2007 was wrongly convicted of capital murder in the death of her foster child Andrew Burd. The trial was a mockery of judgement, riddled with inconsistencies. Evidence was over looked, well… I am not going to go into all that now, you can look it up on freehannah.com if you choose, but what struck me is how much encouragement she can, we too can, take from these verses. Hannah does not sit in prison brooding about her unjust treatment, instead she is emboldened by her faith in Jesus Christ, she hears His is singing within her, leading her to share His Word through Bible studies and exhibit his love in her behavior. She is thriving in God, through God. Friends, that is so beautiful, and while we may not be locked up behind iron bars, we all have prisons of sorts. It could be times of loneliness, addictions that keep nagging at us, or areas in our lives that can just plain leave us feeling orphaned, but be encouraged, our God, our Abba father is never far off, quite the contrary, He is always a prayer away,  a whisper or just a thought and he is instantly there to comfort, lead, provide wisdom, or strengthen. Believe it, it is true. Psalm 16:8 says, “I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” And all God’s people said … Amen!

Have a great day and to God be the glory!

God bless you all …

May 12 - Psalm 61-62 | Psalm 64-67

Good morning everyone,

This morning as we continue to go through some of the psalms I want to focus on 62. The psalm starts out, “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation.” At this point David is still on the run from Absolam. Some of the people of from his court, his trusted inner circle have turned on him and are gossiping and lying about him. Even the people of the land are ready to kick dirt and hurl stones at him. A very lonely place to be, for sure, but David looks to God, the one place where there is always acceptance and peace. He calls God his Rock, in fact three times in this one psalm he refers to God as his Rock.

So what is the Rock? The dictionary will tell us it is the solid mineral material forming part of the surface of the earth and other similar planets, exposed on the surface or underlying the soil or oceans. In the Mojave Desert, down by Barstow, Calif., there is a rock that covers 5,800 square feet of ground and is seven stories high. To put that in perspective, think about how many sq. ft. there are in your home. This giant rock is unique in that it is thought to be the largest free standing boulder in the world and where it’s reported, a prospector sought refuge beneath it, and though people abuse it by writing graffiti all over it it, it still stands firmly in place year after year enduring all the elements time has used to wear it down.

The Bible tells us our Rock is also unique. A God superior to all other gods, and worthy to be praised; also a refuge, a strong tower who saves and delivers his people. David recognized the solid, unmovable, unshakeable characteristics of the Lord, and confidently took refuge in and placed his trust in him saying in verse 8, “Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”

Friends, I can not say it any better myself. I can only add that when the enemy starts pushing you around, gives his best effort to confuse your thoughts, beat you up, remember to look up and take refuge in the strength of, our Abba Father, the God of the universe. Sometimes you have to get really quiet to do that.

Once when I was young, R-E-A-L young, while at the beach I had stopped to watch some kids (I can call them that now because they would be that compared to me today) surfing. They asked me if I wanted to give it a go. With no hesitation I said, “Yes I do!” So they gave me a run down on the fundamentals and a few quick pointers, then lent me a surf board to go out and give it a try. The first couple of attempts were nothing spectacular, I would like to remember them as shooting the curl of a 40 ft. wave off the coast of Hawaii somewhere, but actually, if you want to know the truth, I didn’t even get to my feet on the probably 3 ft. swells in Southern Calif. After several attempts, though, I was finally able to stand, well kind of, I was bent over at the waist searching for balance on wobbly legs. Then I started building a little bit of confidence, and it is when I started acting like “Super Special Surfer Girl” that I took THE most amazing fall, which could be a devotional all in itself, but the one thing I remember most about that was all of the turbulent water I was being tossed around and around and around in. It was cRaZy, I fought and fought for what seemed like forever to get my bearings straight, bordering on panic before I thought to relax and let gravity take me up. It’s like that with God, Psalm 46:10 says, “"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” It is when we just stop fighting it, and let the LORD of hosts take control that our lives will be much less tumultuous. David said, “Power belongs to you, God, and with you, Lord, is unfailing love.” To which I say … Amen!

Have a most awesome day dude and to God be the glory :-)
God bless you all …

May 11 - Psalm 39-41 | Psalm 53 | Psalm 55 | Psalm 58

Good morning everyone,

This morning we continue through the Psalms. We have established that there were times in David’s life when, well, life was just hard. Trusted people turned on him, consequence of choice kicked his butt and God growing him, all served to strengthen David. Well here in Psalm 39, David going through one of those rough patches, is declaring that he is not going to complain to other people about the grief God’s allowing in his life.

Oh! My! Word! We all need to take a lesson from that. We are such a spoiled people that it seems to be the “norm” for many to be discontented grumblers. If this is you, if you are a discontented complainer, and I am not talking about the occasional “well that’s a bummer” type person, but the person who lives their life picking apart and griping about ev-er-y-thing, may I suggest that you, just stop it.  Seriously, God is not honored, and we are only showing that we are “walking according to our own lust,” not according to God’s Spirit when we are so discontented. Furthermore, we need to stay away from people like that because if we don’t, will end up being exactly like them. Proverbs 22:24-25 says “Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul.”  Paul, in 1 Corinthians, tells us that bad company corrupts good morals, their attitudes and mindsets will bleed off on you.  No kidding, and it is so subtle, you wake up one morning thinking, “When did I get so negative?” Philippians 2:14 tells us, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings:” Like yo momma use to say, “Honey, if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Even when you are being taunted, God will be honored by that. If you find you are of the complaining sort, ask God to change your heart. He loves you, loves you, loves you and will hold your hand and help you become a cheerful lover of the Lord. Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.”

Now when David did speak, he didn’t spend time chit chatting to those with deaf ears or no answers. Nope, he went straight to the Main Man. In verse 4 David says, “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.” You know, no matter how long we live, life is short so don’t waste a single second of it. Right? If you learned you only had a single month left to live, how would you spend those days? Would you change anything? Would you mend relationships? Talk more about Jesus? Eat more chocolate? What’s important to you? Sadly, people spend so much time chasing “the dream” on earth, they give little thought to where they will spend eternity. Friends, life in this body, on this planet, will last but a single blip on a screen compared to the time we, as Christians, are going to spend in heaven. We should always be about the business of storing up our heavenly treasures. Preparing for when we get to “chilax” as some would say, with our Father in heaven. Right on?

Have a very good day … Happy Mother’s Day to you moms out there.

God bless you all and to God be the glory …

May 10 - Psalm 35-38

Good morning everyone,

This morning as we begin reading we have David calling on the Lord to fight against those who fight against him. First off I want to say how intimate, how personal, it has all become going through the Psalms in this fashion. To me it is like seeing into the heart of David, almost an intrusion on his most personal space . I liken it to finding a diary from two thousand years ago, and opening it up to read the very private thoughts, the “self”, anyone other than God was never meant to see and getting lost in the life of that person.  Make sense? I love it, it leaves me feeling like David is a best friend I have never met, but I do look forward to meeting in heaven.

Anyway, Psalm 35 was most likely written at the time when David was on the run from Saul. You’ll remember Saul got super jealous because the fair maidens, while strolling through the town with jars on their heads to go get water for the home, or with basket on arm fetching produce would sing, “ Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Saul was so jealous, in fact, he personally tried to kill David but when he failed David fled the palace, but Saul wouldn't leave it alone. He continually dogged David and  sought to kill him while others were gossiping and lying about him. How confusing and alone that had to be for young David and so, as David often did, he cries out to God, “Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me. Take up shield and armor; arise and come to my aid.” Now, to some could sound a bit like “pounce on em’ God, yea, go get them, knock them dead.” Maybe taking it to be little un-kind, or harsh, but David didn’t pray this with an attitude of “You beat me up now I’m going to go get my big brother to whale on you.” No, it was David turning the injustice over to the Lord to let Him handle it how He saw fit. Letting go and letting God. 

We all have met with injustice in our lives. Seriously? Who has not been wrongly accused, gossiped about, treated unfairly or under attack at one time or another? Some are more severe than others, some are more cruel than others but the truth of the matter is we all experience it on some level and as hard as it may seem at times to swallow our pride and just walk away, that’s what the Lord would have us do. God promises to help the persecuted and bring judgement on those who persecute others. Matthew 5:12 says, “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” And one thing you can take comfort in is that you are in great company, the world hated Jesus. Though innocent, He was publicly mocked, tortured and humiliated and yet from the cross he cried, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

God hears our cries, He gathers our prayers in a bowl (Rev.5:8), storing up all of our tears in a jar (Psalm 56:8) and some day he will wipe them all away for us, but for now … for now friends, God wants to teach us how to connect. How to persevere through difficulties, stretch our faith for times to come, and to grow our experiences allowing us to be able to help others in times of similar hardships. 1 Peter 5:5-6, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”  Amen?

Have a good day and to God be the glory.

God bless you …

May 9 - Psalm 27-32

Good morning everyone,

We begin this morning with one of my very favorite Psalms. 27:1 begins, “The Lord is my light and my salvation -  whom shall I fear?” As I sit here listening to the rain literally pour down through a darkened morning sky, reading about the wicked advancing, and war breaking out against me, I am reminded about a time when I felt so lost and alone and I literally did cry out to God to rescue me. Those who know me may have already heard the tale, if so feel free to skip to section “B”.

It happened one rainy morning a few years ago, a huge storm had blown down several trees across the fences of our pasture land the night before, taking out a section of fence making the slightest of exits possible for our, apparently ever searching, cows to escape; and that they did. They went on a walkabout up behind our property into the tree farm’s thousands of acres in quest of the perfect blade of grass or shrub to munch on. When Matt and I realized early in the day they were gone we both took to hiking the many paths that grid the area, each of us (oh please picture this) with a tub of grain in hand shaking it with every step and in our very best cow voice bellowing out “MOOO, MOOO.” Right? Well after a couple of hours searching and not even the slightest clue where they were, Matt had to get back to the house to go to work. I, agreed to stay out and look for them in an effort to get them home.

Like I said before it was raining, and dark and cold and we had been on most of the paths so I got it into my head to go off the beaten path and cut cross the grid in hopes of picking up their trail. BIG mistake! Huge! I had walked maybe fifteen minutes into the center of the grid block of forest when I tripped and fell, rolling over my ankle. When I stood to continue on my way I found that it all looked the same. I was in the middle of a forest picture, if that makes sense. I remember turning from left to right to right quickly, like you would see in a movie trying to find something, anything that looked familiar or give me some clue as to which way to go. There was nothing. I looked up and the sky was just grey giving me no help at all either. I’ll be honest, it was then fear started creeping round the back streets of my mind so I started walking, I was getting really cold and knew I wouldn’t get home just standing there. I walked what felt like forever, then I saw it, and my mind began to whiz. It that? Could it be? It is … the very same tree that tripped me! I had gone in a huge circle. Now fear is no longer on the back street, it is pounding on the door. 

Once more I try to get my bearings, but I got nothing. Once more I started walking, now with a bit of a panic in each step, I was so totally lost, fear really beginning to engulf of me. The terrain is so uneven from clear cutting decades ago, bushes and shrubs growing over downed branches camouflaging them and big pot holes, that it should come as no surprise I fell again. This time with more force. I promise you I lay there on the ground believing a demon of the enemy had stuck out a hand and tripped me. Seriously! I was terrified, I was cold, I was in pain, I was desperate … it crossed my mind that that would be my last day alive. No joking, that is how forlorn the situation was for me. I considered just laying there as I was beyond exhaustion but instead I pulled myself to my knees and prayed for God to help me. I prayed for deliverance from the storm, from the dark and lonely place, I prayed He would guide me and with that I stood and began placing one foot in front of the other. It was only ten maybe twenty steps when I saw a pink trail marker indicating a path, when I reached it I immediately knew where I was, I fell to my knees (on purpose this time) and thanked God then began the half hour trek down the hill back to my house. I had not seen hide nor hair of the cows, and at that point I felt I had done all I could. The whole way home I fervently prayed, asking God to keep me strong enough to get my totally soaked, pruned up, freezing cold, crazy exhausted, self home and to please return the cows for me as I was not able to do that in my own strength. Well, suffice to say, He did see me home, where I wrapped my wet head in a towel, changed out of my saturated clothes and fell on my bed where I quickly fell asleep thanking God for delivering me home safely. Sometime later, I heard a strange noise out my bedroom window. I lifted my head, to see a little bit of sunshine and, yes by golly, everyone of our stinkin’, trouble makin’ cows, grazing lazily on the front lawn. I do not have the words to put to the emotion, the reverence of the Lord, the beauty of His care, the miracle, raw state of emotion, of that moment. Rarely are we allowed such as fine a gift as that. Oh, not just the cows coming home, but the comfort and the peace of God being right there, the total, “I love you my child, I heard your cry. and her I am.” I do know He is here all of the time, I do, but this was so much different. I honestly can not adequately relate it to you but if this is how cool it can be on this weigh station called earth, I can hardly wait to see how awesome it is in heaven.

Section “B”: -)

David knew this, the main thing he wanted in life is to be close to God. What he counted on most in life was that when his days were over he would be in heaven with God. 27:13-14 says, “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” To this I say … Amen!

Have a great day, to God be the glory.

God bless you'll

May 8 - Psalm 22-26

Good morning everyone,

Both Jewish and Christian faiths have long believed that many of the psalms refer as much to the return of Jesus the Messiah as they did to current circumstances, with many verses describing in detail the events that took place in the life of Jesus. We begin our reading this morning with one of the most quoted Psalms in New Testament. 

The 22nd Psalm begins with David crying out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?” Familiar words? Of course they are. Matthew 27:46 reads, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Jesus quoted this psalm to draw attention to it. Why? Well before we get to that, go back and read verses 11-18, you’ll see they speak directly to Jesus and his death on the cross. The psalm was written a thousand years before Jesus was even born, crucification was a Roman means of torture and death and it hadn’t even been invented yet. So while yes it’s true, Jesus was expressing excruciating pain from being separated from His Father while taking on the sin of the world, He was also wanting anyone who heard Him to go back and read the scriptures, and see that He is the fulfillment of them. He is the Messiah.

The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians that “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” There is no possible way we will ever be able to comprehend or appreciate the utterly horrific experience of having ALL sin for all time heaped upon us. No kidding, think about how you feel when you take the blame for one little thing someone else did, when you have to suffer the consequence of their choice. It feels heavy. Right? Sometimes you do it willingly, sometimes not so much, but nonetheless it weighs. Jesus did that for us for every sinful act, for every sinful thought for every moment of your life, of my life and of the lives of every single person ever born of all of the yesterdays, today and all of the tomorrows until He returns. And as heavy and as awful as that was for Him the worst part was the separation in Spirit from the Father. We’re told in Habakkuk 1:13, “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.” God had to turn His back on Jesus and at that time the Son, the Lamb of God cried out. David was feeling that deep loneliness that accompanies separation from God.

So while the physical pain and torture was crazy beyond anything I have ever and I pray you have ever experienced, the spiritual pain was far worse. How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that He should give His only Son, to make a wretch His treasure ……

The second major portion of the psalm turns to praise and assurance that God has heard and answered. The rest of the psalm then promises praise to God. David praised God publicly as should we. We can not let “society” suppress us in our worship and praise of God. We have to be seen by our children reading God’s Word,  worshiping and praising our God, making it known to them that He is our Hope. Our Truth, our Light, our Way. Amen?

Have a great day, to God be the glory.

God bless you all …