He’s Holding My Hand

I held her hand as we slowly and carefully made our way down the steep ice-covered stairs.

She was ok with it for a minute or two but by the time we reached the landing she had tired of it.

At the bottom, she saw it…the perfect opportunity to break free and move at her own pace…she wriggled her fingers from my grasp and took off.

 What she didn’t know was that the ice that covered the stairs also covered the sidewalk she was running on.

Thankfully, I saw it even though she didn’t.

I grabbed her hand just before she slipped.

She struggled to pull away.

“I want to run.” she said with confidence.

I explained that it would be better to hold my hand so she didn’t fall and hurt herself, but as I lectured, the Lord was speaking softly to me.

He reminded me of my desire to run ahead of Him when He wants to hold my hand.

I depend on Him during the really scary times, those seasons of life when a flight of steep stairs is before me, but as soon as things look better, I think I can handle it on my own.

I feel His restraining Hand as He cautions me to walk wisely, slowly, carefully.

I want to rush ahead, get to point B in a decent amount of time. In truth, I don’t want to wait.

 I’ve already made it down the stairs. Haven’t I learned my lesson? Don’t I know enough to move ahead on my own by now?

I think I have, but He knows me better than I know myself. He knows I’ll never be without the need to learn more from Him. He knows I need His Hand gently gripping mine, guiding me to Point B in His time, in His way.

He’ll help me down the stairs and across the icy pathways of life. I’ll walk by His side, at His pace, and learn much along the way though it means moving slower than I’d like to. I’ll make it because He’s holding my hand.

 ” For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand,

saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”  

Isaiah 41:13

*I should know better than to try to stay consistent with a series!

I just had to share this lesson with you tonight.

I promise to get back to our Psalm 119 study soon!*  

I Have Hope

Taking a little break from the Word-filled Life Series and our study of Psalm 119, I wanted to share this passage with you today.

Right before bed last night, I had been seeking His forgiveness, and with a new day’s dawning, He reminded me that something else was also new. My loving Lord put these verses on my heart the very moment I woke up this morning.

“This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.  It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:21-23 

New mercies. Fresh grace. Sweet Comfort. Hope for my hurting heart.

What a great way to start a day! To begin the day with renewed assurance of His forgiveness though I’ve fallen a thousand times brings great hope!

Hope to someone hopeless without the everlasting love and mercy of Jesus!

When I am “set…in (a) dark place…” (Lam. 3:6) because of my sinfulness, He shines the light of His love upon me once again. Reminding me that no sin is so great that His mercy is not greater. Reminding me that His love is everlasting and doesn’t waiver. Reminding me that His love for me is not dependent upon anything I do and don’t do! (Though the very knowledge of that makes me desire to love Him more!)

When my “chain (is) heavy” (Lam. 3:7) and my discouraged soul is “far off from peace,” (Lam. 3:17) it’s through these sweet reminders that I find relief.

Because I am joined to the Living, my Living Savior, that is, I have hope. (Ecc. 9:4)

Hope of living a life victorious over sin and self through the power of the Holy Spirit and the strength found in Scripture. Living a Christ-like life that brings my Lord glory seems a daunting task until I seek to live it through His ability. It’s then that I have hope, hope of succeeding at what often times seems impossible on my own.

Hope of a life story that is being scripted by an Author who is working all for my good regardless of how circumstances may present themselves at the moment. I don’t have to live bound by the chains of failure or burdened by an uncertain future. My Loving Lord holds the pen. Oh thankfully He holds the pen! What a mess I’ve made when I’ve taken it from Him. He knows what’s best!

Hope of an eternal Home in Heaven because my Lord died to purchase my pardon and provide for me an accepted place in a Kingdom I never could have earned on my own merit. Death has no sting. The grave holds no victory. My name’s been written on Heaven’s role.  My mansion has been prepared. My seat at the table has been set. What hope!

I’m rejoicing tonight because I have hope!

Praying you found His mercies new today and will find them sufficient again with the rising of the sun tomorrow! Praying you have the Hope that Jesus brings!

Jarrett

I mentioned in a post a few months ago that the place where my dad had worked for nearly all of my life had decided to ‘close up shop’ due to the present economic conditions. This change was difficult for our family, not so much financially, but in that many of the people he worked with were like family to us and the place itself held so many memories. Over the last little while, the Lord has been faithful (as He ALWAYS is!), providing a new place of employment and teaching us that no matter what changes come, He will continue to be constant.

Out of all the people that worked at the dealership, the ladies that worked in the office are especially dear to us. Over the years, I can remember wanting to make my way to their office whenever we would visit Dad at work.

This morning, Daddy got a call from one of the ladies named Linda. Linda’s desk was at the back of the office so she was the first one we would talk to when we snuck in the Employees Only door to make our frequent visits. Through knowing Linda, we also are privileged to know her grandson, Jarrett. I think Jarrett is about 17  now and in his senior year of high school. Over the years, he has dealt with heart problems, but has always had such a joyful spirit.

 Linda called to inform us of complications he is dealing with today and to request that I post a prayer request for him. He was admitted to John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore after going to Upper Chesapeake and needing more treatment.

I ask that you would lift Jarrett, Linda and their family up the Lord today. I don’t know all of the details or what his condition entails, but the Lord does. As we have seen over and over again, He, our Faithful Creator, knows His creation better than any of us and has the ability to bring complete healing.

Thank you in advance for praying for these sweet friends. I will keep you updated.

“The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.”

Psalms 34:15 

The Word-Filled Life Part III

In my last post, I ended with verse 38, but I skipped over verses 36 and 37.  Not realizing this, I was reading through this passage again and spent my entire study dissecting these two verses. I was so blessed and challenged by the help I received from them! Tonight, I’ll share my thoughts on verse 36 with you.

 ”Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.” verse 36

One of the most familiar verses pertaining to covetousness is found in Exodus 20:17 as one of the ten commandments. It’s probably the one that I struggle with the most thus the one I need His help with the most. I am grateful for the correction, challenge, and courage found in the Word.

I have found that the opposite of covetousness is contentment. Over the last 4.5 years, as I’ve embarked on a journey in which He’s been teaching me to find joy, He often brings me back to verses that deal with contentment. Contentment is the key that unlocks the door leading to a joy-filled life.

So now that we’ve established the need for a contented heart to keep us from covetousness and lead us to joy, we need to find out how to get there. We find the answer in verse 36.

The only way to a truly contented heart is to be satisfied by the Word. A contented, joy-filled life is found through the Word-filled life.

The Psalmist uses the word incline in verse 36 meaning to stretch, bend, cause to yield.

When I’m not consistent with my Bible time, I am much more apt to want what is not mine to want my way. I am much less apt to yield. Without time with the Lord, I am much less pliable and don’t bend as easily towards His will for my life. I begin to think I know what’s best.

On other hand, when my heart is bending towards my Savior through daily time in Scripture, I have a heart yielded to His molding, that is content with whatever He choses to do or not to do. I realize that if He gives it, I need it and that if He withholds it, I don’t! I respond with His joy in the midst of waiting. I view life through His eyes. I trust His heart more fully as I see the workings of His Hand more clearly. I have a heart fully aware of His position as Potter and my position as clay.

This lesson is nothing new, but I have a feeling it will be lesson I am taught over and over as this journey continues. To be content and not covetous, to be joyful and not gloomy, I must have a heart inclined to His testimonies.

The Word-Filled Life Part II

The Lord never ceases to teach me how vital it is to start the day with Him. What a good day it has been, and I know that it’s because I began the day with encouragement from His Word!

Psalm 119 continues in verse 28 telling me that I am to find strength in Scripture. At my very best, I am hopelessly weak. Even a good day can take every ounce of energy and strength I possess so it is absolutely necessary that I begin each day with strength gained from the One who’s weakness, if He had any, is stronger than I am at my strongest point! (1 Cor. 1:25) My soul truly does “melt…for heaviness” when I neglect to go in the strength the Word provides.

In verse 30, He tells me yet again, knowing how I need to be reminded, that I need to lay His Word before me. I need to physically choose the way of Truth every day by spending time in It.

Like the Psalmist, I need to stick to It. Like glue joins two sheets of paper, God’s Word is the glue that adheres my other wise wandering soul to Jesus. By knowing His Word, I know Him and to know is to love Him and live like Him. The word stick here in the original Hebrew text means to cling or adhere; figuratively, to catch by pursuit:–abide fast, cleave (fast together), follow close (hard after), be joined (together), keep (fast), overtake, pursue hard, stick, take. I catch a Christ-like spirit by pursuing my Savior through the written word He penned through choice servants many years ago.

To successfully run this race (Hebrews 12:1), I must “run the way of (his) commandments” an action found in verse 32. The word way here refers to a course of life, a mode of action. Don’t you desire that your course of life be one that is dictated by Scripture? I know I do, and it is most certainly a course. It’s something that takes time to cultivate, a lifetime that is. The more time I spend in the Word, the more I realize what weights are easily besetting me and find the strength I need to lay that which is hindering aside. May our modes of action be the one set forth for the Christian in our Guide for faith and practice.

In verse 34, we find the that we are to be observing His Word. This word doesn’t mean to merely look at, but to hedge myself about with it. To surround my soul with the knowledge of it and seek the Lord for His wisdom to understand it. After all, we find out a key characteristic of our Enemy in 1 Peter 5:8 is to seek whom he may devour and what better to fight the Devil’s attacks with than the quick and powerful sword of the Spirit! (Eph. 6:17, Heb. 4:12)

I’ll end tonight with verse 38 that challenges me to allow God to “stablish” His Word in my worried and wandering heart. It’s important that I am continually open and responsive to His Spirit’s work as He often uses the same verses to encourage me about certain areas of life. To the flesh, it is all too easy to view a familiar verse without truly allowing  the power and Truth in It sink in and continue to change me. Today’s joy came from a verse the Lord continually uses in my life. This morning , as I happened upon this verse in Psalm 138, my initial reaction was to just read it as black words on white paper, but the Lord began to use it to assure me of His Perfectness once again. The word “stablish” means to rise, be clearer, continue, confirm. How often I need Him to use the same verses over and over to confirm His promises to me not because He has waivered but because my faith has.

A Word-filled life will be a life that belongs to one who believes deep down in His flawless ability to perfect that which concerneth them, to stay true to His Word, to ensure that not one word ever returns void, (Psalm 138:8, Isaiah 55:11) and what a blessed life it is!

The Word-Filled Life

The Lord has been using this Psalm in my life for about four and half years now. Since the changing of my plans in July of 2005, He has been leading me on a journey of loving and knowing His Word in a greater and deeper way. There have been two types of seasons along this journey, one in which I knew It better and loved It more deeply and another in which I have allowed distractions and unfortunately even sin to keep me from It. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t trade the quiet times of study and communion with Jesus for anything else in this world. He has taught me and will undoubtedly continue to teach me that nothing on earth can compare with the benefits and blessings found within the pages of Scripture.

Despite my Lord’s patience in continually teaching me the power and blessing of a Word-filled life, in recent days, busyness has been the culprit responsible for a lessened amount of time spent with my Bible in my lap. I have found myself anxious, doubtful, unkind, and unpleasing more often than not because I have neglected to allow Him to quiet my heart long enough to be convicted, challenged and changed by It.

This morning, I was determined to stay home until my laundry was done (I’ve blogged before about my ongoing battle with whites and colors!) and an extended period of time was spent with the Lord. Thankfully, He provided a quiet house and few distractions to make accomplishing those goals possible.

So I found myself in Psalm 119 again today. I often return to this lengthy chapter when I feel like my heart has lost the wonder it should have for the Word. Through this 176 verse discourse, I am reminded of the countless benefits of the a Word-filled life. Though penned in ages past, it is the words of this Book or rather The Living Word they represent that can meet every need, provide every direction, and bring the greatest joy to this journey I call life thousands of years later.

I decided to read this chapter differently than I normally do. Instead of stopping at one verse that caught my eye (or rather my heart) and doing an extended study of that particular verse, I decided to jot down what it is that I can gain or what it is I should be doing in response to God’s Word as a whole in my life as I read through the entire chapter. I plan go through the list at a later time and study each verse out in full, but I just wanted to share what I gleaned from the first few verses this morning.

verse 4: I am to keep His Word not only by being obedient to It though that is necessary also, but to hedge my life with It. To know it well enough, that It can protect me. To keep my eyes upon It often, that It may truly become life to me.

verse 6: I am to have respect unto It. The word respect here means to look at intently, to regard with pleasure, favor, and care.

verse 11: I am to hide It in my heart. Commit It to memory, commit It to practice that I might not sin against my Savior.

verse 13: I am to declare It. It should be the topic of conversation. What I glean from it should be so life-changing that I can’t help but share It with others.

verse 14: I am to rejoice in It as I would the getting of riches. It should be a treasure to me for it has more benefits than any financial wealth I could ever attain. 

verse 15: I am to meditate on It. The word meditate means to ponder, to converse with oneself and hence aloud. Is the Word on my mind? If It is, It will help to keep my the words of my mouth and the thoughts that I think pleasing. I should be thinking about It, asking Him to make it real to me in a greater way each moment of everyday.

verse 16: I am to delight in It. How often I find pleasure in other things, only to find that it was short-lived! I can continually delight in the promises of God because they will be standing forever. Unlike other things, the excitement they bring wouldn’t fade with time or be replaced by something greater. I am guilty of having a happiness that is extremely dependent upon conditions, but if I find true joy in Scripture and the God that breathed it, my joy will be continual.

verse 18: I am to behold It. The Hebrew word for behold is the same word used in verse 6 meaning to look at intently. Not only a physical looking at with my eyes, but a spiritual looking at with my heart pausing long enough for the Lord to truly work on me, making me more like Him.

verse 20: I am to long for It. I should crave the communion with my Lord that is found through time in His Word. My desire should be to know it that I might live it. Too often, our Bibles are openned only during Sunday morning worship service and spend Monday through Saturday collecting dust. The longer I go without longing for His Word, the dustier my soul becomes.

verse 24: I should look to It for counsel. Proverbs tells us that in the multitude of counselors there is safety. God’s Word offers a multitude of verses on a multitude of topics that provide the best counsel possible. I should seek His opinion for a course of action before I seek that of someone else.

verse 25: I am to be quickened It. Dead apart from Him, His Word should be the place where I seek spiritual life to make a successful and joyful physical life possible. I need to be made alive. My flesh receives not the things of the spirit so I should be diligent in my pursuit of a more vibrant life found through Scripture.

verse 26: I am to be taught by It. My Teacher penned these words that I might learn from them. We can learn nothing from a book we’ve never read. How my wandering heart needs to be taught!

I read through verse 104 this morning, but don’t what to overwhelm you with a list of that length in one post. So I will spend the next few posts focusing on the Word-filled life as found in Psalm 119.

Oh how my life needs more of His Word! I am asking Him to give me a fresh desperation for It, one like David has in verse 5 of this chapter.

I challenge you to spend some time in the middle of your Bible, here in Psalm 119, finding out what the Word-filled life entails. Please comment, if the Lord shows you something in a verse from this passage that I don’t mention.

I’m excited about this study. I haven’t done a themed study since the Fruit of the Spirit over the summer, but I look forward to what He’ll teach me through this one!

Praying you have a wonderful Word-filled weekend!

“O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!”

Psalm 119:5 

The Spring of All my Comfort

Thou the Spring of all my comfort,
More than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside Thee?
Whom in Heav’n but Thee?

More and more I find such encouragement in the old hymns of the faith. I am becoming more thankful than I’ve ever been for being raised up listening to and singing songs written many years ago by saints who walked in daily communion with Jesus despite many challenges and hardships.

Today, I have been down and discouraged but the words to this verse of Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior pointed me to the Spring of all my Comfort.

I am reminded tonight that regardless of where I am in this life, I will forever have the One who is more than life to me by my side!

In Psalm 139, He assures me of this.

“O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.  For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.” verses 1-12

On my good days and bad, He is acquainted with all of my ways. When I’m hurting, His right hand is holding me. When I uncertain, that same hand will lead me. He is behind me bringing peace to the pain of a sinful past. He is before me preparing a beautiful future that will draw me closer to Him.

I am drinking tonight from the Spring of all my Comfort finding sweet relief! I am so thankful that He will not pass me by!

More than Going Through the Motions

It has been a wonderful Sunday with time in God’s house and time with my sweet family.  Tonight, I heard a great message that brought much-needed challenge and encouragement. It’s theme was ministry and how it needs to be more than just something that we do to be doing it.

What a challenge to my heart that can so often be going through the motions!

We were admonished to pray that the Lord would give us a minister’s heart instead of just busily going about the work half-heartedly.

Reminded that true ministry isn’t just showing up to teach Sunday school on Sunday morning or singing in the choir (even though both are great and needed things to be doing), but about meeting people where they are with the power of the Gospel.

Doing ministry His way means lifting up the fallen and helping them stand again. It means bringing hope to the hurting so that healing can begin. It means understanding that the lost are no different than we were before someone shared Jesus with us. Most importantly, it means going to the lost with the Salvation we’ve been so graciously given.

Ministry is words and action together. One is worthless without the other.

I believe we’d take our ministry more seriously if we lived in constant realization of Who called us into it in the first place.

 ”And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;”

1 Timothy 1:12 

He saw that we could minister to others through the marvelous mercy He gave us so He blessed with this precious privilege. He alone gives us the ability to minister.

I want to be faithful to Him. What a tragedy it would be to fail my Father who trusted me enough to give me this opportunity.

May I take Paul’s command to Archippus in Colossians 4:17  as my own and

“ Take heed to the ministry which (I have) received in the Lord, that (I) fulfil it.”

Praying you have a wonderful week full of many ministry opportunities!

He’s Not…

“Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding.”

 Isaiah 40:28

Though I get weary of the waiting, my Lord is not. Though I am impatient, my Lord is not. He is patient because He knows that the end of the thing is better than the beginning (Ecc. 7:8, Ez. 36:11) and that the results will be unspeakably worth the wait.

“Lo this is our God; we have waited for Him.” Isaiah 25:9

When it’s His perfect will that I wait in, it is sweeter than anything I could ever plan for myself even though it means tarrying when I want to move ahead!

He is not faint because He chose this path knowing full well what it would entail.

“…I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” Isaiah 48:11

From the very first day He knew that by going through this, not by going around it or being delivered out of it, He would be glorified, and I would one day see it as good when looking back at the end of this season.

“I will not give my glory to another.” Isaiah 48:11

I am here because I have need of teaching, of reminding, of stirring, of being in a place where I can better bring my Lord the glory He is so deserving of!

Here that I may be assured of His Word and it’s sufficiency. Here so I will learn to cling more tightly to Him instead of the temporal things I’m so impatient for.

“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Isaiah 40:8 

It is by leaning upon Him, finding in Him my Reason for living, looking to His Word that forever standeth sure, that I will gain what it is He desires me to gain in the waiting.

Though there are days that I struggle through, spiritually speaking, I am reminded today that He’s not. Regardless of how long this season may last, He’s not weary of it and will never be! It’s in my Lord that I can find joy for this portion of the journey!

 ”But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 

Looking Up

 

 

 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.”

Psalm 19:1-3

Once in a while when I’m not studying a particular book or topic during my morning devotions, I will read a Psalm or Proverb that correspond with the date. This morning,  I was blessed by Psalm 19.

It is amazing to think that the same sun that brought light to the darkness in Maryland this morning did the same for someone waking up across America in California. Amazing that those looking up from the jungle in Ecuador and the deserts of the Sahara are being warmed by the same rays that are shining brightly on this clear January day here at home.

And even more amazing still is that it all points to an amazing Creator who is more magnificent than even the beauty of His creation can convey. We see the Ultimate Artist at work as we gaze upon the brilliant blues of the sky at midday and the golden hues of red, orange, pink and purple as dusk falls.

Even those who claim unbelief must wonder somewhere deep inside how a freak accident or enormous explosion could’ve created such splendor. How can one help but think of something or Someone much larger than themselves as he marvels at the majesty of creation? Isn’t the fact that one slight move by the earth or the sun would cause certain destruction by intense heat or extreme cold enough to cause us to realize that Someone, God Himself, is holding it all in the palm of His hand?

The very God who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, measured the length of the heavens, and weighed the dust of the earth has appeared to all even through His creation. (Isaiah 40:12) Each morning He is faithful to cause the sunrise so that we can accomplish our daily tasks and every evening He tucks it quietly away that we may rest. And then when our bodies are worn from work  and we fall into bed, we can sleep in peace for He is ever awake, ever in complete control of it all.

So when you’re in the middle of your busy (but blessed!) day, remember to pause long enough to look up. Look at the sun and consider our Faithful Creator who not only provides the sun in order for humanity to function physically, but has given His Son that we may function spiritually.

 ”Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.”

Isaiah 40:28