Psalm 139

This is part of an e-mail that I just sent to a friend of mine... but i so constantly need the reminder as well...

Remember - the faithful God who called you is the One who is working now in your life (even in the so many ways you don't understand and don't like) and He is the One who has promised to complete what He began (lovingly, tenderly, passionately, and with more care than you've ever experienced before in your life).

You're not lost, simply wandering all alone … you're being led down this path by a Sovereign Shepherd that cares for your emotions and heart. He wants what's best for you and is gently, tenderly leading you right now.

I just feel that you need to be reminded of that. Don't turn away from that care… keep minute by minute entrusting your soul to Him who judges rightly. He is trustworthy. Read Psalm 139. (to help you out, I've included it below… as well as some additional thoughts that I hope and pray are a help and comfort to you)


Psalm 139
1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

(this is not a scary God that simply keeps track of all our thoughts and deeds. He is a God that understands our weakness and loves us wholeheartedly. That's why this knowledge is wonderful. Do not be afraid of the fact that He knows all your thoughts. Do not fear that He has hemmed you in - though confined beyond what you would choose, His hand is upon you.)

7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

(find comfort in this truth, do not fear His presence. Do not fear His Spirit. He is a Comforter and He longs to comfort your weary heart!)

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

(even when all seems dark. Even when I feel swallowed up by the darkness, He is holding me)

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

(in the midst of darkness and confusion, I can praise God for His awesome sovereignty!)

15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

(even when He searches and finds something in me that is offensive, do not forget the gospel - don’t forget "it is finished" applies there too because I am a beloved, cherished child of the almighty God that is overwhelming with compassion and forgiveness.)



"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."- Ephesians 3:20-21

- immeasurably beyond what we ask or think… this is just ONE LOOK!!!! He is a Comforter… find 9 more of these, and find rest in the midst of the battle you are facing.

Father, forgive them...

http://newattitude.org/articles/crucifixion_narrative

http://sermonaudio.wordpress.com/2007/04/06/a-crucifixion-narrative/


He looks up to his Father. His Father looks back, but Jesus doesn’t recognize these eyes. They pierce the invisible world with fire and darken the visible sky. And Jesus feels dirty. He hangs between earth and heaven filthy with human discharge on the outside and now filthy with human wickedness on the inside.

The Father speaks: “Son of Man! Why have you sinned against me and heaped scorn on my great glory? You are self-sufficient and self-righteous—consumed with yourself and puffed up and selfishly ambitious. You rob me of my glory and worship what’s inside of you instead of looking out to the one who created you. You are a greedy, lazy, gluttonous slanderer and gossip. You are a lying, conceited, ungrateful, cruel adulterer. ... You are lukewarm and easily enticed by the world. You covet and can’t have so you murder. You are filled with envy and rage and bitterness and unforgiveness. You blame others for your sin and are too proud to even call it sin. You are never slow to speak. And you have a razor tongue that lashes and cuts with its criticism and sinful judgment. Your words do not impart grace. Instead your mouth is a fountain of condemnation and guilt and obscene talk. ... You have no self-control. You are a betrayer who stirs up division and factions. You’re a drunkard and a thief. You’re an anxious coward. You do not trust me. You blaspheme against me. ...The list of your sins goes on and on. And I hate these things inside of you. I’m filled with disgust for you and indignation for your sin consumes me. Now, drink my cup!"

And Jesus does. He drinks for hours. He downs every drop of the scalding liquid of God’s own hatred of sin mingled with his white-hot wrath against that sin. This is the Father’s cup: omnipotent hatred and anger for the sins of every generation past, present, and future. Omnipotent wrath directed at one naked man hanging on a cross.

The Father can no longer look at his beloved Son, his heart’s treasure, the mirror-image of himself. And he diverts his gaze.

Jesus pushes himself upward and howls to heaven, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Silence. Separation.

Jesus pushes himself up again and cries, “It is finished.” And it is. Every sin of every child of God had been laid on Jesus and he drank the cup of God’s wrath dry.

Is Anybody Home?

-following post originally posted at http://www.theblazingcenter.com/

When the storms of life strike with fury it can seem like God has turned on his answering machine and dozed off. We can doubt if he hears our prayers. Does God really know how bad we have it? We may think Hey, we're suffering down here - is there anybody up there?

The Israelites probably felt like that. They groaned under the whip of Egyptian thugs and cried out to God for rescue. But they received no answer. The heavens must have seemed like brass. Could God see them suffering? Was he off running the universe with no time for them? Was anybody home?

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. Exodus 2:23-25

This passage tells us 4 things to remember in our trials.
First of all, God heard.
Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to him. He heard their prayers. He wasn't tuned out, listening to his iPod. He wasn't distant and uninterested, but nearby and attentive. Not only did God hear their cries, he heard their groaning. What a wonderful God we have - he hears not only our prayers, but our sighs and inarticulate groans. Just as a father hears the groans of his suffering child and has compassion, so does God hear our groans with pity. We should never think God doesn't listen to our prayers. The God who heard Jonah's cry from the whale's belly and Israel's cry in Egyptian slavery hears us. The Lord who collects our tears in his bottle hears our every whispered request.

Secondly, God remembered.
He remembered his covenant. Not that God had forgotten it. But he remembered his covenant with intent to act upon it. God remembers his covenant that he made with his children through Christ. He remembers his promises to never stop doing good to us. He recalls his promise to work all things for our good. He remembers his promise to never leave us nor forsake us. If Christ has saved you, never ever think that God has forgotten you.

Third, God saw.
He saw the Egyptian bullies beating his children. If I saw someone picking on one of my kids, I'd be on it like a hawk on a field mouse. Nothing in all creation is hidden from his gaze. God has his eye on your suffering and has compassion on you. He's not asleep. He sees the sparrows in your back yard. How much more does he see you, the apple of his eye, his child through Christ.

Lastly, God knew.
He knew what was happening. And he knew what he was going to do. He knew he would bring Egypt to its knees and deliver Israel with a mighty hand. God looks at you and knows. He knows what you're facing in infinite detail. And he knows exactly how he's going to help you. He knows the second your troubles began and the second he will stop them.

God hears, remembers, sees and knows. Cry out to him today. He's waiting to help.

faithful to the faithless

I was reading on Carolyn McCulley's blog this morning and came across the post listed below. What struck me was God's faithfulness despite Naomi's complaining. Even in "Marah" God was faithful. Even through the bitterness there, He turned the waters sweet... How kind of God to provide for his stupid dull disciples like Naomi and me...

---------------------------------------------------
God's Grace to Grumblers

Last month, I mentioned Iain Duguid's commentary on Esther and Ruth. It was one of the best books I read in 2007. There are so many wonderfully wise nuggets in it. One insight I particularly enjoyed was about Naomi. I often use Naomi's life as an illustration when I speak, encouraging women not to survey their circumstances and conclude that what they can perceive is all the God is doing. But I've never noted this particular aspect of God's mercy being revealed even in the new name that Naomi gave herself ("Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara") when she returned home to Bethlehem:

Like Naomi, we may be so busy complaining about our emptiness that we miss the fact that God has emptied our hands only in order to fill them with something so much better. Without Naomi's emptiness, she would never have left Moab behind and returned to the land of promise. Had she stayed contentedly "full" (as she thought) in Moab, Naomi would have missed out on the far greater blessing of a prime place in the history of redemption. She was so caught up in what she had lost, however, that she could not yet see the far greater treasure she had been given in Ruth, a token of God's grace to her. . . .

Even calling herself Mara should have caused Naomi to ponder more deeply the events that took place in that wilderness location, where in spite of his people's grumbling, God nonetheless turned the bitter water into sweet, and thereby demonstrated that he was "the Lord, your healer" (Ex. 15:26). Was that deliverance from their pain a reward for their goodness? Certainly not! It was a landmark measure of God's unfailing goodness and mercy upon an undeserving, rebellious, and grumbling people. Marah was not just the definitive place of grumbling bitterness, it was also the place where God's grace to grumblers was definitively displayed.

For some of you, the turning of the year may have been bittersweet. Perhaps you were able to close the door on a year dotted with loss and difficulty, but you look into the blank canvas of a new year with doubt and maybe even distrust. Like Naomi, you don't want people to call you pleasant any longer. But before you assign yourself the name of bitter, I hope you will take time to ponder God's quiet providence to both the wandering and grumbling Israelites and the despairing widow Naomi. God's grace to grumblers is evident throughout Scripture and even throughout our own personal experiences.

So it is with more confidence in the Father of mercies than in our present circumstances that I wish you the happiest of new years.
original post can be found at http://solofemininity.blogs.com/posts/2008/01/from-empty-to-f.html

Oh, that I might know where I may find Him...

Job 23
Job Replies: Where Is God?

Then Job answered and said: "Today also my complaint is bitter; my hand is heavy on account of my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat! I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know what he would answer me and understand what he would say to me. Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; he would pay attention to me. There an upright man could argue with him, and I would be acquitted forever by my judge. "Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food. But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does. For he will complete what he appoints for me, and many such things are in his mind. Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him. God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me; yet I am not silenced because of the darkness, nor because thick darkness covers my face.

My Soul Waits for the Lord

Psalm 130

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!

O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
I wait for the LORD,

my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the LORD!

For with the LORD there is steadfast love,

and with him is plentiful redemption.

And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Ask, Seek and Knock

"The Father that you approach is eternally loving and abundantly generous. Brothers and sisters, don't ever think that God is reluctant to answer your prayers no matter how long you wait. He is generous and He is lavish with the gifts and the grace that He gives us. There is no hint, in the heart of God, of reluctance to give you good gifts. He is gracious and He is generous to us. He is loving. He is generous. And oh, He is powerful. Folks, God does not just have good intentions when He says "ask and seek and knock." No! He will actually give you what you are asking and seeking and knocking. Remember the God that you are speaking to, He is the omnipotent and the most powerful God of the universe. He created with a word the very universe you exist in. He is abundantly and eternally powerful to help you in any situation that you are asking for and seeking and knocking. Don't think for a second that God's arm is too short to answer your prayer. Listen to the voice of God saying "Child, is my arm to short to save that relative you love so much? Is my arm to short to restore the broken relationship you have with your spouse? Is my arm to short to give you freedom to the sin you feel so bound to? Is my arm to short to give you the child you have been praying for for years?" Is my arm to short to come and meet you in that test and that trial, that sickness that you have been enduring for years? The answer is NO! For He is eternally loving. He is abundantly generous. And He is ultimately powerful. And this passage says to us that He is GOOD!" … "We come to a loving God when we pray. We come to a generous God when we pray. We come to a powerful God in the morning when we pray. We come to a good and gracious Father who loves to give good gifts to His children. Does that not inspire you to daily and consistently pray? - that you get to be with Him! You get to actually speak with Him. And here's the miracle - He listens! HE LISTENS! And he doesn't just listen, He's leaning forward, ready to bless. Ready to comfort."

Luke 11: 9-13
And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

If you're interested, the sermon link is on the Na blog at http://www.newattitude.org/blog/entry.php?category=Theology&id=370

God is not Silent

God is at work and has been impressing upon my heart this week that He is far from silent. He is at work in numerous ways. He desires growth in us. He desires us to cry out to Him in prayer. He desires for us to know Him better. Why? Because as we know Him better, we grasp a greater understanding of who He is. As we see who He is and how He works, it humbles us. As we are humbled by His might, we cease seeking the glory for ourselves and through this He is magnified. And ultimately we are here for His glory. We are to live so that our lives bring Him glory (not exault our own ambitions). As we cry out to Him in prayer, it shows our dependence on Him instead of self-reliance. All this started with a prayer that was sent to me this past Wednesday from Sarah.

Here are some excerpts from the prayer:
"My Lord and my faithful and all-knowing God, I ask that you speak through Rick today in a radiant, winsome, refreshing, and provident way. Give him courage, give him faith, give him joy and compassion. Humble his heart that He might best point these other men and women to the glorious mystery of You and all that You are and all that that so beautifully and graciously requires. May he tremble at Your power, rest in Your promise, and declare Your goodness, grace and wonders today. . . . Savior, let those who are weary be impassioned for the journey to which You have called them to. Let those who are searching find enlightenment and care at your throne of grace. May Your gospel be amplified. May Your name be lifted up. . . . Thank you for yet another opportunity to reflect upon your abounding favor and kindness. You are truly awesome and I’m so grateful for all that You are about – though I am aware of ever-so-small a part of it."

I've got to admit that prayer was convicting to me. Convicting because I don't pray with that much depth and seriousness. I don't go into that much detail when I'm before the throne. I just ask - God please bless so and so in this specific endeavor. and so on. But asking that someone tremble at the power of God, rest in His promises, and declare His goodness, grace and wonders... that type of prayer is very God focused, with the understanding of human weakness and inability to perform anything worthwhile. With the serious awareness that its not of our own merit that anything good happens.

Sarah's prayer is oozing with gratefulness and worship. I pray that God would give me that same gratitude as I approach Him. I pray that my goal would become more like hers - a deep desire to see God's glory and His name magnified as opposed to my own agenda. That He would give me a gratefulness for what He has already done with a deeper understanding of who He is and always will be.

Silence

The last month has been a struggle for me. Not as much thinking - not as much posting - more focus outward and I'm beginning to see that its a balancing act - I can't effectively disciple others if I'm not discipling my own heart. When something is unkown, I kick into "do it on my own" mode and that's what i've done over the past few weeks. How grateful am I that even when I'm silent towards God, He's not silent to me. He is patiently plodding away at the crust around my heart. He's lovingly patiently graciously providing new grace with the rising of each day's sun. He's making me increasingly aware that I don't deserve it.

"The Christian must trust in a withdrawing God."
WILLIAM GURNALL

God, give me the trust in you whether you are obviously active or even at times when you choose rather silence. In that silence, grant me the grace not to busy myself with other concerns, but rather to sit (though at times uncomfortable) in the silence. Help me to see that these times are the ones that heal. That the business hides my wounds but your silence grants me the opportunity to rejoice in my wounds as I see your wounds that heal all. As I see your all encompassing compassion in healing me, grant me peace. Grant me a heart that is soft for you, ever trusting your ways, whether they are clear to me or if the steps ahead are unknown.

Isaiah 42:16

...and I will lead the blind
in a way that they do not know
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light
the rough places into level ground
these are the things I do
and I do not forsake them.

Isaiah 42:16

Clouds of Unbelief

It is not the distance of the earth from the sun, nor the sun's withdrawing itself, that makes a dark and gloomy day; but the interposition of clouds and vaporous exhalations. Neither is thy soul beyond the reach of the promise, nor does God withdraw Himself; but the vapours of thy carnal, unbelieving heart do cloud thee.

See in the meantime that your faith brings forth obedience, and God in due time will cause it to bring forth peace.
John Owen

Even When He Is Silent...

“I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining. And I believe in love, even when there’s no one there. And I believe in God, even when God is silent.”

discovered written on a cellar wall shortly after World War II, in a Jewish hiding place

Psalm 102 - When God is Silent

Silence is particularly painful when that silence is the silence of God. Oh, how we would like to be like Moses where God speaks to us all the time through burning bushes. How we would like to be like Elijah who throughout his life carried on a running conversation with God.

We have got neighbors who come up to us and say, "The Lord was telling me today ...blah ..blah ...blah ..." And we cry out, "Then why, God, are you so mute when it comes to me?" The silence is agonizing. Particularly when we are in agony. When our lives are afflicted. When we are in turmoil and we turn to the Lord for an answer, and all we are met with is silence.

Psalm 102
Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food, because of my loud groaning I am reduced to skin and bones. I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof.

Because God is silent the psalmist is wondering, 'God, are you even listening to all of these prayers I am pouring out to you from the bottom of my soul?' In verse 2, the psalmist wonders if God is playing hide-and-seek with him. Those are games the psalmist does not want to play. He has had enough of that. He wants answers and he wants them now. I can identify with him at this point?

A reason that you and I sometimes miss God's voice when he is talking to us, is because our ears are not tuned to his frequency. It is not that he is not speaking to us, it is just that we have forgotten what his voice sounds like. So, we miss it. This is why you and I need to get constantly, daily, into the Word of God. As you and I are into the Word, it is there that we learn God's speech patterns. We begin to get our ears re-tuned the frequency of his voice.

When God is silent in your life and mine, it is a reminder to us that he is sovereign and we are not. That he will speak when, and where, and how, when he full well pleases, and not just when we demand it. God is sovereign. He is no idol.

Through his silence he reminds you and me of his reality. You and I don't miss things that are not real. When God is silent, it is so painful because we so badly need the reality of his presence in our lives. That pain is a reminder of God's reality. When God is silent, those most profound moments of silence are also the most profound moments of his presence. We have his promise that he is never absent from us.

We get caught up into so much stuff; and then when God goes silent; it is that silence, that pain of that silence, that stirs up in you and me that longing, that hunger, that will hopefully push us toward doing something about it. Moving us toward him and into the arms, the very arms, of Jesus Christ. Who by the way, is the only person who has ever lived on the face of this earth that has ever heard, the total deafening silence of God. As he was nailed to that cross, and from the cross cried out to God, 'My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?' And that cry was answered by nothing but silence.

"God's silence is as much a sign of God's presence as of God's absence. That divine silence is not a vacuum to be filled, but a mystery to be entered into. Unarmed with words and undistracted by noise, a holy of holies, in which we too may be struck dumb by the power of the unsayable God."

Hope in Waiting

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

"The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Lamentations 3:21-26

A Reason for Contentment

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.
I JOHN 4:16

As flame streams upward, so my longing thoughtFlies up with Thee,Thou God and Saviour, who hast truly wroughtLife out of death, and to us, loving, broughtA fresh, new world; and in Thy sweet chains caught,And made us free!
MAURICE FRANCIS EGAN

WHAT a blessed and glorious thing human existence would be, if we fully realized that the infinitely wise and infinitely powerful God loves each one of us, with an intensity infinitely beyond what the most fervid human spirit ever felt towards another, and with a concentration as if He had none else to think of! And this love has brought us into being, just that we might be taught to enter into full sympathy with Him, receiving His,--giving our own--thus entering into the joy of our Lord. This is the hope--the sure and certain hope--set before us,--sure and certain,--for "the mountains shall depart, and the hills be re-moved; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee."
THOMAS ERSKINE

Sit Still While You Wait

She replied, "Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out...
Ruth 3:18a

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Phil 4:4-7

When Nothing is Happening

At times nothing seems to be happening. So it must be for the bird that sits on her nest. Things are apparently at a standstill. But the bird sits quietly, knowing that in the stillness something vital is going on, and in the proper time it will be shown. It takes faith and patience for the bird, and such faith and patience never seem to waver, day after day, night after night, as she bides the appointed time.

Restless and doubtful we wonder why we have nothing to show for our efforts, no visible evidence of progress. Let us remember the perfect egg--unchanged in its appearance from the day it is laid. But while the bird waits faithfully, doing the only thing she is required to do throughout those silent weeks, important things are taking place.

I wait for the Lord. My soul waits, and in His word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning. --(Ps 130:5, 6 RSV)
--Elisabeth Elliott