Sunday, July 13, 2008

Psalm 95 (Amplified Bible)

Psalm 95

1O COME, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation!

2Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!

3For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

4In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights and strength of the hills are His also.

5The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.

6O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and supplication].

7For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice,(A)

8Harden not your hearts as at Meribah and as at Massah in the day of temptation in the wilderness,(B)

9When your fathers tried My patience and tested Me, proved Me, and saw My work [of judgment].

10Forty years long was I grieved and disgusted with that generation, and I said, It is a people that do err in their hearts, and they do not approve, acknowledge, or regard My ways.

11Wherefore I swore in My wrath that they would not enter My rest [the land of promise].(C)

Cross references:

  1. Psalm 95:7 : Heb 3:7-11
  2. Psalm 95:8 : Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13; Deut 6:16
  3. Psalm 95:11 : Heb 4:3-11
Let us praise His holy Name with songs! Let us bow down in reverence. Let us seek His will for our lives. Let us be ready to obey. It is all for our benefit. Under His wings we abide in the shelter and protection of the One who loved us more than His life. Where will we find rest away from His love?

Lord, let my heart's prayer resound:
Please give me the wisdom that begins with fear and reverence for You, the All Mighty God, that I might escape Your righteous wrath and hide in Your gracious love. I have so much to learn.

Thank You, Jesus.
Amen.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Call It What It Is

We can't see God. No one can see His face and live. Yet all around us there is proof, tangible, edible, smellable, sensory proof of His love and grace: the breath you take, the food you eat, the car you drive, the heights we have achieved in medicine, the light in our children's eyes. How did any of it get here? How does it exist?

They are all evidence of God. The world around us was created to express His might and power and His desire to be known by us. He wants us to know Him and He can use any method He chooses for that purpose.

Science can tell us 'How' things happen. But never can it tell us 'Why' or more importantly 'Who'.

That's really what mankind yearns to know isn't it, "Why?" and "Who?".

As Christians, we know 'Who' and each day we get to know Him more personally.

We also know 'Why', and this is what we have the opportunity to express in our actions and reactions to everything in our daily lives.

For instance, I took a shower this morning while my children watched a video. When I came out, my oldest came into my room and said, "Mom, Sam is coloring Jacob with her markers all over the couch."

Drip, drip, drip.

I walked into the living room expecting a tie-dyed couch and multicolored children. A twenty-color pack of markers was scattered all over a section of the couch and down onto the floor. My children were both at least fifteen colors apiece. Blue here, green there, yellow over there, red down the backs of both of their necks.

But Nothing on the couch. Later I found one small spot of orange beneath the melee of markers. One small touch of color on a solid taupe couch.

"It's a miracle!" I exclaimed as I directed and assisted them in putting the caps back on all twenty markers and tucked them back in the package. "A miracle!" I must have said it at least two or three times, because Dylan finally asked me, "Momma, why do you keep saying 'It's a miracle'?"

"Because it is! Look at the markers everywhere, all uncapped and lying on the couch cushions. There isn't a mark anywhere! It is a miracle!" How else can you explain a two year old and a one year old, completely colored from scalp to bellybutton, with not a mark on the platform used for their art?

It had to have been the gracious hand of the Lord. I know He spared me that trial this morning. I know He preserved the integrity of my living room furniture. Hah! How often He doesn't. But either way, it's the Hand of the Lord in my life. All things are used for our edification. So that we might come to know Him more intimately and personally.

That's what this life is, isn't it? Each of us gets our own story of His faithfulness.

It is up to us to tell others about Him. To live like we know Who and Why.

So the next time something inexplicable happens, or even if it seems to have some sort of reasonable explanation, recognize that no manner of logic or reasoning could ever begin to explain 'Why' and 'Who'.

Call it what it is.

Everything, all of it. It is a miracle. Evidence of the Hand of our Awesome God.

He wants to be known by us today. Let us make Him known to others.

Isa 43:10 "You are my witnesses," declares the Lord, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.

Isa 45:3 I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

Eze 38:23 And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'

Show thyself, Lord. Give us eyes and hearts to see, minds and tongues to speak, to call it what it is.

It is all for Your Glory, because You love us so.

Amen~!

Depending on God

Today is my wedding anniversary! There is much to celebrate because, God is an awesome God, and I just adore my Hubby. :-)

So, in honor of the love and fellowship I am blessed with today and everyday, here is an article by Chuck Smith that speaks of the true expression of our love for our Creator.

Here is the link:

http://www.billygraham.org/DMag_article.asp?ArticleID=983


May God write it on our hearts.

Lovingly,
Carmen