Category Archives: Sunday

Psalm 119:89-96 ל Lamedh – correction, learning

Posted on August 28, 2016 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119:89-96 ל Lamedh – ox, goad, correction, learning
89 Your word, Lord, is eternal;
it stands firm in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
you established the earth, and it endures.
91 Your laws endure to this day,
for all things serve you.
92 If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have preserved my life.
94 Save me, for I am yours;
I have sought out your precepts.
95 The wicked are waiting to destroy me,
but I will ponder your statutes.
96 To all perfection I see a limit,
but your commands are boundless.

There are two important choices in the life of this special man, the Psalmist. The first one is his deliberate choice to believe the faithfulness of God endures no matter what his circumstances are.

Lamedh is his second deliberate choice; perspective. He chooses to accept the reality that correction and learning happen in the circumstances of his life. That’s how he knows firsthand…perfection doesn’t come easy.

It’s all about living life with the perspective of that second choice while depending on the lasting reality of the first one.  It doesn’t just happen, it  has to be deliberate.

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Psalm 119:73-80 י Yodh – Hand [Bent]

Posted on August 21, 2016 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119:73-80 י Yodh – Hand [Bent]
73 Your hands made me and formed me;
give me understanding to learn your commands.
74 May those who fear you rejoice when they see me,
for I have put my hope in your word.
75 I know, Lord, that your laws are righteous,
and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
76 May your unfailing love be my comfort,
according to your promise to your servant.
77 Let your compassion come to me that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
78 May the arrogant be put to shame for wronging me without cause;
but I will meditate on your precepts.
79 May those who fear you turn to me,
those who understand your statutes.
80 May I wholeheartedly follow your decrees,
that I may not be put to shame.

I couldn’t help but notice this man who’d captured the heart of God used the word “me” 13 times in these eight verses. There’s another 6 “I’s” and a few “my’s as well. My first reaction was all those references to himself seemed pretty self-absorbed but then I realized they were probably the very reason he’d captured God’s heart.

The Psalmist recognized God’s hand in his life. That hand made his relationship more than desire to know the commands and decrees. That bent hand was the place he could safely put all those “me’s, I’s and my’s” so he could wholeheartedly and shamelessly admit every part of himself was dependent on a hand’s-on God.

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Psalm 119: 57-64 ח Heth – Hedge, Fence, Surround

Posted on August 14, 2016 | Leave a comment

ח Heth – Hedge, Fence, Surround
57 You are my portion, Lord;
I have promised to obey your words.
58 I have sought your face with all my heart;
be gracious to me according to your promise.
59 I have considered my ways
and have turned my steps to your statutes.
60 I will hasten and not delay
to obey your commands.
61 Though the wicked bind me with ropes,
I will not forget your law.
62 At midnight I rise to give you thanks
for your righteous laws.
63 I am a friend to all who fear you,
to all who follow your precepts.
64 The earth is filled with your love, Lord;
teach me your decrees.

We have a shelter, we have our defense and now we have a hedge, fence or a surround. Heth is a boundary; “a point or limit that indicates where two things become different. ” Look at the Psalmist, the hero of the song. His theme regularly shifts from complete confidence in his knowledge of God to the awareness, and sometimes even fear, of how vulnerable he is.

God has set himself as the boundary line between those shifts of confidence and vulnerability. It’s that point of Heth from which the Psalmist speaks; “I have promised…I have sought…I have considered…I will hasten,,,I will not forget…I rise to give you thanks…The earth is filled with your love, Lord; teach me your decrees.”

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Psalm 119:41-48 ו Waw – Hook, Nail, Peg

Posted on August 7, 2016 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119:41-48
41 May your unfailing love come to me, Lord,
your salvation, according to your promise;
42 then I can answer anyone who taunts me,
for I trust in your word.
43 Never take your word of truth from my mouth,
for I have put my hope in your laws.
44 I will always obey your law,
for ever and ever.
45 I will walk about in freedom,
for I have sought out your precepts.
46 I will speak of your statutes before kings
and will not be put to shame,
47 for I delight in your commands
because I love them.
48 I reach out for your commands, which I love,
that I may meditate on your decrees.

So far much of Psalm 119 has been like reading from an architect’s plan about a structure being built; doors, windows and now nails. What if “Waw” is part of the architect’s plan for the structure of salvation?

Maybe these are the “nails” necessary to build the promised structure into the reality of a personal shelter; trust [42], hope [43], obeying [44], seeking [45], speaking [46], love [47] and thinking deeply[48].

[41] May your unfailing love come to me, Lord, your salvation, according to your promise;…

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Psalm 119:25-32 – ד Daleth – Door

Posted on July 31, 2016 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119:25-32
25 I am laid low in the dust;
preserve my life according to your word.
26 I gave an account of my ways and you answered me;
teach me your decrees.
27 Cause me to understand the way of your precepts,
that I may meditate on your wonderful deeds.
28 My soul is weary with sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
29 Keep me from deceitful ways;
be gracious to me and teach me your law.
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I have set my heart on your laws.
31 I hold fast to your statutes, Lord;
do not let me be put to shame.
32 I run in the path of your commands,
for you have broadened my understanding.

These eight verses were used by God in the life of the Psalmist. They were highlighted with the subtle heading of an access door to God, a “Daleth,” and kept for us; the future generations when subtlety would be replaced with reality. God would reveal the “Daleth.”

The “door” is exactly how Jesus describes himself in the NASB version of John 10:7 “So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.”

These verses of the Psalm are meant for us today. Try this; read all eight of the verses as if you are the “I” and insert the name of our door, Jesus, where it seems to fit in each of them. You may discover these words have become your own access door; praise from one more flawed and fearful, but faithful, servant committed to finding faith in daily life. May it be so.

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ב Beth – House, Tent

Posted on July 24, 2016 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119:9-16
The more-or-less ignored headings of the 22 sections of this Psalm really do count if you read the individual eight verses of each as if they are a key. Beth is the key God has given to a place of shelter for:

• Purity
9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.

• Focus
10 I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.

• Safety
11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

• Learning
12 Praise be to you, Lord; teach me your decrees.

• Remembering
13 With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth.

• Praising
14 I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.

• Thinking
15 I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.

• Commitment
16 I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

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Seeds of Grace

Posted on July 17, 2016 | Leave a comment

I’ve been starting each morning with a very simple short prayer. “I love you Lord, please lead me.” Then I start reading and wait for that to happen.

• Thursday: Waiting
Read Esther 1 👎 [that’s a thumb’s down sign]
Scanned Joel 1 👎
Read a new resource: Os Hillman TGIF [Today God Is First] on BibleGateway.com.  The apostle Paul said, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13)
…He [God] has foreordained that we should accomplish great things in His name – not so that we will be accepted or become more valued, but to experience the reality of a living relationship with a God who wants to demonstrate His power through each of us.”

• Friday: Still Waiting
Read Oswald Chambers
1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
“Every tiny bit of my life that has value I owe to the redemption of Jesus Christ. Am I doing anything to enable Him to bring His redemption into evident reality in the lives of others? I will only be able to do this as the Spirit of God works into me this sense of indebtedness.”

• Saturday Morning: Read Philemon👍
At last, Scripture that catches my attention! Has God been leading these last few days while I thought I was floundering? Re-reading all my notes…again. Finally I do see a thread in one single verse that ties these last few days together!

• Sunday Blessing: Seeds of Grace
Philemon 1:25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
God wants to demonstrate His power through each of us as the Spirit of God works into us this sense of indebtedness. That’s where our understanding of  “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” is revealed as more than comfortable personal assurance and becomes the Seeds of Grace to share with each other.  That’s the blessing.

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Chains of Grace

Posted on July 10, 2016 | Leave a comment

Colossians 4:3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. 18…Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

This is Master-full writing and really good news. No more how-to books on evangelism, no more intimidating classes and no more role-playing exercises needed. This is Paul’s perfect, clear and concise plan for speaking of the mystery of Christ.

• Proclaim it clearly
• Be wise in your actions toward outsiders
• Make the most of every opportunity
• Let your conversation be always full of grace
• Seasoned with salt

What…you’re a little intimidated…don’t know how to answer everyone? Well Paul has covered that for us too in v18…Remember my chains.” Was Paul only speaking of actual iron chains? I don’t think so.

Those three words were not his plea for sympathy. They were his reminder that the power of his words was bound to the “mystery of Christ” by Chains of Grace, not ability as a public speaker or personality and certainly not circumstances.

• Remember my chains. Grace…
That’s the vital last line to the list.

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Relationship, Not Rules

Posted on July 3, 2016 | Leave a comment

Colossians 2
Thoughts:
I have this theory that the little “stops” that occur when I read Scripture happen for a reason. Those are the things I need to think and write about. Unfortunately the verses that kept stopping me in this chapter were all those ones I don’t like…about “rules.” I like rules well enough when I make them, but I don’t think they “bring” me, or anyone else, “to fullness.”

Just how can perfectly reasonable rules become a problem you ask? Here’s the real warning: “8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” That happens when we settle for rules becoming:
…a means of control for ourself or others
…a way we cover up our inadequacies
…the evidence of our faith
…a substitute for living “in Christ”

“Colossians 2:6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness…13b…God made you alive with Christ.”

The chapter may have a lot to say about rules but these few verses are filled with words of encouragement: continue, rooted, built up, strengthened and brought to fullness. God has made “you alive with Christ” to be his voice in your small part of the world with this message of encouragement.   Fullness is about Relationship, Not Rules.

I borrowed this from Richard Dahlstrom’s blog http://stepbystepjourney.com/?p=1605
“ ‘All of us know our inadequacies pretty well – what we need is to be told how much we’re loved, where we’re gifted, where we can shine.’ ”

Tell someone today.

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Jesus Wins!

Posted on June 26, 2016 | Leave a comment

2 Thessalonians Living Bible
1-3 & 7-8 And now, what about the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to meet him? Please don’t be upset and excited, dear brothers, by the rumor that this day of the Lord has already begun. If you hear of people having visions and special messages from God about this, or letters that are supposed to have come from me, don’t believe them. 3 Don’t be carried away and deceived regardless of what they say…7 As for the work this man of rebellion and hell will do when he comes, it is already going on, but he himself will not come until the one who is holding him back steps out of the way. 8 Then this wicked one will appear, whom the Lord Jesus will burn up with the breath of his mouth and destroy by his presence when he returns

Thoughts:
Two topics seem to be a big part of the community of faith today; Jesus’ return and the miserable state of the world.  Both are very real.  The fact is, even in our community of faith, we are caught in between the hope of Jesus’ return, that we don’t know much about, and  all the well-documented evil in our world we hear so much about.  It’s hard to know how to reconcile all that.  The “man of rebellion and hell” speaks loudly with many borrowed voices that come at us daily.   They question the truth we know about the Lord, but can’t yet see.  Those voices hope to leave us with impotent despair and to make what is unseen seem impossible to the world…and even to us. Those voices swear that our only hope is to be prepared for the worst with worry, despair and even guns and violence if need be.  Don’t listen!

Jesus is the reconciler of life with a different voice and a true hope for living our life of faith right in the midst of a world that needs a makeover.   You win and Jesus wins!   John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

― Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“I discovered later, and I’m still discovering right up to this moment, that is it only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. By
“this-worldliness” I mean living unreservedly in life’s duties, problems, successes and failures. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously, not our own sufferings, but those of God in the world. That, I think, is faith.”

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