Tag Archives: Discernment

Psalm 119:145-152 ק Qoph Axe, Back of Head

Posted on January 31, 2021 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119 – Qoph Axe, Back of Head,
145 I call with all my heart; answer me, Lord, and I will obey your decrees.
146 I call out to you; save me and I will keep your statutes.
147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.
148 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.
149 Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my life, Lord, according to your laws.
150 Those who devise wicked schemes are near, but they are far from your law.
151 Yet you are near, Lord, and all your commands are true.
152 Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever.

Right >§§§> Left

Lord, I will obey your decrees; answer me; I call with all my heart.  I will keep your statutes, I call out to you, save me.  I have put my hope in your word; I rise before dawn and cry for help.  Through the watches of the night my eyes stay open that I may meditate on your promises.  Preserve my life, Lord, according to your laws; hear my voice in accordance with your love.  Your law is far from those who devise wicked schemes near me.  All your commands are yet true, Lord, you are near.  You established your statutes to last forever, long ago I learned from them.

–––∞∞∞–––

I write what I “think I know,” because I want God to “know I think.” More importantly I believe God knows what I need to know, and He wants me to know it too.  I wonder if that’s the process of discernment?

I’m guessing seeing beyond what he thinks he knows is why the Psalmist writes too. Maybe that’s the secret of his obscure title Ooph – axe, back of head. The “back of the head” according to a Google search about anatomy is the “occipital lobe that controls sight.  What the Psalmist “sees” are his life experiences but he knows there is a greater truth that can cut away the debris of life and reveal a much greater reality.  The decrees, statutes and promises are the “axe” that can open his mind beyond what he thinks he knows, so he can see their truth; God wants him to know that His love preserves life.  “All your commands are yet true, Lord, you are near.”a

a  Rewrite of September, 2016

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Posted in Old Testament, Psalms, Sunday

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Second Chance: Matthew 2

Posted on April 28, 2019 | Leave a comment

√ Re·new·al: the replacing or repair of something that is worn out, run-down, or broken

It did occur to me I could read through all the second chapters of the New Testament but it wasn’t until the first few inspirational thoughts this morning that “what’s next” became “why not?  If those “Firsts” during Lent and Easter were God’s theme to direct my thoughts toward the goal of Easter – renewal – then maybe these second chapters are God’s Second Chance to explore the mystery of how renewal happens.  You already know this story so here’s the cliff notes from Matthew 2.

Matthew 2:1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem…Magi from the east came…2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him”…3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed…8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him”…11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him…12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route…16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

We’ve come from the victory of Easter Sunday only to be reminded  of the reality of a worn out, run-down and broken world…then.  The magi were powerful men who dedicated themselves to search for the King of the Jews: God’s provision that would renew the heart of a whole nation and ensure it’s survival.  Their desire was to become part of that renewal and worship “that” King.  Herod was a powerful king who’s only desire for renewal was to make certain of his own survival as king of the status quo. Fast forward from that star and the dreams that guided them to the worn out, run-down and broken world…now. 

There is a definite relationship between desire and survival that can misdirect our continuing need for  renewal.  Renewal is the lifelong challenge of being dedicated to developing the ability to judge desires and circumstances of our world in accordance with God’s will [discernment].  Discernment is our guide today and it’s God’s provision that will renew the heart of a whole nation and ensure it’s survival. 

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New Year’s Questions

Posted on January 27, 2019 | Leave a comment

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I lay awake as an early morning thunderstorm crashed over us thinking and praying about the presence of God in all circumstances and choices without being anxious.  I found myself stumbling over my own words of prayer.  It was sort of the “digital” version of prayer where I had to keep backspacing and editing because it’s such a mysterious thing that the Sovereign God is always present in the thoughts, actions, emotions and choices of the believer. 

I swear I believe that but then I find myself asking for “something more.”  Some  “sign” that will be confirmation my heart, mind, emotions and choices are right because there aren’t enough details to guarantee that.  That insecurity belies what I swear.  I don’t really have a good track record with New Year’s Resolutions so here’s my alternative: Three New Year’s Questions to read and ponder throughout 2019.

• What if the presence of the Holy Spirit really does dwell within us as part of every thought, action, emotion and choice?
• What if it were possible to quit struggling to figure out all the details and be assured the relationship the Spirit has created between God and us through Jesus is enough for “every situation”?
• What if questions are a purposeful part of how God works to take captive our thoughts, actions, emotions and choices guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to give us access to “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding…”?

“God is always speaking to us, but it requires spiritual discernment to hear God’s voice, see what God sees, and read the signs in daily life.”  Henri Nouwen from Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life

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Posted in Philippians, Sunday

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The Total Package

Posted on April 4, 2018 | Leave a comment

Dis·cern·ment – the ability to judge well.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Reality and healthy survival demands our being able to judge well to live well. That ability to judge well is what our Sovereign Judge, Resurrected Perfecter an Evidence of Truth have united to provide us. Defining the “division of soul and of spirit” requires more imagination than the grisly image Hebrews paints of a sword whacking through bone to reveal the living inner part, the marrow, that actually provides it needed nourishment.

Hebrews is saying the soul is like a boney structure we might identify as the biblical hard heart.  The penetration of that boney structure has to happen to reveal the marrow, the Spirit, inside that hard heart.  That allows the Spirit and the Word of God to become the needed nourishment of our growth, impact the intentions of our heart and teach us to judge well. It’s the total package.

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Posted in Hebrews, Wednesday

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Psalm 119:145-152 ק Qoph Axe, Back of Head

Posted on September 21, 2016 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119:145-152 ק Qoph Axe, Back of Head,
145 I call with all my heart; answer me, Lord,
and I will obey your decrees.
146 I call out to you; save me
and I will keep your statutes.
147 I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I have put my hope in your word.
148 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night,
that I may meditate on your promises.
149 Hear my voice in accordance with your love;
preserve my life, Lord, according to your laws.
150 Those who devise wicked schemes are near,
but they are far from your law.
151 Yet you are near, Lord,
and all your commands are true.
152 Long ago I learned from your statutes
that you established them to last forever.

I write what I “think” I know because I want God to know I think. More importantly I believe God knows what I need to know and “wants” me to know it. I wonder if that’s the process of discernment?

I’m guessing that’s why the Psalmist writes too. Maybe discernment is the secret of why he uses this obscure title Ooph – axe, back of head. The “back of the head” according to a Google search about anatomy is the “occipital lobe that controls sight.”

What the Psalmist sees are his circumstances but he knows there is a tool, that can cut away the debris of life and reveal another reality. The decrees, statutes and promises are the “axe” that can split his own worried thoughts from what he sees to what God wants him to know; “you are near, Lord, and all your commands are true.”

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Posted in Psalms, Wednesday

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