6/15/10

Gnerations Will Praise Him

One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
Psalm 145:4

Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;...
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done....
That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments.
Psalm 78:1-4, 6-7

Your name, O Lord, endures forever;
Your fame, O Lord, is known to every generation.
Psalm 135:13

Being a mother has impressed on my heart even more the idea to share my faith with my children.  It is not vital, for the sake of my "religion" or even "Christ's cause" (whatever some may think that might be).  It is vital because of the souls of my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  I care about the eternal souls of my family.   That is why I will praise God and tell of His wonderful works to my children and grandchildren.

6/7/10

Beyond Understanding

He counts the stars
and assigns each a name.
Our Lord is great, with limitless strength;
we'll never comprehend what He knows and does.
Ps. 147:4-5

Your knowledge is amazing to me;
it is more than I can understand.
Ps. 139:6

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.
Ps. 145:3

But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise You more and more.
My mouth will tell of Your righteousness,
of Your salvation all day long,
though I know not its measure.
Ps. 71:14-15

I've been reading a certain blog lately (I won't put a link here because I disagree with everything he has to say).  He is denouncing all of the things that Christians believe (but still claiming to be a Christian?).  His basis boils down to the fact that he can't logically explain everything about God, the Bible, and Jesus.  So he has to change what he believes in order for it to "make sense" to him.  But in simple terms:  he lacks faith!  Think of Abraham and his faith.  What God asked him to do didn't make logical sense!?  But Abraham's faith was what was counted for righteousness.  It takes faith to believe certain things about the Bible and Jesus and God. 
This blogger reminds me of the man spoken of in these verses.  He talks and talks and talks circles around every argument.  But deep down it is pride!

Psalm 12:2-4, 6-7
They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
May the Lord cut off all flattering lips
And the tongue that speaks proud things,
Who have said,
"With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?"
The Words of the Lord are pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnance of earth,
Purified seven times.
You shall keep them, O Lord,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.

It is a great comfort to me that God will perserve His Words though the ages.  I may not understand everything about creation or God Himself.  But I can have faith that God reveals what He wants and is taking care of the rest.  I pray that I don't become so prideful or arrogant to assume that I can "out-think" God.

6/4/10

Abiding in the Everyday

He Himself has said, ’I will never leave you nor forsake you’ —Hebrews 13:5

What line of thinking do my thoughts take? Do I turn to what God says or to my own fears? Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear Him and then to respond after I have heard what He says? “For He Himself has said, ’I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ’The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ” ( Hebrews 13:5-6 ).
   “I will never leave you . . .”— not for any reason; not my sin, selfishness, stubbornness, nor waywardness. Have I really let God say to me that He will never leave me? If I have not truly heard this assurance of God, then let me listen again.
   “I will never . . . forsake you.” Sometimes it is not the difficulty of life but the drudgery of it that makes me think God will forsake me. When there is no major difficulty to overcome, no vision from God, nothing wonderful or beautiful— just the everyday activities of life— do I hear God’s assurance even in these?
   We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing— that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.
-Oswald Chambers (june 4)

6/3/10

Sing Praises

Clay your hands, all you nations;
Shout to God with cries of joy.
How awesome is the Lord Most High,
The great King over all the earth!...
God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
The Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
Sing praises to our King, sing praises.
Psalm 47:1-2, 5-6

It is good to praise You with the ten-stringed lyre
And with the soft-sounding harp.
Lord, You have amde me happy by what You have done;
I will sing for joy about what Your hands have done.
Lord, You have done such great things!
How deep are Your thoughts!
Psalm 92:3-5

Sometimes I love to just sit at the piano and play simple songs as I lift my heart to Him.
The psalms are so full of praises, I cannot help but think that God must love to hear His people singing to Him.
In the midsts of our prayers and pleadings, may we never forget praise Him!

6/1/10

Simplify Your Life

We simplify, not just to be less busy, even though we may be right to pursue that.  Rather, we simplify to remove distractions from our pursuit of Christ.  We prune activities from our lives, not only to get organized, but also that our devotion to Christ and service for His kingdom will be more fruitful.  We simplify, not merely to save time, but to eliminate hindrances to the time we devote to knowning Christ. 



 
All the reasons we simplify should eventually lead us to Jesus Christ.

Donald S. Whitney

My Soul Waits for the Lord

Psalm 130:6-7
My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
O Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with Him is full redemption.

Psalm 119:166-167
I am waiting for You to save me, Lord.
I will obey Your commands.
I obey Your rules,
and I love them very much.

Psalm 123:1-2 (the message)
I look to You, heaven-dwelling God, look up to You for help.
Like servants, alert to their master's commands,
like a maiden attending her lady,
We're watching and waiting, holding our breath,
awaiting Your word of mercy.

Psalm 130:5
I wait for the Lord to help me,
and I trust His word.

Waiting is abiding!
"Only in seeking first the kingdom of God and abiding in Him can I have the loveliness of a gentle and quiet spirit." - Cynthia Heald

Sometimes waiting is hard.  But we must.  He is so worth it!!  And from someone who has waited for Him time and again - He never makes you wait too long.  He is always there in time.  Trust Him!!! He will come.  In fact, He is waiting for you as well!  He is waiting to be gracious and extend His mercy towards you!!  What a thought, the God of the universe is waiting for me.

Isaiah 30:18

Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him.

He has more patience than we do.