Friday, October 26, 2012

Know Him; Trust Him

 

 

“Those who know your name will trust in you, for you

LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you”.

                                                    Ps 9:10 (NIV)
 

Those who know your name. . . “ The psalmist makes a very good point here. He singles out the ones who spend time with God. Time spent in worship, in prayer, and in witnessing for the LORD helps us to know Him in a more personal way.

” . . . will trust in you . . . “ When we spend time with another person, we find out about their true nature. When we take time to communicate with God, we find out he is trustworthy. He will not abandon us in our time of need. People let us down. God doesn’t; it isn’t in His nature.

” . . . you, LORD, have never forsaken. . . We have God’s promise that he will not abandon us. (Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:6; Psalm 94:14; Hebrews 13:5) In our world, we see all sorts of forms of abandonment-physical, emotional, financial, even mental. But God told His children that he would be with them, and us, forever.   

Do you know someone who is going through a crisis of faith right now? Pray for them. Why not send them a note of encouragement. Speak the scriptures to them. Let them know that when we have these doubts that we can trust God to take our worries and fears and make them into what He wants. In the process, we learn more about Him.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Trust, Dwell, Delight


 

 

“Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land

 and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and

he will give the desires of your heart.” Ps 37: 3-4 (NIV)

 

“Trust in the Lord . . .” David directs us to rely on the LORD and.  He further tells us to take great joy in God. He then gives us a reason for our trusting Jesus. He will give us our deepest desires.

“. . . do good . . .” As children of God we try to do positive things for others. We try to do this by listening, suggesting things to help those who seek our advice, and by helping provide for an emergency need another person or family may have.

“. . . dwell in the land. . . “ The shepherd king tells us we should figuratively pitch our tents inside the boundaries of God’s Kingdom. Simply stated, he tells us we should abide by what God tells us and follow His leading as we walk this earth.

 “. . . enjoy safe pasture.“ We are to appreciate what God does for us. When we feel His presence in our circumstance, we should give praise that He is there with us, even if that situation puts us into a stress mode. We are to and take joy in the fact that we belong to Him.

“Delight yourself in the LORD. . . “ Sing praise songs during your morning devotions. Share with someone what He has done for you. Keep a log of the many ways God has blessed you. Give praise during times of corporate worship.

“. . . he will give the desires of your heart.” When God bestows upon us our wants, it is not in His will or anything that will cause us harm. God always has our best interests in mind.

 

Monday, October 22, 2012

Offer Right Sacrifices

 

 
“In your anger, do not sin; when you are on your beds,

 search your hearts and be silent. Selah

Offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD.” Ps 4: 4-5 (NIV)

 “In your anger do not sin. . . “ How many times have we done something silly or even stupid when we were angry at another person? A friend’s husband speaks of being angry at situations or processes in his work that don’t do as they should. Like all of us, when he reacts to the frustration, he usually has to ‘pay for it’. I have to admit; I have reacted to things and caused bigger problems. If I had just prayed about the hurt and the need I would have not felt guilty about the added work or expense we had.
” . . . search your hearts and be silent. . . “ When we follow the Lord, He allows us time to look into our hearts and see what we have in there-sometimes, what we see may not be very attractive. God provides a remedy for those horrible images- He tells us to not speak. What he implies is that we listen to what He has to tell us. Have you ever heard of the concept that we “are given two ears and one mouth? We should use them in that proportion.”
”. . . Selah. . . “ Think about what you just read. The musicians of the Temple placed these ‘stop signs’ in the hymns for the congregation to ponder the words they had just sung.
”. . . Offer right sacrifices. . . “ In our 21th Century world what is the right sacrifice for God? Is it our time? Is it our talent? Is it our treasures? Is it our trust? Is it our telling? Or do our sacrifices encompass all four of these? We hear of parent’s sacrificing for their children. We hear of one spouse sacrificing for the other during pursuit of educational goals or times of illness and distress.
” . . . and trust in the LORD.” Without our trusting in God and in others, what would our world look like? We wouldn’t be able to confide our feelings with friends. People wouldn’t feel comfortable asking for help from another other persons. If we didn’t have faith in our doctors, we wouldn’t trust them to tend to our ailments.

God Alone

  Jesus and the children at our church's prayer walk.          I will both lie down in peace and sleep;  For You alone, O LORD make ...