march-lions

Lion around in Wait – for God is Great, Psalm 104

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Oh MY – LIONS and LIONS and Scriptures to Bear!

It is not like the fear of Dorothy going to Oz – “Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!” – but an awe exclamation of the number of inclusions of LIONS in the bible – which is enough to bring us each day to the middle of March when I plan to switch over to include daily scriptures about LAMBS…  What a great theme of Lions to Lambs – weather wise and in life. The Lord uses both magnificently in scripture and we are in awe, like David writing his psalms songs of praise: How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures” AND “I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.”

And the Lord uses the wind – David would also sing in Psalm 104: “He makes winds his messengers“.  And weather-wise the early March wind has been HOWLING all afternoon night and then again this morning – WOW! I ain’t Lying about the LION of March’s weather roaring in. I shuddered at the sounds but we were safe and sound in the shuttered house, falling asleep counting blessings. I even remembered and praised that the big tree that used to scare us in the wind was taken down a couple years ago. I awoke to sunshine and hope in a new day (and TGIF!!!!)

And wow to know the LIONS of scripture! Of course there are many, and so I did look them up on a bible study tool engine online – which allows the finding all scriptures for a particular word. I LOVE PSALM 104!!!  Psalm 104 brings the best of praise for the Lord’s ability to create and take care of His creations – growing and feeding – protecting and directing – including us –  including the LIONS: “The Lions Roar for their prey and seek their food from God.“

There is SO much strength to be had in the bible verses to keep us going (and out of the Lion’s mouth).  How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Scriptures are waiting for us to pick them up! Scriptures are worth knowing! YES – Let us be hungry like Lions and seek our good food for thought from the Lord! Let us be Lion around in Wait – for God is Great!

Amen

(and please be pleased with a Psalm 104 read.)

Psalm 104 – Praise the Lord, my soul.
Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. 

The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.

He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth.

He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work. He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate – bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts. The trees of the Lord are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the junipers. The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.

He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl. The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens. Then people go out to their work, to their labor until evening.

How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number -living things both large and small. There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works – he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord. But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more.

Praise the Lord, my soul. 

Praise the Lord.

Mere Mortals, March Lions, and Dust Trails, Ashes in Lent

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Ash Wednesday is a day to remember there is no escapism from our mere mortal status, from dust to dust, us AND our oppressors, the Lord is the One who will fight for us. The battle belongs to the Lord. Mere Mortals are Made More with God shepherding.

For after lent comes Easter – we are to remember that we ARE saved – Jesus rescued and rescues and will come again.

And so escapism scenarios, and just plain hiding from life won’t work. Escapism is not the same as surviving best. Yes, we all do wobble, but Psalm 23 says to WALK through the valleys of shadows, don’t stay and linger. 

In another “March in like a Lion” themed instance, Isaiah warns about the escapism of the ancient Israelites and Judah-ites thinking Egypt is their friend or at least a less evil compared to being carried away to Babylon for an exile said to be for 70 years. The Lord is purposeful in His ways, and Isaiah also told of the eventual downfall of Babylon. Isaiah later also speaks of a Messiah to save. We know Jesus came and finished the prophecies, and Jesus will come again and defeat evil one and for all. Even evil is exiled from existence eventually. Wait upon the Lord. 

Salvation Secured Saving – it is the Lord who Saves. Be available for transport and be working for the Lord despite danger and disillusionment with the world. Make moments meaningful despite monumental challenges. 

With coming from ashes and returning to ashes, we are to be reminded about God’s creation in us and God’s win over sin and death. Our ashes could be from burning through life, fiery and giving it your all until there’s nothing left in the tank. God’s ashes are His handiwork to move us more freely, and God-efficiently, thru life and into forever.

Don’t fear the ashes of death. Won’t in our travels we be lighter then? Dust trails behind us and in front. We will be rescued and restored, we will be with our Lord.

March Lions roar, but WITH the Lord, our souls will surely soar!

Amen 

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Isaiah 31-32:4 NIV

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord. Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster; he does not take back his words. He will rise up against that wicked nation, against those who help evildoers.

But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out his hand, those who help will stumble, those who are helped will fall; all will perish together.

This is what the Lord says to me: “As a lion growls, a great lion over its prey – and though a whole band of shepherds is called together against it, it is not frightened by their shouts or disturbed by their clamor – so the Lord Almighty will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights. Like birds hovering overhead, the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will shield it and deliver it, he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.”

Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against. For in that day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made. “Assyria will fall by no human sword; a sword, not of mortals, will devour them. They will flee before the sword and their young men will be put to forced labor. Their stronghold will fall because of terror; at the sight of the battle standard their commanders will panic,” declares the Lord. whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.

Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.