psalm-139

Not Without the Word, 1st John 1

Standard

I use paper notes, sticky notes and lists, calendar reminders (electronic) and grocery lists I email to myself. I use paper bookmarks or binder clips to organize my place. I have my own scribbles for shortcuts and secret passwords and not so secret or secure computer and social media platforms. We trust much to memory, but what if we forget? We even sign on for a text message backup for authentication.

We use planner agendas, reminders and minute-taking at work too. We study org charts for people’s names, CVs for the information of their work pedigree and social media for maybe a photo. We know that electronic records are important to save, and even if it’s all electronic, our paychecks are the equivalent of cold hard cash… We read into numbers all the time, we read into conversations and communications, over read and stress ourselves out by reading in between the lines…

We are read as much as we read.

How’s our life in the Lord? We have the best read, the Bible, to be in the Word, mindful of the Word, covered and convicted by the word. Judge against the Word by the Word, as it’s sharp sword of truth trims our dead branches of unfruitfulness. And how are we covered and blessed? That also by the Word, in forgiveness and grace, direction and leading, rescue and restoration. We are saved not by the letter of the law, but the fulfillment thereof, by Jesus sacrifice and righteousness, by the WORD WILLING TO WORK.

Jesus, as in Lord God Almighty and Spirit Saving, is our fulfillment and we are His, so He had written us down in His Book of Life from the beginning and won’t erase without a chase, God will pursue us (Psalm 139), find us to find Him, and not nail us down, but have us resurrected in His Righteousness, by fulfillment of His Word. 

Nothing in ourselves can be complete without the Word. We live in parts, and don’t live complete without Him. Not without the Word. 

Let us hold to His Word, and our fruitfulness be held dearly on His “to-do” list. 

1 John 1 NKJV

What Was Heard, Seen, and Touched

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

Fellowship with Him and One Another

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Pondering Pauses

Standard

Ah… Pause…

How precious to me are your thoughts, God!

My friend and I took photos of each other sitting on the bench, looking out at the water, pondering life… but honestly it was just the briefest of pauses, not even a minute each. Looking at the photos now gives us the time to ponder the moment and the lack of mayhem just then, but we quickly moved on as we were walking around the small lake with the scout campers.

We pondered just that moment that we got to sit, we could see the marvelous glory of God’s creations, sky, clouds, trees, water, creatures, sunshine, even mud (snow certainly had melted off there). We each ponder differently, but surely the instant we groaned in a sigh of relief was a prayer of praise that we made it there – the whole THERE – there as in: we got to camp, we got outside, we were alive, and ESPECIALLY with the acknowledgement of BEING BLESSED.

THANK YOU LORD FOR BLESSINGS AND FOR US KNOWING THAT YOU ARE THE ONE GIVING BLESSINGS. 

It was the briefest of sitting down and oh what perfect bench support for our backs, that’s what we chatted about on the bench, that support, we both needed it with bad backs and with sleeping on floor mats. We both needed it, the SUPPORT of life, better backs to live better, and God’s backing to live best.

… all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be…

That’s ponder worthy: God has our back. God loves us to hold us close.

Thank you Lord, for blessings known and unknown. May I ponder YOU all the days of my life. 

Amen

Psalm 139:13-18 NIV 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I awake, I am still with you.

Fearfully and Wonderfully – Ezekiel 6

Standard

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. PSALM 139:14

I KNOW THAT FULL WELL!!!!

My knees still creak but my tennis elbow? Hmmmm. 6 months later I can saw WOW, it’s tremendously improved, noting this after I grabbed laundry without fear of pain. I powered through life, but the underlying healing powers were powered by God in God’s Timing. 

Yes, I wore my brace faithfully after the doctor said “you really have to do that, for A MONTH!” Yeah, not just now and then – so I wore it for nearly 2 months… and last few weeks I have misplaced it now, I realized the HEALING… it was a process. I had to plug into the process and not remain idle just watching. I was an active participant in God’s Plan. And I’m JUST talking about my elbow!

So life? Well, wow! This spring day, as my allergies have abated and pollen has petered out, I praise. Next week, I won’t even remember the bother, like not remembering the elbow. BOTH were the worst ever and are now almost afterthoughts… That’s the wonderful in wonderfully made.  The sheer intricacies of life and activities are miracles of God. Wonderfully made, orchestrated and tweaked.

Fearfully made too, what does that mean? Fear as in AWE, like how my daughter and I are spitting images to some but I see all the contrasting traits, from the hair to the other aspects… Fear as in Ouch, like how things can go down so fast in health or be taken in a moment. Fear as in placing ourselves and our loved ones out into a dangerous world as well as into a dangerous peer pressure internally. Fearfully as God controls it all, as in the readings from Elijah 6, God has power!!!

I know FULL WELL, to appreciate not the leniency of God, but the MERCY. The ability to approach Jesus for forgiveness is to know GRACE. To remember that the AWESOME power of God can change life because He created it, is a stance we all drift from. We forget but God doesn’t change. HE IS STILL ALL POWERFUL and ALMIGHTY… just as Ezekiel for an unrepentant and unruly Israel of the day… just believe God’s correction in His Reasoning… remember even Jesus came out of a flawed human line of people saved for this purpose, there were saved few. Jesus brought Heaven to Earth, as Earth,  also wonderfully made, could not rise back to God’s level… God’s Goodness is Heaven sent, we partake THANKFULLY. 

Amen (and thank you Lord for the Blessings and MERCY of today).

Ezekiel 6 New King James Version

Judgment on Idolatrous Israel

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys: “Indeed I, even I, will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. Then your altars shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your altars. In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, your idols may be broken and made to cease, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord. “Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries. Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations. And they shall know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.” ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Pound your fists and stamp your feet, and say, ‘Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! For they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. He who is far off shall die by the pestilence, he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine. Thus will I spend My fury upon them. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when their slain are among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every thick oak, wherever they offered sweet incense to all their idols. So I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land desolate, yes, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblah, in all their dwelling places. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.

If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Wing it, but on a Prayer

Standard

I looked up “winging it”, a phrase I often use as in “I will just wing it” – yeah I say that, but one only feels comfortable doing that if you prepped somewhat. And we often open our mouths when we could never know enough about a situation. If we “catch wind” of something – we could pray on it, right?

I didn’t know the origins of “winging it”, so I googled it, which brings many reputable references: It comes from the theater, “to wing it”, it is to prep in the wings of the stage, study up, but not quite prepared. The wings themselves are named for the winged stage panels that were stored there (Italian origin hundreds of years ago)… and of course it’s about the hiddenness of the theater wings… off stage and unseen. (Who likes to hide in the wings huh? Even if much work is done there.)

What about us, do we stay off-scene? How do we venture into life? Is it a play over and over again like “Groundhog Day”? But remember that Bill Murray’s character was allowed to or ended up changing the pattern, if ever so slightly, each time. He was brought to learn something – even if it was that the weather was unpredictable but life was not. We could do that too – change it up a little each time. And “winging it” is the option to rely on what we DID learn in the wings, and praying on it all for the rest of the way. I will “Wing it” on a Prayer.

I think when we pray, it’s like the warmth of our hearts and the movement of the Spirit that lifts the whole situation. You could request a prayer time and time again to be lifted up, it starts its own turbine.  Recently a friend, just out of surgery, asked me to throw up some prayers for her, and I immediately humorously thought of NOT the baseball type of throw, after surgery… Well,  prayers all around.  And it’s always that the currents of prayers are from those that are formulating from the depth of the Spirit in us, a feeling placed in us to bring up and to bring us up. It’s God’s Way to start His own air/prayer currents – for lift – for reaching – for catching. I know that the Lord isn’t waiting lofty on high for the prayers, He is on the ground, starting to blow them around. 

“Livin’ on a Prayer” – Bon Jovi sings. I think that could be true every day when we step out that door, or even hide in our PJs under the covers. We are asking for help, as we should. There is no wrong in asking God for His Right Way to deal with a situation.  In other words, God knows the best way for us to approach the current day (haha funny, current day and current blowing Way). We would never leave the wings of the stage without the lift of God – Yes, let those angel wings move like the army they are intended to be. We would never get to stay in the wings hidden, because those situtaions themselves are scenes that are movable on a temporary stage of earth. And God sees everything. 

So keep moving today, on a wing AND on a Prayer. “Rise on the wings of the dawn.” You will always have God’s Lift. God knows where to go, blow, flow.

Amen 

—

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David.

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me close.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.

If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.