From my worship journal.

“The LORD reigns, let the nations tremble….” Psalm 99:1a

Praise be to you, Lord Jesus, that I feel far from you today—an opportunity to walk by faith, to know that, in spite of my feelings, you are near and that I am with you–for you are faithful.

Praise you for the lack of feeling and the abundance of truth. I choose to live by truth, by faith today.

The Lord “sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake” (Ps. 99:1b). Yes, You, Yahweh, are the absolute ruler of the universe.

–You are the most High,

— the final Authority,

–the undisputed King.

No one can oppose your decisions for long.

–You will win in the end, for you are God:

–your power is infinite,

–your understanding is unbounded,

–your knowledge is limitless,

–and your wisdom is unfathomable.

No one can plan or attack or rebel without your knowing about it long before hand.

Your being such a powerful God, means we must tremble and quake before you.

We are tiny, powerless, ignorant, sinful and weak.

There is nothing we can do to prevent you from carrying out your plans for the universe.

You are sovereign: no matter what we or anyone else may do, you will bring your overall desires to pass in the end.

So we bow before you and agree to walk in the light of your truth today, that you may be honored and we protected.

More Adventures with Jesus

Then there’s the adventure of dealing with difficult people (not that we are such a one at times!). The world is full on unhappy, hurting people, those who in their pain strike out at others. It is very easy to see such people as enemies, to avoid them, or to give it back to them.

Jesus has a different perspective for us: “…love your enemies, do good to them.” (Luke 6:35). So when we run into prickly people, we are not to “prickle back,” not to reply in kind, but to do good to them.

The question is always, “How?” We, obviously we don’t let them “push our buttons,” but view them for what they are, poor, angry, hurting individuals. First is to pray and ask God for wisdom. Then either disengage (not entering an argument is doing good), or reply kindly, not denigrating the other, but saying positive things.

One time I got a call from a man I’d been working with. He was very angry and told me off in no uncertain terms, accusing me of things I hadn’t done. When he hung up on me, I was shaking from the vicious interaction. I took some moments to calm down. What I wanted to do was write him a nasty email and give to him what he’d given me. But I knew that’s not what God wanted, so I went to praying, thanking God for this difficult happening, asking Him for wisdom. He led me to forgive this man, to ask God to do good to him, to put him in God’s hands.

The next morning, I got an email from him, but didn’t open it, not wanting another bad experience at the beginning of the day. I should have opened it, for he wrote apologizing for his behavior and making a reasonable request to rectify the situation! Doing good can bring good; not always, but can.

It was an adventure with Jesus, a chance to trust him, to do what He commands when I sure didn’t want to—and He worked it out! I need to remember that when the next adventure comes, as I have not always responded so well!

Many people crave adventure, and some pay a lot of money to have on, like going to Disneyland, or a trip to Antarctica, or even a trip to outer space.  But all these adventures are short-lived, for then you have to return to everyday life (yawn).

But there is one adventure that needs no money, no travel and never ends in this life. Jesus calls us to this: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.” If we follow Him, He then lays out a course of adventure for us every day: “Run with endurance the race marked out for you, looking to Jesus….” This better than spending a full day with….(fill in the bland with someone you admire).

Every morning as believers, we wake up, strap on our armor and enter the great conflict between good and evil—and we are always on the winning side! Our lives have purpose, a purpose stretching on into eternity. The things we do can last forever. And we will earn rewards as we enter the fray following King Jesus.

You never know what’s going to happen. The adventure could be as simple as things not working out as planned, giving you a chance to defeat Satan by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving, thereby honoring God—a significant happening.

Or it may be a chance to have a God sighting, like yesterday when I went to the store and there was a fellow I’d been trying to get in touch with. Perfect timing showing God’s working in my life.

In my next post I will share more of the kind of adventures we can have with Jesus

Praise be to you, Lord God, that you are a God of mercy—six times in Psalm 86 the author mentions your monumental mercy, two of them being, “You are good and ready to forgive and abundant in mercy to all who call upon you” (86:5). And, “You are a God full of compassion, gracious, slow to anger and abundant in mercy and truth” (86:15 NKJV).

In this list of qualities, we see the complexity of your perfect character, Lord, putting together aspects that, from our perspective, are mutually exclusive: your marvelous mercy and your tough truth.

The reality is that we deserve punishment, death and eternal separation from you, that you hate sin and will punish it, that this must and will happen—yet in your marvelous, unwarranted mercy you have opened a door in the hard, unyielding rock wall of Truth, a way through for us to flee from what we deserve to the forgiveness you have offered us.

And this door of mercy, grace and forgiveness was opened at great personal cost to you, a cost that is ongoing, as you allow us to grieve you in our rebellion, sin, indifference and selfishness. As J.I. Packer put it, you have willfully tied your happiness to your relationship with us! Therefore, you share with us the sweet and sour experience of waiting for the as-of-yet unfulfilled perfection of Heaven. We have the longing to be with you, yet need to remain here until your time for us is complete.

Help us now to be with you in loving you through obedience, in extending your mercy to others, that we may give you ongoing happiness.

The Lord has a way of testing me, to see if I really believe what I teach. In the last two days he’s given me two opportunities to apply what I know.

The first was giving me a chance to grow in humility by taking me down the road of humiliation. This was another opportunity to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving. That was followed by the need to forgive, let go of what was painful, hold on to eternal truth and rise above. Enough said there.

The second chance came today when, while out shopping, I discovered that my iPhone was missing! I retraced my steps, tried my “find my phone” app on my computer, asked around, but to no avail. It is gone.

This is a big blow: I have lost all my phone numbers, all my pictures, all my texts and the ability to have others call me. And now I have to get another phone, a new sim card and start all over!

It is also another chance to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving. But doing this I honor God and open a way for Him to show me the salvation of the Lord (whatever that will be!) He has a plan and it is a good one. He knows where that phone is and can return it if He wants (humanly speaking small chance of that). And if He doesn’t, it will be ok.

So, I choose to move ahead, giving thanks and trusting God. And as I trust Him He will fill me with all joy and peace. (Romans 15:13). Stay tuned for the outcome.