Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

Psalm 18:29

Written on July 4th, Independence day. Here is a declaration of dependence, a plan for joining God rather than asking Him to join me.
 
Psalm 18:29 “With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.”
 
[This is a powerful picture of David’s dependence on you, Lord, seeing his own weakness in the light of your wondrous might. Humanly speaking he could, on his own, easily move toward an enemy and climb a wall, but he knew from experience that doing so in your power is vastly different than doing it on his own.
 
He moved forward in your power by praying in preparation for the battle, seeking your wisdom, asking your help. Here an instance where this is specifically shown in the Old Testament.
 
In 1Samuel 30:8. David and his men returned to their town, Ziklag, to find that the Amalekites had come and captured all their families and goods. Instead of rushing off to rescue them, David first went to God in prayer, he “inquired of the LORD, ‘Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?’ ‘Pursue them,’ he answered. ‘You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.’ And David with his few men did that, defeating a much larger force and getting everyone back.
 
In all the stories of the Old Testament, there is no record of David ever being wounded in battle. He knew your protection, Lord, your power, your provision in the hand-to-hand combat of dozens if not hundreds of battles he participated in.
 
He declared, “Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer, you shield my head in the day of battle” (Psa. 140:7). Therefore, it was in your active power that he trusted. He saw clearly that even in the common doings of his day, he needed your help and he prayed for it.]
 
Lord, help me to be that dependent on you like David, realizing I need your power in even the mundane things of life. Help me to be consistent in praying through my day, in asking for your guidance, protection and power in all that I do.
 
May prayer be the foundation of all, as I remember your words in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
Image may contain: one or more people
Posted on

Psalm 18:27b

 
Psalm 18:27b “but [you] bring low those whose eyes are haughty.”
 
[This you also do in your love: you humble those who live in the darkness of self-delusion, wanting them to come to you. But they are thinking they are good enough to get to heaven, thinking they are better than those around them.
 
Lord, how easily I get caught up in that same sin, thinking negative, critical thoughts of others, comparing myself to them rather than you. The truth is that the negative I see in them is also potential in me, if not actual; I could easily do the same things I proudly condemn in them. I blithely underestimate the evil of my old nature.
 
Yes, Lord, keep us in the light of your revelation and bring us quickly low when we are proud so that we may immediately repent. Then we may be raised up to living in the luster of your love rather than the darkness of our deception.
 
Praise be to you, for your working in us–gracious and patient, continual and deep–bringing transformation in our mind, will and emotions so that we might walk on ever higher levels with you. Keep our spirits open to your conviction, direction and protection, remembering that “You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.”
 
Psalm 18:28 “You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.”
 
[You are light itself, Lord, shining brilliantly across the eons of time, shining long before the sun and stars were created.
 
And now you are the source of light for our lives—physical light as well as the light of wisdom, insight, guidance and warning. You actively grant direction when we have no idea what to do. I praise you for your faithful, sure, constant presence, your leading us on in the challenges of life in this dark world.
 
You are the One, Lord Jesus, who brought us out of the dominion of darkness into your Kingdom of Light. As it says in Proverbs 4:18,19, “The way of the wicked (as we were) is like deep darkness, they do not know what makes them stumble.”
 
In contrast, “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever more brightly until the full light of day.” Help us, Lord, not to look back on the darkness, but to look ahead at your guiding light, moving ever more into its full strength so that we may see and void what can make us stumble.
 
I praise you that darkness cannot hide anything from you, Lord, for you see all and you let us know what is necessary, giving us enough light so that we can move ahead with you, doing what is best. Help us to live in the light with you, Lord, joining you in what you are doing, thereby bringing you glory.]
Image may contain: sky, cloud, tree, plant, outdoor and nature
Posted on

Psalm 18:27

Psalm 18:27 “You save the humble”

This, Lord, is your requirement for salvation: humility. It can be defined as “seeing ourselves as you see us.” As we stand before you, the Mighty, Eternal One, the Star-breather, the Galaxy-maker, the History Beginner and the Ender of time, the Pure and Powerful One, what can we do but see our sinfulness, our unworthiness, our puniness, and yes, our putridness. We see the immense contrast between our shriveled, rebellious hearts and the stunning beauty of your gracious Holiness.

To you we must bow in humility, accepting your view of our situation. Somehow you work with our will to bring the desire and the decision to surrender, to reject the illusion of independence for the reality of total, healthy dependence on you.

The reality is that you are the One in charge, who holds together the nucleus of every atom in the universe, who keeps every star in place, who brings the dawn, gives the rain, provides our food—we are totally dependent on you in every area without knowing it! And you give us the added privilege of enhancing that dependency by willfully embracing it in belief and submission– giving you all that we had been holding back, including our future.

Praise be to you for working in the heart of each one whom you know will believe, bringing the wise and persistent pressure that will lead to the break-through and surrender, giving the understanding, the desire to know you, to live for you, to walk in the light, to bring you glory. What a high calling you give us, what a privileged position, what an existence of ongoing, ever growing joy that you offer.

You give us the exact opposite of what we deserve, at great cost to yourself and at great profit to us, naturally your thankless enemies. You are a marvel, a mystery: majestic and mighty in your provision of rich, unending agape love. Such Truth leads us to wholeheartedly and joyfully bow before you and shout, “Glory!”

Image may contain: grass, sky, tree, outdoor and nature

Posted on

Psalm 18:20-24

 
Psalm 18:20 “The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness;”
 
[O Lord, praise you that you deal with us according to the imputed righteousness you have given us in Christ, not our own–for I have none. You would have to condemn me instantly to Hell if my goodness were the measure. But praise be to your glorious name that you have made me to stand before you in your all-cleansing righteousness: forgiven, transformed, accepted, adopted, beloved!]
 
“according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.”
 
[My sin-stained hands are now washed in your blood, cleansed of guilt, purified in forgiveness and empowered for good. Praise you, Lord Jesus, that you see me as your dearly loved child, delighted in, cherished and deeply cared for. The cleanness is there because of your great work.]
 
Psalm 18:21 “For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not done evil by turning from my God.”
 
[By your grace, by your power, by your obedience, Lord Jesus, I am counted as having kept your ways. What my old nature could not do in that it is weak, you did in your power. And you, Heavenly Father, in spite of what I am, have qualified me to be a partaker in the inheritance of the saints in the Kingdom of Light.]
 
Psalm 18:22,23 “All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin.”
 
[Again, I cannot say any of this for myself; I continue to be blameworthy, struggling with the sinful, selfish ways of my old nature—but you, Holy Spirit, also continue in transforming me in love and grace. So, I stand before you, Lord Jesus, blameless in your love, a new creature, dearly loved, doted on and deeply cared for. Praise be to you!
 
You are our hope, our holiness, our purity, our power. In you is goodness, grace and glory, all of which you generously, whole-heartedly share with us, graciously, unconditionally, contra-conditionally. Praise be to you!]
 
Psalm 18:24 “The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.”
 
[It is wonderful that you have rewarded me, Lord, not according to my righteousness, but according to the righteousness of Christ, according to the cleanness of His hands, for in your sight I am in Christ, I am cleansed, claimed and commissioned as your dearly beloved child.
 
Praise you, Lord Jesus, for your great and, humanly speaking, impossible, unspeakable work, far beyond what any created being could do. You reward your enemies! You pour out on your foes who come to you, eternal life, eternal relationship, eternal love and eternal goodness–when we deserve the opposite! Praise be to you.
 
Help us to revel in your love, to bask in your grace, to rejoice in your forgiveness—and to forgive and accept ourselves as you have us. May we each day grasp more of the greatness of your love, which surpasses knowledge, so that we might be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:19).]
Image may contain: tree, plant, sky, flower, outdoor and nature
Posted on

Sonny Weather

Praise you, Lord, that with you, every day is a Sonny one, for your light of love and life shines continually on us and in us, giving encouragement, perspective, purpose, power and joy: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you,” said Jesus, and then “These thing I have spoken to you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full” (John 15:9,11).
 
There is a condition to receiving this joy: trust. As it says in Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you will all joy and peace AS YOU TRUST IN HIM, so that your lives may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Trusting God involves submitting to Him, to His description of reality, to His Word, to His leadership, to His purpose and meaning.
 
We can’t walk in the light while keeping our eyes closed, living just in the tiny world in our head. We have to open our eyes wide to the wonderful, awesome, expansive and beautiful reality of God’s Kingdom.
 
Here we own nothing, but are given everything we need to steward. We are called to hold all with an open hand, telling our gracious and kind, good and wise Heavenly Father, “Take what you want, leave what you want, give what you want. I trust you to do what is best.”
 
Holding all with an open hand is, on one side, scary at first, because there are plenty of things we don’t want to give up (health, relationships, income, security, savings, etc.).
 
But as we come to know more and more of God’s beautiful and wise character, our fear lessens (perfect love casts out fear), and is replaced by a sense of security (safety is not the absence of danger, but the presence of Jesus), and a sense of adventure (every day is a battle with spiritual enemies who use people against us; but as we keep on the armor and fight the right enemies, there is a continual string of victories). We begin to understand what it means to be more than conquerors in the midst of challenges (Romans 8:37).
 
As we develop a greater dependence on our Shepherd, Jesus, there comes a healthy emotional independence from those around us. Their ups and downs, cutting comments and negative attitudes don’t affect us as much, for we are finding our rest in God alone (Ps. 62:1) and we live in the truth that God is “our rock, our fortress and our deliverer” (Ps. 18:2). We cease to live for the approval of those around us, because we have the approval of the only One who counts.
 
Living this way entails a fundamental change, a worldview shift from our natural thinking to God’s thinking. We no longer live in a world where most things around us are out of control (certainly out of our control), but in a world where all is in God’s control, where whatever comes to us comes with His wise permission, for His expansive purpose, in His great love for us.
 
What a difference it makes to live in this new Kingdom where we have multiple opportunities daily to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, sacrificing our perspective for His, rising above the natural to live in the supernatural, the eternal.
 
What a God we have, what a life He gives us, what a future He’s prepared! To live in the wonder of getting the opposite of what we deserve, to revel in His unconditional love, to bask in His unending goodness (instead of thinking all the natural negative thoughts the devil throws at us)–this is part of the joy He desires for us. Let us continually embrace these truths while rejecting the lies that contradict them, living instead in the Light of His Love.
Image may contain: sky, tree, twilight, plant, grass, outdoor, nature and water
Posted on

Psalm 18:16-19

Psalm 18:16 “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.”
 
[Our God is never too busy to stoop down and help any of His children; He pays close attention to each one and acts to help at the right time, especially as we fall into deep problems and trials. David was sinking in deep danger, he desperately needed help right away and God answered.]
 
Psalm 18:17 “He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.”
 
[You, Lord, are such a powerful and personal God; you reach down into time and history to save, protect and deliver us from the great power of our enemy, the devil, his forces and his pawns. They are far too strong for us, but you are immensely more powerful than they are and have no problem overcoming their plans.
 
In the midst of our difficulties, we can be certain that you, Lord Jesus, will act in the best way, at the best time, with the best means to sustain us and to give help in the right measure. Praise be to you for your faithfulness and goodness.]
 
Psalm 18:18 “They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support.”
 
[When all seems lost, when our demise seems certain, you, Lord come in and rescue. As it says in Psalm 46:5, “God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.” Even in the small things you help us, like when I could not find the glue for my project, I offered the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and you gave me the idea of where to look, and there it was!]
 
Psalm 18:19 “He brought me out into a spacious place;”
 
[You don’t just rescue us, you bring us into a positive position, a superior situation, a wide and pleasant place with you. You are the giver of great good and abundant grace.]
 
“he rescued me because he delighted in me.”
 
[This statement, in my opinion, is the most significant one in this passage. You, Lord, do not act just out of pity or obligation, but because you delight in us, your children. You see us in Christ, transformed, accepted and beloved by you! What an amazing, encouraging, faith-building, wonderful statement!
 
You are powerfully pleased that we belong to you, that we cry out to you, our Abba Father. You are not bothered, irritated or agitated by our coming to you. No, you are richly pleased, mightily happy, deeply delighted, for you have inexplicably made us the objects of your unending, deep and rich love. You have made us the apple of your eye, the delight of your heart, the object of your continual affection.
 
We do not deserve this–which is all the more reason to praise you for your wonderful, eternal, infinite forgiveness, your unlimited, ever flowing grace and all-encompassing, deep love that gives us the opposite of what we should have gotten: a trip straight to Hell.
 
I will praise you now, today, and forever because you are worthy of all honor, exaltation and glory. You are the God who loves His enemies, who rescues those who deserve condemnation, who saves those who deserve defeat.
 
May your name be exalted in my life today and forever through surrender, faith, obedience and thanksgiving. Amen.]
`
Image may contain: tree, plant, sky, flower, outdoor and nature
Posted on

December, 1979

Our first few days in our new Middle Eastern country, December, 1979.
 
Our team leader, John, had rented a partially furnished apartment for us, so we could move right in. The only problem was that with a shortage of fuel oil, there was very little heat. Winter in this city is very similar to winter in New England, plus this happened to be the coldest winter in forty years with record-breaking amounts of snow.
 
The government had nationalized the coalfields, forgetting, however, that they had no equipment to mine it, so there was a lack of coal. Other things were also in short supply: propane gas, cooking gas, gasoline, light bulbs, toilet paper and many food products.
 
Another difficulty for us was the air quality; our city was located in a bowl of mountains, so the exhaust fumes from vehicles and the smoke from furnaces were of trapped in the city. That created some serious air pollution.
 
How different this was from our beautiful, clean and green Connecticut. But the Lord graciously reminded us to reject the temptation to compare. Barbara had a friend tell her, “Accept where you are, don’t compare. It will only make you unhappy.” So we set our faces forward, and accepted what the Lord had for us.
 
The day after Christmas, our tenth day in the country, our team leader took us on a seven-hour trip down to Tarsus—the town where the Apostle Paul was born. We were finding out how much biblical history there was in this country.
 
Our city was the site of Galatia. In the southwest were the seven churches of Revelation, along with Colossae. In the southeast was Antioch where the believers were first called Christians and Mount Ararat where Noah’s ark may have landed after the flood subsided. And there were many other sites.
 
It had snowed in the night before this trip, and I was thankful that the engine in our car was in the rear to give us traction as we drove up and up and up the Southern rim of the mountains to get out of the city. As we crossed the high Anatolian plain, the road became more treacherous, in many places covered with ice.
 
Most of the gas stations were closed because of the shortages of fuel, so when we saw one open I decided to stop and gas up. I just touched the brakes and the tires lost traction on the icy road. We began to slide sideways into the gas station, then spun around a couple of times and came to a stop when we hit the gas pump.
 
There was silence for a moment and then from the back of the car came four year old Josh’s small voice, “Do it again, Daddy!” We all laughed, but I was shaken.
 
We descended the steep and winding roads through the mountains, dropping to sea level, and arrived in Tarsus in late afternoon.
 
We went first to the home of a local friend of John’s whom we called Charles. John wanted to talk with him about setting up a foundation to use as a legal basis for outreach.
 
This was our first visit to a village type home. Every aspect of family life was different from ours: take off your shoes at the door, sit on the floor, eat from a common dish on a large tray on the floor, drink tea from diminutive glasses, and use a “squat” toilet. It was primitive and charming at the same time. We were definitely in the “tourist stage” of adjustment to a new culture.
 
Later we drove on to the next city, Adana, and stayed with other workers. In contrast to the freezing temperatures in our city, here on the Mediterranean shore we were fighting mosquitoes!
Image may contain: sky and outdoor
Image may contain: 4 people, people sitting and food
Posted on

Psalm 18:6-15

Psalm 18:6 “In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.”
 
[And when, in faithfulness and love He heard David’s cry, God moved in His might to answer:]
 
Psalm 18:7 “The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry.”
 
[You, Lord God, are a person of passion: when you are aroused, there is no stopping you. You act in justice, you act in love, you act in conviction, you act in power! Praise be to you for your love so displayed.]
 
Psalm 18:8 “Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.”
 
[You wrath is righteous and will not be quenched until there is justice done and wrongs righted. The heat of your heart leads to the rescue of your children in the right way and at the right time. You act in power and swiftness, as this next section so graphically illustrates:]
 
Psalm 18:9-15 “He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet.
He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—the dark rain clouds of the sky.
Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.
He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them.
The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.”
 
[What a display of powerful, righteous and compassionate anger! Bigger than any star wars episode! You, Lord God, Breather of the stars, Spinner of the earth and Bringer of the Dawn, bent the elements to your will and acted in passion, bringing a storm at the right time to protect your own.
 
You are the God of wisdom and power, passion and might, mercy and action.
 
As David said in the beginning of this Psalm, you are our Rock, our Fortress and our Deliverer. In you we can trust, no matter how terrible things look. You have a plan to rescue us, and as we cry out to you, you will work it out at the right time and carry us forward along with you.
 
Help us to demonstrate our belief in you today by turning to you first in our needs, offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving in all and praising you for your answers before they come.]
 
(Picture below from the internet)
Image may contain: sky and outdoor
 
Posted on

Giving Thanks

This week I had two clear God sightings which involved being called to give thanks for things I did not want.
 
We had a 8:15 doctor appointment in Norwich on Tuesday and left in good time, but got stuck behind a school bus. It stopped at the neighbor’s; the student was waiting on the wrong side of the road, ambled over and slowly got on the bus, took his time to sit down.
 
On to the next house, where four children waited, again on the wrong side of the road. They took their sweet time crossing the road, in getting on the bus and getting seated. The bus then came to the stop sign, from where we could see the next student waiting with his mother in a car. They saw the bus, but the student did not get out; he waited til the bus stopped for him; even then he waited a while before getting out of the car.
 
I was getting more and more frustrated at these delays and the thoughtlessness of the students in being so slow; and I was now worried about being late for our appointment. Then the Holy Spirit reminded me to give thanks for this bus, for the situation, for the slow students. So I gritted my teeth and gave thanks, reminded myself that God has a plan and chose to rest in him.
 
Within a few seconds the bus pulled over to the side and the driver signaled for us to pass! Frustration gone! In my experience, that is a pretty rare thing for buses to do, and it came right after confessing my frustration and impatience and giving thanks! Truly, offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving opens the way that we may see the salvation of the Lord.
 
Then yesterday I was doing some plumbing work and couldn’t find the glue I’d bought the day before. I looked in several places to no avail. Then the Spirit reminded me to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving for this; I calmed down and shortly an idea came of where to look (an unusual place), and there was the glue!. Not only did it work out, but giving thanks allowed me to fulfill the purpose of my life: giving honor to God.
 
God is so kind to us, not only watching over us, but giving us a significant part in His plan, calling us to be partners with Him. And the primary way we do this is by giving thanks in and for all things.
Image may contain: plant, grass, sky, tree, outdoor and nature
Posted on

Psalm 18:3-6

Psalm 18:3 “I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,”
 
[You, Lord [Jehovah], are worthy of praise because of your holiness. You are completely other than your creatures: eternal, pure, wise, all powerful, all knowing, all seeing, totally independent of all you have created. In contrast, we are weak, tiny, limited and ignorant–in total need of knowing you, fully dependent on you, whether we know it or not.
 
In your holiness, LORD, you are the One who hates sin and must punish it, while at the same time you love your rebellious creatures and have provided for them a way of escape from condemnation. Truly you are worthy of praise!]
 
“and I am saved from my enemies.”
 
[You hear my prayers and in your power, in your love, in your faithfulness you save me from my enemies. You rescued me from the devil’s dominion of darkness, you delivered me from his oppression, you freed me from the clutches of sin, you brought me out from under the condemnation of the world.
 
You saved me from death and dispair, and you continue to save me every day from the attacks of sin, selfishness, Satan and his servants. You are my Superb Savior in whom mercy triumphs over justice. You are worthy of continual praise, honor and glory for your incomprehensible love and grace!]
 
Psalm 18:4,5 “The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.”
 
[In David’s case, his life was in physical danger as Saul was in hot pursuit of him. This is also the case now for many Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, as groups like ISIS and hostile governments try to eliminate all followers of Jesus.
 
On another level of danger, we all were entangled by the cords of death, for we lived in the dominion of darkness, in the disparing
, depressing world of the dying, ensnared by the traps and tricks of the devil. Death was our certain destiny, there was no hope, no light, no escape in our own strength.]
 
Psalm 18:6 “In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.”
 
[But you, LORD God, Jehovah Elohim, were there to hear us when we cried out to you and have delivered us from the darkness of death and brought us into your Kingdom of light.
 
You now continually invite us to cry out to you for you hear our cry and act in your undeserved faithfulness and love. Because you are faithful we can be certain that, despite our natural unworthiness, you will hear and answer.]
 
It is wonderful, comforting and encouraging to know that in all our difficulties we can cry out to you, that you hear us and will answer in what is best and in power. As it says in Psalm 86:7, “In the day of my trouble I will call to you and you WILL answer me.”
 
May we live in the light and joy of this truth, trusting through thanksgiving before we see any answer, knowing that your timing and wisdom are perfect. To you be honor and glory today in my life as I live in the truth that “my soul finds rest in God alone (Psa. 62:1).
Image may contain: tree, plant, sky, outdoor and nature