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 Psalm 20:4 “May he give you the desire of your heart”

[This echoes the statement of Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself also in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” As we find our delight in you, Lord, it is safe for you to answer our prayers, for you know that the answer will not become an idol.

Lord, truly you are my delight, my joy, my goodness, my God; help me to consistently focus my love on you, to reject the temptation to let events and people siphon off that love to lesser things.]

“and make all your plans succeed.”

[Lord, may only those plans that flow from you succeed. May you be glorified, honored and exalted by the success of any plans we seek to implement. May you come first, may you be praised, may you be lifted up in any success that comes.]

“Psalm 66:3-5Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.

All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name.”

Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind!

 

From my worship journal, written in 2010

You, Lord, are the God of provision, flooding our lives with your gracious goodness, your constant kindness, your wide wisdom, your illuminating insight, and great grace.

Truly, our cup overflows; you have brought us into a spacious place; you have rescued us because you delight in us.

What rich goodness you have poured out on us:

–The great and glorious privilege of being your children, sons and daughters of the Most High King.

–The grace of knowing and living ever more intimately with you, the Gracious and Glorious God.

–The worldview-shifting truth that whatever comes into our lives is part of your plan to work good, to give opportunity for us to fulfill the purpose of our lives (giving you glory by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving).

— Giving us significant parts in moving history to its conclusion.

–The powerful possibility to rewrite every hurt from your point of view and to forgive the offender as you have forgiven us, thereby freeing ourselves from the cruel bonds of resentment.

–The wonder of your love lavished on us in undeserved richness, in marvelous breadth and height, length and depth.

–The joy of belonging, of having worth, of being competent in you.

–The security of knowing where we are going.

–The anticipated joy of spending eternity with you.

With these shining, beautiful and powerful truths, I can enter this day at your side, joining you in the adventure you have for me, the work you have for me to enter into in partnership with you.

There may be disappointments and hurts, troubles and difficulties, but each one is a fine tool you will use to shape me more into the image of Christ. And each one will be an opportunity to be weak in myself but strong in you, to offer the sacrifice of praise, to rise on wings of eagles, to see things from on high and to give you glory.

What a life you’ve bequeathed, what joy you share with us, what a God you are! May you be glorified in my life today by the working of your Spirit and Word to bring me to quick, eager, loving obedience in each situation.

 

 

 

Psalm 20:2 “May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.”

[Praise you, Lord God, that by prayer we can enter your sanctuary at any time and know that you will hear and accept us. Praise you that you always send help, just the right help, at just the right time—which may be much later than we want it–but then we have a chance to live by faith as we wait for your perfect and wise timing.]

Psalm 20:3 “May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.”

[Praise you, Lord Jesus, that in your name and by your grace, we are able to offer the acceptable worship of the sacrifice of thanksgiving to you throughout the day. We are able to give you honor and glory in ways that are pleasing to you. Only in you and by your own sacrifice is this possible. Praise you for opening the way for us.]

Lord, help us to see your certain and clear answers to our prayers in our lives today. Thank you for how you will respond, the Lord, our God.

Selah

Psalm 20:“May the LORD answer you when you are in distress;”

[Praise you, Jehovah Yahweh, that you DO answer as it says in Psalm 86:7, “I will call upon the Lord in the day of trouble, for he will answer me.” As each of us has seen over and over, you pay attention, you answer, you supply, you protect–be it something as simple as making it home without an accident.

Unfortunately, we often take your answers for granted, forget them and then treat each crisis and answer as a separate event, rather than seeing them in the stream of your grace. If we remember, we can say, “As He helped me there, and there, and there, so He will help me here!”]

“may the name of the God [Elohim] of Jacob protect you.”

[You, heavenly Father, are the strong and faithful One. In your name is persistent power, demonstrated in your wonderful working with that rascal, Jacob, the deceiver.

You pursued him to the end through all his lying, cheating, favoritism and selfishness. And you finally brought him to surrender in worship on his death bed. And now, in spite of his ugly past, you are not ashamed to be called “The God of Jacob!”

Your name Elohim means “the powerful and faithful One;” so you protected Jacob all through his life. In like manner you protect me at all times, in every place, in all circumstances. You are rock-solid-sure in your faithfulness and power.]
Our Heavenly Father holds our hand!

Our heavenly Father holds our hand!

You, Lord, will always do what is best in your faithfulness, in your goodness, in your wisdom, in your love, in your righteousness, in your grace and in your power.

I praise you, Lord, for the privilege of being weak, but I can rest in your might—there is so much out of my control, while all is within yours. [I am still working on the eviction process of my aggressive, negative tenant—no clarity on the outcome yet, so  have to trust you.] You know what you are doing, you have a plan, you are moving all to a conclusion, bringing it down to an end, from which all will then expand into eternity, filling the universe with good, righteous, godly and gracious beings, acts, and events. Because you are the Almighty One, no one can stop you, no one can thwart you.

I praise you, Lord God, for your Word and for the wonder of meditating on it, having it trickle down into my being to bring cleansing, insight, transformation and joy. For you are the infinite One, always having more to reveal to us of your Great and Gracious character.

I praise you now for what you will show today, do today, provide today. May I give you glory all through the hours, Lord, by choosing to obey what I know to be true, by trusting you, praising you in and for all things, delighting in my weaknesses, rejoicing in your strength and exalting in your righteousness, wisdom and power.

I bow before you now in worship, I will rise up in surrender, wanting to walk with you in obedience and godly fear, desiring to bring you glory before the seen and unseen hosts. Help me to do this consistently through the day, choosing in each event to trust you by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving in all that comes. Amen

More on settling into Germany in 2008

Since this was Barbara’s hometown, despite having been away for forty years, she had lots of relationships, which were very helpful.  The main connection was the Baptist church in town, whose members there were very helpful, taking us shopping and providing smaller items, like a vacuum cleaner and a used cell phone.

Our one remaining need was for a car. Since we lived in a village that was four miles outside the city, we had to have a way to take Omi (as we called Barbara’s mother) to the doctors, do her shopping and other things for her.

We were put in touch with a Christian mechanic who helped workers like us get reasonably priced used cars. He found us a fifteen-year-old VW Golf for 3000 Euros ($4,250).  One year’s insurance would cost us another 3000 Euros or more because we had no driving history in Germany.  All that seemed pretty expensive to me, but that’s how things are here: expensive. We decided to dip into our retirement money and buy it. The man said he would mail us the papers just before he went on vacation.

We waited several days, but no papers. This is very unusual in Germany, where letters normally arrive the day after being mailed. We called the fellow on his cell phone and he assured us he’d sent them, and couldn’t imagine what the problem was. As we were to find out, there was no problem, rather a divine intervention to provide for us in a much better wa

After Nat and Abby left to return to Turkey, I began having chest pains again and they got worse and worse. On a Friday afternoon our believing neighbors took me to a cardiology center, but the people there did not know what to do with our American insurance. They also wanted 5000 Euros just to do a checkup. It turned out that this place was used by rich Middle Easterners for their medical needs, and the hospital had correspondingly high prices for all foreigners. But I was no oil rich Sheik!

On Sunday, in spite of feeling poorly, I went to church so the elders could pray for me, which they did.  Afterward, as I was talking with a friend, a beautiful woman in a white suit came running up and said, “Oh, I heard about your coming to our church! It will be so nice to have some other English speakers!  My name is Melanie and I’m from South Africa. I’m married to a German and have been here for fourteen years. We live in the same village as your mother-in-law!”

She paused and looked at me more closely, “Is there something wrong with your chest?” she asked. I was in so much pain that I was leaning over, holding my left arm over my heart. I began to explain to her about my pain and history of heart problems when Melanie’s husband, Christian, came up behind her and listened.  When I finished, he spoke up, “I’m a doctor. I’ll take you to my hospital this week and get you a checkup.” That was encouraging, a definite God sighting!

On Monday night Christian called. “I’ve arranged for you to have an angiogram done on Wednesday. I’ve also gotten a 50% discount and you will have three months to pay. Can you come with me? I’ll pick you up at 6:15 in the mornin

How could I say no to that?!  So off we went on Wednesday morning and had a wonderful time getting to know each other on the way. Christian explained that he was not a believer, although his wife was. He had been raised in East Germany as an atheist and had never been in a church before meeting Melanie. He wasn’t opposed to believing, but had a lot of questions no one had been able to answer.

“Well,” I thought to myself, “Looks like I’ll have something to give him in exchange for his help—answers for his questions!”

At the hospital the doctor did an angiogram through my wrist instead of through the groin. I was happy with this because it meant I could go home the same day instead of having to stay overnight.  After viewing the DVD of the stent insertion, and doing the new angiogram, the doctor came to where I was lying on the stretcher.  “Your blood flow is better now than when the stent was first put in! Your major arteries are all clear, so you are in good shape. I think your pain is more from stress than anything else.”

He paused, thinking, “It could also be that some of your tiny arteries are clogged and are causing some of the pain, but there’s nothing we can do about that; and it isn’t dangerous. So just get rested up!”

Well, it was no surprise that stress was the major cause, what with all that had transpired during the summer, but it was good to know for sure that nothing was wrong with my heart.

And, unknown to me,  the Lord had a big surprise for me on the ride home with Christian.

Picture: Christian, Melanie and their two boys in 2008

 

 

 

[The following devotional was especially appropriate for me in 2016 when I read it in my hospital bed after having an incident of “Atrial Flutter,” another adventure with God. This flutter caused my blood pressure to go way down and my pulse way up, resulting in a trip to the emergency room. There I got an infusion of drugs that corrected the destructive rhythms, which could have caused blood clots resulting in a stroke or worse.

They don’t know what caused the flutter but said I “lucked out” in having it straighten out so quickly. However, no luck involved, only our gracious God answering prayer. I was prescribed some meds to prevent it again.]

I praise you, Lord, for what will come today: the planned and the unexpected, the accomplishments and the interruptions, the painful and the pleasant. You, Lord God, are my shield, my strength and my stronghold, always there to protect, provide and pull me through whatever challenges you allow. You are all the light I need, shining into my life in love, clarity and wisdom. You are all I need for today.

You will always do what is best in your faithfulness, in your goodness, in your wisdom, in your love, in your righteousness, in your grace and in your power, so I can rest in you whatever comes, no matter how thick the fog may get like in this picture.

“O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

[You are my unmovable foundation, the Rock of Truth, my LORD. You are Yahweh, Jehovah, the Holy God, pure and sinless, separate and supreme, who hates sin and will judge it, while somehow you love sinners and therefore provided for us a way of escape from your just wrath.

You are the God of wondrous qualities: of gracious goodness, of lavish love and of perceived paradoxes. You are able to join together what looks contradictory from our limited perspective: justice and mercy, truth and grace, judgment and love.

As my Rock, you are the stability of my life, the only solid source of rest, of shade, of protection, of hope. In you alone I can take refuge, for you will never be shaken, changed, fail or be defeated.

You are my Redeemer, the purchaser of trash so you can turn it into treasure. You are the One who could take upon yourself the sins of the whole world because you want each person in creation to come to you, to believe, to become your child, to be dearly loved, deeply cared for, eternally doted on, doubly cherished and delighted in—even though many will refuse your amazing offer.

Praise be to you for your long-lasting love, your wild wisdom, your glorious grace, you forever forgiveness. You are worthy of our worship today and throughout all eternity. I bow before you now, O King of the universe, Lord of time, Ruler of all creation. “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight….” To you be honor, glory, praise and exaltation in my life today. Amen.]

Psalm 19:14 “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight,”

Yes, Lord, may both my inner and outer speech please you. Lord, bring the continual transformation of my heart so I will please you in my thought life, so my public life may honor you before others, remembering that out of the heart flow the words of my mouth.

May I follow through on your command, Lord Jesus: “If any man  would be  my disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.”

May my impatience, selfishness, pride and ambition be replaced with patience, Christ-centeredness, humility and contentment.

Help me to consistently meditate on your Word, to think your thoughts, to respond with your wisdom and to speak your Truth. And may you be greatly pleased with that obedience growing in my being, the result of your good work.]

 

 

Psalm 19:13 “Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.”

[This is where I am fully responsible and where I very much need your grace, your help and guidance, Lord Jesus, my great Shepherd. I thank you that you have prepared me for this struggle, as it says in 2 Peter 1:3, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” I have to learn to take up and use what you have provided, such as the fruit of the Spirit, the armor of God, grace, heavenly wisdom and the Word, to name a few.

Praise you for the continual upward progress of your transformational work in us, which I see daily within and without, as the Holy Spirit warns me and gives conviction, insight and protection. You make it possible to stand against the pressures, such as worry, fear, selfishness and impatience, that push me towards personal sin. As I obey, you are making supernatural responses (praise, denying self, patience and mercy) more “natural” for me.

You are at work: you are my Rock, my Fortress, my Deliverer, my Shield, my Strength, my Stronghold. In you alone is the needed help in the battle with sin, self and Satan. With you alone is there hope, power and victory.]

“Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.”

[Only in you, Lord, only in you is there the possibility of being blameless, without reproach, innocent of great sin. Praise be to you for your unwarranted desire to help, your unearned love, your undeserved grace.

You are marvelous in your Might, great in your Grace and wonderful in your Wisdom as you usher us farther up and further into the freedom, growth and goodness of your Kingdom. Glory be to you. Help us today to follow you wholeheartedly in this journey into the light of transformation.]