Who Do we represent? Jan.31

 

“…for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” [Ps.23]

His name! All God’s leading is embraced by His glory and that gives us hope, insures us, because he is God and not us. To whom do we really belong?

The realization of physical death is always with us, but other deaths move through us. The death of a wonderful idea, the ending of ambition, the dying of physical health, and other endings plague us daily.

Yet God is with us, even if like in the shadow. His beingness, his glory reaches out to hold us in our existence.

Will you allow to be held? Beyond everything else, know to whom you belong.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, just thank you.

Why Feel the Psalm? Jan.30

 

We are to learn to live Psalms as we read them.

“He leads me beside the still waters; He restores my soul….” [Ps.23]

Water follows the least resistance [and so do we].  It is too easy to go with the raging, flowing water. It only slows and collects by containment. God provides and encourages the slowing down, the meditation time, a place to rethink, absorb and rework error of inadequate decisions. His word is our guide to prayer.

        God helps to reframe the soul (that decision-maker) for any new kingdom action. He joins the Self in a partnership for other centeredness.

“Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.” [Mt.5] Why? Because the Meek can be trusted, they can absorb for the kingdom.

The Power of Psalms Jan.29

As we read the scripture, we can live them.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures….”[Ps.23]

The heavenly Father is our shepherd leader. He directs our going from the rest to reach the best in circumstance, beingness and relationships. The Holy Spirit can adjust our perceptive eyes, voice, love motivations, internal ears because He is always present when we have given Him leadership.

How marvelous he holds our hand, points to the right direction [our pasture], helps us avoid the sink holes of life, if we pay attention and live the word given us.

But there is still within us, like the sheep that goes astray, that rebellion to want to do what we think is best. And this is why we need to let God’s word bury itself in us daily.

Sometimes, “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint….” [Ps.22: 14] Jesus must have said it. We feel it.

Prayer: Lord, point the way to your love above everything else.

Absorbing one Psalm Jan.27

 

Before you get to Matt. 6: 9-13 [The Lord’s prayer] that Jesus said to offer [for the scripture to read you] seek to understand the Psalms.

How does a Psalm work?

The Psalm hugs us into itself. The words, the essence of it holds us.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”  [Ps. 23]

Of course, you are not sheep. And God is not a literal shepherd.

Yet the Lord is our shepherd-- a guide, a protector, always present, physical strength from possible harm. Nothing gets beyond him. He will keep his eye on even one sheep, one person. He sees you.

Although we may not understand all the connections God makes, he waits for us to allow the connections. Let the words of the Psalm embrace you, “the Lord is my shepherd”; enter what it is, the Holy Spirit waits.

A shepherd doesn’t force a sheep’s position, unless the blundering sheep gets caught in an annoying fence wire.

Why read as if Jesus talks? Jan. 26

 

Can you hear Jesus’s voice while on the Cross?

“Out of the depths I cry to you oh Lord! O Lord, hear my voice!”

“Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!”

[Psalm 130]

It is the same as “Eli, Eli, Lema Sabachthani?” My God, My God why have you abandoned Me?” [Mt.27:45]

He is saying it for us, he is feeling it for us. He holds the pain for us.

Every word of scripture, every word of Jesus, every word of the Holy Spirit becomes flesh.

“In the beginning was the word and the word was made flesh.”

Do you sometimes feel abandoned? Let scripture read you. Feel the words of Jesus when you read and pray.

Again, Getting God to Talk Back Jan.25

 

Getting God to talk back is not some “if you’ll do this; I’ll do that” exchange, quid pro quo event. The Holy Spirit wants his words read and wants to read you. What happens is as you read His words, the very same words start to read you. We then need to let ourselves go and feel the words.

See, we think “Well, I need to hold onto a little part of myself cause if I’m not surviving it’s all over.” NO. When we give over our Self, it does not disappear. What happens is the Holy Spirit can join the Self and be allowed to guide the vehicle instead of our stubborn will that wants to be god in itself.

Jesus told us how to pray. But before you can even absorb Mt. 6:9-13 [the Lord’s prayer], follow with me as we dissect Psalms.

Again, Letting Scripture read you Jan.24

 

 

In many instances in scripture, Jesus defers to heavenly Father as being somehow higher, more honorable, more above the Son. We certainly do not understand what makes this so. You simply need to believe that the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit worked this out.

So, while on the Cross, see and feel Jesus, repeating Psalm 23. “The Lord is my shepherd….” Heavenly Father is like his shepherd leader. Jesus is ours. Still, He and the Father are One.

Now READ slowly Psalm 23 like Jesus is reading. Keep going until you can FEEL the words because he reads with you. Here’s what’s amazing. As we read God’s word and speak to Him, he is actually speaking back.

You need to be willing to do this exercise to make Jesus more real and feel scripture talking back. Through this comes the voice of God.

And the hard part is one day you’ll get it and the next day nothing. So, you have to choose the experience every day. Simply pray that God can make the connections. The Holy Spirit waits for your permission.

 

How to truly feel the scripture Jan.23

 

AS you see and feel Jesus more real, try this exercise:

Slowly, slowly read Psalm 22 as if Jesus is actually saying the words.

When you come to the parts that sound TOO human, just remember, Jesus on the Cross was experiencing all the disgust, corruption, heartache, pain that any human experiences even though He was not a specific sinner. He was feeling the results of sin, like you and me, and that leads to death.

Certainly, we do not understand fully how God the Father could allow this to happen to his son. I mean, since He is God, couldn’t he do something else, something not so brutal? This is one of the ways God’s ways are not fully understood by us. Grace and faith must come to us.

Again, read the scripture as if Jesus speaks. Feel the word meanings with him. Know the hurt by recognizing his reality. He prays with you, he reads scripture with you, he is ever present with you NOW sharing your load.

Getting Scripture to Read You Jan.22

 

If you really want to know more that God talks back to you, you must spend time on one belief:  Jesus, the human, is somehow a part of God the Father and the Holy Spirit and He is, in some form, ever presently real like wind, earth, or water are real.

        When you think or read the whole Cross experience of Jesus, from the garden of Gethsemane to the actual crucifixion, in Matthew, Mark or Luke---when Jesus is carrying the Cross and nailed to it, did you ever wonder what he was thinking besides the seven last words recorded?

        I don’t think he just thought about his physical pain, but I think he quoted scripture to himself. For instance, read Psalm 22: 1-2; 7-8; 14-15. Why, because God’s words are eternal.

This becomes significant because you must learn to feel Jesus the man, Jesus the Christ, Jesus the Messiah is as active today as He was years ago. When you can feel Christ is here now, you can proceed to the next insight that He prays with you as you truly pray.

 [More continues next day]

 

Prayer: Lord, I know I have to get my mind off my pain. Thank you for being my "go to" relief.

How to get God to talk to you. Jan. 20

Of course, this subject is personal. God is never impersonal. So, I want to get personal here as well and share some thoughts.

I think every believer (Christian) wants to have a recognized conversation with God. Notice, I used ‘recognized conversation’. I assume you are like me such that we do not always know when or if God hears us. Yes, we may speak prayer to Him often, but do we Know when and how he speaks back. Sure, there are many ways God speaks, but I’m centering on specific praying.

Also, I’m not going to talk about the usual, like times to pray, methods to pray, places to pray, those kinds of guides. While they have merit, I want to focus on what it means to have the scripture READ us when it comes to a conversation, a two-way talk with the Almighty.

You and I may say a prayer to God often, but do we hear back from him? Can we know (for sure) God gets in a two-way discussion with us? Certainly, he speaks through every word in scripture, but we make those words too generalized, like scattering seed, but I want to share an idea about what may be needed for us, so like a mature plant, we can grow more fruit. Would you like to feel scripture more?

Check this blog each day for discussions.

God’s Time Jan. 19

 

 

In God’s time, He does not have to wait on anything. He is not impatient. All is happening as he put into motion. We wait but He sustains his plan as is, so we can increase our trust quality.

 

Prayer: Lord, help us endure the wait.

 

Unwelcome Interruptions Jan.18

 

We often object to unscheduled interruptions and certainly God is not the author of all those disrupters [1 Cor. 14:33].

But be alert because other occasions may be heaven sent.

 

 

Prayer: Lord, help us be more aware of the unexpected.

Glad About Sickness? Jan. 17

 

 

When Jesus said to love our enemies, it may mean more than people. A sickness may be an enemy. Are we to love the sickness? NO. But we are to maintain our emotion, heart of love during the illness. Keeping joy through suffering needs God’s Grace and power within. Ask.

 

 

Prayer: Lord, help us keep your joy even when sickness lingers.

 

A Concerned Group Jan. 16

 

 

For those who follow scripture, a service perspective is often opposite a power attitude. The world of success promotes power and profit at one’s core existence. The kingdom of God embraces a blending, creating a human-plus who can grow service-power that absorbs issues and helps think more of others than themselves. The blending of Holy Spirit creates a fellowship of concern for a hurting world.

  

 

Prayer: Remind us to say, “Unto you Lord” with everything we think and do.

Jan. 14 How big is God?

 

Our greatest picture of God’s holiness still falls short of His true being. Grace overflows.

 

Prayer: Lord may your glory of creation stop the most stubborn in their tracks.

Jan.13 Why Love Matters

 

We must seek and learn the right love because love’s essential core groans for its own expression.

 

 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us start each day with your love recognition.

Jan. 11 Truly God Provides

 

 

No expression or words work well unless you embrace them and make them your own.

“The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want…” [Ps.23]

 

 

 

Prayer: Lord, let your words imprint on my soul.

Jan. 10 Hope

 

 

The Holy Spirit helps us go to our knees for help and repentance and sees that we rise to our feet with heavenly action.

 

 

 

Prayer: Lord, keep us rising.

Jan. 9 God’s Scoreboard?

 

 

No one could make it if Jehovah is only a God who keeps score. [ Psalm 130:3]

 

 

 

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the next verse Ps. 130:4.

 

Jan. 8 What’s best?

 

The very best approach to life: Make Love a gift.

  

 

Prayer: Lord, help me love without wanting anything back.

 

Jan. 6 The Future

 

Our true hope rests in Jehovah. God keeps his promises. He always has our back and front.[Ps.81:1]

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for always being here.

WISDOM Jan. 5

 

“If you search for wisdom as if it were money and hunt for it as if it were hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the lord and you will find the knowledge of God.”  [ Prov.2:4, God’s Word Translation]

 

 

Prayer: Lord, keep me seeking.

Jan.4, 2024 Imagination

 

    Our magnified imaginations can never comprehend our death, burial, and resurrection. That’s why asking God to grow our trust factor remains essential every minute of a day. Trust moves us on to heavenly concerns. In our death, burial, and resurrection we will go completely beyond imagination.

 

 

Prayer: Lord, help us love more so we can trust more.

 Whoa!!           Jan.3  2024

Trying to read the Bible so fast is like trying to soak up an ocean with toilet paper. Slow down. God can speak with each word.

Prayer: This year,Lord, help me relearn how to meditate on your word.

January 2024

 

I will be publishing something different this year. Want to see?