Saturday, November 24, 2012

I said

Psalm 16:2 I said to the Lord you are my Lord, apart from you I have no good thing.

This is a powerful statement to be able to say and to mean truly from the depths of one's heart and to truly mean it and live it.

I said to the Lord

I made a declaration to God, Creator, Sustainer, Eternal, Everlasting God

You are my Lord

You are the one I'm putting my hope in, my faith in, my trust in, my life in

Apart from you I have no good thing

Without you I am nothing, I have nothing without you, you give me everything, you provide all my needs

To truly acknowledge and declare this

To live it

This is to be one of my life statements on how I want to live

To proudly declare God is my Lord

The one I put my whole trust in

The one I surrender my life to

And to truly acknowledge without him I have nothing

I want to be able to say this with confidence, boldly and to truly mean it with all my heart.

Help me to do so Lord.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

who am I

2 Samuel 7:18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and he said "Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family that you have brought me this far?"

This is my thought too, Lord.

Who am I

that you have brought me this far.

Who is my family

that you have brought them this far too?

I am a sinner

I am prideful, arrogant

I am flawed

I am broken

I am bitter

I am conceited

I am anxious, fearful, worried

YET

You have brought me so far

You have always provided, protected

You have always covered me, even with the impossible at times

You have never abandoned me

You have loved me unconditionally

You have loved me always

YOU

the Creator, King, Potter, Savior, Redeemer, Lord God

care about me

love me

cover me

sustain me

ransomed me

redeemed me

I certainly don't deserve it, but I thank you Lord for always being there for me and my family.

I thank you that you have brought me this far and will continue to bring me further.

Thank you Lord.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Characteristics of God

from Psalm 145

Who God is, What God is, What God does

The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in love (verse 8)

The Lord is good to all, he has compassion on all he has made (verse 9)

The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving towards all he has made (verse 13)

The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down (verse 14)

The Lord is righteous in all his ways (verse 17)

The Lord is near to all who call on him (verse 18)

The Lord watches over all who love him (verse 20)

He gives food at the proper time (verse 15)

Satisfies the desires of every living thing (verse 16)

Fulfills desires of those who fear him (verse 19)

Hears our cry and saves us (verse 19)


Who God is
Gracious
Compassionate
Slow to anger
Rich in love
Faithful to his promises
Righteous in all his ways

What God does
Good to all
Has compassion on all he made
Loving to all he made
Upholds those who fall
Lifts those bowed down
Near to those that call on him
Watches over those that love him
Provides needs
Satisfies/fulfills our desires
Hears our cries
Saves us

He is our all; he is our everything

We just need to meditate on his greatness, penetrate our hearts with his word and trust him explicitly and completely.

He is more than enough.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

pray for peace

1 Kings 10:9  Praise be to the Lord, your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel.  Because of the Lord's eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.

God's eternal love for Israel.

God's everlasting love for Israel.

The Queen of Sheeba said this to Solomon when she came to see his country, his riches, to hear his wisdom God had given him.

(makes you wonder if she was more than curious about the God of Solomon, the God of Israel, and if she became a believer)

But what I love is

God's eternal love for Israel

Israel will always be God's chosen people.

Jesus is coming back exactly where he ascended from - Jerusalem (Acts 1:11)

Israel has endured so much in its history, but it is one of the existing nations still around thousands of years later.

Israel is under attack right now, but I believe God is there and out of his eternal love for Israel, he is fighting alongside Israel for the battle always belongs to the Lord.

Prayers for Israel and its people, for wisdom, protection, for power and strength.

I know you, Lord, will show your love to Israel, you always have and always will forever and ever.

Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure."

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

faith

Joshua 6:1 Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

Jericho saw the events played out in the desert.  They saw the mass of people (Israelites) on the other side of the Jordan River. They saw the Jordan River part and water be stopped.  They saw the mass of people cross over dry river bed and then the river flowed strongly again.

They might have even seen manna raining from heaven.

Yet only one, Rahab, had faith and realized a mighty God was leading the Israelites.  She was willing to put her faith in Him even before she saw the Jordan River stop flowing and she helped the spies that came to check out the promised land and in turn, she and her family were spared death and came to live with the Israelites.

I need to have that faith Lord.

You can move mountains

You can part seas

You can rain manna from heaven

You can change hearts

You raised Jesus from the dead

You can save me

You have saved me

You can give me freedom from anything I am dealing with that holds me in bondage

You are awesome Lord; thank you.

Increase my faith!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Deuteronomy 34:4

Deuteronomy 34:4 Then the Lord said to him "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it, but you will not cross over to it."

God was compassionate to Moses in his discipline of Moses.  Moses could not enter the land, (because of his disobedience to God), but he got to see it and he got to see it with God pointing out the parts to him.  We don't know the exchange between God and Moses, but perhaps God told him of the coming Savior and key places in Jerusalem.

Shortly after Moses saw the promised land, he died and the Bible said God buried him.

I would like to think God was with him when he died, holding his hand, comforting him.  God didn't abandon him, but was with Moses all the days of his life.

God doesn't abandon any of us.  We may not feel his presence or hear his word (mainly because we might not be listening or are so clouded by fears, worries, anxieties or pride or arrogance and other sins) but God does not abandon us.

NEVER.

God is compassionate and slow suffering and wants everyone to come to know him as their Lord and Savior.

Thank you Lord that you don't abandon, that you are merciful, that you are here with me now and that you will never let go.

I love you Lord.  Thank you.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

requires

Micah 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

God has given us knowledge, shown us what is good through his word, his commands, his laws.  He has laid down the path of what is good, laid out in the Book of Law, the 10 commandments, laid out in how Jesus lived his life. 

He has told us what he requires of us - what he wants from us

its so simple too

to act justly (treat people with kindness and fairness)

to love mercy (be compassionate, be kind, serve others)

to walk humbly with our God (not prideful, not arrogant, but to walk in gratitude and love with God; knowing and acknowledging his greatness, majesty, might and knowing and acknowledging all comes from him.

It sounds so easy to do, but it is so complicated at times if we allow our sinful nature to take over.  That is why it is so imperative to spend time daily with God in prayer and reading his word, to continue to learn about him and to continue to remember who he is and to continue to walk humbly with him.

Help me Lord to do so!