David's Song

Psalm 32

Of David


 ¹ Blessed is the one
   whose transgressions are forgiven,
   whose sins are covered.
² Blessed is the one
   whose sin the LORD does not count against them
   and in whose spirit is no deceit.
 ³ When I kept silent,
   my bones wasted away
   through my groaning all day long.
⁴ For day and night
   your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
   as in the heat of summer.
 ⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to you
   and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
   my transgressions to the LORD.”
And you forgave
   the guilt of my sin.
 ⁶ Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
   while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
   will not reach them.
⁷ You are my hiding place;
   you will protect me from trouble
   and surround me with songs of deliverance.
 ⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
   I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
⁹ Do not be like the horse or the mule,
   which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
   or they will not come to you.
¹⁰ Many are the woes of the wicked,
   but the LORD’s unfailing love
   surrounds the one who trusts in him.
 ¹¹ Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous;
   sing, all you who are upright in heart!

A Prayer

Today's Verse from Philippians 3:13-14

"This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind . I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

My prayer-

Lord,

You have revealed to me a wonderful message (May 29- Forget) in my "God Calling" devotion book. The message-

"regret nothing, not even the sins and failures, for when a man views earth's wonders from some mountain height he does not spend his time in dwelling on the stones and stumbles, the faints and failures, that marked his upward path. So with you. Breathe in the rich blessings of each new day- forget all that lies behind you."

Upon this mountain I will stand with you Lord, seeing the beauty is in the vista, and knowing the climb is behind me. We have made this journey together for a reason. I had a lesson to learn and a time of testing to endure.

On the other side of this mountain, I do see the green pastures, lush valley's, clear sparkling streams and mirror lakes. The pathway is smooth and gentle, bordered by shade trees to rest beneath. 

A wonderful respite from the climb upward. "Look up. Look up." You call to me, as the eagle takes flight from her nest among these great trees. "Now remember, look up each day and see my face in the morning sunlight that will light your path through these vistas up ahead."

I will, I will my Lord. You will be my guide and my strength as I continue to trust and seek you early each day. This is my prayer to you, my Jesus.

Amen

Stand

Yesterday I wrote a post in my blog "Dreams Do Come True" entitled "Stand". The focus was on the tradition of standing and placing our hand over our heart in honor of our American flag when she passes by- and how many Americans will stand simply because the crowd does, but they will not place their hand over their heart.

I ended the writing with the saying, "If you don't stand for something,  you'll fall for everything."


I don't know about you, but I personally have a fear of falling. It hurts. Then there's the scraped knees or busted ankle to deal with, taking a while to heal, and most of the time leaving me with a scar. 

 Looking back, most of those accidents could have been avoided had I  just paid a little more attention to what I was doing, and not rushing into some decisions without giving proper consideration to the potential outcome.


Some of the falls I have encountered in life that hurt the most- came later, during times I let complacency guide me. Most of those times I was spiritually lukewarm and living in the "all about me and my needs" phase of life. It's one of those pits you can easily slip in to and not even realize you've fallen until it starts to get dark and lonely.


These lukewarm days of living in Christ ( but not really living for Christ) produced some serious mental and spiritual falls, and they were very painful, taking years to heal the wounds, leaving some tender scars.


An excerpt from my journal during a season of recovery from one of those times reveals the importance of standing in the grace of God. I wrote this-


"The spring rains and thunderstorms are here to replenish and renew mother earth. The blooms of scattered jonquils in my yard, produced perhaps from another time of rain, washing the bulbs down the hill. There is no pattern or bed- just naturalized."


I am reading your word and praying for the thunderstorm in my life to wash over me and renew my soul- strengthen my connection to God. I am dedicating (standing) this season to focus on my renewed relationship to God and to continue to seek repentance (change ) in areas of my life that need correction. Today I read in Romans 5:1-


"Therefore (because of that), having been justified (to be proven right) by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have access by faith into the grace (unearned favor with God) in which we stand, and rejoice in the hope and glory of God.


And not only that, but we also have glory (praise) in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance, character and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."


My Bible foot notes says that biblical peace means having a right relationship with God and others. Spiritual peace describes a sense of well being and fulfillment that comes from God and is dependent on His presence alone.

God protects our heart and mind from fear and anxiety. It transcends all logic. To receive this protection I must always stand close to God. However, being human, if I slip, trip, and fall, He will understand and pick me up and heal my wounds, just as any loving father would. I just had to reach out one arm in love, repentance and trust. It was always my choice to give Him my hand...

Stand firm (believe) in God loved ones. Do it now, on your knees .Stand tall, hand on heart, pour out your deepest hurts, disappointments and falls. Reach out your hand, putting down your false guard (our pride), and let God go to battle for you, and your battle wounds will begin to heal.

It was a choice that saved my life. It can save yours too. Trust God, right now. Do it dear one. I'm praying for you.

Contentment

I love rainbows! Just recently I was surprised and blessed to see a beautiful one over my city on a hill. I did not have my  camera phone with me to snap a picture- and yet I believe it was meant to be that way, for that moment to be an experience of prayer and praise alone. The feeling of contentment was soul deep, a God moment. I had been praying for God to show me his presence that day, and he did in the most beautiful way. The rainbow, the promise.
  
Paul says in Philippians 4:12-13 "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength."


I have learned that knowing and trusting Jesus is the secret. If you know only this dear one- then you know enough about my God:


^{Ephesians 2:4,5}
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions".


That was me once- dead in spirit and a slave to my weakness to sin, a shell of a body, void of the spirit that I was made to possess. I knew no true peace and happiness. My search for worldly reward and promise came up short every time. 
I knew no contentment or love in the pit of which I lived. 


But because of His great love for me- a rainbow reached down into my mire and the light of the words of Christ shone through the darkness and cut through this heart of stone and saved me from my misery. You ask what? How? I answer-


An invitation by a friend to church, a gift, a living bible, a guitar, a beautiful song, prayers, a message spoken,  a hand, a kind face, a smile, tears on my cheek, a feeling of love I had never known, the memory of a child's voice drifting back into my 20 year old heart; a young girl staring out of  an ice covered window pane singing-


"Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong. They are weak but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me, Yes Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so."


But Jesus did more than that. He told me, He showed me, and He never left me, even when I turned back to sin and walked away. 
Even when I despaired of life itself and wanted to see it end.


Why? Because I matter to Him dear one, just as you matter to him. This is the great secret, everyone, yes everyone was created in Him and through Him. You are a part of Him and He loves you so.

The Steps

         Step 1- Lay my will before Jesus every morning.

         Trusting that He has the best plan for me today.

         Step 2- Be sure and tell Jesus I am trusting Him.

         Step 3- Leave all with Christ; sure of safety and 

                      protection.       
                           

He is my strength.

The Future

Remember the movie "Back To The Future"? Great movie with a very intriguing title. Millions of girls watched this movie and fell more in love with the actor Michael J. Fox. I'm sure the fame that movie brought to his life would be quite a story. But he could not know the future, as a young man, that a greater story would change his life forever.


I recently read an article where he talked about living with Parkinson's and how everything has changed in his perspective regarding life and love and purpose. Summarizing briefly to the point I want to highlight, he said "living in the moment" puts his days together piece by piece, and what a blessing that change in lifestyle has been.


Most of my life I have spent a lot of my time and energy focusing on what could of been, or what is going to happen. Living in the past and worrying about the future, and complaining about the present. I'm sure I'm not alone in this common way of life. But as a believer I should trust God does not want me to live a common life.


One morning I was out for a walk with my 3 dogs. I often take this time to talk to God about life and stuff- my life and my stuff to be exact. I was in search of answers.


"Questions, questions, so many questions my child,"- I can picture God thinking as I rant on and on. Then as I reached the top of the hill, the college bell chimed 9 times. I stopped and began to meditate on my verse, my mantra in Jeremiah 29; 11.


"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."


As the bell stopped, my questions started again.  I asked God why did he make me wait for the plans of the future and why not just reveal them to me today. I think I really meant, why not just give me the good prosperous plan right now!


 I thought about the word, the" future", that mysterious passing of time. I realized, the future is just a word to me, and that my only reality lies in the present- the moment to moment unfolding of  the day.My part is to move into that future through the present.


 Like the clever movie title "Back to the Future", as I live in every second, I am living in the present, soon to the the past, yet shaping the future. Wow, what a revelation!


You may need to read that again and think about it. God revealed this to me as soon as I stopped my questions. I became keenly aware this is as close to the plans of the future I can go, and that only God can cross through the dimensions of  past, present, and future.


Instead of questioning everything I could not understand or see, I knew my best plan was to trust God and continue to walk into my future close to Him. The enemy would prefer I stay in the dark, and worry so about this passing of time.


Instead, I do my day to day part with the help that God's wise instruction gives me. Here is what God said to the exiles through Jeremiah- in the passages just before the promise of verse 11.


  ⁵ “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.⁶ Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.


  ⁷ Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.


Sounds like pretty good advice for me too. I want what God wants for my life- so I am waiting on the Lord, seeking Him through His word, His creation, and His created.

Trusting God day by day- moment by moment. Step by step.

Purpose

Do you have one for your life?  If not, you are winging it as they say. Just gliding along and hoping to land some where safe? Both life styles are a deliberate choice. Both will require work. One on the front end and one is on the back end. Guess which one gives you more freedom to soar and enjoy your life?


Soaring is the purpose filled life. You move with a sure step and cover more ground.  The effort of planning seems natural, as gliding does for the eagle. The eagle knows where to go for his food, his shelter.


The young nestling of this great bird has yet to find his wings, that is until the mother bird literally pushes him out of the nest, and he either flies or falls on his tail feathers. It's a choice the young bird has to make in the air.  Living with purpose is a choice we make every day we breathe air. We wake up and make plans to do something. Right?


My challenge for you today is to consider the plans that God has for you. In Jeremiah 29:11 God says-

"I know the plans for you declares the Lord,

 plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

 to give you a future and a hope."

I love this verse, it's a mantra of mine and helps me to remember that my life matters. A good start  for a purposeful day would be to consider this question- Who can I help/bless today?  If God blesses me, would it not make sense to do the same for someone in my own life. I could call a friend, surprise a loved one with an unexpected something.. anything. You get the picture I'm sure. It's not a new concept. Just an overlooked one in the hectic unplanned "winging it day".


Make some plans each day and soon you will be soaring with the eagles. God bless you on your purposeful day. I'll be praying for you my friend.