The Real Old Faithful. Psalms 88-89; Titus 1

May the mumbling commence!

So many miracles the Lord has done!  So many reasons to praise the Creator!  Join the chorus of praise.  Read from Psalm Eighty-nine:

All heaven will praise your miracles, Lord;

myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness. 

For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord?

What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord? 

The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God.

He is far more awesome than those who surround his throne. 

O Lord God Almighty!

Where is there anyone as mighty as you, Lord?

Faithfulness is your very character. (Verses 5-8)

Have you ever been to Yellowstone National Park?  I have.  I have stood and waited at “Old Faithful” geyser.  I waited and waited.  There is no schedule with “Old Faithful”.  It is simply the luck of the moment.

God is far more faithful.  Faithfulness defines the very character of the Lord.  No one or no thing can compare with the Lord God Almighty.  We shout praise to the Name.

We come to the Lord and seek to purify our hearts and cleanse ourselves from all corruptions.  For those who are corrupt see the entire world as corrupt.  Those who are pure can see the purity of the world God has created.  Read from Titus chapter one:

Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are defiled.  Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are despicable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.   (Verses 15-16)

O God, free us from corruption and unbelief.  Make us worthy of doing good and godly things for the sake of glorifying Your Name.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Teach Me Kingdom Ways! Psalms 86-87; Second Timothy 4

May the mumbling commence!

Learn the Way of the Lord and all matter of good things will follow.  Read from Psalm Eighty-six:

Teach me your ways, O Lord,

that I may live according to your truth!

Grant me purity of heart,

that I may honor you. 

With all my heart I will praise you,

O Lord my God.

I will give glory to your name forever, 

for your love for me is very great.

You have rescued me from the depths of death! (Verses 11-13)

Let’s learn God’s ways and live according to the truth of God’s Word.  Then, we can begin to learn to be pure in heart (and see God) and honor the Lord.  We honor God with our praises and when give God the glory now and forevermore.

Why?!?  Because God’s love for us is great – greater than we can even imagine.  God has redeemed us and rescued us of the certain death that our sins deserved.  Praise God, indeed!

So, let’s listen for all of God’s Word.  May we not edit the Word for our own means.  That way we can maintain a clear mind in all situations.  Read from Second Timothy chapter four:

And so I solemnly urge you before God and before Christ Jesus – who will someday judge the living and the dead when he appears to set up his Kingdom: Preach the word of God. Be persistent, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. 

For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to right teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever they want to hear.  They will reject the truth and follow strange myths. 

But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don't be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at bringing others to Christ. Complete the ministry God has given you. (Verses 1-5)

Persistently preach the Word of God – regardless of the peoples’ reaction to it.  Correct and rebuke.  But don’t forget to encourage through good teaching.  Don’t tell people only what they want to hear.

Persistence will help to keep the mind clear so that suffering for the sake of Christ is doable.  In fact, suffering for Christ is to complete the ministry God has given us.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Ever Longing for the House of the Lord. Psalms 84-85; Second Timothy 3

May the mumbling commence!

God sustains us so well that we always want to be in the House of the Lord.  We want to sing the praises of our Lord.  It is in the House of the Lord that we learn to truly live.  Read from the beginning of Psalm Eighty-four:

How lovely is your dwelling place,

O Lord Almighty. 

I long, yes, I faint with longing

to enter the courts of the Lord.

With my whole being, body and soul,

I will shout joyfully to the living God. 

Even the sparrow finds a home there,

and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young—

at a place near your altar,

O Lord Almighty, my King and my God! 

How happy are those who can live in your house,

always singing your praises.

Interlude (Verses 1-4)

What peace and security there is in the House of the Lord!  I shout with joy.  Our God lives.  There is no other.  To learn to live in Your house is divine.  Prepare me to be a sanctuary for Your Holy Spirit.  Prepare Your people, my adoptive family.

There is no other place that I would rather be than in the House of the Lord!

Love and truth and righteousness and peace dwell in the House of the Lord in harmony.  They are so close together that they kiss!  Read from Psalm Eighty-five:

Unfailing love and truth have met together.

Righteousness and peace have kissed! 

Truth springs up from the earth,

and righteousness smiles down from heaven. (Verses 10-11)

May we be as intimate as this with love and truth and righteousness and peace.  They come down from heaven as a gift from the Lord.  Let’s give thanks!

And one way that we enter into the House of the Lord is through the vehicle of God’s Word.  Read from Second Timothy chapter three:

But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.  You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.  It is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do. (Verses 14-17)

Teach us, O Lord.  Straighten our lives up.  It is far past time for a spring cleaning.  Welcome into our lives together.  Show us the truth and right.  Equip us for Your work, O God.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Judge Fair and Square, O God! Psalms 82-83; Second Timothy 2

May the mumbling commence!

God gives fair judgment to the most vulnerable.  Praise God.  Praise God even when that judgment adversely affects our standard of living.  It’s harder when I think about it in that way, but that does not make it any less true.  Have Your way, O Lord.  Read Psalm Eighty-two:

God presides over heaven's court;

he pronounces judgment on the judges: 

"How long will you judges hand down unjust decisions?

How long will you shower special favors on the wicked?

Interlude 

"Give fair judgment to the poor and the orphan;

uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. 

Rescue the poor and helpless;

deliver them from the grasp of evil people. 

But these oppressors know nothing;

they are so ignorant!

And because they are in darkness,

the whole world is shaken to the core. 

I say, 'You are gods

and children of the Most High. 

But in death you are mere men.

You will fall as any prince, for all must die.'" 

Rise up, O God, and judge the earth,

for all the nations belong to you.

Do we seek especial favors for the wicked?  Do we seek them for ourselves?  That last question is a lot trickier.  We want justice for the vulnerable as long as our lifestyles are not altered.

We do not see how we are involved in the oppression.  It’s hidden from our eyes.  But it’s still there.  Maybe we just don’t want to see it.  It would call us into action.  It would force our hand to see if we want change badly enough to give up some of the creature comforts and privileges.

Let us be no longer ignorant!  Rise up, O God, and judge the earth.  Judge me.  Be merciful, but judge me.  Show me the path to fair treatment that takes into account all people… not just me and the ones that I love.

That suffering is a part of the suffering that we are called to do for the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Read from Second Timothy chapter two:

Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  And as Christ's soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in his army.  Follow the Lord's rules for doing his work, just as an athlete either follows the rules or is disqualified and wins no prize.  Hardworking farmers are the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor.  Think about what I am saying. The Lord will give you understanding in all these things. (Verses 3-7)

Follow the Lord’s rules.  Allow God to judge.  Be humble.  Be a good soldier for Christ Jesus.  Take your orders at face value.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Lighten Your Burden. Psalms 80-81; Second Timothy 1

May the mumbling commence!

Life can make us feel overwhelmed… burdened.  There is someone to go to get relief.  In fact, there is only one – the Lord.  All other things and people are cheap imitations.  There is nothing better than the real thing.  Leave those gods behind.  Read from Psalm Eighty-one:

I heard an unknown voice that said, 

"Now I will relieve your shoulder of its burden;

I will free your hands from their heavy tasks. 

You cried to me in trouble,

and I saved you;

I answered out of the thundercloud.

I tested your faith at Meribah,

when you complained that there was no water.”

Interlude 

"Listen to me, O my people,

while I give you stern warnings.

O Israel, if you would only listen! 

You must never have a foreign god;

you must not bow down before a false god. 

For it was I, the Lord your God,

who rescued you from the land of Egypt.

Open your mouth wide,

and I will fill it with good things.” (Verses 5b-10)

Yield to God.  Relax your shoulders.  Open your hands.  God relieves us.  God frees us.  God saves us.  The Lord does all these things even though we complain.

Let’s still our complaining lips and listen.  Listen, really!  Go to God for relief.  Toss aside the idols of the day.

God has rescued us before.  The Lord will do it again.  Open wide your mouth and be filled with good things.

Jesus’ yoke is easy and his burden is light…

Yes, God has saved us.  Joshua, Jesus – God saves.  Read from Second Timothy chapter one:

It is God who saved us and chose us to live a holy life. He did this not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan long before the world began – to show his love and kindness to us through Christ Jesus.  And now he has made all of this plain to us by the coming of Christ Jesus, our Savior, who broke the power of death and showed us the way to everlasting life through the Good News.  And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News. (Verses 9-11)

God has saved us to live a holy life.  We are set apart for God.  Let’s represent our God the best we can.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Re-member! Psalms 75-79

May the mumbling commence!

Remembering is essential.  It re-members.  Remembering brings us together before our Lord.  It becomes even more important when we traverse the deep valleys of sorrow that our lives often hold.  It’s in this context that Psalm Seventy-seven ends.  Read the ending of it below:

O God, your ways are holy.

Is there any god as mighty as you? 

You are the God of miracles and wonders!

You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations. 

You have redeemed your people by your strength,

the descendants of Jacob and of Joseph by your might.

Interlude 

When the Red Sea saw you, O God,

its waters looked and trembled!

The sea quaked to its very depths. 

The clouds poured down their rain;

the thunder rolled and crackled in the sky.

Your arrows of lightning flashed. 

Your thunder roared from the whirlwind;

the lightning lit up the world!

The earth trembled and shook. 

Your road led through the sea,

your pathway through the mighty waters—

a pathway no one knew was there! 

You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep,

with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds. (Verses 13-20)

God is holy and mighty, awesome and strong.  God is the Great I Am.  God lives and does.  Miracles and wonders flow through the Lord of all creation.

God takes the chaos and uncertainty in our lives and tames it.  Though it’s like the untamable deep waters of the sea, God tames it.  God makes a way even though it looks impossible.

With God all things are possible.

Let us look to our spiritual leaders.  Let us look to our Moses’ and Aaron’s.  Let’s look and remember that they are only representatives of the Lord God Almighty.

Remembering is essential for unity amidst diversity.  Remember all the times God has provided for you in desperate situations.  Each of us has our desert times.  God provided… maybe not in a way we expected, but our needs were filled.  

God will take care of us now and will lead us capably into the future.  I have no doubt.  Let’s seek to follow the Holy Spirit of the living God.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Contentment in God. Psalms 73-74; First Timothy 6

May the mumbling commence!

Just when I think I know it all, then life throws me a curveball.  And I realize how foolish I’ve been.  To God, we must seem like foolish animals… like sheep.  We need the council and guidance of the Great Shepherd, Jesus.  Read from Psalm Seventy-three:

Then I realized how bitter I had become,

how pained I had been by all I had seen. 

I was so foolish and ignorant—

I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you. 

Yet I still belong to you;

you are holding my right hand. 

You will keep on guiding me with your counsel,

leading me to a glorious destiny. 

Whom have I in heaven but you?

I desire you more than anything on earth. 

My health may fail,

and my spirit may grow weak,

but God remains the strength of my heart;

he is mine forever. (Verses 21-26)

Life has a way of making us bitter and of showing us great pain.  Hindsight – which is always twenty-twenty – tells us again and again how foolish and ignorant we have been.  The one thing that we learn from history is that we do NOT learn from it.  It’s no wonder that God compares is to sheep – dumb and directionless animals that are stubborn and willful.

Yet we belong to God.  God still claims us and holds our right hand – to comfort us and guide us and lead us to the glorious destiny that the Lord has always planned for us.  So God is our greatest and only true desire.  Nothing or no one else will do.

All other things and people will fail us eventually.  Even our health will atrophy and waste away with time.  Yet God’s strength in our heart of hearts is what gives us hope and courage to continue.  We are God’s forever.  Nothing can change that but a willful break from the Lord that we do.

So, let’s be content with the Lord.  Read from First Timothy chapter six:

Yet true religion with contentment is great wealth.  After all, we didn't bring anything with us when we came into the world, and we certainly cannot carry anything with us when we die.  So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.  But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. (Verses 6-10)

Contentment in having our needs met is great wealth.  It leads to great joy.  Those who chase after the almighty dollar find themselves perpetually unhappy and bitter.  

Which will we choose?  I would like to say the former, but the latter is what is preached from every commercial that bombards us daily… hourly.  May we find the Way to live in this world as resident aliens looking forward to the coming Kingdom of God. 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out