The earth is the LORD's

A new Psalm and a new season. A season that may seem out of place when you read this journal entry. It's Christmas season and chances are when you read this, it will not be Christmas season. However, if you are like me, you can sing a Christmas song any time of the year. I have some even now on my Spotify playlist. If you don't like to sing Christmas songs except at Christmastime, at least enjoy the message in them. It would have been nice to begin this blog so it at least approximated the seasons when shared online but that not being the case, please realize that the message is omni-seasonal and the message from the Word is eternal. 

December 4, 2015

Worship: Our King Has Come by Hillsong

Come, come rejoice this day
Come and see the promised one
The love of God display.

Sing, Sing the angel song
Join in singing Holy is the Lord our God who sings...

Let all the earth rejoice,
Let all the earth rejoice,
Oh let us adore, (Come let us adore)
Christ the lord, Christ the lord! (Christ Alone)

Praise, Praise his holy name
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Messiah, Prince of Peace.

Let all the earth rejoice,
Let all the earth rejoice,
Oh, let us adore, 
Christ the lord, Christ the lord! 

For the lord has done great things, 
For the lord has done great things,
Oh, how my soul will sing
For the lord has done great things, 
For the lord has done great things, (x2 -repeat)

Let all the earth rejoice, 
Let all the earth rejoice,
Oh, let us adore, 
Christ the lord, Christ the Lord!

Praise the holy one,
Christ our king has come,
Oh, let us adore,
Christ the lord, Christ the Lord!

For the lord has done great things, 
For the lord has done great things,
Oh, how my soul will sing
For the lord has done great things,
For the lord has done great things...

Lyrics:   wwm/lyrics/h/hillsong/our_king_has_come.htmlw.lyricsmode.co l

Video:  https://youtu.be/4rM_JzICHis

Witness:

It’s been several days since I have made an entry into my Journal. The busyness of life and extreme exhaustion have made me sick. I have been fighting congestion for months, but now it has set in with a vengeance. I have made it a purpose to get back to this time of study and reflection. Satan would have me to get comfortable. “It’s a lot of work to sit down and journal isn’t? Why don’t you just take a break?” I think of the scripture:

A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest — 

and poverty will come on you like a bandit

and scarcity like an armed man.

Prov 6:10-11 NIV

Yes, this is talking about our work ethic, but there is a principle here that relates to our devotional life. Constantly I battle the temptation just to stop and lay down and rest. Now don’t get me wrong, rest is very import to the body and the spirit, but so is exercise, and yes, work. Study of the scripture can be seen as labor.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

2 Tim 2:15-16 NIV

A labor of love, that is.

Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.

Ps 119:97 NIV

One thing I found in my hiatus from my journal was that the songs that play in my head during the day became completely secular. The songs of Zion were replaced by the songs of “vanity fair” (if you have not heard of this place you can google itJ). Not that these songs were evil, but I want the melody of my heart to be that of worship and encouragement.

To neglect the study of the word and the fellowship with our Lord is to impoverish ourselves. We rob ourselves of blessings. We rob ourselves of time in His presence. We rob ourselves of the nourishment we need to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord (2 Peter 3:18).

The law of the Lord is perfect,

reviving the soul.

The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,

making wise the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right,

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant,

giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is pure,

enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure

and altogether righteous.

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

than honey from the comb.

By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

Ps 19:7-11 NIV

WORD:

Ps 24:1-2 24 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. NIV

Ps 24:1-2 24 The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. KJV

The Earth is the Lord’s. A simple but profound declaration. His ownership extends to everything in it. Why, because He made it. He made everything. We understand that. If we make something we usually believe it is ours. Of course, if we invent something, we may seek to get a patent on it, claiming sole rights to it and claiming that we were the first to make such a thing. God does not need a patent. He was first, period! There was no one before Him. He is eternal. Creation is not. Many today may claim that everything that exists comes from some mindless cosmic accident or fortuitous event. God begs to differ.

So what does this mean for us? It means that we are stewards and not owners of the earth. We care for it as an act of worship to God who made it. We care for our bodies because we are one of His creations. Many today worship nature, through either science or some pagan or new age philosophy. Paul says of these people:

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised. Amen. Rom 1:21-25 NIV

This is the general description of man without God. He may worship a cow or a car, but in the end, the result is the same. They both worship a “lie”. 

I desire to be in the house of the Lord forever

It's been a while since I have posted. As usual, no one has viewed my post. Never-the-less, I continue to post. Perhaps someone may stumble on it some day and find some blessing in it. It is rather long but I hope it brings blessing and encouragement to your life.

Journal entry from:

December 1, 2015

Worship: Blessed by Hillsong

"Blessed"

Blessed are those who dwell in Your house
They are ever praising You
Blessed are those whose strength is in You
Whose hearts are set on our God

We will go from strength to strength
Until we see You face to face

Hear our prayer
Oh Lord, God almighty
Come bless our land
As we seek You
Worship You

For You are holy
For You are holy
For You are holy, Lord

Lyrics: A-Z LyricsHILLSONG LIVE Lyrics "Blessed" (2002)

Video:  https://youtu.be/SB6A0umDrjQ

Witness: The sun is shining again. It has been rainy and cold for the last few days. A slight breeze tickles the wind chimes outside. It's 53 degrees, but it is supposed to go down to 31 tonight. The ground is blanketed with leaves still damp with the recent precipitation. Nights are getting longer and the days shorter. No matter how old we are, we never quite get used to the change. I recently saw a cartoon of a man and his wife. The wife is frantic. She is pacing and saying “It’s dark outside… what time is it?” ... “is it midnight?” ... “I think it must be midnight”. The husband replies, “It’s 5:50 pm honey”. It’s the same when darkness creeps into our lives. When the cold winds of late autumn and approaching winter blow upon our lives, we are prone to become melancholic and anxious. I read a devotional this morning by Spurgeon (yeah I only got about 4 hours of sleep) that speaks to this very thing. As usual, I began this section with just a jumble of thoughts, but my Lord directed my ways as is promised in Psalm 23. Here is the devotional I read (I left a link to the devotional web page in case you would like to use it in your devotional life, just hold down the Ctrl key and click on the word DEVOTIONALS):

DEVOTIONALS  

Winter in the Soul

 Psalms 74:17

My soul, begin this wintry month with God. The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind you that He keeps His covenant with day and night and serve to assure you that He will also keep that glorious covenant that He has made with you in the person of Christ Jesus. He who is true to His Word in the revolutions of the seasons of this poor sin-polluted world will not prove unfaithful in His dealings with His own well-beloved Son.

Winter in the soul is by no means a comfortable season, and if it is upon you just now, it will be very painful to you: But there is this comfort, namely, that the Lord makes it. He sends the sharp blasts of adversity to nip the buds of expectation. He scatters the frozen dew like ashes over the once fresh green meadows of our joy. He dispenses His icy morsels, freezing the streams of our delight.

He does it all; He is the great Winter King and rules in the realms of frost, and therefore you cannot murmur. Losses, crosses, heaviness, sickness, poverty and a thousand other ills are of the Lord's sending and come to us with wise design. Frosts kill harmful insects and restrain raging diseases; they break up the clods and sweeten the soul. O that such good results would always follow our winters of affliction!

How we prize the fire just now! How pleasant is its cheerful glow! Let us in the same manner prize our Lord, who is the constant source of warmth and comfort in every time of trouble. Let us draw near to Him, and in Him find joy and peace in believing. Let us wrap ourselves in the warm garments of His promises, and keep working, unlike the lazy man who refuses to plow because it is too cold; in the summer he will have nothing and will be forced to beg for bread.

Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright (c) 2003, Good News Publishers and used by Truth For Life with written permission.

WORD:

Ps 23:6 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. NIV

Ps 23:6 6 Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live. (from Holman Christian Standard Bible® Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005 by Holman Bible Publishers.)

It would seem that most commentators keep this verse on earth. It would seem logical, after all, David didn’t have Hebrews 8:5 to read:

          They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. 

          This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle:

          "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you 

          on the    mountain." Heb 8:5 NIV

Yet we know he meditated on the law daily (Psalm 1:2). Did he understand Exodus 25:40 in the way the author of Hebrews did? He certainly had Spirit inspired insight as seen from Peter’s declaration in Acts:

          But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that 

          he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was 

          ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned

          to the grave, nor did his body see decay. Acts 2:30-31 NIV

In the end, it really doesn’t matter. What David was trying to say was that he always wanted to be in God’s presence, worshiping Him. 

The Pulpit commentary puts it this way:

          And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever (comp. Ps 27:4, 

          "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that I will seek after; that I may 

          dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the 

          beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple"). Such passages are, 

          of course, not to be understood literally; they express the longing of the 

          soul for a sense of the continual presence of God, and a realization of 

          constant communion with him.

               (from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

In those days the presence of God was especially localized in the tabernacle. Yet David knew that God was not confined to an earthly tent. If we read psalm 139 we would see this truth:

O Lord, you have searched me

and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O Lord.

You hem me in — behind and before;

you have laid your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,"

even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

Ps 139:1-12 NIV

Nevertheless, the tabernacle was the special place to offer tithes and offerings, thanksgiving and praise, and sacrifice and offerings. David wanted that close fellowship with the Lord. Should not that be our desire also? The wonderful thing is that we don’t have to go to a tabernacle or temple. We can have that kind of presence anywhere our hearts are open to worship Him. Our Lord said to the woman at the well:

          Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will 

          worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You 

          Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do 

          know, or salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now 

          come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and 

          truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, 

          and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:21-24 NIV

However, this is not to promote only private worship. Our Lord would have us worship with our lips and our lives, but also in league with others. Notice how He brings presence and prayer together in Matthew 18: 19-20: 

          "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you 

          ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two 

          or three come together in my name, there am I with them." NIV

I am not ready to get into all that this verse means. We must consider the context and compare it with other scripture. However, I believe the principle of corporate worship, or at least prayer, is implicit in this passage.

So whether alone or with other believers, our desire is to be in God’s presence. Is this not the same as desiring to be in His house forever? To be in His presence by faith now, and in His presence by sight when we die.

          Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a 

          building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.                     
          Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 

          because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we 

          are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be                      
          unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is 

          mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for 

          this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing 

          what is to come.

          Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at 

          home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by 

          sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body 

          and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether 

          we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before 

          the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for

          the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

          2 Cor 5:1-10 NIV

Therefore, we can say confidently that we will “dwell in the house of the Lord forever”. I shall leave this Psalm now and move on to the next. When I began this Psalm I wondered if I would have much to say on the Psalm. It is a familiar Psalm to many and I wondered if I needed to take much time in it. That was 3 months ago! I came across something written by Spurgeon (I like to quote from him a lot, don’t I?). It’s brief but powerful, and I believe, will end this adventure in this Psalm beautifully.

          And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. "A servant abideth 

          not in the house for ever, but the son abideth ever." While I am here I 

          will be a child at home with my God; the whole world shall be his house 

          to me; and when I ascend into the upper chamber, I shall not change my                         
          company, nor even change the house; I shall only go to dwell in the upper 

          storey of the house of the Lord for ever. May God grant us grace to dwell 

          in the serene atmosphere of this most blessed Psalm!

               (from The Treasury of David, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights 

               reserved.)

The Lord will provide

Journal entry for:

November 29, 2015

Worship: Though Dangers Assail and Dangers Affright by John Newton

1 Though troubles assail,
And dangers affright,
Though friends should all fail
And foes all unite;
Yet one thing secures us
Whatever betide,
The scripture assures us,
"The Lord will provide."

2 The birds without barn
Or storehouse are fed,
From them let us learn
To trust for our bread:
His saints, what is fitting
Shall ne'er be denied
So long as 'tis written,
"The Lord will provide."

3 We may, like the ships,
By tempests be tossed
On perilous deeps,
But cannot be lost:
Though Satan enrages
The wind and the tide,
The promise engages,
"The Lord will provide."

4 His call we'll obey,
Like Abra'm of old,
Not knowing our way,
But faith makes us bold;
For though we are strangers
We have a good guide,
And trust in all dangers,
"The Lord will provide."

5 When Satan appears
To stop up our path,
And fills us with fears,
We triumph by faith;
He cannot take from us
Though oft he has tried
The heart cheering promise,
"The Lord will provide."

6 He tells us we're weak,
Our hope is in vain
The good that we seek
We ne'er shall obtain;
But when such suggestions
Our spirits have plied,
This answers all questions,
"The Lord will provide."

7 No strength of our own,
Or goodness we claim,
Yet since we have known
The Savior's great name;
In this our strong tower,
For safety we hide,
The Lord is our power,
"The Lord will provide."

8 When Life sinks apace
And death is in view,
The word of his grace
Shall comfort us through
No fearing or doubting
With Christ on our side,
We hope to die shouting,
"The Lord will provide."

Lyrics:  http://www.hymnary.org/text/though_troubles_assail_and_dangers_affri

Video:  https://youtu.be/YfTjEMVfqew

Witness:

Today my journaling was like trying to start a car on a very cold morning. It was very hard to get started. I began hours ago looking for a song that related to Psalm 23:6. [After I found a song I sang then took a long nap because I was very tired. I then listened to various different songs trying to get started again. Finally, I just stopped everything and got on my knees to pray and recenter my thoughts. When I got up I still wondered what I could say in this portion of my Journal. When I sat down I typed the first two sentences, then the sentences that follow what I am typing now, but I thought it was necessary to fill in the gap of time with what happened between worship and witness and why I said I started hours ago. Now back to what I wrote after sentence two (a bit surreal I knowJ)] One source on the internet that I use is a Hymn site that lists song according to scripture passages they relate to. That’s when I discovered this Hymn by the famed John Newton. Each verse ends with this glorious truth, “The Lord will provide”. What a marvelous truth about our all sufficient, all supplying Shepherd. Could we not sum up the truth of Psalm 23 in this short but enormous phrase? It reminds me of Genesis 22 where Abraham responds to a question by his son Isaac:

Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided." Gen 22:7-14 NIV

We know that in some way this points also, as a type, to Our Lord Jesus who said:

Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." John 8:56 NIV

With one big difference, though. In this case, our God provided a lamb in the person of His son.

"Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29 NIV

However, we also read this in John’s Gospel:

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10:11 NIV

So in one Divine mixing of metaphors, the Shepherd becomes the Lamb and the Provider becomes the Provided!

'Tis mystery all: th'Immortal dies:

Who can explore His strange design?

In vain the firstborn seraph tries

To sound the depths of love divine.

'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,

Let angel minds inquire no more.

'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;

Let angel minds inquire no more.

( 2nd verse of  And Can it Be? from Biblesoft Hymnal, PC Study Bible electronic database Copyright © 2003-2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

I’ll finish this section with a devotional by Spurgeon. I was opening up one of my Bible Apps to look up and to copy and paste some of the above Bible references. My App always opens to Spurgeon's Morning & Evening devotional. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be interesting if his devotional spoke about the Lord’s provision?” When I looked at the verse, I thought, “nope, not his time”. I almost skipped past the devotional, but guilt moved me to read it (you know, that feeling you get when you are rushing to get somewhere, but you don’t want to rush through something concerning God’s word). I then realized, “Yep, He did it again!”

And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this."
—2 Chronicles 25:9

A very important question this seemed to be to the king of Judah, and possibly it is of even more weight with the tried and tempted O Christian. To lose money is at no times pleasant, and when principle involves it, the flesh is not always ready to make the sacrifice. "Why lose that which may be so usefully employed? May not the truth itself be bought too dear? What shall we do without it? Remember the children, and our small income!" All these things and a thousand more would tempt the Christian to put forth his hand to unrighteous gain, or stay himself from carrying out his conscientious convictions, when they involve serious loss. All men cannot view these matters in the light of faith; and even with the followers of Jesus, the doctrine of "we must live" has quite sufficient weight. The Lord is able to give thee much more than this is a very satisfactory answer to the anxious question. Our Father holds the purse-strings, and what we lose for His sake He can repay a thousand-fold. It is ours to obey His will, and we may rest assured that He will provide for us. The Lord will be no man's debtor at the last. Saints know that a grain of heart's-ease is of more value than a ton of gold. He who wraps a threadbare coat about a good conscience has gained a spiritual wealth far more desirable than any he has lost. God's smile and a dungeon are enough for a true heart; His frown and a palace would be hell to a gracious spirit. Let the worst come to the worst, let all the talents go, we have not lost our treasure, for that is above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Meanwhile, even now, the Lord maketh the meek to inherit the earth, and no good thing doth He withhold from them that walk uprightly.

WORD:

Ps 23:6 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. NIV

Ps 23:6 6 Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live. (from Holman Christian Standard Bible® Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005 by Holman Bible Publishers.)

I have placed two different translations side by side to illustrate what I am saying about this verse (i.e. “forever” or “long as I live”). There are two ways to approach it. Most translations choose the traditional way of translating it like the NIV’84, 2011 (i.e. KJV, NASB, NASB Updated,ESV, ASV, NLT, NKJV, RSV, GW, WEB, CEV, NCV, ISV). Others translate it along the lines of HCSB (i.e. CJB, Message, Darby, Young’s Literal Trans, Amplified, NRSV, NET,Douay-Rheimes, TEV). So which is it? Far be it for me to decide this. I will give some thoughts on this tomorrow (actually later today- 3 AM and I need to get some sleep). I will share what some commentaries say. This day’s witness entry is quite long, therefore I will hold off until my tomorrow.

HALLELUJAH!

This journal entry compares rain to suffering in a believer's life. For some the showers are brief and for others, they are a monsoon. I certainly identify with the latter. It's been 19 plus months since my wife left. Some may say, "get over it... she's not coming home!" Perhaps I should take that attitude. However, when you have been married to that person for 39 years you just don't "get over it" that easy. The pain persists for quite a while. How you respond to the pain personally in the midst of the monsoon will result either in finding refuge in the God who controls the monsoon or drowning in the ensuing flood that comes from the monsoon.

 There are also greater things to consider, like God's glory and my wife's eternal destiny. If we only have this life to live for, then I would agree. However, if we live with eternity in mind and the chief end of our life, as the Westminster Catechism says, is to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever then such a response is not only irresponsible, it is also unloving and sinful.

This journal is my response to the monsoon!

November 28, 2015

Worship:

Hallelujah Chorus: Text

|: Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! :| |: For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! :| For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. |: Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! :| The kingdom of this world Is become the kingdom of our Lord, And of His Christ, and of His Christ; And He shall reign for ever and ever, For ever and ever, forever and ever, King of kings, and Lord of lords, |: King of kings, and Lord of lords, :| And Lord of lords, And He shall reign, And He shall reign forever and ever, King of kings, forever and ever, And Lord of lords, Hallelujah! Hallelujah! And He shall reign forever and ever, |: King of kings! and Lord of lords! :| And He shall reign forever and ever, King of kings! and Lord of lords! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Lyrics:  http://www.hallelujah-chorus.com/text/english.html

Video:  https://youtu.be/FoqxYqTNKmU

Witness:

What great a God we serve. How mighty and glorious are His ways towards His people. He is sovereign over the universe. Look in the telescope or in the microscope and His glory and might are seen. He is active in all the affairs of mankind. What He wills, no one can thwart. Today I felt the weight of all the problems that face me now. All the stress that is affecting my life and the life of my daughter and son-in-law. Sleep has been a luxury. In my tired, stressed state it is easy to just feel like giving up. Yet I woke up this evening with one thought on my mind and one song to sing (or really just listen to tonight). God is sovereign, and to me, there are  no greater words that witness to this sovereignty than those words from scripture put to the music written by Handel. This is my confidence and my strength. This is the God, the only true God, whom I serve. I see His sovereign hand in my life even when all seems chaotic. He encourages me and strengthens me daily in the storm and in the flood. It has been raining for two days now - cold dreary rain. Yet tears of joy came to my eyes as I read my entry from October 30,2015. This is my practice, I did not search this day out, but God sought me out by providentially lining that day up with today to read. I will share it again and you will see what I mean:

Witness: It’s a rainy cool day. It is a welcomed break from the hot days that we have been experiencing and a time of refreshing for the earth. Sometimes dreary days are necessary to bring needed nourishment and renewal. We can mope and complain about the rain, or wait patiently for the sunshine and the refreshment brought by those rainy dreary days. We also can mope and complain because the rain the Lord has brought into our lives, or wait patiently for the clouds to part and rejoice in blessings and refreshing that come from the dreary storm filled times in our lives. In fact, if we believe in the God of the flood and the rainbow, we can rejoice in the rain as well, expectantly waiting for what is to follow. I understand for some the rains are brief and for others, they are a monsoon. I will not be flippant or dismissive concerning long periods of rain in our life, but this I know. Our Great Shepherd goes through them with us and leads us out of them. If we remain faithful and focused on Him, we will get through it. If we balk and stray, we may end up devoured by the enemy or fall off the edge of a cliff into the abyss. Yet, I am confident of better things for the true sheep of God. The Good Shepherd rescues them by rod and staff and calls them to His table of abundant blessing. It may still be raining outside, and the enemy may be close by looking on, but in the house of the Lord, there is protection, blessing, and peace in the midst of it all. In fact, the true saint declares with the Psalmist:

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. Ps 84:10

NIV

They know the enemy’s tents may promise pleasure but it is only for a season (Hebrews 11:25), but in the end, there is no treasure to be had only “moth and rust” (Matthew 6:19), death and dust. But the sheep of the Lord declare:

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you! Ps 84:11-12 ESV

WORD:

Ps 23:5-6 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. NIV

Ps 23:5-6 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. KJV

I look forward to tomorrow. The beginning of a new week. The day of the Lord to worship. A prolonged time to sort my thoughts out on this last portion of Psalm 23. I need to get ready for work, but I want to share one thing I read tonight concerning this phrase. It comes from that portion of Spurgeon's Treasury of David called “EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS”. The language is of another age, yet the meaning is clear. I had to say, “WOW!” when I read it.

Ver. 6. I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. A wicked man, it may be, will turn into God's house, and say a prayer, etc., but the prophet would (and so all godly men must) dwell there for ever; his soul lieth always at the throne of grace, begging for grace. A wicked man prays as the cock crows; the cock crows and ceases, and crows again, and ceases again, and thinks not of crowing till he crows again: so a wicked man prays and ceases, prays and ceases again; his mind is never busied to think whether his prayers speed or no; he thinks it is good religion for him to pray, and therefore he takes for granted that his prayers speed, though in very deed God never hears his prayers, nor no more respects them than he respects the lowing of oxen, or the grunting of hogs. — William Fenner, B.D. (1600-1640), in "The Sacrifice of the Faithful."(from The Treasury of David, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Lord, I need You

Today, as I sit down to add to this blog and also journal about my present situation, I am reminded again, as God my Father always does, of how much I need Him and how He is always there to lift me up by my lifting Him up in praise. As the song playing now says:

You are my vision, O king of my heart
Nothing else satisfies, only You, Lord
You are my best thought by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Your presence, my light
http://genius.com/Rend-collective-you-are-my-vision-lyrics

November 27, 2015

Worship: Stay and Wait by Hillsong

“Stay And Wait”

Who spoke the Earth and sky to form
Who sets the sun and calls the dawn
Who breathed me out of dust to life
With the will to trust or run and hide

I will stay should the world by me fold
Lift up Your name as the darkness falls
I will wait and hold fast to Your word
Heart on Your heart and my eyes on Yours

Who loved me through my rebel way
Who chose to carry all my shame
Who breaths in me with endless life
The king of glory Jesus Christ

I will stay should the world by me fold
Lift up Your name as the darkness falls
I will wait and hold fast to Your word
Heart on Your heart and my eyes on Yours

God of wonder and God of grace
Let my soul stand always to praise You
Fix my eyes on Your perfect way
And I’ll never look back

I will stay should the world by me fold
Lift up Your name as the darkness falls
I will wait and hold fast to Your word
Heart on Your heart and my eyes on Yours

Who lifts the poor and heals the blind
Who trampled death for all mankind
Who stands for all with arms stretched wide
My King forever Jesus Christ

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1.     A-Z Lyrics HILLSONG UNITED Lyrics

“Zion” (2013)

Video:  https://youtu.be/4B-cCFIp0A4

Witness: Well it’s been two days since I have entered anything. Yesterday was Thanksgiving. First Thanksgiving alone. I had to get up and cook the entire dinner myself because my daughter wasn’t feeling well. I say alone, but that isn’t exactly true. What I was speaking of, was the fact that my wife of over 37 years was not present to celebrate with me. She always cooked the meal. Therefore, even though I celebrated with my daughter and her family, there was a sense of being alone and incomplete. “It is not good for man to be alone”, said the Lord and so He gave him a wife and the two “became one”. While we remain one in the eyes of the Lord, I still feel incomplete without her presence.

As if to add to the stress, my son-in-law, who prayed at the Thanksgiving dinner about how thankful he was for his family and me, and who laughed with me this morning, by the afternoon was yelling at and abusing my daughter. As I texted with him, it became apparent that he was slipping again back into the pit from which the Lord had rescued Him from. It was an all-out frontal attack by the enemy of our souls on my daughter and me. As I write this I don’t know what the outcome will be. As it stands, he wants my prayers because he is confused and my daughter wants him out of the house because she is tired of the abuse and his constant mood changes. I am weary myself both physically from lack of sleep and emotionally because of all that has happened in my life this year. Nevertheless, the Lord is faithful to me. I have been crying out to God asking Him to speak to me. I yearned for the earlier days of this year when the Lord spoke to me often using Scripture, song, circumstance or thought in my mind. I finally realized that the Lord was meeting me in my need at the time, but now He was letting me go, figuratively speaking, and allowing me to exercise my faith and trust that He was still walking with me in spite of His seeming silence. As I wrote this portion I wondered where the Lord was taking me, because I did not know what I was even trying to say tonight. I just began writing (or typing actually), it was then that Chris Tomlin’s lyrics jumped into my conscience. The song “I Need Thee” was playing in the background and these words began to register with me.

Lord, I need You, oh I need You
Every hour I need You
My one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You

Again, my Lord came to my rescue with the words I needed to hear. I read the words to a portion of the song of worship which says:

I will stay should the world by me fold
Lift up Your name as the darkness falls
I will wait and hold fast to Your word
Heart on Your heart and my eyes on Your

As I come to the end of journaling for today, the song playing says:

Speak to me, Word of God, speak to me
Speak to me, Word of God, speak to me
I come alive, I’m alive when you speak to me
I come alive, I’m alive when you speak to me

Even so, speak to me Lord and guide me. You are ever with me when life seems like heaven or hell. As the song playing now says:

Where you go, I’ll go
Where you stay, I’ll stay
When you move, I’ll move
I will follow you
Who you love, I’ll love
How you serve I’ll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow you, yeah
I will follow you, yeah

Amen!