Psalm 44

1 O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old:

If you have a dad or had a dad full of stories..."When I was a kid..."- I hope some of those stories are about how awesome it was to see God at work in his life. If you didn't hear those stories and you are a dad- get busy.

Pray for double blessings on dads who share their faith stories with their children.

Psalm 43

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God...

The soul is everything about a person all wrapped up in one. When there is deep depression and anxiety within someone, there is much doubt and despair.

I can face this with or without hope. Well, deep, lasting despair and a loss of hope go together. Hope is what God brings. Rescue is just around the corner.

Pray for a friend experiencing depression and/or anxiety today.

We are not customers, we are Christians

Membership is an invitation to get to work loving God and loving your neighbor

Psalm 42
1 As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.

I don't know how thirsty deer get, but if they are anything like our dogs, there is a lot of lapping going on. I know when I am parched I have a singular focus on water. Preferably cold, but it doesn't really matter. Just quench me.

Pray to just once this week experience God in a like manner.

Psalm 41

1 Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him;

God is like any parent. God is sensitive to his children who have the greatest need. Not that he loves his poorer children more, but differently. He is not a doting Father; as he knows that character, strength, and confidence are built up by circumstances. But he is wise. God uses those he can trust with his influence to be helpful with those who are in need. If you have the ability to be of good influence for those in need, God has blessing for you.

Pray to discover those in need that you can connect with most personally this week.

the meaning of the city

God uses us as a blessing right where we are

Bible Study John 7:37-39

practical living Jesus' way

Psalm 34
6 In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;
he saved me from all my troubles.

I never could understand when people get skeptical of people who turn to God when they are in trouble. "No atheists in the foxhole," and such. As if it is a bad thing to cry out for help when you are at your most vulnerable. Unless you are empty of what gets in the way of God how do you get full of God?

Desperate people can also be focused people. Keep looking to Jesus.

Psalm 33
9 For when he spoke, the world began!
It appeared at his command

Science and the Bible say that time is created at the same moment as existence. Therefore there is no logical concept of "before" creation. Without time, you don't have "before." That assumes time. God exists. Always.

Pray that the God who can bring life by speaking, speak to you.

Psalm 32
7 For you are my hiding place;
you protect me from trouble.
You surround me with songs of victory.

What do I need to hide from? Nothing can harm me forever with God covering me with his grace.

God gives hiding for refreshment, not for withdrawal from the world. It is not a cruel, evil world from God's perspective. It is a world with cruelty and evil in it that we influence for the good. In the end, we win.

List five good things that are happening in your life right now and think on them throughout the day.

all of life

how much of your life will you allow God to bless?

Psalm 31
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

Where have you heard this before? Yes, from the lips of Jesus on the cross. It is interesting how we have the first part quoted, but not the second. God is the God of truth, but Jesus already knows that about himself. If God is truth then honesty will always bring you back to him if you are seeking other truths. When Christians stray it is not because God has a "truth" problem; it is because the Christian has a problem with wanting to follow the truth.

"When it comes to truth, either there is truth or there isn't. If there isn't truth, then you are still trusting in the truth that there is no truth." Think about this.

Psalm 30

Ps. 30.11 For his anger lasts only a moment,
 but his favor lasts a lifetime!
 Weeping may last through the night,
 but joy comes with the morning.

God is merciful. We don’t get what we deserve. When joy comes in the middle of suffering this is an amazing gift from an astounding God. What can you do but trust he does love you? He does.

Spend some time thinking about what you are doing lately that may be perturbing God. Offer this to him to clear up any confusion.

strong

Ps. 29.11 The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace.

 

This psalm has many different signs of God’s power evident in nature. Thunder, floods, lightening…Then we get to the end and we have peace. How? God makes us strong. Not with any superior weaponry, but through reconciliation with God through Jesus. We don’t need to worry about anything. The strength of God makes us strong.

 

Where are you at with your “God strength” lately?

 Ps. 28

1 I pray to you, O Lord, my rock.

      Do not turn a deaf ear to me.

   For if you are silent,

      I might as well give up and die

 

Now we have the opposite concern than yesterday. What if it is God who seems distant and unresponsive? Is God too busy to notice our need? Hardly. Either he is working us out like a trainer or coach, he has other reasons to seem distance, or we are missing his response. What do we do?

Keep bugging him is what I do.

 

Pray no matter what.

Ps. 27

8 My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
 And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”

 

When we are quiet and alone with God it is not unusual to sense his presence and desires. When we have little that is getting in the way we are more apt to see the way. This is why being busy, even with “religious activity,” may be exactly opposite of what we need. Can we hear God and are we ready when he does “speak” in this way?

 

When can you be quiet and listen this week? 

Ps. 26.2 Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me.

      Test my motives and my heart.

 

A friend of mine says holiness is not so much what you do as it is where you re situated. Holiness comes from close proximity to the Father. This is why whenever you come back from a really eventful spiritual retreat or other time away focusing on the Lord, you find it  really easy to walk in his ways. This holiness stays with you for a while until eventually…

 

We call these “mountain top experiences.” Is there any way we can continue them long after we return? Again, proximity to the Father. Somehow, David, who really messed up in his life, was able to gain some of this momentum. His words in this Psalm show us a different side to his life than we usually see.

 

Be intentional in opening yourself up to the Holy Spirit this week.

Psalm 25

 5 Lead me by your truth and teach me,
 for you are the God who saves me.
 All day long I put my hope in you.

 

How does God lead and teach? Why is David talking about this happening all day long? I remember a song…

 

“Woke up this morning with my mind set on Jesus…All day long gonna’ keep my mind set on…”

 

God…always…on…my…mind

 

Try this today: Set a watch to beep on the hour and pray at that moment.

Psalm 24

 1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.

      The world and all its people belong to him.

 

We are the managers of God’s investment portfolio. This means that God gives us life and all that we need to live. That is his investment. In return, we take his trust in us, and we give him our lives completely. That’s a fair return for his investment.

 

What would life look like if you were totally sold out to God?

Psalm 23

He guides me along right paths,

      bringing honor to his name.

 

This is the most well known Psalm, of course. So, we can easily overlook what it is actually saying. When we follow God, he places us in situations where he brings honor to his name. We don’t worry about what God has in mind because he is guiding.

 

Are you on right paths? Are people connecting to God because of what you are doing?

fortune

Psalm 22

 1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

      Why are you so far away when I groan for help?

 

These words are shouted by Jesus from the cross just before his death. This is the moment of separation between God the Father and God the Son. In fact, this is the only time in the Bible Jesus calls God anything but “Father.” Dying with our sins upon himself, he becomes unholy before God. Fortunate for us.

 

What do we owe Jesus? How can we say, “THANKS!!” for what he has done?

fair

Psalm 21

 13 Rise up, O Lord, in all your power.
 With music and singing we celebrate your mighty acts.

 

I like to eat “Now and Later” taffy. I had all my old amalgam fillings replaced in my teeth with composite resin (even an inlay or two, I don’t know) a couple of years ago by an awesome dentist and friend Terry, so I am counting on him not reading this. I am afraid I could suck the filling right out, but I am afraid to case the occasional Now and Later or Bit ‘o Honey become a thing of the past.

 

This passage reminded me of “Now and Later.” The celebration is when God makes the world right. When he brings justice. If people are boldly working against God and his ways, he will do exactly what is fair, now and later.

 

Have you been deeply wronged by someone no longer living? Have you given the hurt and anger over to God? Do.

abundant life

Are you rich? We examine the concept of wealth in the Bible and how it applies today.

God's desire

PS 20:4 May he grant your heart’s desires
 and make all your plans succeed.

 

There’s that “success” word again. I thought the Bible doesn’t talk about success. Of course it does. As long as God gets to define what success means, he is cool about it. In fact, if your heart’s desires connect with God’s desires, why would he want you to fail? Do you want to succeed in life? Follow Jesus.

 

If you had only 30 days to live, what would you do differently than you are doing right now?

PS 18:8 Smoke poured from his nostrils; fierce flames leaped from his mouth. Glowing coals blazed forth from him.

God is not a dragon or a computer game monster, but there are sure times when he can appear that way. God is dangerous. Or as is said of Aslan, "'Course he isn't safe; but he's good."

When you think you have domesticated God, think again, and he will give you the ride of your life. But you have to be open for it. He waits...

What is God wanting to do through you?

numbers

PS 19:3-4 They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.

 

Here, David is talking about the stars and planets of the galaxies. They don’t make a sound but they have a language. The laws of physics are not painted or sculpted; they are written in numbers. Yet, when you think deeply, creativity and artistry are embedded deeply in those numbers.

 

Explain the elegance and repeatability of the laws of physics by arbitrary random chance. Didn’t think so.

fly like an eagle

PS 17:8 Guard me as you would guard your own eyes. Hide me in the shadow of your wings.

 

God is a non-physical reality. He becomes embodied in Jesus. Whenever I see passages like this in the Old Testament or New I have the image of Jesus in mind.

 

With the metaphor of the protective eagle added, all of a sudden you have this birdman showing up. So, eagle it is. Be as attentive as an eagle with eyes piercing the sky, and cover me with your huge winds to fend off anything that would even think of attacking.

  

Watch an eagle in flight (vacation or internet, your choice) and see the connection.