His Song Shall be With Me...

The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me—A prayer to the God of my life.--Psalm 42:8

I started studying this verse this morning using The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and finished only up to "The Lord will command His lovingkindness." The Lord is my KING!  He is my Commander.  When I am a good and faithful servant and obey His commands, I am in a place of blessing.  In fact the Bible says that the blessings for obedience will come upon me and overtake me!  I love that!!  When I obey, His goodness and mercy follow me and overtake me.  That is so comforting!

Meditating on our God's sovereignty and lovingkindness is such an encouragement as we go through the many trials of life appointed for us.  Dwell on His mercy.  Remember His mercy. Pray for His mercy.  Know that one word from Him will turn your darkness to light, your rough waters to calm seas, your mourning to dancing, and your complaints to praise.  Make His mercy, truth, and power, your refuge. Take up the shield of faith which is your defensive weapons and believe in His power and in His promises.  Remember His presence goes before you and is with you. Stay your mind on Him.  Be strong and brave and let the Lord do what is good in His sight.

Vindicate Me O God...

Vindicate me O God.  And plead my cause against an ungodly nation.  Deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.  For You are the God of my strength; Why do You cast me off?  Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?--Psalm 43:1-2

David is being accused unjustly, maligned and slandered and has been forced into exile.  He asks God here to be his divine judge as well as his defense attorney. Literally it says, Judge me O God, and argue my case. What a difference it makes when we commit ourselves to Him who judges righteously.  What a difference it makes when we know that the God of the Universe is on our side! What a difference it makes when we realize that He is our defender.

He is the God of our righteousness.  When we are attacked or maligned by evil men, it is not our righteousness at stake..It is God's.  His righteousness is imputed to us when we believe.  He will defend it. ❤️❤️

Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!  Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill.  And to your tabernacle.  Then I will go to the altar of God.  To God my exceeding joy; And on the harp I will praise You, oh God, my God."

I love those verses!  Coming to Jesus is always the remedy.  So when the darkness begins to surround me, I am so grateful that I can go to the One in whom is no darkness at all.  I can cry out for Him to lead me by His light and His truth.  I can pray that His goodness and mercy also will follow me. Where do I want them to bring me?  First, to His holy hill...and then to the tabernacle...and then to the altar of God and finally to Him...to God Himself.  Nothing else will do...nothing will satisfy me but to be in His presence.

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God

Mark 10...

But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
"Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. "And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.  "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."—Mark 10:42-45

True greatness—Humility—service enjoined—gain thru loss—

Christ our example
Vs 45—Christ—Servant—Sacrifice—Death—redemption

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus...Phil 2:5

—Submission and exaltation—Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow...Phil 2:9-10

Blind Bartimaeus--Mark 10:46-52

Condition - Helpless
Opportunity - Jesus passed by
Faith - Cried out for mercy
Summons from Jesus
Bartimaeus response - humility...threw aside his garment and came to Jesus
Interesting note - Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus gave him an opportunity to confess his need...even though Jesus knew what he wanted.
Bartimaeus took opportunity when it came...faith honored and rewarded with sight and followed Jesus.

Be Still, and Know that I am God...

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!--Psalm 46:10

God's sovereignty over the affairs of men…Be still or in Hebrew "raphaph" is such a good reminder for me when I am in the midst of the seemingly endless fleshly battle that I fight entitled:  "What I Want That I Am Not Getting"

The word "STILL" OR "RAPHAH"  means TO SINK, RELAX, LET DROP, BE DISHEARTENED, DESIST FROM YOUR WAR….

I really love that description.  It exactly describes what I need to do in the midst of that fleshly battle I mentioned earlier.  I questioned "disheartened" till I thought about it a little more…Biblically the heart is the seat of the will…so take the "heart" or your passionate desire to get what you want…disarm yourself of self...and remember that He is God…

He is sovereign…cast all your cares upon Him because He cares for You….Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Owe No One Anything Except to Love One Another...

Mark 12:29:31 - Which is the first commandment of all?

Cross-reference verse Romans 13:8-10:

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Love is the debt that is never paid...it is always owed.  Love is the summation of our obedience for in love the whole law is fulfilled.  Love is a decision and is always an action.  The love that God has shed abroad in our hearts by His Spirit involves teaching and speaking the truth in love to others, (faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God) The love that God has poured out in our hearts also ministers to needs, sets an example that does not lead people toward sin, covers faults, forgives, endures and sacrifices on behalf of others. This kind of love is our debt that is never paid and always owed.

Father...we want to love like this!  Thank You that You have shed Your love abroad in our hearts.  You have given us all we need to love others as you have loved us...to meet them at their point of need.  We submit  to Your Spirit right now and ask that he would purify our hearts and teach us to love.  Be pleased with the way we pay our debts, owing no man anything, but owing everyone love, “always paying and always owing”.  That the world might know we belong to You and that they might be attracted by that love to the One alone who can save them.

"Take Heed, Watch and Pray...

"Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.—Mark 13:33

"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.
35 "For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36 "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."—Luke 21

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.—1 Corinthians 16:13

But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.—1 Peter 4:7

He was Despised, and We Dd Not Esteem Him...

In John 6 Christ describes the manna coming down from heaven as a type of His coming down from Heaven to bring life to the world.

"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
 "I am the bread of life.
"Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
 "This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.
 "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."—John 6:38;48-51

As the manna was despised by the Israelites so Christ the bread of life was despised by their descendants.

"but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!"

He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him

Simon of Cyrene

And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. (Mark 15:21, ESV)

I grew up Catholic and every Friday throughout Lent my grammar school would assemble in the church at 2:30 and go thru the stations of the cross.  Although I no longer adhere to the traditions of the Catholic Church, God used them, as He uses everything in my life, for my good.  Simon of Cyrene being compelled to carry Jesus’ cross was my favorite one to think on...we know very little about who he was except that he was from the North African city of Cyrene and was on his way into Jerusalem. Mark identifies him here as the father of Alexander and Rufus....Rufus is identified in Romans 16:13 as a prominent member of the church at Rome....this makes me happy to read because it most likely means that some time after He bore Jesus’ cross, Simon was saved and then Rufus and perhaps his whole household.  I also like the picture because it reminds me that Jesus fell under the weight of that cross...it was really our cross...not His...because it was for our sin that He bore it.  It was appropriate then that some “representative sinner” was chosen to carry it for Him symbolizing that we all would have had to bear the eternal burden of our own sin had not Jesus come and done it for us.  

For God is My Defense, My God of Mercy...

But I will sing of Your power;

Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning;

For You have been my defense

And refuge in the day of my trouble.

To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises;

For God is my defense,

My God of mercy.—Psalm 59:16-17

..I will sing psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs with grace in my heart to You, my Lord. I will give thanks to my God who performs all things for me. Riches and honor come from You....in Your hand is power and might...you give strength and reign over all. 

I know, like Job did, that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.  All power belongs to my God!  

Your mercy, oh Lord, is great above the heavens, And Your truth reaches to the clouds.  Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us,

But to Your name give glory,

Because of Your mercy,

Because of Your truth.

You are my refuge and my strength.

A very present help in trouble.  Therefore I

will not fear.  

You, LORD, preserve the simple;

I was brought low, and You saved me.

Return to your rest, O my soul,

For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.

With my enemy is an arm of flesh; but You, the LORD my God are with me to help me  and to fight my battles.  You delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me,

For they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

But You were my support.  You also brought me out into a broad place; You delivered me because You delighted in me.

Oh Lord, my God, in You I put my trust!

Comfort, Yes, Comfort My People...

"Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" 

Says your God.

2 "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,

That her warfare is ended,

That her iniquity is pardoned;

For she has received from the LORD's hand

Double for all her sins."

3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

"Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make straight in the desert

A highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be exalted

And every mountain and hill brought low;

The crooked places shall be made straight

And the rough places smooth;

5 The glory of the LORD shall be revealed,

And all flesh shall see it together;

For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.--"Isaiah 40:1-5

These verses quoted in part from Isaiah 40 in Luke Chapter 3 always fill me with joy.   This is so because of the unity and supernatural design of Scripture, and that even in judgment God “remembers mercy.

I love how Chapter 40 of Isaiah begins too...Comfort, yes, comfort My people!  This chapter also commences the 2nd section of Isaiah.  The two divisions of this OT book  (Chapt 1-39 & 40-66) contain 39 and 27 chapters, respectively, which is how the Old  and New Testaments are broken up...39 books in the OT and 27 in the NT.  Part 1 of Isaiah like the OT, emphasize law and judgment, while part 2 of Isaiah like the NT focus on grace and salvation.  The “NT” portion of  Isaiah begins with the prophecy fulfilled by John the Baptist 700 years later in the gospels, and ends with the coming of the “new heavens and the new earth”(65:17-66:24); further detailed in Revelation, the last book of the New Testament.  

In My Self-Sufficiency...

Trust in Him at all times, you people;

Pour out your heart before Him;

God is a refuge for us. Selah--Psalm 62:8

Often, I go through my day looking and hoping in wrong things.  My heart looks for fulfillment and joy where it will never be found.  As it says in Jeremiah, I hewn for myself cisterns...broken cisterns that can hold no water and I forget the fountain of living waters!   I wonder as David did in Psalm 42:

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

In my self-sufficiency, Father,  I am in distress...every hand of misery comes against me.  But, You, my God, because I am Your beloved...You bow down toward me and speak to my heart  You draw me to Yourself with gentle cords of love. You remind me to come...to cast all my care upon You because it is only in You that my soul finds its rest. 

My Soul Followeth Hard After Thee...

My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.--Psalm 63:8

Father....Help me to be like David and follow “hard” after You.  May my soul thirst for You and may Your word be my treasure.  May spending time with You at Your throne of grace be where my attention and time is devoted.  Let me desire like Paul to know nothing but Your Son, Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  This is wisdom!  Help me to find my peace in this life in You at Your feet.  May You be my consolation and comfort in death and may I have joy forever in Your everlasting arms.

In the Solitude...

Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them;—Luke 4:42

There are two applications in this verse...both of which I need to remember daily as I journey through this life.   

The first is I need to depart to a deserted place to be alone with God.  It is here...in the quiet....that I can listen for and hear His still small voice.   It is here that my mind is renewed and progressively changed.  It is here that I can examine what the will of God is...that which is good and acceptable and perfect in His plan and purpose for me.  It is here away from the demands, trials and cares of this world, that I can truly abide...where I can enter His presence and behold Him!   It is here in my solitude that I can come face to face with me and my sin, because it is here that I can see the Lord high and lifted up.   It is here in the quiet where the Lord empties me of me and fills me with Him.  When I turn to Christ, the “veil” is lifted and, as it says in 2 Corinthians 3, I can behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.  I can be transformed into His image from glory to glory by His Spirit.  After spending time with Jesus, I am more able to have compassion on the people around me, more ready to do the ministry that God has given me and more able to love others with the love that God has poured out by His Spirit in my heart.  

The second application is that as He transforms me into His image I will be more approachable to those that are seeking Him. I can be the light in the darkness to those who are hurting or lost...to those who are searching for truth in this world.

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.—2 Corinthians 4:6 (KJV)

The Dayspring from on High...

March 15, 2019

For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,

To give knowledge of salvation to His people

By the remission of their sins,

Through the tender mercy of our God,

With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;

To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,

To guide our feet into the way of peace."—Luke 1:76-79

Note:  the dayspring is the sunrise, the figure corresponding to Ps 19:4-5, and speaks of Jesus, the light of the world coming from heaven to dispel the darkness of this world. 

For You, my God, so loved the world that You gave Your only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  You demonstrated this great love toward us by dying for us when we were ungodly...dead in our trespasses and sins. Your tender mercies toward us, Father, are from old.  Your Son Jesus, is both the root and the offspring of Jesse, the Son of David, the bright and morning star, and the Sun of righteousness that came with healing in His wings.  He came as a light to the Gentiles and as the glory of the people of Israel.  He opened the eyes of the blind, and led them in a way they knew not. He brought the prisoners out of darkness of the prison house.   He make darkness light before us and the crooked places straight...these things He does and continue to do...He does not forsake us. 

You, Father, opened my eyes and turned me from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.  From your hand through my belief in Your precious Son, Jesus, I have received forgiveness for my sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in You. 

When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for You are with me.  My Shepherd, Jesus, is gentle and lowly in heart and it is in Him that my soul finds rest. Righteousness goes before Him and I have made His footsteps my pathway.  My heart sings for the light has come and His glory is upon me...For it is You my God who has shone in my heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  Father, may all the earth come to Your light and kings to the brightness of Your rising.  

When I Was Without God...

The fear of the wicked will come upon him,

And the desire of the righteous will be granted. When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.—Prov 10:24-25—

When I was without God, I was without an anchor and without a foundation on which to stand AND I knew it. There were times when fear would grip me...warning words would sound in my head telling me that there was a God and my day of reckoning was ahead and that it would come when I least expected it.  Arrogantly, I ignored those warnings.  BUT God ...in His mercy and grace did not leave me to eat the fruit of my own way. He drew me to Himself with cords of kindness and brought me to a place of repentance.  He redeemed (redeems)my life from destruction and fulfills all my purpose.  My God crowns me with loving kindness and tender mercies...truly my cup runs over. 

My foundation is sure...built now on my Rock, which is Christ. He enlarges my path underneath me so my feet do not slip.  In Him I dwell securely...my habitation is peaceful, my resting places quiet and my sleep sweet. When I pass through the waters, He is with me and the rivers, they do (shall) not overflow me.  I can now because of His grace boldly say, “the Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Keep my heart steadfast Father, trusting You.