The Rejoicing of My Heart...

I have spent much time in Psalm 119 and even tried to memorize it a few years ago.  It is my favorite chapter in the Bible and spending time in it had a profound effect on both my heart and my walk with the Lord.  I reached verse 100 in my memorization/meditation and although most of it is gone from my memory, the fruit from that time remains. Truly time spent with the Lord at His feet and in His Word  is eternal.  It will always bear fruit to Jesus Christ and will not be taken from us. 

A few verses from today’s reading that are very much worthy of our meditation...

Oh, how I love Your law!

It is my meditation all the day.

Your word is a lamp to my feet

And a light to my path.

Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever,

For they are the rejoicing of my heart.

You are my hiding place and my shield;

I hope in Your word.

Hold me up, and I shall be safe,

And I shall observe Your statutes continually.

God Provides a Way...

For the king speaks this thing as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring his banished one home again. For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.—2 Samuel 14:14

The woman of Tekoa speaks truth...we all will surely die and when we do the possibility of reconciliation with Christ or those we loved who we are estranged from will end as well. The time to reconcile is now.  God does not immediately take away our life from us when we break His law.  He does not deal with us according to our sins...He suffers long and waits to be gracious.  He devised a way to bring His banished ones back to Himself. 

Mercy and truth have met together;

Righteousness and peace have kissed.

Truth shall spring out of the earth,

And righteousness shall look down from heaven.—Ps 85:10-11

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.—John 3:16-17

Praying for our prodigals today...whether banished from God because of unbelief or estranged because of unforgiveness.   Father...Mercy triumphs over judgment.  May you draw each of them today with cords of kindness and may they return to us out of the wilderness leaning on their Beloved.  Incline our own hearts toward mercy and compassion because You are and have been merciful and compassionate toward us.  

The LORD is merciful and gracious,

Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

9 He will not always strive with us,

Nor will He keep His anger forever.

10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

12 As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father pities his children,

So the LORD pities those who fear Him.

14 For He knows our frame;

He remembers that we are dust.

Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 'Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?'—Matt 18:32-33

"And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.—Luke 15:20

Whom Do You Seek....

Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am he." Judas, who betrayed his standing with them. When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground.
So he asked them again, "Whom do you seek?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth."
Jesus answered, "I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go." This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: "Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one." (John 18:4-9ESV)

Even though I have read through this passage multiple times, I never realized consciously the underlying reason Jesus asked them, Whom do you seek?  He said it to fulfill Scripture, but He also said it protect His disciples...to prevent them from being arrested.  He forced the soldiers to acknowledge that they had no authority to take His disciples. He punctuated that acknowledgement with a display of His power using the ancient name of God. I AM.  He said it to fulfill His promise to them and His Father.

And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me, but raise it up on the last day. (John 6:39, ESV)

Psalm 103 says

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.  For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.  (Psalms 103:13-14 ESV)

Jesus knew that His disciples faith was weak and that being arrested, imprisoned or executed was more than they could bear.  He made sure that this did not happen. I am thankful that my God knows my frame...that I am weak.  I am thankful that He will never allow me to temped in ways that are beyond what I or my faith can bear.  He always will provide for me a way of escape.  (1 Cor 10:13). I am eternally secure...kept by my God and under His divine protection.   Truly, He loved them...He loved us to the end...to perfection.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39 ESV)