My Habitation of Mercy...

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings, will I make my refuge, until [these] calamities be overpast  I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.--Psalm 57:1

Be merciful unto me (ME!)- The picture this paints is of God the Father stooping and bending down to be gracious to me!! His daughter!!! Be gracious to me, Father,  show me your favor, your pity.  Incline your ear...encamp all about me.

for my soul - the center of all that I am; my heart

trusteth in thee - seeks refuge in You,  flees to You for protection

yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge- Your shade is my protection and defense.

until these calamities - engulfing ruins, destruction

be overpast - overtake and pass me.

Be my strong habitation where unto I may continually resort, thou hast given commandment to save me, for thou art my rock and fortress.--Psalm 71:3

Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he hath known My name.--Psalm 91:9

Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand.--Psalm 37:24

Your hand, Father, is in all that comes my way.  You are intimately involved in my life. You will fulfill Your purpose for me.  When my life becomes “strange” and filled with trials...You know the way I take.  It is only my relationship with You that will calm my soul.

Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
'For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.—Isaiah 12:2

Whenever I Am Afraid...

Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. 4 In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?

You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? 9 When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me. 10 In God (I will praise His word), In the LORD (I will praise His word), 11 In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? —Ps 56:3-4; 8-11

Focusing today on verse 3...so simple...so easy to say...so easy to remember.  WHENEVER I am afraid, I WILL remember in whom I have placed my trust.  Confidence in the Lord is a purposeful decision and helps stave off our emotional reactions to fear that can literally send us into a tailspin.

David was afraid and His fear probably took up a good deal of his “thinking” mind.  But His faith was there also and reminded him to trust.  If you are like me when you are afraid, your mind vacillates between fear and trust, and it is difficult to tell which one is winning.  It is a battle for sure!   When I look back at my trials, especially the ones that filled me with anxiety about the future, what I see now is that God used those fears to draw me closer to Him...to teach me dependence.  Spurgeon says this about vs 3.

“It is a blessed fear which drives us to trust. Unregenerate fear drives from God, gracious fear drives to him. If I fear man I have only to trust God, and I have the best antidote. To trust when there is no cause for fear, is but the name of faith, but to be reliant upon God when occasions for alarm are abundant and pressing, is the conquering faith of God's elect.”

Our God is all knowing, all seeing and all powerful.  We belong to a God who embodies lovingkindness.  We are precious to Him.  Our God knows what we go through.  His arm is not shortened...deliverance will come.  He is FOR us and therefore, no one can be against us.  He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all..ME included...how will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all things?  I will praise His word!

Thankful for His Grace...

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.-2 Corinthian’s 12:9-10

So thankful for His grace that is never in short supply.  No matter what I go through in this life His grace...His unmerited favor is continually there to supply my need and help me endure.  I am comforted that in my weakness, He is strong.  By the grace of God I am what I am and do what I do!  

Praying, Father, that Your grace toward me would not be in vain.  Praying that I can surrender in my weakness trusting that You will see me through...knowing that the weaker my human vessel, the greater Your life in me will shine.  Oh, to have this mindset, when weakness, infirmity, and tribulations come my way.  Oh, to have this mindset, wherein I could boast in my weaknesses and embrace them, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

The great power of God overcomes and transcends the clay pot. The messenger’s weakness is not fatal to what he does; it is essential —John MacArthur

A Prayer of Faith...

Behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is with those who uphold my life.
He will repay my enemies for their evil.
Cut them off in Your truth.—Ps 54:4-5

I love this prayer of David’s!  Cut them off in Your truth.” Cut them off, Father, according to what Your word says will happen to the wicked. God’s word is truth.  It is right and just and will come to pass.  His promises to those who believe as well His promises to those who do not, WILL come to pass. The Lord is my helper...Ps 118 tells me the Lord is for me among those who help me. God is on my side!  Vengeance is His...He will reward evil unto my enemies.  I can forgive them!  If they refuse to repent, God will judge them according to His truth.  This, as Spurgeon rightly says, is not a prayer of malice but a prayer of FAITH for it has an eye to the word of God, and only desires the performance of that!

Safe in the Arms of Jesus...

“then the LORD will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.”—Isaiah 4:5-6

Mount Zion will be covered by a canopy of a cloud by day and of flaming fire by night...I needed this reminder today.  What a gift from the Lord.  I am secure and safe.  God’s care and protection over not just me, but also over those I love who are “in Christ”.  His abiding Presence  goes with us and is within us.

Safe in the arms of Jesus
Safe on his gentle breast
There by his love o'er shaded sweetly
My soul shall rest...Fanny Crosby

The Goodness of God Endures Continually...

The goodness of God endures continually...
But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
I will praise You forever,
Because You have done it;
And in the presence of Your saints
I will wait on Your name, for it is good.—Psalm 52:1b; 8-9

O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good: for his mercy endures forever.
The mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children.  The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him.  I will trust in the mercy of God...He remembered me in my lowly state...He brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock.  My God established my steps and put a new song into my mouth.  Those that are planted in the house of the LORD will flourish in His courts.  The LORD takes pleasure in those that fear Him...in those that hope in His mercy.  I will trust in Your mercy and my heart will rejoice in Your salvation.  I will wait on the LORD, I will be of good courage, and He WILL strengthen MY heart: wait, “I” say, on the LORD.

Leaning On Our Beloved...

Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved?--Song of Solomon 8:5


O Father, may this be said of me!  Who better for me to lean on then You, the One who has the words to eternal life...who better to cleave unto than unto Your Son who makes roads in the wilderness and rivers in the deserts.  Help me, O God, to hearken and consider, to incline my ear to You and allow You to be my perfect Peace...my all in all.  Let me not trust in man but in You, my Father, who hears me, helps me and fights my battles.  You are my Hope, my Maker, my Husband, my Redeemer and my Friend...You, Father, are my God over everything.  You place Your banner of love over me and cover me in Your righteousness.

You are my King who greatly desires me...You are my Lord and I worship You.  I am your beloved, leaning on your bosom, and You are mine.  Your grace is sufficient for me and Your strength is made perfect in weakness. You who make all things new...You who are my strength in weakness...You who brings beauty from ashes....You who can make my darkest night light about me and my greatest grief a spring...it is YOU who are my God!

You, my mighty God, are in the very midst of me!  You will save me...You will rejoice over me with gladness.  You will quiet me with Your love and with singing You will "joy" over me.

His Banner Over Me Is Love...

He brought me to the banqueting house, And his banner over me was love.—Songs 2:4

Jesus’ banner over me is love.  Jesus publicly declared His love for me on the cross at Calvary.  He publicly and openly proclaimed it by dying on the cross to save me when I was still His enemy.  I was that joy that was set before Him...I was the reason He endured the cross and despised the shame.  His banner over me is love...the self-giving and self-sacrificing kind of love.   I love You, Father, because You first loved me.  May I declare Your faithfulness and Your salvation and not conceal from anyone Your lovingkindness and Your truth. The eternal God is my dwelling place, and underneath me are His everlasting arms. His left hand is under my head, And his right hand embraces me.

I will say with Paul:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16, ESV)

May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans! May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!  (Psalms 20:4-5, ESV)

Meditating on the Word...

And the meditation of my heart shall give understanding.—Ps 49:3b

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

My heart is overflowing with a good theme;
I recite my composition concerning the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

I want very much to be a “meditator on the word of God”...to be the one whose heart is so overflowing with Jesus that my words are filled with His grace.  What a joy it is to seriously consider what God has placed in my mind.  The full assurance and understanding that comes to a heart that has “fully digested” His word, so to speak, is priceless and I do want more of it.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.—Psalm 1:2-3

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;—1 Peter 3:15

If meditating on those things that are above then is so wonderful, why don’t I do more of it?  I get distracted...or rather, I allow myself to get distracted.   My thoughts get away from me and my day continues with my mind focused on the earthly rather than the heavenly.  Praying I can, as it says in 1 Peter, “gird up the loins of my mind” or pull in the loose ends of my thinking and allow my mind and my heart to find its peace and rest in my God and His word during the course of my day.

Have I not written to you excellent things In counsels and knowledge, To let you know the certainty of the words of truth, That you may give a correct answer to him who sent you?—Proverbs 22:20-21 AMP

“it seemed fitting for me as well, [and so I have decided] after having carefully searched out and investigated all the events accurately, from the very beginning, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus; [Acts 1: 1] so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught [that is, the history and doctrine of the faith].—Luke 1:3-4 AMP

God’s Good Instruction...

Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your heart to my knowledge;
For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you;
Let them all be fixed upon your lips,
So that your trust may be in the Lord;
I have instructed you today, even you.—Proverbs 22:17-19

I love this because it is so personal...I have instructed YOU today...even YOU.  As I read these verses I picture a parent exhorting their precious child to incline his ear (the KJV says bow down thine ear...I like that better because it tells me that humility is needed to hear the words of God) and receive God’s wise words with meekness.  Let them sink down deep so that they direct your steps and lighten your path.  God’s word was not written for His benefit but for ours.  His commandments to us are not burdensome but for our good.  He is jealous for us and wants His best to be accomplished in our hearts and in our lives.

Wisdom’s knowledge is a pleasant thing.  When His words are fixed in our hearts, our words will be gracious and kind and will feed many. God’s wisdom will guard our mouth and give us a good reputation. His words on our lips will be fitly spoken like apples of gold in settings of silver.  As a wise man receives the wisdom of God, he does not become less dependent on God because he is now so wise, but he becomes more dependent on God because he realizes how little he does know.  He has a proper view of himself in relation to God and is humbled.

By humility [and] the fear of the LORD [Are] riches and honor and life.—Prov 22:4

"Who among you fears the LORD? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness And has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD And rely upon his God.—Isaiah 50:10

Every Good Gift...

As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor--this is the gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.—Ecclesiastes 5:19-20

When I was a little girl and I would complain that something was hurting or that I was anxious about an upcoming event, my mom would instruct me to think on something else...something that I loved.  I didn’t always do what she said but looking back they were wise words.  Rejoice and enjoy those gifts that God has given you!   When we see God’s goodness in our life in those things He has blessed us with, we will not dwell too much on “the days of our life” because God keeps our minds occupied with those things we love.  In the context here, it is riches being talked about.  If God has blessed you with riches and wealth, enjoy them and use them for His glory!

These verses brought a verse from Corinthians to mind.

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.—1 Corinthians 10:13

I thought of those gifts that God has blessed me with that bring joy to my heart and occupy my mind (drawing, writing, photography, hiking, teaching, sewing, a love for little ones, a love for animals). Christ is my first and foremost joy. Therefore, I can see my gifts as good and be thankful for them because they have God as their source. Seeing them that way enables me to enjoy them and even view them as a way God has given me of escape from the sin, the toil, and the trouble of life.   The “gifts” the world give do not bring peace or joy.  They bring bondage.  The gifts that God gives are priceless and enduring.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.—James 1:17

He Has Put Eternity in Our Hearts...

Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.—Ecclesiastes 3:10:b

This is such a good reminder for me...Truly anything done in this world is vanity and grasping for the wind UNLESS it is done in the Lord for His eternal purposes and His glory.  This IS truth and yet as a believer I still hold onto the lie because I want the glory.  I strive and revel in those fleeting moments of triumph gained from “my toil under the sun”.   I look to man for approval instead of God.  My focus is on what can be seen.  I walk by sight...not faith.  Vanity of Vanities!  Hoping in this world THANKFULLY leaves me feeling empty and discontented...even and especially after I have had some “success” in that arena.

My discontent is based on my own sinful desire to be singled out and deemed “important” by the world’s standards.  Hoping in God and trusting Him with “my life” puts and end to striving and brings His peace to my heart.  I want what He has for me because I want His will to prosper NOT MINE.

So grateful this morning for the conviction His word brings.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.—Hebrews 4:12.

God has put eternity in my heart.  He has made me accepted in the Beloved.  What I do in Him for His glory is where my heart finds its rest. The only lasting efforts in this world are those designed to accomplish His purposes for eternity.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,—2 Corinthians 10:3-5

As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness;
I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.—Psalm 17:15

Job Prayed for His Friends...

And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

and in the NIV:

After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.

Job was released from captivity when he prayed for his "friends" who were critical and condescending toward him in a time of great suffering and grief.  We are to pray for our enemies and we are commanded to love them.  This is such a hard thing to do and it cannot be done without the love that the Holy Spirit has shed abroad in our hearts.  We are to pray God's riches blessings upon those who hate us, who slander us, who backbite and do all kinds of evil against us.  Now it is easy for me to pray for my enemies as David prayed...Lord break their teeth...but methinks God has something else in mind than that kind of prayer.

Really thought on this one.  I thought about how the bible teaches that we are to do unto others as we want them to do to us.  Therefore, I should pray for others as I would want them to pray for me!  I reminded myself that God commands things that only bring about good for us and glory for Him.  If I believe this, then it is only my pride that keeps me from praying rightly for those that do not do me good.  

By the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in me then, I will obey my Father in Heaven and pray for those who persecute me and speak evil against me.  I will pray that God's richest blessings be upon them and their household.  God's richest blessing is salvation.  If this blessing occurs in the life of one of my enemies, they will no longer be my enemy. I will have gained a brother or sister through the putting aside of my bitterness and pride and yielding to the Lord.  James tells us that the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man yields much. Obey God.  Do those things He asks of us even though they seem hard...even though the very thought of it might make you feel ill.  As you obey His grace will be there and He will align your will with His.  Satan is silenced by submission to God's authority.  

Faith Encouraging Truth...

And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak,—2 Corinthians 4:13

Paul is quoting David here from Psalm 116...He is looking as it says in Hebrews 12 back to the cloud of witnesses that went before him and finds encouragement and strength in their mutual faith.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.—Hebrews 12:1-2

If they could endure who had not seen the risen Lord, Paul could also and so can I.  Paul “re-minds” himself of truth  in verses 14 through 18 of 2 Corinthians 4.

knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.  For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.  Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”—2 Corinthians 4:14-18

Such glorious, faith-encouraging truth!  I NEED to do as Paul did and as David did!   So often I find myself speaking worldly words in the face of adversity (okay...even in the face of minor annoyances) rather than words of faith.  My eyes focus on what I can see and feel and my faith falters.  Oh Father, forgive my lack of faith.  I do groan in this tent, desiring as Paul says to be clothed with my heavenly habitation.  You, Father, are preparing me right now (Light affliction - vs 17) for my heavenly home and have given me Your Spirit as a guarantee.  By Your Spirit then, may I look and speak of those things which are not seen.  For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.  

So then, being always filled with good courage and confident hope, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises]—-2 Corinthians 5:6-7 AMPLIFIED BIBLE   

We Do Not Lose Heart...

Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.—2 Corinthians 4:1

It is SO easy to lose heart in this fallen world.  So much evil, sin, suffering and death.  So much despising of the things that are precious...so much despising of even God Himself.  How does one stay the course in the face of all of it?

How!?  Because WE have been given the ministry of reconciliation.

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.—2 Corinthians 4:6-7

How AWESOME IS THAT!!  God lives inside of us and He is reconciling the people in our lives to Him through us!  Oh, that God’s light and grace through us would make them “light in the Lord”!  What a privilege!!  Knowing this, how can we lose heart!!?  Like, Paul, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting ME! into the ministry.

I am so glad Paul does not say that the excellence of the power is of us.  There is so much at stake.  The Bible tells me that my sufficiency is never of me and always of God.  I am thankful that the life I now live, I live for His purposes and His glory.  It is by God’s grace that I am what I am.  Like Paul, it is not me who labors, but the grace of God which is always with me.

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.—Galatians 2:20

The suffering and death of Jesus became a spiritual reality in Paul’s life as He lived for His Lord.  The same can be true for me and for you. Paul’s sufferings enabled him to experience the fellowship of Christ sufferings and the victory of His resurrection.  He was hard-pressed, as we sometimes are, but not crushed....struck down but not destroyed.  Through his suffering, Paul carried in his body the dying of our Lord Jesus so that the life of Jesus was also manifested in Him.  If I have to suffer...and that is a given as a believer...I want my suffering to make the life of Jesus evident in me.  I want the life I live to my God to turn hearts toward Him.

For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So then death is working in us, but life in you.—2 Corinthians 4:11-12

But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.—2 Corinthian’s 6:4-10