The Planting of the Lord...

To console those who mourn in Zion,

To give them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

That they may be called trees of righteousness,

The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified."—Isaiah 61:2-3

Beloved...Our God is the Becoming One.  He becomes for us whatever our need is. When Jesus comes into our heart, He brings all things with Him, and we find our all in Him. His sustaining grace gives us beauty for ashes, joy for mourning and praise for heaviness.  

Philippians 2:1-4 from our OYB reading seems an appropriate exhortation here...Because or since there is consolation in Christ, because there is comfort of love, because there is fellowship of the Spirit, because there is affection and mercy, let us have the same love and the same mind toward others. Let us, like Jesus does, meet others at their point of need.  Because He is our Becoming One, we can, by His Spirit that dwells inside us, put aside selfish ambition and conceit and put on humility...esteeming others as more important than ourselves. 

We will outlive the sorrows of the world. Truly we can consider them light affliction compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. We can comfort others with the comfort that we ourselves have received from God. 

In You, O LORD, I Put My Trust...

1 In You, O LORD, I put my trust;

Let me never be put to shame.

2 Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape;

Incline Your ear to me, and save me.

3 Be my strong refuge,

To which I may resort continually;

You have given the commandment to save me,

For You are my rock and my fortress.

4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,

Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

5 For You are my hope, O Lord GOD;

You are my trust from my youth.

6 By You I have been upheld from birth;

You are He who took me out of my mother's womb.

My praise shall be continually of You.

7 I have become as a wonder to many,

But You are my strong refuge.

8 Let my mouth be filled with Your praise

And with Your glory all the day.

9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age;

Do not forsake me when my strength fails.

10 For my enemies speak against me;

And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together,

11 Saying, "God has forsaken him;

Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him."

12 O God, do not be far from me;

O my God, make haste to help me!

13 Let them be confounded and consumed

Who are adversaries of my life;

Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor

Who seek my hurt.

14 But I will hope continually,

And will praise You yet more and more.

15 My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness

And Your salvation all the day,

For I do not know their limits.

16 I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD;

I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.

17 O God, You have taught me from my youth;

And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.

18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded,

O God, do not forsake me,

Until I declare Your strength to this generation,

Your power to everyone who is to come.

19 Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high,

You who have done great things;

O God, who is like You?

20 You, who have shown me great and severe troubles,

Shall revive me again,

And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

21 You shall increase my greatness,

And comfort me on every side.

22 Also with the lute I will praise You—

And Your faithfulness, O my God!

To You I will sing with the harp,

O Holy One of Israel.

23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You,

And my soul, which You have redeemed.

24 My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long;

For they are confounded,

For they are brought to shame

Who seek my hurt.—Psalm 71

This morning as I began reading Psalm 71 my eyes teared up in utter gratitude.  Truly who is so good and faithful as our God!  The commentators told me that David was older when he penned this Psalm.  I didn’t need them to tell me...I could tell.   I am weak...the troubles, tribulations, anxieties and griefs of life pile up. When I look at them, my heart falters and fails. But when I look up...when I look at my righteous and faithful God who has done great things for me, I am helped and I revive. He is my strong refuge to which I resort continually.  I can not imagine nor do I want to imagine what my life would look like...what I would look like...without Him.  I am thankful that, like David, as I walk through this vale of tears. I go in the strength of my God.  And even though He shows me great and severe troubles, He will revive me again.  He will comfort me on every side.  

My future is secure because He is my hope continually. I WILL praise Him yet more and more.  I liked what one commentator said about the meaning of the phrase “hope continually” in verse 14.  It means a long and patient waiting in spite of delays and disappointments.  Beloved, our lives here on earth are filled with long waiting, delays and disappointments. But be encouraged...our trials work for us not against us because our God is for us!  He will be glorified.  

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.—1 Corinthians 4:16-18

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.—Romans 5:1-5

As Unto Jesus...

 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; 6 not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.—Ephesians 6:5-8

But My kindness shall not depart from you,

Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,"

Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.—Isaiah 54:10

Oh, Father!  How wonderfully instructive this verse is!  By Your Spirit, help me to practice it!  Give me eyes ALWAYS to see Your Son, Jesus, in everyone I meet. Give me a sincere heart that loves and serves the people You have lovingly placed in my life as if I was serving You!  May I do all I do here on this earth as unto You and not unto man.  Thank you, Father, that I can freely give without concern for me, because You CARE for me...Your steadfast love and kindness toward me never ceases.  Thank you that You see all that I do and will not forget the work and labor of love that I have shown toward Your name. No good thing done for Your glory will go unrewarded.  Oh how blessed is the man who places his trust in You. 

Teach me Your way, O LORD;

I will walk in Your truth;

Unite my heart to fear Your name.—Psalm 86:11

For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.—Mark 9:41

Behold My Servant...

 4 "The Lord GOD has given Me

The tongue of the learned,

That I should know how to speak

A word in season to him who is weary.

He awakens Me morning by morning,

He awakens My ear

To hear as the learned.

5 The Lord GOD has opened My ear;

And I was not rebellious,

Nor did I turn away.

6 I gave My back to those who struck Me,

And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;

I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.

7 "For the Lord GOD will help Me;

Therefore I will not be disgraced;

Therefore I have set My face like a flint,

And I know that I will not be ashamed.

8 He is near who justifies Me;

Who will contend with Me?

Let us stand together.

Who is My adversary?

Let him come near Me.

9 Surely the Lord GOD will help Me;

Who is he who will condemn Me?

Indeed they will all grow old like a garment;

The moth will eat them up.—Isaiah 50:4-11

There are four Servant Songs ((cf. 42:1–9; 49:1–13; 50:4-11; 52:13–53:12) in the Book of Isaiah. All were written more than 700 years before the birth of Christ and each is undeniably prophetic.  This is the third and it is Messiah’s soliloquy about being made perfect through obedience.  

Whatever Jesus did or said here on earth, He did in obedience to the will of His Father in heaven...completely entrusting Himself into His Father's hands. It is important to note also that everything He did here on earth, He did as a Man.  Jesus walked in those works that His Father had prepared beforehand for Him as a human being empowered by the Spirit of God, never using His divine powers.   Beloved, all that Jesus said and did while He was here on earth, He did to show us the way.  It all can be applied to our own lives and walk with Him.  Look at what He tells us in these verses on how to go through the trials of life:

1. spend time with the Father.

2. encourage others in their weariness with the Word of God.

3. comfort them in their distress.

4. do not be rebellious..

5. receive with meekness the implanted word.

6. set your face like flint to endure knowing that your God WILL help.

7. rely upon your God...you will not be disgraced or ashamed.

Then He reminds us that our enemies will  grow old...the moths will eat them up.. He has gone before  and shown us the way.  JESUS LIVED OUT HIS OWN WORD...HE WAS THE WORD AND HIS WORD AND HIS DEED MATCHED...THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF TRUTH. AMAZING!

Sometimes in a trial we feel as if no one really understands our suffering.  There is ONE...and He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows the chastisement for our peace was upon Him. He endured all this for us...Hebrews 12:2 says it was for the joy that was set before Him...we are that joy...He is our joy, our strength and our salvation. He is our way, our truth, our life! Go to Him, trust in Him. Commit yourself to Him. He will not disappoint!

For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.—John 6:38-40

For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."—John 12:49-50

Then I said, 'Behold, I have come—

In the volume of the book it is written of Me—

To do Your will, O God.'"—Hebrews 10:7

Father...May this mind...the mind of Christ be in me!  May I desire what You, my God, desires.  May I walk as my Jesus did. Set my face like flint, Father, and enable me to endure whatever You have prepared for me knowing that You will uphold me through it all. Help me by Your Spirit to remain submissive, like my Jesus, honoring You with my faith and my obedience.  May Your footsteps be my pathway.  

Through Wisdom...

 Through wisdom a house is built,

And by understanding it is established;

By knowledge the rooms are filled

With all precious and pleasant riches.—Proverbs 24:3-4

Proverbs 9:10 tells us that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. I am so glad that verses like these and others like them were included in the Canon of Scripture.  When I first got saved, this is what I had been searching for...wisdom to get me through this life but especially wisdom for raising my family.  Prior to salvation my house was sinking sand.  It was built by me...by my wisdom...on a foundation that was not of God.  

Beloved, unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.  As you have received Christ so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.  

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.—Proverbs 3:5-6

I am so grateful to God for redeeming my life from destruction.  Truly, the Lord has done great things for me, and I am glad!  Abide in the Vine, for without Him we can do nothing good.  Let His Word fill you and allow His Spirit to use it to direct your steps.  Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good.  Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."—Joshua 24:15

but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.—2 Peter 3:18

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;—Colossians 1:9-11

Let God Arise, Let His Enemies be Scattered...

 Let God arise,

Let His enemies be scattered;

Let those also who hate Him flee before Him.—Psalm 68:1

35 So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said:

"Rise up, O LORD!

Let Your enemies be scattered,

And let those who hate You flee before You."

36 And when it rested, he said:

"Return, O LORD,

To the many thousands of Israel."—Numbers 10:35-36

Beloved...as God did for Moses and the Israelites...as He would do for Cyrus in today’s OYB reading in Isaiah 45:

1 “Thus says the LORD to His anointed, 

To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held--

To subdue nations before him

And loose the armor of kings,

To open before him the double doors,

So that the gates will not be shut:

2 ‘I will go before you

And make the crooked placesfn straight;

I will break in pieces the gates of bronze

And cut the bars of iron.

3 I will give you the treasures of darkness

And hidden riches of secret places,

That you may know that I, the LORD,

Who call you by your name,

Am the God of Israel.

He will do for you, His beloved.  

Sing to God, sing praises to His name;

Extol Him who rides on the clouds,

By His name YAH,

And rejoice before Him.

5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,

Is God in His holy habitation.—Psalm 68:4-5

Beloved...Sing praises to God!  Sing praises to JAH...JEHOVAH!  He is the self existent One, who derives His being from none, but gives life to all.  Beloved, we serve an all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere present God who is so great that He rides on the clouds, but also so very very kind that He condescends to help the weakest among us.  REJOICE!  Our God is the One described in Psalm 146.  

—He keeps truth forever,

—He executes justice for the oppressed,

—He gives food to the hungry.

—He gives freedom to the prisoners.

—He opens the eyes of the blind;

—He raises those who are bowed down;

—He loves the righteous.

—He watches over the strangers;

—He relieves the fatherless and widow;

—He turns upside down the way of the wicked.

The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people.  Blessed be God!

The LORD looks from heaven;

He sees all the sons of men.

14 From the place of His dwelling He looks

On all the inhabitants of the earth;

15 He fashions their hearts individually;

He considers all their works.

16 No king is saved by the multitude of an army;

A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.

17 A horse is a vain hope for safety;

Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.

18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,

On those who hope in His mercy,

19 To deliver their soul from death,

And to keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the LORD;

He is our help and our shield.

21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him,

Because we have trusted in His holy name.

22 Let Your mercy, O LORD, be upon us,

Just as we hope in You.—Psalm 33:13-22

God Be Merciful to Us and Bless Us...

God be merciful to us and bless us,

And cause His face to shine upon us, Selah

That Your way may be known on earth,

Your salvation among all nations.—Psalm 67:1-2

I pray for God’s mercy and the light of His countenance upon me and on those I love daily...even hourly.  I NEED mercy.   I need His forgiveness and His strength. One of my favorite prayers to pray from Scripture is this one. 

Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak;—Psalm 6:2a

How perfect is that?   

My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who was given to me by God.  My glorious, merciful God dwells in me and is ALWAYS with me. Beloved, we have been bought with a price and are to glorify God in our body and in our Spirit. I need God’s favor to do this!  I need His strength and grace to walk in those works He has prepared beforehand for me in order to reveal His glory to a dying world that is in desperate need of His mercy.  

Even now, as I write, my heart whines and complains about all the things I HAVE to do today.  I am so thankful that in my weakness, He is strong.  I am thankful that even as I complain, there are tears of gratitude because I know God is at my right hand.  I am NEVER alone. It is He, who works in me both to will and to do for His good pleasure.  

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.—2 Corinthians 4:6

let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.—Matthew 5:16

21 This I recall to my mind,

Therefore I have hope.

22 Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.—Lamentations 3:21-23

24 "The LORD bless you and keep you;

25 The LORD make His face shine upon you,

And be gracious to you;

26 The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,

And give you peace."'—Numbers 6:24-26

Make Your face shine upon Your servant;

Save me for Your mercies' sake.

17 Do not let me be ashamed, O LORD, for I have called upon You;—Psalm 31:16-17

For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword,

Nor did their own arm save them;

But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance,

Because You favored them.—Psalm 44:3

Make Your face shine upon Your servant,

And teach me Your statutes.—Psalm 119:135

Accepted in the Beloved...

 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.—Ephesians 1:6

I love this doctrine of God.  To the praise of His glorious grace, He has made me accepted in His Beloved Son.  I am BELOVED of God, who chose me before the foundation of the world and has blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, His Son. I am accepted in the Beloved—because Christ is accepted, and, therefore, those who are in Him are accepted

Spurgeon says God has a “complacency” toward us.  I loved that he used that word.  Complacency is defined as a feeling of smug, uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one’s achievements.  Wow!  God looks at me in Christ with uncritical satisfaction. He takes delight in me!   Where can that kind of acceptance be found in this world?  ONLY in Christ. 

 Beloved, run to Him and dwell securely in the secret place of His Presence.  God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.  Truly there is no need to fear. Set your love on Him...He will deliver you.  The  promises of Psalm 91 are ours who believe.  

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust."

3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.

4 He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it shall not come near you.

8 Only with your eyes shall you look,

And see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

10 No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

12 In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,

The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

14 "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation."—Psalm 91