First Things First…

 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them.—2 Chronicles 29:3

Then King Hezekiah rose early, gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD. 21 And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Then he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD.—2 Chronicles 29:20-21

27 Then Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD also began, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David king of Israel. 28 So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.—2 Chronicles 29:27-28

Hezekiah was a first things first kinda king!   In the first year of his reign..in the first month…He opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. He looked at the heart of Judah’s problem (which was spiritual) and addressed it first. Hezekiah restored true temple worship as it was practiced in the time of David and Solomon.  His goal is stated in verse 10. 

“Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us.

Verses 27 and 28 (see above) are my favorites and are a good summary.  Sacrifice was made…the trumpeters began to play, the cymbals to crash and the people to sing. Then the king and all who were present with him bowed and worshiped.

I love this because when I begin to worship God in prayer and in song, especially in the presence of  His people, my own heart begins to empty itself of me and fill with my God. Worshipping God brings joy because worshipping brings unity. Unity with God, and unity with others. In Him, we are one. 

Our faith is encouraged and strengthened as we look beyond ourselves to the God of the Universe. We are not alone.  The gracious, merciful, omnipotent and all sufficient God is with us and lives in us. He who loves us leads us and intercedes for us. He will show us the path of life.  In His presence is fullness of joy.  At His right hand are pleasures forevermore.

20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.—John 17:20-23

Beloved…May His song be heard in our hearts, in our lives and in our churches as we worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Now thanks be to our God, who always leads us in triumph! 

Picture by sweet “e” .  Rose by God. 

Blessed is the Man…Psalm 84

Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee. Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion.--Psalm 84:6-7

These are some of my most favorite verses in Scripture.

The blessings of being in the presence of our God and worshiping Him during our earthly pilgrimage here are not for the divided or half-hearted. No, the blessings come to those whose heart, mind, soul and strength are completely surrendered to Him...whose life is full of His ways.  This is the man whose heart can be filled with joy and can find refreshment even as he walks through the most difficult times here on this earth. This is the man who can look back over the difficult valleys that he has passed through and can see the beauty the Lord has wrought through them by his surrender. This is the man who finds His all in His God and can comfort others with the comfort He Himself has received. His eyes are on His God and His strength also  is spent there. The path shines ever brighter as he walks. His hope is in His God who will receive Him when his time here is done. He will awake in His likeness and will see His face in righteousness and his joy will be unending.

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;

The LORD will give grace and glory;

No good thing will He withhold

From those who walk uprightly.

O LORD of hosts,

Blessed is the man who trusts in You!—Psalm 84:11-12

Photo by “e” flower by God

He Has Shown You…

 To do righteousness and justice

Is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.—Proverb 21:3

Beloved…God sees our hearts and desires that they be wholly devoted to Him.  Our outward acts of obedience and worship are meaningless and abhorrent when the heart behind them is empty and hypocritical. God wants all that we do and say to be motivated by the love that His Spirit has shed abroad in our heart. 

6 With what shall I come before the LORD,

And bow myself before the High God?

Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,

With calves a year old?

7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,

Ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the LORD require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?—Micah 6:6-8

Right behavior is produced by a heart that is  right with God.  This is the heart Jesus describes in Matthew 22…

34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"

37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

Love is of God. Love fulfills the law. 

One of His Sheltered Ones…

 Do not keep silent, O God!

Do not hold Your peace,

And do not be still, O God!

2 For behold, Your enemies make a tumult;

And those who hate You have lifted up their head.

3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,

And consulted together against Your sheltered ones.—Psalm 83:1-3

3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.—Colossians 3:3

As a believer I am one of God’s “sheltered” ones.  I am in Christ.  I stand forgiven…permanently in His unmerited favor. 

For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.—1 Thessalonians 4:9-11

Colossians 3 tells me that my life is hidden with Christ in God.  My shelter is in my Jesus.  Beloved…we, as believers, walk through this life under His covering blanket of security.  Our God is in sovereign control...no one can snatch us from His hand.   Enveloped in the lovingkindness and care of our God, we live and move and have our being. 

37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 38 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.”—Luke 6:37-40

As a true child of God, Jesus holds one of my hands and God, my Father, the other. They are united in purpose and in action. (I and My Father are one.”) My safety and security is their priority. To get to me, you have to go through God first. He is the Good Shepherd who gives His life for His flock. I am His lamb…I BELONG to Him!  He has  hedged me behind and before and has laid His hand upon me. The eternal God is my refuge, and underneath are His everlasting arms. 

Return to your rest, O my soul,

For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.—Psalm 116:7

5 For in the time of trouble

He shall hide me in His pavilion;

In the secret place of His tabernacle

He shall hide me;

He shall set me high upon a rock.—Psalm 27:5

I WILL…

King Jehoshaphat sought the Lord with godly reverence and fear.  Read these verses from 2 Chronicles 20 and make them Your heart today. 

Do this work in me, Father!  Today, by Your precious Spirit who dwells in me and is always with me...

I WILL...

Keep my eyes on You...

Seek You in all things..

Remember that the battles I face are not mine but Yours...

Remember that I am weak and powerless, but in You I am strong and courageous. 

Remember that wherever I go and whatever I face, Your Presence goes with me and You are FOR me...

Believe You...I will believe Your promises to me in Your Word knowing that You who called me is faithful.  

Know that I am more than a conqueror in You who loves me.  

Praise You before the battle, in the midst of the battle and after the battle has ended. 

Father...Your steadfast love toward me never ceases.  All power, all glory and all honor are Yours, now and forever!  Amen. 

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.—Hebrews 4:14-16

❤️1 May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble;

May the name of the God of Jacob defend you;

2 May He send you help from the sanctuary,

And strengthen you out of Zion;

3 May He remember all your offerings,

And accept your burnt sacrifice.

Selah

4 May He grant you according to your heart's desire,

And fulfill all your purpose.

5 We will rejoice in your salvation,

And in the name of our God we will set up our banners!

May the LORD fulfill all your petitions.

6 Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed;

He will answer him from His holy heaven

With the saving strength of His right hand.

7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;

But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

8 They have bowed down and fallen;

But we have risen and stand upright.

9 Save, LORD!

May the King answer us when we call.—Psalm 20❤️

The Precious Heart of God for Each of Us…

 ❤️I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.❤️

“But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels. “Oh, that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!--Psalm 81:10-13

Here is God's heart for each of us.  He wants us to find our full satisfaction in Him. Open your mouth wide and He will fill it.  Only God can satisfy the longing in our hearts. But the Israelites (like us), thought they knew better. God's response was to let them walk in their own counsels. The following are to my mind some of the scariest words in all of Scripture. 

So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels. 

The word "gave" in the Greek has the meaning of to deliver up one into custody, to be judged, condemned, punished, scourged, tormented, put to death.  It is the wrath of abandonment.  God will abandon man when he consistently abandons Him.  He will remove His hand of restraint and give him over to eat the fruit of his own ways.  He will allow his sin to run its natural course which will end in death. 

Beloved…God wants you to find your complete satisfaction in Him in total surrender to His will. He wants to be your portion.  He will allow us to go our own way but of course it is always at our own risk...our own peril.  There is a way that seems right to man but its end is the way of death.  Open your heart to Him today...

In My Grief and Sorrow…God

10 I am the LORD your God,

Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;

Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.—Psalm 81:10

Last night, when I was out with dog, my heart did some searching and some praying. I had spent a good part of my day in grief which was made worse by my heart that wobbled in fear of future grief. Truly loving brings joy, but it can be and often is a two-edged sword. Loving can also bring sorrow, grief and loss.  I have hated this corollary since I was a little girl.  In my life, I have experienced much of both.  Here is the thing…the joy that loving has brought to my life is and has been wonderful, but the sorrow loving has brought has been instrumental in drawing me close to my God.  Truly, that has made me more grateful for the latter than the former. 

God has used grief in my life to strengthen my relationship with Him.  In His wisdom and lovingkindness, He has used my sorrow of heart (and my subsequent fear of loss) to keep me utterly dependent on Him and bring me into His presence.  Last night, (in the very same spot and in the very same way as He did 20 years ago when I experienced my first catastrophic loss) He reminded me once again of His purposes in my sorrow.  The world around me faded until it was just me and my God under a canopy of stars.  Without my ongoing sorrow and grief, my heart would be clinging desperately to the people in my life for assurance and comfort. Now I cling to Him…to the One who will never, no, not ever, leave me or forsake me. His constant, unchanging love has enabled me to endure, and somewhere in the midst of all that enduring, my Jesus has become the anchor of my soul. 

Beloved...Our God is mighty...His works are wonderful. His arm is not short, and there is nothing too hard for Him.  We who believe stand in grace...in God’s permanent,  unmerited, divine favor.  Our sure and certain destiny is that we will share in the very glory of God. Trust Him.  He will work in every situation you face for your good and His glory.  He is sovereign, and no one and nothing can separate you from His love.  No matter what happens, you (and me) will be okay.  The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are His everlasting arms. 

After I went inside last evening, I grabbed my Bible. The series of verses the Lord brought me were a beautiful symphony that enabled me to lay down in peace and sweetened my sleep. Leaving them here…

1 God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear,

Even though the earth be removed,

And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

3 Though its waters roar and be troubled,

Though the mountains shake with its swelling.—Psalm 46:1-3

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.—2 Timothy 1:7

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us.—1 John 4:18-19

Faith is the opposite of fear…trusting brings peace.  Fear brings chaos. Faith overcomes. 

4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?—1 John 5:4-5

6 The LORD is on my side;

I will not fear.—Psalm 118:6

24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;

Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.

25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror,

Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;

26 For the LORD will be your confidence,

And will keep your foot from being caught.—Proverbs 3:24-26

10 I am the LORD your God,

Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;

Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.—Psalm 81:10

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 

Oh, How I Love Your Law!

 97 Oh, how I love Your law!

It is my meditation all the day.

98 You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies;

For they are ever with me.

99 I have more understanding than all my teachers,

For Your testimonies are my meditation.

100 I understand more than the ancients,

Because I keep Your precepts.

101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way,

That I may keep Your word.

102 I have not departed from Your judgments,

For You Yourself have taught me.

103 How sweet are Your words to my taste,

Sweeter than honey to my mouth!

104 Through Your precepts I get understanding;

Therefore I hate every false way.

נ NUN

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet

And a light to my path.

106 I have sworn and confirmed

That I will keep Your righteous judgments.

107 I am afflicted very much;

Revive me, O LORD, according to Your word.

108 Accept, I pray, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD,

And teach me Your judgments.

109 My life is continually in my hand,

Yet I do not forget Your law.

110 The wicked have laid a snare for me,

Yet I have not strayed from Your precepts.

111 Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever,

For they are the rejoicing of my heart.

112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes

Forever, to the very end.—Psalm 119:97-112

This section of Psalm 119 resonated with me this morning. My spirit testifies along with David’s that I am a precious child of God.  What the Psalmist writes and attests of the Word, I experience also!  Truly grace and peace are multiplied as we grow in the true and intimate knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 

Oh, how I love Your law!  It is my meditation all the day.  For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching of the law is light. All things become visible when they are exposed by the light of God's precepts, for it is light that makes everything visible. Pay close attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and light breaks through the gloom and the morning star arises in your hearts.

O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me.  Let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling places.  Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy...with the lyre I will praise You, O God, my God!

Beloved, let the spoken word of Christ have its home within you. Yes, let it dwell in your heart and mind—let it permeate every aspect of your being.  Teach, admonish and train one another with all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  Whatever you do in word or deed, do all of it (everything) in Jesus’ name, depending completely on Him , while giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

8 Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,

For in You do I trust;

Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,

For I lift up my soul to You.—Psalm 143:8

The LORD is Righteous…

 1 Now it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel along with him. 2 And it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD, 3 with twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horsemen, and people without number who came with him out of Egypt—the Lubim and the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians. 4 And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem.  5 Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, who were gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, "Thus says the LORD: 'You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak.'"  6 So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, "The LORD is righteous."  7 Now when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, "They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8 Nevertheless they will be his servants, that they may distinguish My service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations."—2 Chronicles 12:1-8 - emphasis mine

6 So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, "The LORD is righteous." 

If I remember anything about King Rehoboam may I remember this!  Oh, Father!  Give me a teachable, humble and contrite heart.  Give me ears to hear not just Your words of comfort but also those of rebuke. May Rehoboam’s response be my own when I face the trials and difficulties that accompany life in this fallen world.  By Your Spirit, may my heart and soul believe and declare this beautiful and comforting truth. 

The LORD is righteous.

17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways,

Gracious in all His works.

18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,

To all who call upon Him in truth.

19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;

He also will hear their cry and save them.

20 The LORD preserves all who love Him,

But all the wicked He will destroy.

21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD,

And all flesh shall bless His holy name

Forever and ever.—Psalm 145:17-21

Give Ear, O Shepherd of Israel..

 1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,

You who lead Joseph like a flock;

You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!

2 Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,

Stir up Your strength,

And come and save us!

3 Restore us, O God;

Cause Your face to shine,

And we shall be saved!

4 O LORD God of hosts,

How long will You be angry

Against the prayer of Your people?

5 You have fed them with the bread of tears,

And given them tears to drink in great measure.

6 You have made us a strife to our neighbors,

And our enemies laugh among themselves.

7 Restore us, O God of hosts;

Cause Your face to shine,

And we shall be saved!

8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt;

You have cast out the nations, and planted it.

9 You prepared room for it,

And caused it to take deep root,

And it filled the land.

10 The hills were covered with its shadow,

And the mighty cedars with its boughs.

11 She sent out her boughs to the Sea,

And her branches to the River.

12 Why have You broken down her hedges,

So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?

13 The boar out of the woods uproots it,

And the wild beast of the field devours it.

14 Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts;

Look down from heaven and see,

And visit this vine

15 And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted,

And the branch that You made strong for Yourself.

16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down;

They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.

17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,

Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.

18 Then we will not turn back from You;

Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.

19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts;

Cause Your face to shine,

And we shall be saved!—Psalm 80

Psalm 80 is Asaph’s prayer to God on behalf of the northern kingdom after it was taken captive by Assyria in 722-21 BC. The sentiments expressed are poignant and very beautiful.  This morning, as I read, my heart stopped at verse 8…

You have brought a vine out of Egypt;

You have cast out the nations, and planted it.

God brought Israel (the vine) out of Egypt and molded them into a great nation.

Jesus uses this same imagery to describe Himself and His followers in John, Chapter 15. 

I am the vine, you are the branches.

As a believer, I am one of the precious branches of Jesus. He is my Shepherd…in Him I have everything I need. He commands His lovingkindness toward me in the daytime and in the night His song is always with me. I am saved because He inclined to me and heard my cry. My Jesus lifted me up out of the horrible pit I was in and set my feet upon a rock. He put His Spirit in my heart and a new song in my mouth.  My prayer (and His) for me is that many would see it and put their trust in the Lord.

5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. 6 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 4:5-6

❤️Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.❤️—Ephesians 1:3-12

Father…Thank you that with You is forgiveness!  Thank you that I have been delivered from the power of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of the Son of Your love.  In You, I have redemption through Your blood, and the the forgiveness of sins. Oh, help me, by Your Spirit, to be faithful and live in grateful thanksgiving.  Keep me on right paths. Enable me to walk worthy and to live to the praise of Your glory!   

I am Your beloved little vine.  Be the strength of my life!  Teach me to abide in Your love. Teach me to wait on You so that my life is immersed and entwined in Yours. Help me, by Your grace, to bloom where You in Your great wisdom planted me. I am weak, but You are strong!  You are my King and my God. It is Your arm that saves me.  It is the light of Your countenance that brings me favor. Command victories for me Father!  Unite my heart to fear Your name. In You, my God, I will boast all day long, and I will praise Your name forever.