Psalm 111 "The Fear of God"

This week, I've been reading in Psalm 111. Verse 10 really struck me... "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." The way this really hits me is in the context of God's will and man's will seldom lining up. YWAMers and many others use the phrase "Take God out of the box you've put Him in." Obviously there's the understanding that God isn't really in a box but we've put Him there in our minds. What this really does is  limits the ways we get to see God working in our lives as we fail to recognize God's sovereign hand in the happenings around us. <-- Random tangent. ":)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. How many times do we take  the 'norm' of the world and try to force that upon God's ways or will? If we feared the LORD and had the correct understanding of how we simply can't understand His ways, I think we'd be a whole lot happier and wiser. Instead of looking to our own logic, we'd realize that the most logical thing would be to follow God's will no matter how odd, stupid or childish the acts He calls us to do seem. I truly believe we'd see so many more crazy Divine occurrences happen throughout our lives because we're willing to step out in faith because we fear the LORD.

Just some ramblings from a bran fried SBSer who is falling more and more in love with Jesus daily...

"I Would Satisfy You" Psalm 81

The past few weeks have certainly been heavy. All of my time has been spent in the world of the first couple generations of the Israelites. It’s been bittersweet as God’s glory, grace and love are shown over and over again, but only to be met with the unfaithfulness and idolatry of His people. They remind me so much of myself, over and over again declaring my love and faithfulness to God and yet, rejecting Him in a million ways the next day. However, His grace is still abundant. PRAISE GOD!

This week, I was reading in Psalm 81. The nation of Israel is called to sing out and rejoice over God’s faithfulness to the people in the face of their rejection. God says, “If you would but listen to me!” God desired for them a life of peace, relationship with Him. He desired to bless them and show His love to them every moment of every day. Instead, they constantly chose their own path, seeking to make their own way through the world; making themselves god. They refused to faithfully worship the real God and chose to worship the gods they created; a human way of controlling their life.

The nation of Israel, in PS 81 is called to rejoice over the fact that God had turned them over to destruction. They are to see it as a blessing that God chose to curse His people with their enemies having rule over them. The nation of Israel is to see that their relationship with God is worth more than anything and so, because this cursing caused them to turn back to God, they consider it a blessing and praise God for it.

This really challenges me. There have been many consequences in my life for the sin of myself and for that of those around me. There is no way I could honestly say I have lived as if these were also blessings. But, they are! My relationship with God, today, is stronger than it’s ever been. I’m in Taiwan studying His Word and having the amazing opportunity of deepened relationship with Him. I know that the pain I’ve suffered in life would never have been God’s intention. But what thankfulness I’m beginning to have that He didn’t just let me live my life in peace, never feeling the weight of my sin. Because of His actions towards me, I’ve turned away from a dead and sinful life. I’ve come into relationship with the Creator God whose desire is for me to live in peaceful relationship with Him, carrying out His will on earth and being led by Him every step of the way.

PRAISE GOD!

Psalm 114

You brought me out of the desert place
And set my feet upon the rock
So I could dwell in Your sweet embrace
Just so You and I could talk

In the presence of the Lord is my dwelling place
In the presence of the Lord is Your sweet embrace
In the presence of the Lord all else will fade
All else will fade
All else will fade
All else will fade

My past You put all behind me
A dry straight road lies ahead
The walls of the sea on either side of me
Draw me away from all I dread

In the presence of the Lord is my dwelling place
In the presence of the Lord is Your sweet embrace
In the presence of the Lord all else will fade
All else will fade
All else will fade
All else will fade

Tremble, O Earth, at the presence of the Lord

In the presence of the Lord is my dwelling place
In the presence of the Lord is Your sweet embrace
In the presence of the Lord all else will fade
All else will fade
All else will fade
All else will fade

Psalm 119 - "Save Me, I'm Your's"

Your word, oh Lord
     Brings life to my heart
And Your faithfulness
    It sets You apart
And I would have died
    Had I forgotten You

The world is Yours
     And by You it stands
But perfection is lost
    Outside of Your commands
And how could I
    Ever forget You

Save me, I'm Yours
    Oh God my Father
Save me, I'm Yours
    Help me want(love was a mistake) no other
Save me, I'm Yours
    Oh God my Father
Save me, I'm Yours

(Repeated chorus for your listening pleasure)

Save me, I'm Yours
    Oh God my Father
Save me, I'm Yours
    Help me want (corrected :)  ) no other
Save me, I'm Yours
    Oh God my Father
Save me, I'm Yours

Psalm 24 - The Earth is the Lord's

Psalm 24 is all about the sovereignty of God. As we read through Genesis this week, the theme of God’s sovereignty has definitely been prevalent in all my thoughts. Psalm 24 is a wonderful condensing of what I've learned over the past week.

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

-            The LORD created everything, therefore, everything is His.

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

-          Those who seek God are saved by His righteousness… His righteousness. He is the measure of righteousness. People read the Bible and see the way the LORD has judged the world for His sin; they've read about the war and the carnage against the unrighteous, while He blesses the nation He chose. They say He’s unjust, unrighteous, unworthy of worship. The problem? They’re not the judge of righteousness, He is. I’m not the judge of righteousness, He is.

-          When Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they became “like God”. They set themselves as judges over their own actions. In so doing, they created the need to justify themselves before their Creator. In His righteousness and love, He sacrificed His Son so that those who believe in Him would be judged righteous.

Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!

-     Who is this God? He is the King of glory. Lift up your heads, Israel! Open up your heart! Let the King of glory come in! Let the One who is mighty in battle, the One who is strong and mighty, the One who has a great army; let Him come in!

This week has been full the gut wrenching realization that I fail to see Him for who He really is. I fail to see Him in the fullness of His glory. And yet, I’m loved by Him. In the words of A.W. Towzer in ‘The Pursuit of God’, “All the time we are pursuing Him we are already in His hand.”

What a wonderful relief it is to know that, while I’m on this quest (this battle against my own flesh and the powers of darkness) to see who He really is, He already knows who I am, is holding me in His hand and it is HE that is doing this work in me. PRAISE GOD!

Psalm 73 - "The Sanctuary of the Lord"

As I was reading through Psalm 73 today, there were two sections that caught my eye. There's 16-17 and 23-26. The first speaks about how the author couldn't understand why the wicked were allowed to prosper, while those who are righteous seemed to suffer. The author then describes how he was confused about this until he entered into the Sanctuary of the Lord and there he found the answer. 

In the second section the author repeats this theme by speaking of God's guidance and counsel. 

The reason I was so struck by this was remembering all of the times I've been confused and thinking about something for a long period of time, allowing it to consume my thoughts. I then realized that every time I've been in that situation, God always finds a way to remind me to return to Him. As soon as I come to Him, He speaks truth to my heart. Usually it's frustrating because it seems to have nothing to do with my problem. But through this truth, God reveals the bigger problem -- my inner problem. 

I think think this says a lot about God's character. For me personally, God corrects me internally which then allows me to look at things from His perspective. His desire is that I'm bettered. His desire is for me to know Him more intimately and, because of that, see the world from His eyes. 

So in the end: God desires true relationship. Out of this relationship, we can learn how to properly relate to the world. Out of our proper relation to the world, we point others back to God. He's just cool like that. 

Psalm 146-150 "Praise the Lord"

This weeks Psalm project is a culminative work of the last 5 Psalms, 146-150. These Psalms are very themed and centered around praising God. Knowing that, my project will make sense to you...

It's been almost 4 months I've been here in Taiwan. I've studied all but one book of the New Testament (Matthew). Until now, I can honestly say that I'd never read a book of the Bible all the way through before, at least I don't remember it. God, in all His goodness has given me so much during this time. He's shown that He is provider in so many different ways than financially. Through this time, I'm learning to lean on Him for everything. When I don't feel like I have any strength left, He's showing me an area I'm not relying on Him. I've learned that in order to keep moving forward, I must keep moving deeper. God has shown over and over again that He loves me too much to let my heart stay in the state it's in. I used to think that as I got closer and closer to Him, I'd feel higher and higher, more on top of the world, happy all of the time and never having any problems. I realize, now, how wrong that is. Of course, with a deeper relationship with Him comes so much security, joy and peace. But getting closer to God is becoming more like Christ. Christ suffered for the sake of the world's salvation. We can expect that as we grow closer to God, and become more like Christ, we'll suffer like He did. History is filled with those who have had such relationships with God. They're the ones we talk about, the ones we want to be like. As I push forward in this life, I'm resigned and joyful to suffer for the cause of Christ.

This is how I will praise Him. I will praise Him with my life.