Lead Me to the Rock - Psalm 61

 

Jesus Christ is our solid Rock on which we stand when the storms of adversity stir up the quick sand of life. These menacing pits of destruction attempt to swallow us whole, sucking the life right out of us inch by inch.

As our heart grows faint, we cry out to God from the lowest parts of the earth and He leads us to the Rock, which is so much higher than our debilitating circumstances (Psalm 61:1-2).

Safely entrenched on the Rock of Christ we rise far above these destructive elements from Satan, the world and the flesh, which come to rob us of our joy and peace and make our testimony for God ineffectual and tarnished.

As our refuge and strong tower, He protects us from our enemies, takes us into His dwelling place, shelters us under His wings and showers us with His blessing (Psalm 61:3-4).

He hears our vows to serve Him with our life and He gives us His heritage in exchange. He increases our days and provides for our children and grandchildren for thousands of generations in the future (Psalm 61:5-6; Exodus 20:6).

God gives us a place in His royal priesthood and shares with us the throne of Christ. He showers us with His love and faithfully protects us (Psalm 61:7).

His goodness, grace, love and mercy cause us to praise His name forever and to keep our vows to Him day after day (Psalm 61:8). We want nothing more from this life than His perfect will for us.

Prayer:

Father God we wait patiently for You and You always hear our cries. You lift us out of the slimy pit of doom, out of the mud and mire and safely stand us on the Rock of Christ (Psalm 40:1-2, 62:1-3). You put a new song in our heart, which is a testimony to everyone in our life (Psalm 40:3).

Your love fills us with peace and joy regardless of the outward circumstances attempting to beat us down and debilitate us. We look for the seed for a miracle, which You plant within every trial threatening to overcome us. We depend on Your Spirit to guide us through each moment of our day.

Thought for the Day:

When we face the issues bombarding our life, we remember that the peace of God protects us when we are firmly standing on the Rock of Christ.

Meeting God Face-to-Face

 

As we launch into adulthood, we focus on working hard and using our human talents to open doors to a better life. However, our humanistic worldview and our carnal work ethic often crumble in the face of life’s trials. Meeting God face-to-face leads to action of a different kind (Ephesians 5:8; Romans 8:4). It launches us into a life where every thought, word and deed is an expression of worship to our King. Nothing matters to us except living by God’s Spirit, and He provides us with everything we need (Galatians 5:16, 25; Matthew 6:33).

Encountering God does not occur by chance, nor is it planned or orchestrated by our human effort. We just sit in silence and wait. The human mind is so cluttered, that when we attempt to sit in silence, our mind will go in many directions at one time. We will have a very strong compulsion to jump up and do something before we forget to do it; but then...our time to wait on God is over. Instead, bring along a pen and some paper.

As these ideas pop into your mind, just write them down. This will make a great to-do list for you when you finish your time with God. So here you are, sitting in your comfy chair, under a tree, on the floor or any other place you feel led to wait. You are jotting down the thoughts that flow through your mind. Finally, your lists end and you can begin writing your prayers to God. Continue to wait as you write Bible verses or words to a song, which come to your mind.

Write down how you are feeling, what is worrying you and people you are concerned about. Express your full desires, questions and concerns. Write until you empty your soul of all of its petitions. Then, wait some more! Listen in the silence. Wait for God to speak. Wait for the waterfall of his love to pour over you and bring a refreshing to your soul. Wait until you sense the warmth of His smile beaming down on you, and luxuriate in the folds of His arms.

Write more notes if you want to, sing songs of praise, lift up in prayer the people that God brings to your mind. Sit in companionable silence with Him, and enjoy the presence of God enveloping you. Then, when it is time to go, spend your day walking in the Spirit, one moment at a time. Our life no longer depends on us to reach destinations. We simply walk in obedience to the inner direction of God’s Spirit and live as a brand new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:27; Galatians 2:20).

Prayer:

Father God, my soul waits silently and patiently for You alone. My hope comes from You. You alone are my rock and my salvation. You are my fortress; therefore, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my glory are in You. You are my rock or strength and refuge. I trust in You at all times. I pour out my heart before You. I praise You for who You are and for all You do for me each and every day (Psalm 62:5-8).

Thought for the Day:

A fruitful life is born through an intimate relationship with God. - John 5:8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I Am Weak

Read: Romans 5: 3-5

“That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, troubles, hardships and persecutions that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:10

Bad things do happen to good people. Life does hurt...everyone. The good news is that your negative experience holds the seed for a miracle! God is working ALL things, even this fearful experience, out for your good (Romans 8:28). We can actually look forward to bad things happening, because it is just another opportunity for God to show us His goodness and greatness! Paul put it like this, “Count it all joy, when you fall into various trials” (James 1:2).

Life is imperfect because of original sin. When Adam and Eve disobeyed, God's perfect plan for Paradise came to a screaching halt. Man forfeited his dominion over the earth to Satan. Sin became the new norm in the world. Due to our sin, we deserve hell! God owes us nothing! Everything He does for us is whipped cream on the pie, icing on the cake, and gravy on the potatoes! God’s love is a gift from above, way beyond what we deserve.

Negative circumstances are not God’s fault! So, do not blame Him! He created a perfect world in which He planned for us to live. Yes, God can change the circumstances of our life, and He often does. However, He is not obligated to change them. Once He redeems us by the blood of the Lamb, all of our sins are washed away; but sin still rules in the hearts of mankind. Bad things happen to us when others impose their sin on us, or when we reap from the sins that we sowed.

Our God is an awesome God. He hides us under His wings during stressful times! The Lord is our rock, our fortress, our stronghold and our deliverer. He delivers us from our enemies. We call upon the Lord, because He is worthy of our praise (Psalm 18: 2-49). He is our refuge, our shield in battle and the horn of our salvation. We still have to go through battles in this imperfect world, but He is our shield that protects us from even greater harm.

Jesus stated that in this life we WILL have tribulation, but to be of good cheer, because He aleady overcame the world (John 16:33). The righteous have many afflictions, but the Lord delivers us out of them all (Psalm 34:19). Remember Job? He is an example of a man who continued to trust the Lord in sorrow and suffering. We can see how the Lord’s plan saw him through suffering and affliction, which eventually ended for his good (Romans 8:28), because of the Lord’s tender mercy (James 5:11).

President Bush, Sr. told the story about a boy who offered this simple prayer at bedtime: "God, bless my Mommy, and my Daddy, and my brother and sister.  And God.... do take care of Yourself...because if anything ever happened to You, we'd all be sunk." I love that!

Since the Lord lives, we are assured that ALL things will work together for our good (Romans 8:28). This is His promise to all of those who love Him and who are the called according to His purpose. We can rely on it and look forward to it. He probably will not bless you in the way you want Him to, but He will bless you in the way you need Him to!

Why do we find it so hard to trust and believe in the goodness of the Lord. One reason is that we take the Lord for granted (Psalm 106:7; John 12: 37-38). Also, we do not stand on what we know as truth (Isaiah 7:9), and we do not relying on the Lord (Matthew 13:58).

Another reason, is because Satan is very quick to blind us by his lies and deception (Luke 8:12). Then, shamefully, at times we also walk in disobedience (Hebrews 4:6 & 11), and/or are double minded (James 1:6-8). Thankfully, God steps in and helps our unbelief. God is faithful, even when we fail to obey (Romans 10:21; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 2 Timothy 2:13).

Sometimes, we turn the concept of believing into a mountain that seems impossible to climb. The simple truth is found in Hebrews 11:6. It tells us what we must believe: "Anyone who comes to God must believe only two things:
1. That He exists.
2. That He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

With this belief in our heart, we can live victoriously in whatever plan God assigns to us, because God is worthy of our trust.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You tell us to cast all of our cares upon You, because You care about us (1 Peter 5:17). Remind us to come to You when we need something, and then leave the method and timing of Your supply up to You. Thank You that we can live in the center of Your will with Your peace ruling and reigning in our hearts (Philippians 4: 6-9).

Thought for the Day:
We know that God exists and rewards us, because of His past deeds and His future promises.

Breaking From Tradition

Read: Colossians 2:8-23

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30

There are churches that purport a “works” theology that substitutes our efforts for Christ’s work on Calvary. I believed their rhetoric until I realized that we are wasting our time by trying to earn God’s love by being good enough to deserve it. Even at our best, we deserve hell. All of us are unclean, and all of our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

Jesus willingly died to fulfill the law for us. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that our Salvation comes not by good works, but by faith. When we try to earn our right standing with God, we grieve the Holy Spirit, because we are putting on the shackles of the law of sin and death rather than relying on the law of life through Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2).

I am learning not to substitute saying the "correct" words, responding in the "correct" way and doing the “correct” things for walking in obedience to the Spirit.  These traditions have the appearance of effectiveness and wisdom, but they are full of self-imposed rituals, false humility and harsh regulations. In the end, they simply lack any success in restraining us from sinning or any true value in helping someone who needs a word from God.

I am attempting to stop, listen and obey the Spirit throughout the day instead. Even if what He leads me to do breaks with tradition or makes me feel uncomfortable, I would rather reap the fruit of righteousness than to stay within my comfort zone. I do not need to fear what any person will do to me or what they will think or say about me, as long as I walk in the Spirit. Pleasing God is my goal and I will not let anyone judge me except Him.

Prayer

Lord, help me to obey your Spirit’s inner promptings, even if I end up being unpopular. Help me to value Your approval over man’s recognition or acceptance. Remind me that there is nothing I can to do to earn Your love or my right standing in Your eyes, because You already won both of those for me on Calvary’s Cross.

Thought of the Day

I would rather stand on the rock of Christ than on the sand of tradition.