Yes, I Am

I looked into that “I am” in the Scriptures, because we are created in God’s image, and after His likeness. Jesus is the firstborn of many (us), so it stands to reason that if God is, and Jesus is, then we are too. Yes, we are! I’m taking them one at a time. Some of them have numerous scriptural references regarding them, and are so awesome!

John 6:36 I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. -This speaks of trustworthiness, reliability, compassion, and helpfulness, grace, and love; of ministry. Ours is a ministry of reconciliation. When one reconciles the books or accounts, he/she makes sure they are in balance. When they are in balance, everything is in right standing. That’s what Isaiah 58:5-7 tells us to do.

In (Isaiah 58:5-7) God says, “Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD? “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”

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A Hint To Look Deeper

Lamedh (Psalm 119:89-96) (ESV)

Forever, O LORD, your word
is firmly fixed in the heavens.
Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
By your appointment they stand this day,
for all things are your servants.
If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have given me life.
I am yours; save me,
for I have sought your precepts.
The wicked lie in wait to destroy me,
but I consider your testimonies.
I have seen a limit to all perfection,
but your commandment is exceedingly broad.

Remember a time when it all came together? I’ll be praising the Lord and jumping up and down every time it happens for me. These verses are a reminder that joy comes in the morning. The last verse gets my attention, though. When I read that God’s commandment is exceedingly broad, I have to wonder if there isn’t more to it than just what I read in another scripture. It causes me to want to look deeper into the matter.

Life is filled with such variety, and so many variations of situation and circumstance, emotion, strength and weakness, etc. We can find those variations in the Gospels. (Matt. 15:1-20) gives us an example of what happens when we don’t look deeper. Jesus, in (Matt. 22:15-45) and (Matt. 23:1-31), gives us more examples of “straining out a gnat” just to “swallow a camel.”

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Simply Put

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 116. It’s one that reminds us to just stand up and tell the truth. Simply put, “Get real,” it says. LOL I want to focus on verses 5-7, but I hope you’ll read the entire psalm for yourselves. It’s a good check point.

“Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is merciful. The LORD preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.”

Did you get that part about God being righteous and merciful? The one reason we’re afraid to get real with Him, I think, is because we don’t get that. God always judges rightly. He sees our hearts. God is always merciful. It may not seem like it when the stuff hits the fan in your life. but God is always merciful. All that stuff is what you’re reaping from something you’ve sown. Even then, God is merciful to us and deals bountifully with us. He gives us the strength to get through it, and the wisdom to learn from it, if we allow Him to. That’s where that “get real,” thing comes in. You can’t play games with God; He knows everything! So, if you’re not fooling Jesus, who are you fooling? That’s right; you’re fooling yourself. I’m speaking from personal experience. It works so much better and so much faster when you just get real; with Him, and with yourself. Then, your soul can be at rest (peace) to learn, correct, and overcome that thing that got you. Before you know it, the mess is cleaned up, God loves you and has you loving yourself even more than you did back then, and it’s all good. LOL

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It’s Ours To Care For

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 115. It’s a wonderful praise, and reminder of God’s glory on the whole universe. The verse I want to focus on is verse 16; reading from the ESV.

“The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.” I never did laugh at the so-called “tree-huggers.” I probably wouldn’t chain myself to a tree, but I do see their point. We need to manage the things God has given us stewardship over much more carefully. Being homeless, I see a lot of disrespect toward God’s creation. That’s not only disrespect for His creation, but it’s also disrespect for oneself. God made everything beautiful for us. He made it to replenish itself, to sustain life on it, and to give us everything we need to live in good health, comfortably, and happily. When we don’t take care to replenish what we use, we risk destroying that resource completely. The buffalo, and many other near extinct animals are proof of that.

Caring for the earth begins in your own personal space. From there, we gain the strength and energy to care for the world around us; to contribute to its beauty, and to keep it beautiful. God is a god of order, not chaos. When we stop caring for our personal space, we fall victim to chaos, dis-ease, energy sapping currents, etc. This radiates outwardly toward the world around us, in all our relationships, and in eternity, I believe. If you’re going to radiate something, let it be the love, peace, joy, and power within you, that comes from the loving, peaceful, joyful, and powerful personal space you create and sustain. There’s a reason God’s sanctuary is called a sanctuary.

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Write Them Down

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 103.. King David wrote it, and it is so awesome! The first five verses, alone, just get your spirit stirred up. Beginning with verse 2-5: “Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Forget not His benefits. Make a list, just like the one in this psalm. There’s more all throughout the psalm. Those verses just kind of sum it all up for us.

The rest of the psalm lists more of those benefits, and tells us how much God loves us, and how compassionate and tender He is toward us. (V8-14) “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.”

I had an incredible experience in the spirit, over this very psalm. My father-in-law was in a nursing home, and dying. He was afraid to die, because He didn’t believe that God could really forgive Him for the things he’d done. My sister also happened to be his daughter-in-law, and she visited him regularly. I never went to the nursing home, myself. I referred her to the 103rd psalm, when she expressed concern about his being afraid to die. She visited him twice more, but each time, he was asleep, and didn’t wake up. I copied the psalm down on a piece of paper, and put it under a prayer candle. I would light the candle and pray that psalm for him. One night, approximately 1: 30 a.m., my baby girl woke up for her bottle, and since I was awake, I decided to pray for him again. Laying beside her, I began to pray. I almost always say the Lord’s prayer before I pray other prayers; so I began to pray the Lord’s prayer. Suddenly, I was standing in my father-in-law’s room at the nursing home. I called out His name, and He said, “Who’s there?” I called out His name again, and then I said, “In the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, your sins are forgiven; accept your peace.” Right then I woke up, and it was about 7 a.m. My father-in-law passed away at approximately 1:30 a.m. the next morning. Verse 19 of the psalm says, “The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.” That includes time and space.

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Declare It Every Day

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 96, and I can tell you from personal experience, it is life changing.

Verses 1 & 2 are a key that empowers us to make those positive changes. “Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless His name; proclaim His salvation day after day.”

Did you get that part about the new song? No more, “poor me, I can’t, I don’t know how, etc., etc., etc.” “I can do all things through Christ Jesus, who strengthens me,” is the new tune we’re singing. We can, and will proclaim His salvation day after day, by sticking to those standards and boundaries. We’ll proclaim it by making it (salvation from those old ways, etc.) a priority; top of the list.

Now we’re going to get to God’s sanctuary, and our sanctuary. We’ll find this in verse 6: “Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty fill His sanctuary.” Do you know that your space(s) is your sanctuary? Your home, your personal space-like your bedroom, your office cubicle, etc., are all your sanctuary. When we make those spaces like God’s sanctuary, we get the same effect-splendor, majesty, beauty, and strength. That splendor is the peace and joy within, resulting from knowing who and whose we are. The majesty is the authority we have over our spirit, and over the spirits; the authority we have over any and every circumstance, and over our personal spaces/sanctuaries.

This is why we strive to make our spaces strengthening, by keeping them orderly and clean, peaceful, and conducive to productivity and progress. And, in case you didn’t know this, progress is also destressing and taking that breather in your space, that helps you shift gears and get on to the next task. -Like that cup of Chai tea upon your arrival back at home from work. LOL

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Through His Eyes

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 86. It’s a prayer of King David. When I read it, I think of my own childhood, and of my children. We all too often forget just how much we mean to them, and how they see us. Whenever I read this psalm, I have to thank God for my grandmother. And, when I think of my busy little self…oh, my gosh, Oma, I love you so much; and I’m so sorry I made you work so hard -and so thankful for your endless patience and love!

Verses 1-4 begin the prayer: “Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.” Poor and needy is a humble soul/spirit; a hungry spirit. Godly, yes! God doesn’t impute wickedness to His children. He sees the best in us! He assumes the best intentions on our part. I think of hearing that “Mama, Mama, Mama,” and later that “Mom” from the time they woke up to the time they fell asleep. LOL Their hearts are in our hands.

Verse 11 is the simple truth. “Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” When I think of a united heart, I think of one that is sure of the truth, and sure of the teacher. That means there is no conflict, everything lines up. The actions prove the words.

Verses 14-16 give us a picture of doubt trying to sneak in and destroy truth and faith. Verse 17 gives us the remedy. “Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.” That sign of favor is the hug when they come in the door, that “you can do it, baby,” when they’re unsure, and even that mama racing across the parking lot with fire shooting out of her eyes because Baby was just threatened. Yes, that was this mama. LOL It ended peacefully, I’m happy to say.

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It Is I

Today’s message comes from Psalm 75. It is a song written by Asaph, extolling God’s power, and warning the wicked not to exalt themselves against God. Verse 3 caught my attention. “When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars.” (ESV)

When I read this, and thought about my life-fresh out of my parent’s house as a single woman, and later as a wife and mother. When we live under generational curses, we’re not always aware that we are reacting in the present, to what we’ve experienced in the past. That statement in verse three means a couple of things to me.

First, it makes me think about running helter skelter, here and there, to and fro, trying to keep all the little balls I was juggling from hitting the ground. You know, you become a “god” or “goddess.” You’ve got it all “together” and those wounds…WHAT?! What wounds? Yeah, those ones, my dear. We don’t think they show, but they do. If we’re lucky and smart enough to turn to God (The Real GOD), He’ll help us see them too. Secondly, I think of the responsibility of keeping our little family “earth” from tottering, spinning out of control, and coming apart. This, when you’re living under generational curses, doesn’t work well. You can find yourself living co-dependently; and you’re passing on all the things you learned wrong.

The flip-side of all of that is that you can unlearn those things, and learn new things; the right things. You can heal the wounds, so you no longer have to cover them up. You can establish new standards and new boundaries for yourself, and for your children. Hopefully, your children will have better things to pass on to their children, as a result. After all, when it comes to the choice to change things and make them better, who makes the choice? It is I.

Romans 2:1-6 was referenced with this psalm. It’s a great checklist to look at when we’re coming out from under those generational curses. It’s also a great reminder of where you may have been, and a help to keep one humble and compassionate.

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Not All In Vain At All

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 73. The psalm covers a long list of what the wicked do and can expect; of what they are like. The psalmist, Asaph, also tells on himself regarding his attitude, and his pity party. That pity party is what I want to focus on.

Verses 21&22: “When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.” Oh, when I read this, I think of Jesus’ words about the good man bringing good treasure out of the good stored up inside. Then, there’s (Matthew 5:19) that tells us evil thought proceed out of the heart. (Proverbs 4:23) tells us to guard our hearts above all else, because the issues of life flow from it. (Proverbs 5:13) tells us that a crushed spirit comes from a broken heart.

Verses 13-15 give us an example of one of the most famous pity party speeches: “All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. If I had said, “I will speak thus,”I would have betrayed the generation of your children.” “Poor, poor, pitiful me! I don’t know why I bother. What have I done it all for?!” That was me, and more than a few times. I finally got it. Yay, me! “It is not you who is in control, my dear; it’s ME!-you know, God?” Cain had that poor, poor, pitiful me attitude. He ended up murdering his brother.

Your Cain will kill your Able (Abel). God told Cain, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” There are a couple of things we can see here. First, this is the same game that Satan played with Adam and Eve. He caused Eve to question, or doubt, God’s love for her. And now, Cain was angry because he felt slighted by God. Sin is also another word for Satan’s working. Secondly, there’s a revelation about who you really are in the next statement: “It’s desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” You are created in God’s image, and after His likeness; which is LOVE. Perfect/perfected love drives out fear. I believe most sin is based in fear of one sort or another. We’re afraid we’re not loved as much as someone else is, we’re afraid we’re missing out on something if we don’t have everything someone else does, etc. It goes back to that heart thing. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matt. 5:8) Pure can mean, untouched; free of chaos, doubt, etc., and filled with peace, love, and joy. Seeing God is seeing past the immediate moment; seeing further, to the possibility in a situation-even a bad one. Seeing God is having hope, which fosters courage and empowers faith. Faith assures us that the outcome is already taken care of. We have only to walk in the love of God, and let Him have His Will. -His will for us, and for others. Nothing you do with and for God is done in vain. As for the wicked, we war not against flesh and blood, but against the power, the principalities, and the hosts of spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places. The best thing, still, one can do, is to pray for your enemies. You never really know what they may have gone through, or may be going through themselves.

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Say To God; Bring It To Life

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 66, and teaches us the importance of speaking things out.

Verse 3 tells us: “Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.” Do you see the “WOW, Dad!” in those statements?! We need more of this kind of communication with our Heavenly Father. Just like in any other relationship, communication is necessary. It builds knowledge of one another, builds confidence and trust, and solidifies relationship.

Verse 5 says, “Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.” You can see what God has done for us just by looking out the window in the morning, listening to the birds, watching wildlife, taking in the beauty of the sunset colors, etc. I was discussing the early morning temperature with someone recently. I’d read somewhere that anywhere you go in the world, the temperature is always coolest between 3-5 a.m. I got to thinking about the desert heat. By 7 a.m. in June and July, it’s already unbearable. When you think about it, The sun coming up, were the temperature not 20 degrees lower, with a slow warm-up, would fry us by 5 a.m. That’s God protecting us.

Verse 9 assures us that God keeps us; and keeps us where we belong, too. I’m living proof; God will meet you at the gates of Hell and tell you to get your behind home! He does this by allowing us to feel the weight of our sin(s). Verses 11 & 12 tell us that. There’s mention made of men riding over our heads here. That made me think of Jesus’ words about how the rulers of this world lord it over one another. Look at some of the stuff you’ve had to do or tolerate, in order to support your sin and sinful lifestyle. The good news is that God always brings us from that place of lack (strength, truth and conviction, etc.) to a place of abundance. Plenty of room to stand firm, plenty of truth, love, peace, power, joy, and support. You only have to seek it. “Ask, and you will receive. Seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9)

Verse 13 had me laughing at myself. You know how you come running to God, ready to lay that thing at His feet-after it gets so heavy that it’s crushing you…and the thing isn’t really dead yet? Yeah, you know. It’s just playing possum with you; because you are not dead to that thing! You know that old saying, “It can’t hurt you if you don’t care about it?” That’s very true. (Romans 6:1-4)

Verse 18 tells us that God doesn’t listen as long as we’re cherishing that sin and sinfulness. He listens, but He won’t lift a finger to ease your misery. As I said above, it’s the weight of that thing that will bring you to your knees, . that will bring you to your knees before the truth; and before the Truth, the Life, and the Way. Yes, on your knees before Him. “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) And that’s when He can help you! You can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped, can you? Verse 19 tells us that God will meet you at your deepest, and greatest need (spiritual). He “attended to the voice (tone) of my prayer.” You know how Mom always knows if it’s really life or death, or just a hissy? Yes, DAD does too. Think in terms of the Great Physician. Just like a medic, God won’t ignore that deep gash in your head from which blood is pouring out profusely, and take care of your hang-nail first. Finally, God’s steadfast love is never removed from us! Rather, it is we who remove ourselves from it. So, if you feel like God’s not with you, it’s not because He left you. Start hollering, “DADDY, DADDY, DADDY,” just like that little lost kid in the department store.

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