My Shield

Ps. 7:10-11

My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.

What have I chosen as a shield? At times I have tried to shield myself by building walls around myself to protect myself from others and from situations, but what good is that? How do I grow or learn from life? What is really accomplished by cutting myself off from people? But, if I allow God to be my shield, then His sovereign will and plan can bear fruit in my life. Then I can grow closer to Him and learn to see His eternal view of life. It is when I am weak that His grace is perfected in me. Why is it so hard to let go of my wounded flesh and live just for Him?  How strong is the flesh!

Father,

Help me to keep You constantly as my shield and take my hands off my life. When I am hurt or overwhelmed, help me to turn to You and find my healing with You.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Due His Righteousness

Ps. 7:17

I will give to the Lord the thanks due to His righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

Why do I give thanks to God? Is it because I am grateful for the good things that He has given me? Am I thankful only when things are going well? Sadly, this is true some of the time. Why? Perhaps it is not related to my ungrateful spirit although that could be a definite problem in my life, but is related to my incorrect understanding of thankfulness. My thankfulness should be related to His righteousness. It should be based on my spiritual relationship with Jesus, my awareness of who He is. Am I as thankful for the cross, salvation, sanctification, His word, etc. as I am for blessings that are focused more on this earth? There is the crux of the problem. My thankfulness is not usually based in the character and nature of God. It focuses more on the temporal blessings in my life; instead my values need to focus on His righteousness. Sadly, I am still holding on to the things in this world, the pride of life, the lust of the eyes, and the lust of the flesh.When my head and my heart are in love with Him, then I will be full of thanks because of this new life He has given me.

Father,

Draw me close to You so that I might know You in all Your fullness. Teach me what it truly means to be thankful and offer You the thanks and praise that You are due.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Abundant Steafast Love

Ps. 5:7

But I, through the abundance of Your steadfast love, will enter Your house. I will bow down toward Your holy temple in the fear of You.

The entrance to the house of the Lord has nothing to do with my righteousness or my works, but instead, it happens because of the abundance of His steadfast love. What amazing grace!  My response to such grace, grace that invites the unworthy into the very presence of God, can only be complete and utter humility. I must bow down in the fear of God just as David did. In this psalm he goes on to ask God to lead him in the way of righteousness, a righteousness that has nothing to do with his achievements or his religion. It is a way  known by God, a way that He implants in the heart of those who are His. When I am this close to God, as David was, then my heart can rejoice and sing for joy because He is my refuge and my protection. He has covered my way with favor as with a shield. How beautiful! What a relationship David had with God, how intense, emotional, and personal. If I had to describe my relationship, would it be similar to this? Certainly, David was a man after God's heart. Where is my heart? Is it one with God's?

Father,

Lead me into Your presence. Cover me with Your favor and grace. Draw me ever closer to You so that our relationship reflects Your presence.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Safe Sleep

Ps. 4:8

In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

God had heard David's deep need for protection and graciously responded. But sometimes there is a waiting period between God hearing and God acting. So how did David survive while he waited for God to act on his behalf. First, he based his life on what he knew to be true about God. He had confidence that the Lord had set apart for Himself those who were godly.Since  David was godly, he was set apart for God. Secondly, he could experience the light of the face of God shining on him flooding his soul with joy. It was in this state that he could sleep safely. For me sleeping safely is not such a big deal since I don't experience danger on a nightly basis, but with David it was different. Men were constantly seeking his life. For him to sleep safely without fear of danger was a big deal and was the result of a deep trust in God based on his relationship with God and what he knew to be true about God.

Father,

Keep me trusting in You as I rest and sleep. Help me to live my life based on what is true about You.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Love Your Enemies

Lk. 6:35-36

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Since God was kind to the ungrateful and the evil, He, by example, set a life principle for His children. In this passage, He says I am to do good to those who hate me, bless those who curse me, and pray for those who abuse me. How hard is that! When I am hurt in any of these ways, my flesh cries out to hurt in return, or if not that, then at least to stay away from this person so that I don't open up myself for more hurts. But God says the way of the flesh is not His way. If I only love those who love me, or do good to those who do good to me, I am no better than an unsaved person who only does something to ensure a similar response. In God's kingdom, the principle is love, do good, and lend expecting nothing. Even as I read those words, I wonder if I could ever act in these ways. Perhaps that is the way it should be. If I thought I could do it, then it would be my works and not grace. For me, it would certainly be all of grace and only after much prayer. He promises a great reward for this behavior, but even that isn't enough to counter my flesh's response when I am hurt. I think it is only the grace of God perfected in my weakness that could make this possible. Then again, maybe the reward is experiencing the grace of God working in and through my life.

Father,

Teach me to live like this, to be merciful as You are. I thank You for Your great mercy to me and ask You help me share it with others.

In His name,

Amen 

Reversals

Lk. 6:20-22

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

The life of a believer counters all that the world feels is desirable. Instead of riches, the believer is blessed for his poverty. Instead of fullness, the believer is blessed for his hunger. Instead of laughter, the believer is blessed for his weeping. Instead of having the favor of others, the believer is blessed for being hated and reviled. In fact, not only is the world's system and values to be rejected, but it brings with it a woe, a much stronger label and one that brings judgment. What is the reason for this reversal? It seems to me that if I am rich, full, laughing, and enjoying favor, I am not needy in the least. My life would seemingly have all that I would need. But the believer has discovered a deep need in his heart, one that can only be met by Jesus. So the world's riches mean nothing to me in fact, they clutter my heart and obscure my vision of Jesus. Instead, I realize my poverty of soul and my deep inability to satisfy and save myself. By the same token if I am full, I am completely self-satisfied and not hungering and thirsting for righteousness, for Jesus Himself. I have allowed things to try and satisfy my longings instead of the person of Jesus. If I am laughing, my vision has clouded the true state of my soul. I am not seeing myself as God's sees me, or else I would be weeping over my sin and mourning my state apart from the grace of God. For the unbeliever, the favor of others is the only favor he can possess, but this favor is capricious and short-lived, but if I have the favor of Jesus above anything else, then being hated or reviled means nothing. Actually, being hated and reviled is the  normal course of events for someone who truly loves Jesus because the believer's life is showing the world the emptiness of their lives. Yes, living as a believer is a complete reversal of what the world thinks. So Jesus' final words to me are to love my enemies because there will be many of them. By loving them and living in a way that reverses the world's values, I bring glory to God and reflect the One who saved me.

Father,

Take the taste for what the world offers completely out of mouth. Teach me to love Your way and Your will. Help me to show the world a reflection of Your Son.

In His name,

Amen

Sinners to Repentance

Lk. 5:31-32

And Jesus answered them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

How glorious to see Jesus reach out to those who are so unworthy! He specifically came to Levi, a tax collector and asked Levi to follow Him. This tax collector was not considered a righteous man; in fact, he was considered a crook extracting from the people whatever he could. Yet, Jesus reached out to him. After this Jesus went a step further by eating with Levi's friends at his great feast. The seemingly religious and righteous people were disgruntled and even mystified by this behavior. They could not fathom that Jesus would choose to be with these unsavory people. Looking squarely at them, he simply told them that he came to call sinners to repentance. His heart went out to all the sick, the dirty, and the evil. His reach was to the people who were needy, helpless to save themselves. It was precisely these people who could see their need, who would Jesus to do a miracle in their lives. What amazing grace is this that reaches out to people like me, people who are helpless to be righteous, people who need the supernatural Savior to save them. 

Father,

My heart is full of thanks for Your Son who reached out to me and all those who were lost and helpless. I continue to ask for Your grace because my life continues to be needy.

In the name of my Savior,

Amen