Now I See

Shared from, The Write Hope by Heather Gent:

After two days without a shower and very little food, I finally came up for air from the ocean of production I dived into at the onset of the weekend. I didn't even realize where the time had gone, nor did I care. I was in the zone. I was a powerhouse of God's Spirit and wisdom as I pulled pieces of my life's puzzle together after weeks of prayer, fasting, and circle making (Read Mark Batterson's The Circle Maker). Resembling a mad scientist with wild hair and crazy eyes, my life's potion was almost complete, and not even the interruptions of spouse and child could make me stop mixing as God poured the long sought after components in. Fortunately, I became aware of the time elapsed since I first sat down, so the thought of blood clots forming in my legs (does anyone else think like this or is it just me?) ushered me up for a brisk walk with the family. With each step I felt the surge of passion rise within me as I shared my progress with my husband. God's light was ablaze within my body, spirit, mind, and soul, and I didn't ever want the feeling to end. The spiritual highs you experience walking with God are indescribably sweet and far more euphoric than any drug induced state, so if you've never met Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, but would like to, feel free to contact me through email or messaging and I'll respond as quickly as I can. In the meantime, I wonder what gets you excited and going each day. Do you know why you're here and what you're meant to accomplish, or are you stuck without any clear vision of where it is you're meant to go and what it is you're meant to do? Are you in a job you hate? A rut along a foggy path? A time of despair with no signs of hope? What do you see when you open the windows into your future, and is what you see what God sees? I assure you, He has an amazing plan for your life (Jeremiah 29:11) so if you haven't discovered it yet, keep looking. For me, I've known for a long time that God's call on my life involved ministry, counseling, and writing, but how they all three tied together was unclear until recently. Finally, however, through the blood, sweat, and tears of days passed, God brought my vision into focus and where I was once blind, now I see (John 9:25).

Alphabet Acrostic

"Praise the Lord." Psalm 111:1a"

This Psalm is an acrostic poem, meaning that each of the lines begin with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Praise the Lord in the Hebrew is literally the word Hallelujah or Hallelu Yah (like in Yahweh) as it would be transliterated. Psalms 111-118 are all anonymous and are as a group called the Hallelujah Psalms, because they are so uplifting and optimistic. Good stuff for us in these days of negativity, suspicion, and speculation. Seems like lots of things around us are on a downer and a positive devotionals that is uplifting encouragement probably won't hurt.

Search the Word

"The Lord says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies. Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy majesty, from the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth. The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." The Lord is at your right hand; He will crush kings on the day of His wrath. He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth. He will drink from a brook beside the way; therefore He will lift up His head." Psalm 110:1-7

This Psalm contains one of the most exalted prophetic portions of Scripture; presenting Jesus Christ as both a Holy King and a royal High Priest, something that no human monarch of Israel ever experienced. It, along with Psalm 118 is by far the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament. While portraying the perfect King, the perfect High Priest, and the perfect government, Psalm 110 also declares Christ's current role in heaven as the resurrected Savior and His future role on earth as the reigning Monarch.

Breakthrough

"He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom, and broke away their chains." Psalm 107:14

These words minister to me today, for a number of reasons. I know a lot of people are suffering to varying degrees with depression, bouts with deep, dark, despairing gloom, spiritual attacks or bondage, or a host of other maladies. Only God can bring you out of this kind of a time in your life, no matter how dark, and no matter how deep. He can give you a breakthrough. Through the years, God's people have suffered adversity and affliction, and always when they turn to Him, He helps. Let me describe a couple of scenarios that He can help with, so you can relate.

Search the Word

"The Lord says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies. Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy majesty, from the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth. The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." The Lord is at your right hand; He will crush kings on the day of His wrath. He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth. He will drink from a brook beside the way; therefore He will lift up His head." Psalm 110:1-7

This Psalm contains one of the most exalted prophetic portions of Scripture; presenting Jesus Christ as both a Holy King and a royal High Priest, something that no human monarch of Israel ever experienced. It, along with Psalm 118 is by far the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament. While portraying the perfect King, the perfect High Priest, and the perfect government, Psalm 110 also declares Christ's current role in heaven as the resurrected Savior and His future role on earth as the reigning Monarch.

Lay it on God

"But you, O Sovereign Lord, deal well with me for your name's sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me." Psalm 109:21

David is one of those rare individuals who has a close enough relationship with God that he is able to let God know exactly how he feels about his enemies, and about what he'd like God to do to them. I must admit that I struggle some with letting my hair down as much as David does, and telling God, in no uncertain terms, the feelings I have about the trouble I've had with divisive or destructive people, or those bent on ruining God's work. I am not usually inclined to call upon God to deal with anyone with any other response, except for mercy.

The Great Love of a Great God

"For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness, reaches to the skies." Psalm 108:4

God's love is so much greater than ours. Our love can reach for the skies, but not to the skies. Our love can sometimes imitate God's love, or reflect God's love, but never can it supersede or replace God's love. We can love like He loves, but our love will never compare to the height or depth of His love. His love is unconditional and our love has conditions. We should strive to love more like He loves, always recognizing our limitations.

Ten Things To Always Remember

I think that Pastor Fred said it best during Sunday's message, as he has shared with us several times before, "Isn’t that just like Jesus?" When we hear something that is immediately uplifting, don't you feel that it just had to come straight from God? We are constantly reminded in His Word of how much God loves us and how special we are to Him, so much so that He sent His one and only Son to die for us.

He Does A Lot

"Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done" Psalm 105:1

This is yet another Psalm about what God has done. Our God is a God of action. He does things. Not just talk, not just plans, or ideas, He actually gets things done. Big things, little things, and all sizes of things, in between. No task too great for Him or matter so small that He isn't attentive to it. But, the actual doing is the key. In sentence structure, nouns are wonderful; they give names to everything so we know what to call them. But without verbs, a sentence goes nowhere. For your inspiration today, I will list all the verbs in Psalm 105 that describe God. Amazing what all He does when you take those words together, and see Him in action.

Spiritual and Moral Revival

"By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord, and trouble came to Moses because of them; for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips. They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had commanded them, but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood. They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves."" Psalm 106: 32-43

These are hard words to read. When I first read this account of what happened in Exodus, it broke my heart. Although we've never been given the task of destroying the godless, we nonetheless have very much prostituted ourselves with the gods of power, fame, convenience, sex, and pleasure. All of these things are derivatives of our collective culture and customs that have become more and more a part of the 'American way'. Our roots of Christianity in the founding of our nation have severely eroded and we are already leading the way to the post-Christian era. Am I hopeless? No, but I am dismayed. How have we let it go so far?

Forgiveness and Consequences

"Lord our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds."" Psalm 99:8

Though this is written about the Israelites it pertains to us, also. Let's talk about consequences. God is to us, also, a forgiving God. As a matter of Biblical fact, He removes our sins from Himself, as far as the east is from the west and buries our sins in the deepest sea, to be remembered no more. These are His promises to us. Just think about how far the east is from the west. It is totally and completely far. As far as it can get. And, the deepest sea we have not even seen, explored, measured, or figured out. Pretty deep, I think. These wonderful pictures allow us to realize how forgiving God is, and just how much he loves us, and how far His grace extends.

Praise the Lord

"Praise the Lord, O my soul......." Psalm 103:1

For whatever reason, maybe because of where I am in my life, or what has happened recently, or what will happen soon, I am going to do something with the devotional of this Psalm that I have not done with the previous 102 Psalms that I have written about, thus far this year. I am going to ask you to read the whole thing. This encouraging treatise from David, on God's great love and what He has done, touched me so deeply with encouraging hope, that I can't possibly choose a verse or even a few out of here. So please, slowly (and maybe more than once, like I did) read of exactly what God's love for us is like, and take in every drop of His overwhelming grace. Let this flood your soul with whatever you need to hear from Him.

Wills & Will Nots

"I will sing of your love and justice; to you, O Lord I will sing praise. I will be careful to lead a blameless life---" Psalm 101:1-2a

Sometimes, we must not only make choices, but we must draw boundaries in our lives. In this Psalm, David speaks of what he will and will not do. For simplification, I have made a short list for us of the things that David says he will, and will not do. This is important because, we too often don't have boundaries or limits, and this makes it even harder to lead a blameless life. Though we cannot be perfect, we must make a much better effort at being blameless. Think about the difference. Use David's list to see if it would help you make a better effort.

He Is So Good

"For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100:5

As we sometimes say..... God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good. God has always been good. He doesn't decide to be good. He is inherently good. Goodness is just who He is. As sure as He is the Creator of the Universe; Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent, He is good. It is His character. He doesn't have to try. He doesn't have to resist His nature to be good. He is good and He is different than us. That is why we should endeavor to be like Him. Because, on our own, without following Him, we can't be good.

Another Case for Joy

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music." Psalm 98:4

Let me make yet another case for joy. Lately, I have been suddenly filled with bursts of joy. My jubilance has been almost uncontainable, at times. Anyway, why should I contain it? This great gladness comes from stepping back from the woes and tribulations of this life, shaking off the doldrums and negativity, with large doses of objective truth and allowing myself to experience the joy of the Lord. That will make you want to shout.

Hating Evil

"Let those who love the Lord hate evil" Psalm 97: 10a

The only reason I didn't put the rest of this verse up here is for the sake of emphasis. Let's just deal with this thought. If you truly love the Lord, then you should hate evil, and you will hate evil and you do hate evil. Why do we waste our abhorring and disdain on each other when evil, and the evil one deserve our hate. Not only does God merit our love, the devil has earned our hate. I am not ever going to suggest that you pick a fight with the devil. But, I do recommend hating what he does, and what he represents, and what he is doing to the lives of people. Additionally, first of all, resist him.

Accepting People

"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God." Romans 15:7

How has Christ accepted us? Just as we are, that's how. Or as the Billy Graham Crusades invitation song says.... 'Just as I am, without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me. And that thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb Of God I come, I come.'

For His Name Sake

"Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need. Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name's sake." Psalm 79:8-9

It is important to remember as we read Psalms, that not only are they written as inspired pieces of prose and poetry, songs and prayers and praises to God, they most often are also directly connected to real historical events for the people of God. This particular Psalm is written by Asaph or one of his descendants after the Babylonians had leveled Jerusalem. This event is recorded in 2 Kings 25. All of the horrible things that are told in the opening verses of Psalm 79 is also shared in more detail in 2 Kings 25.

Nature Illustrates God

"May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in His works---- He who looks at the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke." Psalm 104:31-32

Many devotionals have been written about nature and things created glorifying the Lord. Indeed, all of the 35 verses of this Psalm are dedicated to extolling His creating and maintaining of the cosmos. That very ability, by definition, is a bit overwhelming and when we are not mesmerized with manmade stuff; we can step back and appreciate the grander scope of the true designer, first mover, and originator of all the stuff that stuff is made from. So, what could I say here that might give you a fresh perspective on this subject, since so much has been well said?

Heaven

"Glorious things are said of you, O City of God" Psalm 87:3

The city referred to in this Psalm is Zion, the holy mountain, Jerusalem and its beautiful temple there. This picture represents the future community of all believers. The writer is looking ahead to the Holy City of God in Revelation 21:27. The honor of living there will be granted to all whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. All believers will dwell in this place forever. We most often refer to it as Heaven. We don't talk about Heaven very often, but it is as real as hell and eventually everybody will end up in one place or the other. When I hear the word Heaven, I automatically am taken back to childhood and youth songs that talk about a wonderful place. So today I will share a few lyrics and a little about heaven. Here is a short list of my memory songs about Heaven.

Let God Transform You

2013……..this is the time of year where everyone likes to make changes or try to improve their physical bodies or (whatever it is that you do)……..take time to read the verse below and lets allow God to CHANGE us and not try and do it all on our own……….

What are you looking for?

"But now Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you." Psalm 39

David continues battling within himself in this Psalm trying to keep quiet and not able to, then putting everything into the big perspective and that doesn't seem to help him, either. He then simplifies his personal plight by asking himself a simple question. Simply put he asks.... "Hey David, so what exactly are you looking for?" Please allow me to interject some of my more probing questions here and give the obvious answer. Hope you can relate.

Who is like the Lord?

"My whole being will exclaim, Who is like you O Lord? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them." Psalm 35:10

David had more enemies than anybody else I have ever heard about. Whether he was doing right or doing wrong, he always seemed to have several people who had it in for him. He was dogged by his mistakes and also persecuted for his faithfulness. David could easily have said, "I can't win!" Yet he realizes that like the poor who are destitute, he too was impoverished in the spirit and plagued by worries, fears and trouble that were overwhelming. He was robbed of his joy, peace and sense of respect. I am often impressed by his amazing ability to deal with all the obstacles in his life.