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?