201 - "Holiness Trumps Management" Proverbs 1-3

Don't be weary of God's reproof.
The Lord reproves those whom He loves.  
Sickness. Trials. Testings. Temptation

Matthew Henry puts it this way:  
"Should the Lord visit us with trials and sickness---let us not forget that the exhortation speaks to us as to children, for our good. Bind them around your neck."
"My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves as a father the son in whom he delights.   Proverbs 3:7
Henry goes on to say that those "who know themselves" find a lack of understanding like a bruised broken reed.  God will never break us beyond measure. 

So, what's the point?

What to do?
Scripture interprets Scripture.  What is God saying to you through His Word?
Holiness weighs in more important than management.  

Write His Words on the tablet of your heart so you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.  Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  No bruised reeds here. May our holiness trump any kind of management involving our lack of understanding.  

Proverbs 3:3-7  Don't lose your grip on Love and Loyalty. 
   Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart. Earn a reputation for living well 
   in God's eyes and the eyes of the people. Trust God from the bottom of your heart; 
   don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do,    
   everywhere you go; He's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all. 
   Run to God! Run from evil! Honor God with everything you own; 
   give him the first and the best. ... No need to panic over alarms or surprises.

I have lived a frenetic life at times---that's my default mode.  Someone please help me.  Someone please rescue me.  There's Only One Who can Rescue us from darkness.  May we be more concerned about being rescued from darkness than rescued from pain.  It doesn't come from a good place in my heart when I try to ease my pain, minimize my pain, silence my pain.  I've so wanted answers for my panic.  And here is my God saying:  Don't try to figure out everything on your own.  Listen for God's Voice."  Am I listening this day for His Still Small Voice?  Or am I trying to figure out life on my own?  Everything.  Everywhere.  Listen for His Voice today in the mundane and marvelous.  And go be Prov 3:29---God's Hand to someone this day.

Solomon was the wisest of men. 

Yet, even Solomon had to wrestle with Wisdom.

It wasn't poured into his head through a sieve, through a spout.

It was delivered by His Maker, through his work.

Gaining wisdom.

Understanding words.

Receiving instruction.

Doing what is right and just and fair.

Giving prudence to the simple.

Giving knowledge to the young.

Adding learning to the wise.

Giving guidance to the discerning.

Understanding proverbs.

Proverbs 1:1-6

Wise words from a wise man seeking this all of his life.

There is Someone greater here than Solomon.

There is Christ found in these proverbs.

Christ is The Living Word.  

Breathed on to this page.

PHOTO: Pagosa Springs

200 - "God Uses Struggle To Uncover A Rest Beneath the Struggle" Psalm 144-150

As we close the Book of Psalms, what did our Beautiful God stir in you that comes to mind?  What is stronger in you?  What are you afraid of?  What is God stirring up?  What lingers?

Psalm 150:6 "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  We all have breath.  Even our praises are with trembling. 

At this juncture of my life, I feel like I have fallen short in ways.  How arrogant to think if I had to do it all over again, I could do better---no, I'd just make different mistakes.  No perfect people.  Why am I so hard on myself? 66 LL says: No guarantees in life.  Only one:  God will lead me through even this to know Him better.  Thank you, Lord.

God is the One who rebuilds our lives, 

Who regathers us when we distance ourselves.  

He heals the heartbroken and bandages our wounds.  

I need a Savior this night to heal my broken heart as I deal with some hard realities about my life.  Our Lord is great with limitless Strength; we'll never comprehend what He knows and does.  God puts the fallen on their feet again.  I'm standing up.

What lingers with me is that our desires to live are good but the road to get there can be a bad one.  "You assume I relieve struggle and replace it with rest.  But I use struggle to uncover a rest beneath the struggle that no anguish can destroy.  The struggle with fear and pain will continue.  Only in the storm will you know there is an anchor."  Do I feel that Anchor this night?   

Incredibly grateful for these two So very grateful to you God for                                                              You rescue the wretched who have been thrown out with the trash.                                                                  You seat them among honored guests.                                                                                                        And you give the childless joy as the parents of children.   

This week, I have wrestled about my life, my place, my heart---there is a verse that kept coming to mind:  Psalm 115:1 Not to us.  Not to us, but to your Name be Glory.  This life is not about me yet I am enmeshed in figuring it out.  Not to us but to your Name bring Glory!

PHOTO:  Thought about the twins many times while reading Psalms.  These Covid babies have inherited a crazy world.  May they find the Anchor of their soul forever.  And this Momma will always praise Him even in her current trembling. east to west, from dawn to dusk, 
Keep lifting all your praises to God!  These older two grandkids are just the best! We could not have enjoyed the bats, the trampolines, the skating rink, the pool, the go karts, the arcades, the aquarium any more!!! Thanks for visiting us Zekey!  August 2023

199 - “Hedged In Behind & Before” Psalm 139-143

  

The LORD will accomplish what concerns me. 138:8

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me. 138:7

LORD, You have searched me and known me. 139:1
You understand my thought from afar. 139:2
You scrutinize my path & my lying down. 139:3
You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me. 139:5
If I would count your thoughts, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.

O the Wonder.
O the Awe of it All.
BB Warfield in a famous sermon delivered in 1911 said:
"Familiarity with the things of God will cause you to lose your awe."

Have we spent so much time in strategic local church ministry planning that we have lost our wonder at the Sovereign Planner Who guides our every minute. 
Have we spent so much time unpacking the theology of Scripture that we have forgotten the end game of personal holiness.  Have we spent so much time in discipling others that we are no longer amazed at the reality of having been chosen to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  [Paul David Tripp]

Psalm 139:3 Make each of us bold with strength in our soul.
Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

198 - "Either Cling to Me as I Am Or Who You Want Me To Be" Psalm 132-138

                             

Remember our hardships endured.
Remember David's mantra:
I will not even sleep until
I find a place for the Lord.
Until I find a place for my Lord
in all that I do, in all that I am.
Psalm 132:5.

An author once said:
"Either cling to Me as I AM or
reshape Me into who you want Me to be."
Larry Crabb

I've seen a few suns set in this life.  And as I read these psalms, something stirs within.  David was despised by family & friends.  David never knew he would sit on a throne.  David worshipped.  Nothing mattered more to him than God.

The stakes are high to find a place for my Lord and not try to make Him fit into my life, my expectations, my rights.  Here is David, who suffered well, singing in the midst.  His passion for God is all-consuming his throne.  From caves to thrones, He worshipped.  And it didn't matter how hard he fell.  He preached to himself the Gospel of Grace as Tripp called it:  "Today in your private, life-interpreting conversation, will you preach to self the gospel of God's grace?"

PHOTO:  Another sun sets on the Washington Bridge as I worship you and pray for You to move in all of our lives.

"The more you see your own flaws and sins, 

the more precious, electrifying, and amazing 

God's Grace appears to you."  Tim Keller 135 God, you'll never be out-of-date. God, you stand up for your people.  God, you hold my hand through this wedding day.  Psalm 136 Your Love will never quit.  Psalm 137 We cried and cried and cried... Psalm 138 Thank You for what You have done!  Everything in me says "Thank You!"  Angels listen as I sing my thanks.  I kneel in worship this wedding morn.  Thank you for Your Love.  Most Holy is Your Name.  The moment I called out, You stepped in; You made my life large with Strength.  Would you do it again this day for all of us.  Make our lives a little larger.  And where people are attracted to our flesh, reveal to us the way of escape to let You step in.  Finish what you started in me, 

197 - "Quiet My Soul in My Loss of What I Loved" Psalm 120-131

I will lift my eyes to the mountains ~ Psalm 121:1
But there is no help in the power & strength I find there.

My help comes from the LORD.
My transformed soul must quiet itself in my loss of what I loved, 

in my disappointment of what I had hoped for, 

in my sadness in how I am treated,

and in my suffering of what I had trusted. 

 My Help comes from the LORD Who made Heaven and Earth. 

 Be quiet, o my soul. 

 No mountain, no power, no strength, other than My LORD. 

 He Who keeps me will not slumber this night. Psalm 121:3. 
Compose and Quiet my soul!  

I will not involve myself in great matters or in things too difficult for me. Psalm 127:2. 

Psalm 28:2 I will find my help from Your Presence in my life, in my community, in my church. I will look to Your Sanctuary. 

 Come LORD Jesus, be Present here. 

 Make me like these mountains which cannot be moved.

PHOTO:  Eatonville, Washington. I remember what I was thinking when this picture was taken.

196 - "Meaning and Mercy in Suffering" Psalm 119

                                                                    

I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I have not forgotten your Word. Psalm 119:83

Wine-bottles of the East are skins.                                                                                                               The custom was to hang the skin of wine in the smoke of a fire to mellow the wine and bring it to perfection.  

I learned in school you always have to ask: So what's the point?  

The psalmist finds consolation in this metaphor that my afflictions have "meaning" and "mercy."              They have been sent by the Creator to act on me like the smoke does on the wine.  

The Tuck commentary says: Under all these afflictions, may we refuse to part with our faith.  Yet, we falter.  Yet, we don't forget the Word either.  

R. Tuck says: "What seems to be in mind is a long waiting-time, which was also a time of suffering and strain."  Waiting for God.  Watching for God as this world passes away.  

And Tuck says the major question is this:  "What was he doing during this hard waiting-time?" ...     Holding fast to his integrity;                                                                                                                  keeping obedience and trust;                                                                                                                persistently ordering his life according to the Divine statutes.  

Send your Word, O God! And may we throw ourselves on the Divine rhetoric.

The Unfolding of the Word gives Light. 

The entrance illuminates our understanding. 

Doesn't depend on how bright we are or are not. 

It gives understanding even to the simple. 

The word "pentach" signifies an opening. 

Someone said that metaphorically, it really means a "gate." 

And when the Light dispels the darkness, and lights up our minds, 

we enter the porch.

What happens when we enter in the house? 

May we be so taken with the Word of God to delight, meditate, study, and marvel at it over and over and over. 

Huram-abi knew how to work with iron, stone, gold, silver, bronze, wood.  He could do it all---engravings.  But all I can think of this day is that I want some iron in my soul.  I'm far too flappable, malleable, slippery, flacid.  The Holy Spirit knows how to put that iron in my soul.  And so, we pray. 
Psalm 119: 175 
Invigorate my soul , O God, 
so I can praise You well, 
use Your Decrees to put iron in my soul. 

PHOTO:  Because the beginning is understanding for all of us. Light coming through an opening in the sky. A gate of wisdom for us this day.

195 - "Send The Word To Me" Psalm 108-114

Psalm 108 - Am I really awake or just trying to live an encouraging positive life?  Listen to your life!  Am I ready to raise a God-song?  If so, my soul must be awake or it's empty notes.  For the sake of the one you love so much, reach down and help me---answer me! Human help is pedestrian. 

2 Thoughts Linger from Today's Reading:

Psalm 108 - AWAKENED TO LISTEN.   Listen to your life.   Listen to your world.

Psalm 109 - GOD'S HAND IS IN THIS.  Does my world recognize Your Hand is in this...

and if yes, then how do I respond to that?  My God, don't turn a deaf ear to my hallelujah prayer. 

I'm at the end of my rope, my life in ruins.  Save me through your Wonderful Love.  Then they'll know that your hand is in this.  I so believe you wrote this psalm for me.  In some ways, I am at my wit's end but I believe your hand is in this.   It would be really good for me, I think, if others knew Your Hand was in this.

PHOTO:  In a bevy of people and no one knows how you feel. I need to walk up. Listen. 

194 - "His Words Are Incarnate Words Fleshed Out In Us" Psalm 106-107

Psalm 107 speaks of our sin-sick souls.

About God Who sends a personal Word.

They cried to the Lord in their trouble...

and He saved them from their distress.

"He sent out His Word & healed them."

Psalm 107:20.

And, He stilled their storm to a whisper;
the waves of their sea were hushed.
Psalm 107:29.

We are healed by the word that comes
out of the mouth of God.
A Word does it.
Rescues.
That Word comes
from human messengers,
comes from angels unheard of,
comes from the very Word Itself,
maybe even a thought placed in our mind.
Stills my current storms to a whisper.
Hushes the present waves of my sea.

This word is like oxygen.
Send Your Word.
And He did:  "God knows your form."

Ezekiel, Ezri, Bristol, Mira, Tracer ...                                                                                                          Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works; be alert for signs of His presence. 

God speaks.
It may be in the humdrum of life or it may be in hurts that pierce our hearts and make our blood run cold.
God speaks.
"And the reason that His Words are Impossible to Capture in Human Language is of course that they are ultimately always Incarnate Words. They are words fleshed out in the everydayness, no less than in the crises of our own experience." (Buechner). Whether you heard him in the humdrum or hurts of this day, keep your eyes open for Him.  What sign was His Presence to you this day?

PHOTO: A good book and 4 grandkids listening for a word.

193 - “When Will You Come to Me, O God?” Psalm 101-105

                         

"When will you come to me?" Psalm 101:2
Such an intriguing question.
Some commentaries think David penned this psalm
when he finally took the throne after waiting 25 years.
The psalm fits a "good magistrate" and a "good master."
When, God?
This is the householder's psalm. For all the places we lead.
No matter what our outward condition is---joy or sorrow.
Keep these words in your mind.  On repeat.  
We must sing this psalm in our world. 
This is how David would walk in his own house,
for he was still under the watchful Eye of God.

Our greatest goal in living in our homes is this.
That God may dwell there all our days.
We invited Him from the day we moved in.
Sometimes I feigned soul amnesia and forgot He was there.
Most days I knew it, breathed it, lived it.
It's over.  The last child flipped over the calendar.
I've thought much about what we left there in that home.
Thought much about what God did there.
I can't take it back and I wish I could in ways.
But we gave the best we had from where we sat and walked.
And all I can do is ask today:
When will you come to me, God? And a tear falls.

All those days brought me to this tear.  I want Him so.
So, what's the point:  Walk circumspectly under the
Hand of Providence, under the Watchful Eye of God. There are beautiful souls still living in my house. All are worthy of utmost respect.

One of the most unbelievable experiences I have had was when II Corinthians 1:8-10 happened to me.  I was burdened excessively, beyond my strength, so that I despaired even of life.  A troubled childhood, violence, gang rape, addictions, miscarriages, and then it happened---burdened excessively.  January 13, 2006.  "Indeed [I] had the sentence of death within so that I would not trust in [myself] but in God Who raises the dead."  II Cor. 1:8-9,  He did! He raised me up from the dead.  I didn't think I was going to make it through.  Oh! Make no mistake, He raised me up to life that I've never known.  More alive than I've ever been.  More aware of the sin within than ever.  It's called "The Great Divide." [Oswald Chambers] I have set my hope on God, not on this world.  And He will YET deliver me even more. 

"God produces a providential crisis where we have to decide---FOR or AGAINST, and from that point the "Great Divide" begins.  If the crisis has come to you on any line, surrender your will to Him absolutely and irrevocably."  Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest January 1.

PHOTO: The Quarries Lake where I often ask "When will you come to me, O God?"

192 - "My Busy Thoughts Are Multiplying" Psalm 92-100

When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, 

Your Consolations will delight my soul. Psalm 94:19

My heart was filled with various and perplexing busy thoughts.

I was, I am tormented with the cares and fears about my future state.

Reach for the Consolations when the branchings of the heart hit hard.

I had to go back to subbing at the public schools in Austin---a challenge.

When you get older, it's a different ballgame in life or maybe it's that I just still

have not found my niche of contribution.  Trusting God in the midst of the emptiness.

The comforts that delight our soul are at our fingertips—

*the promises of God in His Word 

*the Word of God set home by the Holy Spirit on our souls, 

*and all those memories of His Care and Kindness to each of us in days gone by. 

The word for thoughts is used to describe branches of trees, 

thick and entwined, showing just how perplexed and distressing our thoughts really are. 

Praying for you and for me that God will open His Promises, His Word, and apply it to our souls.

Thank you, God.  This means so much that you would do this for us.

Can I let go and leave my hurts in His Hands?
 Psalm 96 - God is coming to set everything right on earth.  (God said this 4 times.).  So, I can let go any insults, any harm done to me for my King will set it straight someday.   

 

Am I arrogant in how I talk about other people?

 Psalm 97:8 - Am I proud of my ragamuffin gods?  I hope not.

What's my password?

 Psalm 100:1-4 - On your feet now—applaud God.  Sing yourselves into his presence. Enter with the password: "Thank you!"

PHOTO:  At a monastery in Budapest.  A sacred place of long ago where I step this day and feel the energy of the Spirit of God moving in my life.  Couldn't be more grateful juxtaposed to feeling such aloneness and lack of purpose.