This blog is designed to create community for believers and provide support for seekers. I encourage all readers to share their faith in an effort to lift and encourage one another.
This verse reminds me of the Dr. Suess book, “Green Eggs and Ham.” You, know, where the character repeats, “I do not like green eggs and ham” throughout the book–at least until he finally tastes them. Then he loves them.
This is so true for our friends who’ve never tasted God’s goodness. They think they don’t like it, but they don’t know until they actually taste it.
Father God, I pray for my nonbelieving friends and relatives. May they know the amazing taste of your goodness. May they learn to eat and enjoy it “here and there and everywhere.”
I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness;
I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.
In this chapter, it is so evident that David has a heart after God. Even in his despair at the beginning of the psalm, he continues to take refuge in his God. In spite of all the enemies and wickedness surrounding him, David turns to God to rescue him.
In the midst of his anguish and fear throughout most of this psalm, by its conclusion David readily lifts his voice to sing and praise his God. Perhaps this is one reason why the psalms are so beloved. We can all relate to David’s times of difficulty. By the end of the psalm, however, he gives us this beautiful example of lifting our voices to praise our God.
Lord, let us not be hard on ourselves when we cry to you in difficult times. Instead, let us remember David’s example of praising you even in the most trying times. Thank you for shielding us from evil and for loving us.
Winter went out like a crazy man: winds howled, gusting to 60 miles an hour, and in spite of above freezing temperatures, it snowed most of the day.
Fortunately, Spring has not disappointed, and she has entered like a lady. Temperatures in the 50s with a blue, sunny sky. My pear tree is starting to bloom, there is green on the clematis, peonies are poking their heads up from the ground and the forsythia is blooming.
Thank you, Father, for renewing the earth, and bringing forth what is good: flowers, trees, and grass to enjoy, and bountiful food to eat. Thank you for your faithfulness.
Psalm 85:11-12
“Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.”
Do you remember watching a baby learn to walk? First, he holds Mom’s hand tightly, walking with the reassurance of that grip. Soon he lets go, taking tentative steps on his chubby legs. Back and forth he walks, from Mom to Dad and back to Mom. He has complete confidence; his parents will protect him. After his confidence grows, he ventures out on his own.
The steps are slow and the child is wobbly, sometimes swaying to capture his balance. He falls often, usually by plopping onto his padded bottom. But he doesn’t give up. After falling, he may crawl toward his goal and then get up and walk a few more steps. So it goes: walk, walk, plop, crawl, crawl, walk, walk, plop. Repeatedly, he toddles his erratic walk. Sometimes he’s off balance and lurches to one side; sometimes he rushes to keep from falling forward. But he walks. He learns. Before long, he is running. He runs everywhere. He is so full of the joy of running that he forgets to crawl.
When we first accept Jesus as our Savior, we are born again; becoming babies in the spiritual world. As spiritual babies, we learn to walk spiritually. Our heavenly Father watches over us as we learn. Like a baby, we are tentative at first, unwilling to venture out on our own. Just as the earthly father encourages his children to walk, our heavenly Father encourages us on our spiritual walks. Like our earthly fathers, He holds his out arms, hoping we will bravely walk toward Him.
With God’s guidance and encouragement, we gather the courage to take tentative steps. We wobble, just as the baby does. Yes, we fall down. Unfortunately, unlike the baby, we sometimes refuse to move.
The key to improving our spiritual walk is to keep trying, just as the baby does. When we lose our balance and fall, we cannot just sit. We get up and continue to walk; if we cannot walk, we crawl. Learning to walk with God is a slow process: walk, walk, plop, crawl, crawl, walk, walk, plop.
The baby does not give up when he falls; neither should we. Over and over, we step toward our Father. No matter how wobbly and unsure our steps, we make progress toward Him. Before long we find ourselves walking toward God with confidence, perhaps even running with joy.
Oh God, our Father, guide us as we learn to walk with You. Teach us, encourage us, help us stand back up when we fall.
II Peter 3:17, 18 “Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”
“…the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by his letting us have our way in the end, but by his making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able to honestly pray what he taught his disciples to pray: Thy will be done.”
~ Elizabeth Elliot ~
Lord, I thank you for the hard times in my life, for those are the times I have learned to wait patiently and have better learned to pray “Thy will be done.”
Haven’t we all felt the way David did at the beginning of this passage? Overwhelmed with his sorrows, he weeps all night. He is so distraught and overwhelmed. Yet, in his sorrow, he cries out to the Lord, and the Lord accepts his prayer.
So many of David’s psalms follow this pattern. David despairs in his grief and fear, feeling completely overwhelmed. Before the end of the psalm, however, he seeks the Lord and finds the peace he seeks.
Lesson learned: in the midst of our trials and griefs, we turn to God, we praise his name. He hears our prayers, comforts us, and brings us peace.
Thank you, Lord, for listening to our tears and our fears. Thank you for bringing us through those difficult times and helping us to recognize the way you answer our prayers and bring us through those hard times.
On the surface, this sounds so simple. But it requires understanding or interpreting the metaphor, “walk in the light.” So what do you do to “walk in the light”?
Father, open our eyes to understand the ways we can “walk in the light.” Keep us walking and teach us to fellowship with one another and be purified from all sin.
Let me introduce you to an acquaintance of mine, Beelzebub, Mr. B. for short. Mr. B. is a great accountant. He keeps the ledger for souls, your soul and mine. Meticulously, he records every deed, every selfless, honorable act we’ve ever done, as well as every selfish, unkind word or act anyone has ever committed. He even keeps track of all those good deeds we could have done or meant to do, but never actually accomplished. With great relish, he keeps track of our every word and deed. Let me take you to his office where we can watch him work with his latest client, Mr. Everyman, or Mr. E.
As the door creaks open, we see Mr. B. seated behind an enormous, highly polished wooden desk. Mr. B. sits in his black leather chair, perched on the very edge, leaning toward Mr. E. who fidgets in the opposite chair. Wide open on the desk lays a gigantic ledger, its pages opened to the E’s.
“Ah, friend,” Mr. B. exclaims, “I see you shoveled snow off the sidewalk for the elderly widow in your neighborhood. That definitely earns a plus sign on your soul’s ledger.”
Mr. E. shifts in his chair and smiles tentatively, his chest rising slightly with pride in his good deed. A shadow of a sly smile creeps over Mr. B’s face and his eyes glitter with excitement. “But,” he exclaims triumphantly, “You failed to shovel last month, you only mowed her yard three times last summer, and you rarely visit her. That comes to four marks on the plus side, and…let me see…20 marks on the negative side. That makes your overall score a negative 16.”
Mr. E’s shoulders visibly slump, and his eyes drop to the tops of his shoes. “But I thought….”
“You thought!” interrupted Mr. B. “Let me remind you that I am the bookkeeper. I will let you know your score! At this point in your life, you are definitely in the red. You must try harder!”
“Yes, sir,” Mr. E. mumbles, “I will try harder to do good deeds. Honest, I will.” Slowly, he stands up, turns, and shuffles out the door.
As the door closes, Mr. B. chuckles. “What a sap!” he says to himself. “He’ll be mine soon. Then he’ll pay dearly for what he owes!”
Many years later, Mr. E. once again enters Mr. B’s ornate office. Even though he is now elderly, he walks with a straight back and chin held high. Mr. E. sits in the guest chair and makes eye contact with Mr. B. Once again, the huge ledger lays open on the shiny desk. “Well, well, well,” Mr. B. says, examining the open book. “You have done many honorable deeds since we last met. Feeding the hungry…check…giving to the poor…check…volunteering at your local school…check….. Well, you’ve earned several hundred points on the plus side. “Now for the negative…you lost your temper…check…said a few bad words…harbored a grudge…didn’t forgive your neighbor…Hmm, it seems you have far more than one hundred checks on the negative side. That means you owe me—you are at a negative three hundred and sixty-three. Since your time on the earth is nearing its completion, it appears you will be in debt to me. But don’t worry, you have all eternity to pay off this debt.” As Mr. B. looked up from his ledger, a broad smile covered his face, but his eyes stared coldly at Mr. E.
Mr. E. sat straight in his chair, a slight smile playing about his lips. He shifted his weight in his chair and reached into his pocket, pulling out an official looking paper. “I believe you have made a mistake,” he simply said.
“What! How dare you question my bookkeeping!” shouted Mr. B. He stood up and lunged over the desk toward Mr. E., glaring at him. “You are mine; there is no mistake!”
“Oh, but there is a mistake. You see, I have a receipt. Here is a copy of it.” As he said this, he handed a small slip of paper to Mr. B.
“This is impossible!” sputtered Mr. B. as he read the neat printing on the tiny sheet of paper. “He can’t have paid your debt. You are mine!”
“Oh, but you are mistaken.” Mr. E. spoke his words quietly and calmly. He paid my debt many years ago. He willingly left his heavenly home to become a man. He willingly died a painful death on a cross, all to erase my debt. If you don’t believe me, just look.”
Mr. B. glanced down at his carefully written ledger. His face turned red, then even brighter red as he stared at the “E” page. Right before his eyes, every mark slowly erased itself until all had disappeared.
“You see,” said Mr. E. My ledger is clean. I owe you nothing. My soul is free of debt.
The printed words on the little slip of paper simply said, “Mr. E.’s debt—PAID IN FULL.” Signed, Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians 7:23a “You were bought at a price.”
Thank you Father, for sending your son to pay the price for my sins.
Growing Our Faith Together 