As the mountains surround Jerusalem, / So the LORD surrounds His people / From this time forth and forever. Psalm 125:2
Jerusalem was located on top of a mountain and the temple of God was even higher located on the pinnacle within the city walls. It was an uphill journey and pilgrims seeking the presence of the Lord were likely to find the last steps, the hardest.
Perhaps that is why David wrote several songs specifically designed to be sung on the uphill hike. Psalm 125 is one of these Songs of Ascent intended to strengthen pilgrims and reassure them of God’s protection. Families sang together and traveling strangers sang to each other as verse by verse the music encouraged them to keep putting one foot in front of another and not be afraid.
A Song of Ascent was desperately needed when I was a forty-five year old college junior struggling to make financial ends meet while raising a family as a single mom and hoping I could finish my degree before funds ran dry. Fear and insecurity constantly plagued me making a difficult journey almost impossible.
I had begun the program at Liberty University hoping to do all the work from home but soon found that would not be possible. On campus time was required even though they segmented it into concentrated stays of two week duration. I would have to physically go to Virginia. So, leaving two teenagers to fend for themselves, I prepared as best I could and boarded a plane.
The campus was located in a valley completely surrounded by mountain peaks. I had never having been east of the Mississippi river and the new landscape was fascinating. As I looked around I saw land that was higher than where I stood in every direction.
I left the dorm that first morning with a heavy briefcase and a light sweater—wrong combination for winter in the mountains. It was almost a fourth of a mile to the lecture hall and I was feeling very miserable. Then, I looked up and things changed. I wasn’t any warmer but I did become braver.
Several weeks earlier, I had been listening to the radio and heard Psalm 125:2 set to music. The little chorus was easily memorized and as I looked at the mountains it came back to me. “As the mountains are around Jerusalem, the Lord is all around His people.” If that scripture were true—and it was—I had no need to fear, and a little cold air was certainly not the worst thing in the world. If the Lord was all around believers, then He was around me. ALL around. As He looked down, nothing could surprise or take Him unaware. I may not have been warm, but I was safe.
Do you feel you’re on an uphill journey? Do you wonder about surprises and protecting your blind side? Rejoice! Jesus is all around and nothing surprises Him.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
His Pasture
Psalm 100:3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is who has made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
God uses many words to describe His relationship with us. We are called His children [1], people [2], possession [3], treasure [4], bride [5] and more. But one of the most common metaphors in both Old and New Testaments is that we are His sheep [6] and when He calls us by that name, the Bible often adds that we are kept within His pasture [7].
I don’t know a lot about sheep, but I do know pastures. I owned several when I lived on the ranch and as I think of being His sheep, the idea of dwelling in His pasture strikes a deep chord.
A pasture is by definition a portion of ground with boundaries where livestock are confided by fences or even sharp-toothed dogs whose sole purpose is to make sure the animals stay where they are supposed to be. My animals, like all others, liked to roam, but I ignored their fleeting wants. They were stuck within the boundaries I designated whether they liked it or not. I knew what was best and fences were not an option.
One of the curious things about livestock is they seem to have a built-in need to know where the fences are. If I bought a new animal or changed pastures with ones that had been under my care for years, the first thing they did was walk the fence. I’d open the bars of the trailer and they would stumble into the light blinking at the freedom of a new place. They might pause briefly or perhaps take a few bites of grass, but it wouldn’t be long until they started off in a straight line and walked until they could go no further.
Once they found the limit, they would push and examine and taste until they knew exactly what kind of barrier held them. Then, they would walk again, circumventing the entire pasture while pausing now and again to test the fence. Was there a hole they could squeeze through? If they leaned against it, did it stand? Did the barbed wire hurt too much if they pushed against it?
Eventually, convince that the fence could not be breached, they would settle down and become part of the heard. When that happened, they were finally in a position to enjoy the bounty I had provided.
The idea of a pasture is one way I find comfort when life throws a up barrier. I just think about being in the Lord’s pasture. Not that it is always comfortable and I don’t occasionally long for grass on the other side of the fence, but I know who owns the place where I live and spend my days. This is not a haphazard chunk of extra ground. It doesn’t belong to Satan. And, it doesn’t belong to the sheep. This pasture was allotted to me, personally. It belongs to a Shepherd who is kind and holds my best interest close to His heart.
[1] Ps.82:6; John 21:5
[2] Exodus 6:7; Luke 1:68
[3] Ephesians 1:14
[4] Matthew 13:44
[5] Revelation 21:2
[6] Psalm 78:52; John 10:14
[7] Psalm 74:1; 79:13; 95:7; 100:3; Jeremiah 23:1; Ezekiel 34:31; John 10:9
God uses many words to describe His relationship with us. We are called His children [1], people [2], possession [3], treasure [4], bride [5] and more. But one of the most common metaphors in both Old and New Testaments is that we are His sheep [6] and when He calls us by that name, the Bible often adds that we are kept within His pasture [7].
I don’t know a lot about sheep, but I do know pastures. I owned several when I lived on the ranch and as I think of being His sheep, the idea of dwelling in His pasture strikes a deep chord.
A pasture is by definition a portion of ground with boundaries where livestock are confided by fences or even sharp-toothed dogs whose sole purpose is to make sure the animals stay where they are supposed to be. My animals, like all others, liked to roam, but I ignored their fleeting wants. They were stuck within the boundaries I designated whether they liked it or not. I knew what was best and fences were not an option.
One of the curious things about livestock is they seem to have a built-in need to know where the fences are. If I bought a new animal or changed pastures with ones that had been under my care for years, the first thing they did was walk the fence. I’d open the bars of the trailer and they would stumble into the light blinking at the freedom of a new place. They might pause briefly or perhaps take a few bites of grass, but it wouldn’t be long until they started off in a straight line and walked until they could go no further.
Once they found the limit, they would push and examine and taste until they knew exactly what kind of barrier held them. Then, they would walk again, circumventing the entire pasture while pausing now and again to test the fence. Was there a hole they could squeeze through? If they leaned against it, did it stand? Did the barbed wire hurt too much if they pushed against it?
Eventually, convince that the fence could not be breached, they would settle down and become part of the heard. When that happened, they were finally in a position to enjoy the bounty I had provided.
The idea of a pasture is one way I find comfort when life throws a up barrier. I just think about being in the Lord’s pasture. Not that it is always comfortable and I don’t occasionally long for grass on the other side of the fence, but I know who owns the place where I live and spend my days. This is not a haphazard chunk of extra ground. It doesn’t belong to Satan. And, it doesn’t belong to the sheep. This pasture was allotted to me, personally. It belongs to a Shepherd who is kind and holds my best interest close to His heart.
[1] Ps.82:6; John 21:5
[2] Exodus 6:7; Luke 1:68
[3] Ephesians 1:14
[4] Matthew 13:44
[5] Revelation 21:2
[6] Psalm 78:52; John 10:14
[7] Psalm 74:1; 79:13; 95:7; 100:3; Jeremiah 23:1; Ezekiel 34:31; John 10:9
Protecting Your Blind Side
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, / So the LORD surrounds His people / From this time forth and forever. Psalm 125:2
Jerusalem was located on top of a mountain and the temple of God was even higher located on the pinnacle within the city walls. It was an uphill journey and pilgrims seeking the presence of the Lord were likely to find the last steps, the hardest.
Perhaps that is why David wrote several songs specifically designed to be sung on the uphill hike. Psalm 125 is one of these Songs of Ascent intended to strengthen pilgrims and reassure them of God’s protection. Families sang together and traveling strangers sang to each other as verse by verse the music encouraged them to keep putting one foot in front of another and not be afraid.
A Song of Ascent was desperately needed when I was a forty-five year old college junior struggling to make financial ends meet while raising a family as a single mom and hoping I could finish my degree before funds ran dry. Fear and insecurity constantly plagued me making a difficult journey almost impossible.
I had begun the program at Liberty University hoping to do all the work from home but soon found that would not be possible. On campus time was required even though they segmented it into concentrated stays of two week duration. I would have to physically go to Virginia. So, leaving two teenagers to fend for themselves, I prepared as best I could and boarded a plane.
The campus was located in a valley completely surrounded by mountain peaks. I had never having been east of the Mississippi river and the new landscape was fascinating. As I looked around I saw land that was higher than where I stood in every direction.
I left the dorm that first morning with a heavy briefcase and a light sweater—wrong combination for winter in the mountains. It was almost a fourth of a mile to the lecture hall and I was feeling very miserable. Then, I looked up and things changed. I wasn’t any warmer but I did become braver.
Several weeks earlier, I had been listening to the radio and heard Psalm 125:2 set to music. The little chorus was easily memorized and as I looked at the mountains it came back to me. “As the mountains are around Jerusalem, the Lord is all around His people.” If that scripture were true—and it was—I had no need to fear, and a little cold air was certainly not the worst thing in the world. If the Lord was all around believers, then He was around me. ALL around. As He looked down, nothing could surprise or take Him unaware. I may not have been warm, but I was safe.
Do you feel you’re on an uphill journey? Do you wonder about surprises and protecting your blind side? Rejoice! Jesus is all around and nothing surprises Him.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Feeling Blessed Today?
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places Ephesians 1:3>
Do you feel blessed today? You should! The truth is that your ARE blessed whether you recognize that fact or not. The blessings are flowing all around you. God’s Word says so!
One of the nicest things about Ephesians 1:3 is that the verbs are past tense. God HAS blessed us. Not that He is planning on blessing us someday or that He may bless if we faithfully stick it out through the hard times. No, this is a done deal. It is finished. Settled, Complete. Nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. This blessing of God has already happened!
We sometimes experience a pleasing event and declare ourselves “blessed” because the event feels good and we are grateful. There is nothing wrong with that. Happy and at times unexpected things do indeed come from our Father. But, those are not the kind of blessings referred to in Ephesians. The past-tense, done-deal blessings that Paul focuses on are spiritual blessings found in heavenly places. That’s what makes them superior to and more to be desired than any feel-good, pleasing for the moment events we may encounter.
This world is passing away. If you are “blessed” with good health today, it will fade as you age. If you are “blessed” with a good job and new car, both will eventually vanish. Earthly events, things and circumstances are like that. They come, and they go. But things in the heavenly realm last: Character growth, knowing how to be content, recognizing the smile of God, eternal life and eternal rewards; these things don’t fade. They are here to be enjoyed now and only multiply as we pass through this life and into eternity.
Right now—today—God’s smile is toward those who are bought by the blood of Jesus (Romans 8:1) His favor is raining down (Ezekiel 34:26) God seeks our good, not our hurt (Jeremiah 29:1). He has made us accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6). Nothing and no one can ever separate us from His Divine protection (Romans 8:31-35). We are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:19-21 NKJV). We are blessed to such a degree that the God of Glory has even destined us to be kings and priest before Him forever (Revelation 1:6).
We have all these things because we have experience a royal birth (I Peter 1:23). And, just like earthly royalty, our birth status doesn’t change. No matter where we are, no matter what our circumstance, no matter if others recognize it or even if we ourselves deny it (II Timothy 2:13) once born royal, we can never be unborn.
Lift up your head today. You ARE blessed and there is nothing your day or your world can throw at you today that will make your status any different.
Do you feel blessed today? You should! The truth is that your ARE blessed whether you recognize that fact or not. The blessings are flowing all around you. God’s Word says so!
One of the nicest things about Ephesians 1:3 is that the verbs are past tense. God HAS blessed us. Not that He is planning on blessing us someday or that He may bless if we faithfully stick it out through the hard times. No, this is a done deal. It is finished. Settled, Complete. Nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. This blessing of God has already happened!
We sometimes experience a pleasing event and declare ourselves “blessed” because the event feels good and we are grateful. There is nothing wrong with that. Happy and at times unexpected things do indeed come from our Father. But, those are not the kind of blessings referred to in Ephesians. The past-tense, done-deal blessings that Paul focuses on are spiritual blessings found in heavenly places. That’s what makes them superior to and more to be desired than any feel-good, pleasing for the moment events we may encounter.
This world is passing away. If you are “blessed” with good health today, it will fade as you age. If you are “blessed” with a good job and new car, both will eventually vanish. Earthly events, things and circumstances are like that. They come, and they go. But things in the heavenly realm last: Character growth, knowing how to be content, recognizing the smile of God, eternal life and eternal rewards; these things don’t fade. They are here to be enjoyed now and only multiply as we pass through this life and into eternity.
Right now—today—God’s smile is toward those who are bought by the blood of Jesus (Romans 8:1) His favor is raining down (Ezekiel 34:26) God seeks our good, not our hurt (Jeremiah 29:1). He has made us accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6). Nothing and no one can ever separate us from His Divine protection (Romans 8:31-35). We are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:19-21 NKJV). We are blessed to such a degree that the God of Glory has even destined us to be kings and priest before Him forever (Revelation 1:6).
We have all these things because we have experience a royal birth (I Peter 1:23). And, just like earthly royalty, our birth status doesn’t change. No matter where we are, no matter what our circumstance, no matter if others recognize it or even if we ourselves deny it (II Timothy 2:13) once born royal, we can never be unborn.
Lift up your head today. You ARE blessed and there is nothing your day or your world can throw at you today that will make your status any different.
What If I Don't Like God's Answer?
Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First, seek the counsel of the LORD.”
I Kings 22:3
It is good to seek the Lord’s counsel, but what happens once He speaks and we don’t like what He says?
Ahab, the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were about to embark on a risky venture. Syria had taken Ramoth from Israel. It was only fair that Ahab should take it back and if Jehoshaphat would join forces with him victory was assured. The plan sounded good.
Ahab paraded his prophets before the king of Judah. With a unified voice they said, “Go to it. You are bound to win!” That was exactly what Ahab wanted to hear. But Jehoshaphat rightly suspected that the prophets were only saying that because Ahab paid their wedges so he requested a real prophet of God be called. Micaiah wasn’t on Ahab’s payroll and he spoke the truth predicting failure and death.
This was advice no one really wanted to hear. Not even Jehoshaphat. He had asked that the prophet be called, but now that he knew what God had to say the future didn’t look nearly as bright as it had moments before. There was money to be made on his deal with Ahab and the war plans looked solid enough on the surface. In the end, Jehoshaphat brushed aside the words of the prophet choosing instead to follow his personal desires and his friends.
The kings went to battle and as Micaiah had predicted Ahab was killed and it took direct intervention from God to get Jehoshaphat back home beaten and humiliated but safe.
I would like to think I am not like Jehoshaphat. But I know better. There have been times when I asked the will of the Lord then either disobeyed or argued because I didn’t like His answer. Perhaps you remember those times, too. Have you ever looked back and moaned, “Why didn’t I obey? Why couldn’t I see how badly this would turn out? Or, lamented, ‘How different my life would have been if I had listened to His voice!”
We can’t turn back the clock or erase decisions we wish we had not made. But, there is one thing we can do: We can resolve to follow His voice today. We have no guarantees for tomorrow but we can confess yesterday’s failures, accept that He has put them as far from us as the East is from the West, then turn our faces toward tomorrow with renewed hope knowing that whatever He commands, He also provides power to perform. Our only responsibility is to obey when we know His voice. Even when the voice is contrary to our desires and plans.
I Kings 22:3
It is good to seek the Lord’s counsel, but what happens once He speaks and we don’t like what He says?
Ahab, the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were about to embark on a risky venture. Syria had taken Ramoth from Israel. It was only fair that Ahab should take it back and if Jehoshaphat would join forces with him victory was assured. The plan sounded good.
Ahab paraded his prophets before the king of Judah. With a unified voice they said, “Go to it. You are bound to win!” That was exactly what Ahab wanted to hear. But Jehoshaphat rightly suspected that the prophets were only saying that because Ahab paid their wedges so he requested a real prophet of God be called. Micaiah wasn’t on Ahab’s payroll and he spoke the truth predicting failure and death.
This was advice no one really wanted to hear. Not even Jehoshaphat. He had asked that the prophet be called, but now that he knew what God had to say the future didn’t look nearly as bright as it had moments before. There was money to be made on his deal with Ahab and the war plans looked solid enough on the surface. In the end, Jehoshaphat brushed aside the words of the prophet choosing instead to follow his personal desires and his friends.
The kings went to battle and as Micaiah had predicted Ahab was killed and it took direct intervention from God to get Jehoshaphat back home beaten and humiliated but safe.
I would like to think I am not like Jehoshaphat. But I know better. There have been times when I asked the will of the Lord then either disobeyed or argued because I didn’t like His answer. Perhaps you remember those times, too. Have you ever looked back and moaned, “Why didn’t I obey? Why couldn’t I see how badly this would turn out? Or, lamented, ‘How different my life would have been if I had listened to His voice!”
We can’t turn back the clock or erase decisions we wish we had not made. But, there is one thing we can do: We can resolve to follow His voice today. We have no guarantees for tomorrow but we can confess yesterday’s failures, accept that He has put them as far from us as the East is from the West, then turn our faces toward tomorrow with renewed hope knowing that whatever He commands, He also provides power to perform. Our only responsibility is to obey when we know His voice. Even when the voice is contrary to our desires and plans.
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