- Tuesday, 1/29/19 Exodus
10:3, And Moses and Aaron came in unto
Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long
wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? I wonder if the Lord looks at
you and me and asks the same question.
(Ouch!) Remember, humbling ourselves is OUR job.
Psalm 34:8, O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Come, and taste Him...again. He can still be your favorite dish. The recipe that you used long ago still works... Cook up some fellowship and sweetness with your Father again. He’s still “tasty” and you’ll still be blessed by trusting Him.
- Wednesday, 1/30/19 Psalm 34:3, O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. We’re to magnify Him in our daily walk: we must discipline ourselves to notice His deeds; we must purposefully acknowledge and mention His goodness and faithfulness. Psalm 119:81, My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word. The Christian life (and life, in general) is a marathon...an Iron Man competition...an endurance event. You and I WILL go through weak times, when our will to keep going is less intense; our body and spirit are tired and hurting. When flesh (our own or others’) fail us, we MUST hold tighter to the only eternal thing we can touch on this planet: our Bibles. Enhance and build your relationship to It now...before you’re too tired to lift your eyes to read Its pages.
- Thursday, 1/31/19 Psalm 34:3, O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. We need to magnify Him in our mind: remember that He has a plan; He’s not ignoring us; He loves us; and He’s good (even if His methods seem harsh.) Psalm 119:92, Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction. What was true for David is true for us. The only thing standing between us and destruction, quitting, abject failure is an old black Book. Does yours have an inch of dust on it? If you’re “making it OK” now, beware...you’re going to go through some MUCH tougher times, and if you’ve not deepened your relationship it His Word, you’ll crash and burn... And, may I gently say, others around may feel sorry for you, but you’ll be the one who’ll be bleeding. Your future is in your hands...today.
- Friday, 2/1/19 Psalm 34:3, O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. We must magnify Him to Him. Yes, really. We’re to praise Him (acknowledge and brag on His deeds), and worship Him (acknowledge and brag on His innate character.) Psalm 119:104, Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. Many believers get understanding and hate every false way...in other people. It’s not necessarily wrong to perceive another’s faults, but we often go beyond that basic level. We try to fix those faults, and, barring that, gossip about those faults. And, whether someone else indeed HAS those faults, Christianity is a relationship between ME and God, so I need to “get understanding and hate MY false ways.” That’s hard because it takes honesty and humility. I try (and oftentimes fail) in first of all seeing my faults (“every way of a man is right in his own eyes”), and secondly, in striving to fix my faults. Pray for me. Pray, and tactfully point out my blind spots.
- Saturday, 2/2/19 Psalm 34:3, O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. We’re to magnify Him to others. Point out His faithfulness in various situations. Remind whoever will listen that He’s got things well in hand. Acknowledge things He’s done in and for you, in a humble manner. A question to ponder: would you deem it better to be a spectacular Christian with an epic failure(s) or a decent Christian without a very high highs and definitely without a plunging depth? Which would you rather have as your testimony? Which would you rather have for your son or daughter? Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem which said, “There was a little girl, Who had a little curl, Right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, She was very, very good, But when she was bad, she was horrid.” Would you rather be that little girl in your Christian life or a middle-of-the-road believer? Consider Bible heroes: David...sweet psalmist of Israel, but the one who wrote very vengeful words in those psalms as well as confessed deep bouts of depression and also mentioned a problem with lying. Of course, he slept with Bathsheba and murdered her husband. Or, Abraham, the friend of God...who lied about his wife, and fathered the Arab people through his handmaiden. Or, Jonah: preacher extraordinaire in 2 Kings 14, who preached the greatest revival in history in Nineveh...after being whale puke. Or, Peter...denied Christ 3 times...cursed and swore...slept in the garden...and wrote 2 books of the Bible. Revelation 3:16, So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Proverbs 24:16, For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief. The good man fell SEVEN times whereas the wicked fell but once. Lessons: 1Aim high...realizing that you may very well miss your goal and fall hard. 2But don’t quit if you’ve blown it. 3God demands our ALL, and to be placed FIRST...He also says that He knows our frailty, so He’s not surprised by our failures. 4All the good that you or someone else did before their failure WAS STILL DONE: the souls were still won; the downtrodden were still encouraged; those marriages were still saved. 5It’s not our sin or lack thereof that will destroy or define us: it’s what we do with our sin that will matter.
- Sunday, 2/3/19 A brutally honest question for each of us: are YOU satisfied with whatever level you’ve reached in Christianity, or do you yearn for “higher ground”? Psalm 119:81, My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word. Have you placed a ceiling on your growth, a “Proceed No Farther” sign on the path of holiness? Have you, in essence, told God, “This is my limit for You: ask no more of me; demand no more from me”? Go, and let a revival begin in your heart today. Let this truly be a “Super Sunday” for you.
- Monday, 2/4/19 We often give excuses for disobeying God’s word; David gives one for obeying: Psalm 119:129, Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them. Maybe this is why he was a man after God’s own heart and you and I are...somewhat less notable? Psalm 119:172, My tongue shall speak of thy word: FOR all thy commandments are righteousness. His word hasn’t changed; and our tongues are made of the same flesh as David’s was...maybe, and there is no easy way to put this: maybe you and I are in serious need of some major heart help. When was the last time we mentioned something interesting or wise or helpful to another and told them the Source?
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