Jan. 4th, 2016 Psalm 98

Jan. 4, 2016 Psalm 98

1 Sing to God a brand-new song.
He’s made a world of wonders!
He rolled up his sleeves,
He set things right.
2 God made history with salvation,
He showed the world what he could do.
3 He remembered to love us, a bonus
To his dear family, Israel—indefatigable love.
The whole earth comes to attention.
Look—God’s work of salvation!
4 Shout your praises to God, everybody!
Let loose and sing! Strike up the band!
5 Round up an orchestra to play for God,
Add on a hundred-voice choir.
6 Feature trumpets and big trombones,
Fill the air with praises to King God.
7 Let the sea and its fish give a round of applause,
With everything living on earth joining in.
8 Let ocean breakers call out, “Encore!”
And mountains harmonize the finale—
9 A tribute to God when he comes,
When he comes to set the earth right.
He’ll straighten out the whole world,
He’ll put the world right, and everyone in it.

Sometimes I just love the way the Message breaks things down.
While it isn't an actual translation it is a tool to help explain things.

God's judgement, his love, his worthiness of our praise... it never ends.

This passage calls us and the earth to rejoice in our God through songs, words, talents, etc!  LET IT LOOSE!
But what are we celebrating?
That God will return!
And that God will be the judge....

WAIT A SECOND!!!
We hate to be judged.  We say "How dare you Judge me..."
We even miss use scriptures often to say that we shouldn't judge others...
(That would be a whole other post, but there are two key scriptures... one in context is talking about Christians to the world and not to judge those who are not saved... but then Christians to each other are called to hold each other to a higher standard out of LOVE! So we are to be accountable to each others as Christians...)

Yet we are to celebrate that GOD is coming again to Judge us.  To hold us accountable.  To reward and to punish.

That is a sobering thought for some but a freeing and joyful thought for others.
No matter what we have done God is righteous.  He is FAIR.  He is JUST. HE is love.  And for all of us who call him Lord, who seek to give him lordship over our lives, who live in such a way to bring him praise...  though we face trials and may give into sin we still have a God who listens to our call for forgiveness and FORGIVES!
This is a judge that I can freely lay my life at His MERCY and trust that He will be JUST.

Are you ready to rejoice in that God?

Jan 2nd, 2016 Lamentations 3:22-26

Lamentations 3:22-26

22 The faithful love of the LORD never ends!

His mercies never cease.

23 Great is his faithfulness;

his mercies begin afresh each morning.

24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance;

therefore, I will hope in him!”

25 The LORD is good to those who depend on him,

to those who search for him.

26 So it is good to wait quietly

for salvation from the LORD.

I don't post my handwritten one because, well I have horrible handwriting.

This verse reminded me of a Lectio Divina. "Divine Reading". This was a practice of monks but can be a great exercise of reading a passage of scripture. But it fit this verse especially because of the theme of waiting.

As I was reading there were a couple words that stuck out so I did some study of them....

Faithful Love (or Steadfast love) actually means COVENANT LOYALTY. This verse again reminds us of the Covenant that God made with Abraham, with Israel, with you and me. It is a faithful love. It won't end! AMEN to that! God's love will never end. As we heard on Christmas eve, all other things will end, Faith will end in Heaven, Hope will be fulfilled in Heaven, but LOVE will continue for all ETERNITY!

Next v 25 and 26 both use the word WAIT... but they are actually different words in Hebrew.

Vs 25 wait is a word that has the idea of 'TENSION of enduring'. Waiting in tension.

Vs. 26 wait means DUMB. SILENT. WAIT. Waiting in a way that you are unable to speak.

Vs. 25 the word Seek can also mean to READ REPEATEDLY

Think about these verses as a whole. When we are so overwhelmed with the realization of GOD'S GREAT MERCY, his COVENANT with us, His FAITHFUL love when we are unfaithful....

These feelings should bring us to a 'stillness' before our God.

We should be silent and wait for HIS direction!

This is a great exercise to remember as we start out this 31 days to READ REPEATEDLY the verses you are writing. Don't just gloss over them. Pray them. Say them over and over and put emphasis on different words....

"The STEADFAST love..." "The steadfast LOVE..."

'GREAT is your faithfulness" "Great is YOUR faithfulness" "Great is your FAITHFULNESS"....

What will God show you when you silently, without words, without seeking to direct God to what you want to hear today?

Will you WAIT silently for the 'salvation of the Lord?'