May 21, 2013

Ps 6:1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.

:2 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled.

:3 My soul is greatly troubled; but You, O Lord, - how long?

:4 Return, O Lord, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your mercies’ sake!

:5 For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give You thanks?

:6 I am weary with my groaning; all night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with all my tears.

:7 My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows old because of all my enemies.

:8 Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity; for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.

:9 The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.

:10 Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled; let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.

Serious illness has a way of focusing our attention on God. Sometimes it is difficult for us to even pray.

At first David thought maybe sin had caused his problem, however that isn’t always the case. He asked for God’s grace and mercy.

Most of the time sickness is a reminder we live in a world corrupted by decay and diseases.

Sickness should have us examining our lives though to see if anything displeases God. Ask for forgiveness if so. Then we can confidently ask God to heal us. We don’t demand healing, we ask for it.

The only thing worse than being ill, is being attacked by your enemies while ill. David’s enemies used his sickness to attack his kingdom. The devil will use sickness to get us to doubt God’s love for us.

Ps 139:1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

:2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.

:3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.

:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it.

No one knows us as well as God does. He loves us completely. Human love is conditional and that makes it difficult to understand how God loves us in spite of our short comings. We can hide things about ourselves from each other, fearing people won’t love us if they know the real us. But God knows the good, the bad and the ugly. He loves us enough to want to fill the bad and the ugly parts with His light.

1 Pet 2:3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

The if here means there are some who haven’t tasted that the Lord is gracious. Have you tasted that the Lord is gracious? If no, my prayer for you is that you will.

Gen 42:2 And he said, “Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.

It appeared that everything was against Jacob. Yet God had a plan set in place all along to take care of him and his family. God will provide for us the same way if we live according to His will.

Ex 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me.

Do you have a false god? It can be a person, a thing, or even an imagination. What takes the place God should have in your life? An emotion? It might not be all the time, but any time something or someone comes before God in your life, even for a moment, it / they are an idol.

Mt 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Don’t make the ruling factor of your life what you will eat or drink or wear. Concentrate first on God. You can’t be careless about what you eat and drink or your health will suffer. You can’t be careless about what you wear, you represent God. You can’t be careless about your finances, they belong to God and you need to spend them wisely. But if you seek God first in all things, it will make you careful in all things.

Pr 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

:6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Ps 37:5 Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Do you continue to struggle with complete and utter confidence in God even though you have tried for years? The main problem is your desire for understanding, along with a strong desire to feel in control of your life.

Our life experiences train us to do this. It takes a supernatural work in our heart.

Ask the Holy Spirit to control your mind.

Rom 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Micah 7:7 Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

We think we have to figure out everything, we need to turn control over to Him and let Him take us where He wants us to go.

Pr 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.

Gen 3:13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “ What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Jn 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Jn 8:32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Whenever you start to feel insecure, turn to God. The devil has been deceiving people since the garden of Eden. But if you trust God He will reveal the truth of the situation to you.

Jn 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

God is the God of second chances. Accept Jesus as Savior and you can be born again.

Eph 5:15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,

:16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

:17 therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Accomplishing what needs to be done today instead of putting it off until tomorrow or indefinitely helps your life run more smoothly.

Jn 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “ I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Vonette Z. Bright said: Decisions that are made in the light of God’s word are stake and show wisdom.

Gladys Aylward said: Let nothing deter you… remember it is God who has called you and it is the same as when He called Moses or Samuel.