Bless the Lord, O my soul

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Amos7-9; Ps. 104; Titus 2

Bless The Lord, O My Soul

S-Ps. 104-1 “Bless the Lord, O My Soul!”

O- The psalmist is giving praise to God and all the credit as the Creator of all things.

A –Giving God credit where credit is due should be at the top of our hearts.  He not only is the Creator of the universe, but He is the creator of all things good.  We should practice exercising our praise muscles daily, thereby blessing our Heavenly Father and bringing Him joy.  He delights in our praise and our recognition of who He is. Teachings from the time of the Egyptians to present try to convey if not convince us that the universe was put together by accident of by some other false god, but our trust is  in our God and all truth written within the teachings of His Word.  Bless the Lord, O my Soul….and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name.

P-Instead of a prayer Father, my soul desires to praise You.  You are the Creator of the heavens and earth and all that is good.  You deserve praise just because…..You are good.  Praise the Lord O my soul!

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Amos7-9; Ps. 104; Titus 2

Bless The Lord, O My Soul

S-Ps. 104-1 “Bless the Lord, O My Soul!”

O- The psalmist is giving praise to God and all the credit as the Creator of all things.

A –Giving God credit where credit is due should be at the top of our hearts.  He not only is the Creator of the universe, but He is the creator of all things good.  We should practice exercising our praise muscles daily, thereby blessing our Heavenly Father and bringing Him joy.  He delights in our praise and our recognition of who He is. Teachings from the time of the Egyptians to present try to convey if not convince us that the universe was put together by accident of by some other false god, but our trust is  in our God and all truth written within the teachings of His Word.  Bless the Lord, O my Soul….and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name.

P-Instead of a prayer Father, my soul desires to praise You.  You are the Creator of the heavens and earth and all that is good.  You deserve praise just because…..You are good.  Praise the Lord O my soul!

WORDS OF WISDOM

Wednesday, June 27, 2012 - 2 Kings 13,14; 2 Chronicles 25; 2 Timothy 3

S - 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God's people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

O - Paul is charging Timothy to continue on in his faith and to stay in the Word for wisdom.

A - Whenever I feel ill-equipped, inadequate, at a loss for words, I must remember to return to the Word.  Seeking Godly counsel from others is good, but I need to be able to glean from the Word what is or isn't right.  All counsel must be able to be backed up by the Word.

P - Lord, help me to live my life by Your Word more and more every day.  Thank You that it is as unchanging, relevant, and wisdom-filled for me today as it was in Timothy's day.

Providing for our own

2 Ki 10; 2 Chr. 22,23; 1 Tim 5

S-1 Timothy 5:8 “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than the unbeliever.

O- Paul instructs those in the faith that they are to provide for the members of their household who can no longer provide for themselves because of age, and further proclaims that if we do not purpose this, we have denied the faith and are worse than the unbeliever.

A -In today’s society it isn’t a popular subject on taking care of our elderly.   The argument would be made up of many reasons why they cannot, but Paul instructs those of us that are of the household of faith, that we have the responsibility of taking care of those who have become aged and can no longer work or have become both physically and mentally incapable of doing for themselves.  Our responsibility would be to see that every provision is in place for them and if at all possible to see that we ourselves each individually minister to their needs on every level, emotional, physical and spiritual.  If we take on the attitude that they are no longer useful to us, or serve no purpose we have lost God’s definition of the value and purpose of a life and how precious it is from beginning to end to Him.

P-Father help us to love and honor our elderly.  Help us to provide, comfort and minister to each of their needs in a way that would be pleasing to you.  Remind us that we are of the household of faith and that we are your hands and feet bringing and administering your love.  Help us to remember the commandment that we are to honor our mother and father all the way up to the time when you call them home. Amen.

SPITTING IN GOD'S FACE

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 – 1 Kings 6; 2 Chronicles 3; Psalm 97; Romans 1

S - Romans 1:32 (The Message) SAnd it's not as if they don't know better. They know perfectly well they're spitting in God's face. And they don't care—worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best!

O – Paul is speaking of sinful humans.

 

A – I think about my family, my friends, people I just know in passing.  I know they don’t care.  I know they not only sin, but they champion those who do.  And I hope they didn’t learn this behavior from me.  I don’t think they have, but reading this scripture makes me pause and take a close look at myself.  Can anything I am doing be equated to spitting in God’s face? 

P - Oh, Lord, please, no.  I love You more than anything.  Jesus, stand before me always so that I can see You clearly and choose You and Your ways…every time.

LEARNING THE DIFFERENCE

Wednesday, June 13, 2012 – 1 Kings 13,14; 2 Chronicles 12; Philippians 3

S – 2 Chronicles 12:8 They will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands.

O – The Lord spoke to the prophet Shemaiah and said Judah would become subject to Shishak, king of Egypt.

A – Sometimes I wonder why I have had to go through what I have in my life to get to where I am today.  It seems I spent the first 29 years of my life looking for and yearning for love personified.  I don’t recall ever having anybody tell me back then who Jesus was and what He did for me by dying on the cross.  I never knew how much He loved me and I believe I would have just jumped into His arms back then and never looked back if I had had the opportunity.

But, now I am crazy in love with Him.  I know what it is like to love and not have that love returned, to serve and not be appreciated, to follow, only to get stomped on.  I was chasing after the wrong lovers.  But maybe because of what I went through, I SO appreciate the love I experience now with Jesus.  I certainly don’t take it for granted and I know that He is the only One worthy of my utmost devotion.

P – Lord, I love You so much.  I don’t know how You could possible use me to show others the way to You and Your wonderfulness, but I ask that You do, so that others would truly know how great Your love is and follow You into Your kingdom to serve You forever!

GOOD WORKS

Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - Ecclesiastes 1-3; Psalm 45; Ephesians 2

S - Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

O - Paul had just finished saying we are saved by grace, not works, but now he says we were made to do good works.

A - I was created to do good works.  I am not serving as a way to somehow earn my spot in heaven.  I am doing good works because this is what I was created by God to do.

P - Lord, thank You for saving me by Your grace.  Jesus, strengthen me and enable me to do good works.