Psalm 70-72

71:15 
My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,
    of your saving acts all day long—
    though I know not how to relate them all.

This past week I was deep in work then a day of vacation on Friday.  I missed the news that the Supreme Court has made same-sex marriage the way of our land.  I then get on Facebook and see all the people celebrating this decision, including many who I would think are grounded in faith in God.  

My response is more of disbelief of where this country is headed than anything else.  But I guess my job is not to get angry but to try to share with more people what I know is true.  Not to battle in a political arena but just to make sure that the people in my sphere of influence know of God's saving Grace.

I also spent part of my day off watching pieces of the Bartlett funereal.  It was beautifully done and absolutely heart breaking.  That family continues to be amazing to me.  Dave in particular has impacted so many lives and helped so many people including myself get on a path to know Jesus.  I'm sure he has counselled others who have lost children and grandchildren in the past.  Now his family is the one that needs support.  But they are determined to use this life event to help Jesus shine, and even in the midst of their own suffering they are praising God and telling of his saving acts.   

As believers, you and I need to be God's hands and feet to do his work.

Knut

Psalm 68-69

69:29 
But as for me, afflicted and in pain—
    may your salvation, God, protect me.

I didn't have a lot of takeaways reading through.  But as noticed in other recent readings I see someone who is being persecuted because of their beliefs and because they are sharing those beliefs.  

I don't have the same feeling, maybe partly because in the US you are less likely too be persecuted for sharing your belief in God.  But maybe partly because I only share my beliefs in relatively safe settings.  I think I am feeling a tugging to be more bold, to have more Kingdom impact.  If I can muster the courage to be more bold I may need a prayer like the one in this Psalm for protection from the attacks I may receive.

I don't think this will be like a light switch for me but I pray that as I grow in my faith that I also do more to help others come to know Jesus.

knut

Psalms 66-67

Chapter 67
¹ May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—^[c]
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.

These 2 verses sum up everything we've been reading and talking about for the past 2+ years on this journey.  This sounds like the benediction at the end of a church service.  I like it.  To me, it says, "God, please bless us....so, we can bring your glory and your message to this earth."

Psalm 63-65

65:6 who formed the mountains by your power,
    having armed yourself with strength,

As I drive across country to my church or out on the interstate sometimes I am amazed at the sights of the large rolling hills.  I love a crisp morning with blue skies and driving over these rolling hills that go on and on.  Sometimes I think about God's power and ability to create what I am seeing.  This verse brought those days to mind.

When I'm thinking about that sometimes I admit my thoughts are not right for just a moment.  I might think is it really possible that what I believe in is true?   God created all this and the vastness of the universe.  Any doubts quickly go away when I think of the alternatives presented in society today of a rock exploding randomly into the universe and life.  

Its kind of funny to me that some people so easily dismiss the idea of God but are willing to latch onto the big bang theory.  I mean really why is that believable at all to them if they can't believe in God.  What makes them think something that is in animate could suddenly become life without an outside force?  Why don't they challenge the scientists ideas more fervently?  This is brought to by the same discipline of people who have been waffling on whether or not eggs or good or bad for our entire life time.  They can't get that right but they have nailed the explanation for the creation of the universe?...please.

enough rambling.  God I praise you for your strength and for revealing yourself to me.

knut

Psalm 61-62

62:1 Truly my soul finds rest in God;
    my salvation comes from him.
2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.e 

Today is the visitation for the Bartletts.  I think both of these verses are ones for them to hold onto.  If there was ever a time they would be shaken, it would be now.  From all I read they are truly seeking God's comfort during this time of deep anguish that I cannot even begin to understand.

I pray their souls all find rest in God.

I intended to call or e-mail you yesterday and the day totally got away from me.  I had thought about going up, but to your point this funereal and visitation will be absolutely huge.  

As an alternative I wondered if maybe we could find a completely separate time to go and somehow serve the Bartlett family or show our love for them.  When I lost my Dad seeing everyone at the funereal was great, but that was really the easy part there was so much energy it was hard to be too down in the dumps.  

It was the days and months later when people had moved on to their daily lives that it was hardest for our family.  That's when I felt alone, mad, sad and sometimes without direction.  That is when someone would shoot me a note about a memory of my Dad or take time to talk with me about him that was most important too me.  So with that I'm wondering if there is a way we can try to bless Dave and Linda that way too?

knut

Psalm 57-60

60:11-12 
Give us help for the hard task;
    human help is worthless.
In God we’ll do our very best;
    he’ll flatten the opposition for good.

I didn't pick up any specific thoughts in today's reading.  But as I scanned back over these chapters the theme I picked up is God's absolute power over the earth and that he is our ultimate protector.  We should be going to him to help us with our biggest problems, he is our protector.  We have access to the one who made the universe, he is the one we should be going to for all our life's challenges.

knut

Psalm 55-56

55:1 Listen to my prayer, O God,
    do not ignore my plea;

55:16  As for me, I call to God,
    and the Lord saves me.

 17  Evening, morning and noon
    I cry out in distress,
    and he hears my voice.

55:22  Cast your cares on the Lord
    and he will sustain you;
he will never let
    the righteous be shaken.


Whatever is on our hearts, we should take to God.  He already knows our struggles.

But as I read this, I think I am living too easy of a life.  The troubles written about in this are far more serious than my daily concerns. Maybe this is because of the times they were in or maybe its because he was standing up for God.  My question to myself is what am I doing to grow God's Kingdom?  Am I flying under the radar? Playing it safe to avoid any attacks?  I have to be honest, I'm not looking for a fight and a little afraid to ask for trouble but I also think I need to make sure I am not just taking the easy road but actually fighting to save souls--beyond my own and my families.

knut

Psalm 50-54

54:4  Surely God is my help;    the Lord is the one who sustains me.

Today I am thinking of the entire Bartlett family.  I pray that God does hear their prayers and that he will sustain them through this most difficult time.  I know God is unfailing in his love and has great compassion and I just pray that they feel the full force of God's love now and in the the weeks, months and years to come that fills the enormous holes they now have in their hearts.


knut

Psalms 47-49

I kept reading this morning, until I found this in chapter 49

⁷ No one can redeem the life of another
or give to God a ransom for them—
⁸ the ransom for a life is costly,
no payment is ever enough—

All I can say to that is......one man can do it.  But, it would have to be someone so unbelievable special, the entire world couldn't help but recognize his greatness.........right?

Psalms 45-46

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.


From Chapter 46

I don't have anything great today.  But, I reading this intro to chapter 46 made me think of our world today.  We seem to have more extreme things happening.  More severe weather, more natural disasters, and more crazy stuff happening in general.  Its comforting to read this and know that God is God in the midst of all the nutty-ness.  Instead of talking about how crazy the times are.....we should be talking about how great God is in the midst whatever is thrown our way.

tp

Psalms 43-44

^23-26 Get up, God! Are you going to sleep all day?
Wake up! Don’t you care what happens to us?
Why do you bury your face in the pillow?
Why pretend things are just fine with us?
And here we are—flat on our faces in the dirt,
held down with a boot on our necks.
Get up and come to our rescue.
If you love us so much, Help us!

This comes from the end of chapter 44.
As I was reading this....I was saying, "WHOA!"  They are really calling God out.  The writer keeps saying they haven't done anything wrong, and God has just left them.  It seems really self-centered to me.  But, they more I think about it the more I realize that I do this everyday.  Especially when I let my plan sneak in front of knowing that God's plan comes first.  I get incredulous.  I've been praying and doing my blog God....and yet my household isn't running smooth as silk.  Or, my retirement accounts aren't overflowing.  Or, my kids are having trouble at school....or, or, or.  Its funny how I want to put a small God into MY plans, rather than putting myself into his.

tp

Psalms 42

8 By day the Lord directs his love,
    at night his song is with me—
    a prayer to the God of my life.

He is present ALL the time.  That is hard to get my mind around, forever he has and will be hear.  No sleeping, no taking a break no downtime for himself after a long days work.

Off topic today my heart goes out to the family of a friend here in town.  they have 3 grade school kids and her husband was kill yesterday in a car accident just outside of town.  I just can't imagine the pain they are suffering, I pray God is with them today and for many days and years to come.

knut

Psalms 40-41

¹⁷ But as for me, I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
you are my God, do not delay.
from Chapter 40

Chapter 40 was refreshing to read, for me.  It really speaks to God's greatness.  Sometimes I really need to read that.  I loose track of just how fantastic God really is.  I find myself thinking about the difference between the post-Jesus era of time, and how we think about God vs the pre-Jesus era and how the people viewed God.  It seems to me that with Jesus we have a better relationship.  We have someone to look to.  Someone to emulate.  Someone that taught us fantastic lessons.  But, before he walked the earth, there were people like David that was burning for God.  He seems to have a similar relationship with God.  I find it interesting.
tp

Psalms 38-39

¹ I said, “I will watch my ways
and keep my tongue from sin;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
while in the presence of the wicked.”
² So I remained utterly silent,
not even saying anything good.
But my anguish increased;
³ my heart grew hot within me.
While I meditated, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:

From Chapter 39:

I can feel myself doing this sometimes.  I know I'm with someone that doesn't share my beliefs, and maybe they even take the conversation to a bad place.  So, I have a choice to make.  Usually,  I either stay quiet, and don't say anything, or I'll say something that shows them that I understand what they are saying but doesn't really tell them that I'm right there with em.  Once in a while, I try to say something to diffuse the conversation, and I can feel the eyes rolling.  I don't like that feeling, but its probably MUCH better than saying nothing, or joing in the fun!

How's that?  I wrote an entire paragraph, and I didn't really say anything.  But, my guess is that you know exactly the kind of situations I'm talking about.
Am I right?

Psalms 36-37

⁷ Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

This comes from chapter 37.

I like the imagery that is in Chapter 36.  But this verse caught my attention.  Its really easy to look at those that are putting all their hope and trust in this world, and see their success.....and say, "man,  I wish I had that."  This verse is speaking directly to this. 
I was over in Grand Haven last week, and Dad and I were working on moving the lift in toward shore a little bit, due to the water being so high this year.  At one point I said, "why does everything have to be so difficult."  I just said it off the cuff.  I really didn't mean anything by it.  Dad, wisely, said, "I think its all part of the curse."  He was joking and we were both laughing.  But,  I think he's right.  Everything degrades, breaks down, crumbles and turns to dust.   Its all an effort to show us that this place isn't for us.  Its not the final desination.  Sometimes I need that gentle reminder.  This helps me in reference to the verse.  It reminds me to not get caught up in the successes of this world.  (even though I have had tremendous success, the grass is always greener and its always easier to keep looking at the people that HAVE more stuff)

tp