Psalm 103

Psalm 103

103  Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name!
²  Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits,
³ who forgives all your iniquity,

    who heals all your diseases,

[Praise the Lord for He forgives!!!]  

 
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit,
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
⁵ who satisfies you with good
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

⁶ The Lord works righteousness
    and justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
    his acts to the people of Israel.

⁸ The Lord is merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹  He will not always chide,
    nor will he keep his anger forever.
¹⁰ He does not deal with us according to our sins,
    nor repay us according to our iniquities.

[Thank goodness for His mercy and grace and patience and love!!!]

¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

[He will forgive us and chooses not to remember our sins.  He loves us enough to do this for us!]

 
¹³ As a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
¹⁴ For he knows our frame;^[a]
    he remembers that we are dust.

[God remembers that we will fail.]

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass;
    he flourishes like a flower of the field;
¹⁶ for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
    and its place knows it no more.
¹⁷ But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
    and his righteousness to children's children,
¹⁸ to those who keep his covenant
    and remember to do his commandments.
¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
    and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his word,
    obeying the voice of his word!
²¹ Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
    his ministers, who do his will!
²²  Bless the Lord, all his works,
    in all places of his dominion.
     Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Jesus, I Come

This is one of my new favorite songs...and, funny, it's an old hymn.  =)  It's neat to see that the old hymn writers wrote about the same things that we long for and struggle with today!  There truly is nothing new under the sun!

Here's the link for the song on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm30UfBgBIg

Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into Thy freedom, gladness, and light,
Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of my sickness, into Thy health,
Out of my want and into Thy wealth,
Out of my sin and into Thyself,
Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of my shameful failure and loss,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into the glorious gain of Thy cross,
Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of earth’s sorrows, into Thy balm,
Out of life’s storms and into Thy calm,
Out of distress to jubilant psalm,
Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of unrest and arrogant pride,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into Thy blessed will to abide,
Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of myself to dwell in Thy love,
Out of despair, into raptures above,
Upward for ever on wings like a dove,
Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of the fear and dread of the tomb,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into the joy and light of Thy home,
Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of the depths of ruin untold,
Into the peace of Thy sheltering fold,
Ever Thy glorious face to behold,
Jesus, I come to Thee.

I love: "out of my sin and into Thyself"...I can go to Jesus and flee to Him from sin.

I love: "out of my shameful failure and loss"...I truly do fail BUT I am able to come "into the glorious gain of Thy cross"!  I can find joy, peace, righteousness, and restoration in the cross. ("Out of earth's sorrow and into Thy balm.")

I love: "out of unrest and arrogant pride"...oh how arrogant and prideful I can be!  Yet I can come "out of myself to dwell in [His] love [and no longer] despair [but come to Jesus]."

I love: "out of the fear and dread of the tomb"...it is so easy to get bogged down in sin, fear, and failure but we can come to Jesus "into the joy and light of [His] home."  I can come "out of the depths of ruin untold [and] into the peace of [His] sheltering fold."  There is rest, hope, comfort, forgiveness, mercy, and love in the fold of God if I am willing to humble myself and run to Christ.

Praise the Lord for His grace, mercy, and forgiveness!!!  I want to run to Jesus.

The Most Important Decision

"The most important decision we face is the daily decision to live for Christ and die to self." 

~Kevin DeYoung~

(See Romans 8)  

"So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.  For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." ~Romans 8:12-14~

That One Be Found Faithful

"Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful." (1 Corinthians 4:2) 

I was reminded of this passage and have been meditating on it the past few days.  I'm not sure what the Greek for "found" is but it got me thinking.  Something that is found is discovered or brought to light.  In regards to a person's faithfulness, it seems this could mean that this person's life could be looked back upon and a consistent pattern of obedience and holiness can be seen.  A faithful person has a track record of being consistently holy (righteous and without sin), blameless (without grounds to accuse or condemn because of wrong done), pure (without flaw), and obedient (choosing to do what is right in God's eyes whenever, however, and regardless if one feels like being obedient or not); it is embedded into their character.  

Being "found" could also be a sort of "happening upon" as if by accident.  The person who is found to be faithful is someone who will be faithful and will abide with and by integrity each and every moment of their lives no matter the circumstance.  If an outsider was to abruptly peer into the life of a faithful person (or even to enter into the same room as that person) they would see no signs of hypocrisy at any moment ever.  Regardless of the time of day, circumstances, company, etc. an outsider will see complete faithfulness and consistency.  Faithfulness is something that is proven over time; faithfulness is a pattern and habit that is formed by daily, moment by moment decisions of integrity and purity and obedience.  Integrity will choose to be obedient to God no matter who is (or is not) looking.  Integrity chooses to do the right thing because it honors God and brings Him glory--NOT because it pleases the people around them or because it makes that person feel good about himself.


As I read back further in chapter 13, the verses leading up to 4:2 are crucial to the believer's understanding of purity, faithfulness, and integrity.   

"Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?  If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.   Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.  For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”  So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." (1 Corinthians 3:16-23)

God is holy and because He dwells in His children they are to be holy too.  Verses 18-20 even address the thoughts of men; we might think we are being faithful, wise, etc. but God really knows our hearts and intentions.  We might think we are okay because on the outside we look like we are being faithful and pure but we know that if someone watched us when we were alone they would find out differently.  Well, God watches us when we think no one is looking!  He is always with us because His Spirit dwells within us!  I love the reminder "'He catches the wise in their craftiness,' and again, 'The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.'"  We think we are wise because by the world's standards we might be wise or we might seem to be "good" and "holy" Christians.  But God sees through our hypocrisy; He knows when we are saying one thing but doing the opposite.  And because we think we are wise--which is futile and wrong thinking--Paul reminds us to not boast in men.  Ultimately, we must remember that we are Christ's and that we belong to the Father!  God knows whether or not we are faithful; it is Him who we are living for.  We do not live to impress others or to give them the impression that we are following God.  We live to follow and obey God.  And, as mentioned, we cannot boast in men or in ourselves when we seem to be faithful or obedient.  We MUST remember that any faithfulness or obedience found within us is a result of the working of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit is growing and sanctifying us so that we will be taught how to be faithful and to make the right decisions; the Spirit is the One who is and who should receive credit for shaping us into men and women of integrity.

I love 4:1 in light of the previous verses and then 4:2.  Verse one says, "This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." (Followed by verse 2 again) "Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful."

Believers are called to be holy because we are God's temple. (17b)  We are servants of Christ and stewards of the Gospel of God.  We have the opportunity to represent Christ to the world and to nonbelievers.  Because of this we need to be seen as Christ's--holy and blameless as He is--and, therefore, are REQUIRED to be found faithful.  It is not an option of whether or not we are going to be found faithful.  It is a requirement that we cannot get out of.  Faithfulness is part of the very character of Christ and, therefore, since His children are to reflect His character and since we are image bearers of Christ, we are to be faithful as well.  If we fail to be faithful we are failing to be obedient.  Praise the Lord for His grace, mercy, and forgiveness but we cannot abuse His grace and must choose to be obedient.

Well...I know that was sort of a lot but my thoughts just kept turning.  I hope and pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to work in me so that, as a steward of God and as a servant of Christ, I might be found faithful.  I pray I would be a woman of integrity and would be faithful to be obedient to Christ no matter the circumstance and regardless of whether or not I feel like being obedient at that moment.

Ephesians 4 & 5

At Bible study on Tuesday night Ephesians 4 and the whole passage about putting off the old self and putting on the new self was mentioned.  Remembering that my Biblical Counseling professor talked about that passage a ton in light of dealing with sin, I decided to go back and reflect on the passage and to think about what my professor taught us.  I ended up reading much more of Ephesians and was really encouraged by the following passages and thought I would share.

Ephesians 4:1; 17-32 and 5:1-21

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. […]  Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.  They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.  They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.  But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.  Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.  Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.  Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

[Note: Here, my professor talked so much about “how do you know when a thief is no longer a thief?”  Based on this verse it is not just when he stops stealing but when he changes his ways and repents and begins to share out of what he has and gives it to others.  So too does it go with any sinful life style or pattern whether it going with lying, impurity, laziness, etc.]

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.  Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.  For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.  Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.  Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.  Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.  For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.  But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

I really really really like how Paul commands us to walk wisely and to use our time to the fullest potential for God.  This was definitely a reminder to me that all I do should be honoring to the Lord.  I had a ton more thoughts on the passage but these were just a few.

Food for Thought

There were some quotes that were on the walls of my wing this last school year.  I really liked them and thought they were good food for thought.

"To love God is to love His will.  It is to wait quietly for life to be measured by One who knows us through and through.  It is to be content with His timing and His wise appointment." ~Elisabeth Elliot~

"One does not surrender a life in an instant.  That which is life-long can only be surrendered in a lifetime." ~Jim Elliot~

"Does it make any sense to pray for guidance about the future if we are not obeying in the thing that lies before us today?  How many momentous events in Scripture depended on one person's seemingly small act of obedience?  Rest assured:  Do what God tells you to do now, and, depend upon it, you will be shown what to do next." ~Elisabeth Elliot~

"There is one safe and happy place, and that is in the will of God." ~David Livingstone~

I Will Strengthen You

Encouraging verses as life is crazy and school comes to an end...

"'You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off'; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, 'Fear not, I am the one who helps you.'"  ~Isaiah 41:9a-10, 13~

Leave It All

My RA put this quote up on our wing's bulletin board.  I thought it was really neat.

"Leave it all in the Hands that were wounded for you." ~Elisabeth Elliot~