A Study in Psalms

From a Laywoman’s Perspective

Psalm 1:2 “But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night.”

To my Readers, I have written over the last years, three hundred and sixty blogs and except on special occasions, have taught on the world’s ailments.  However I feel the Lord leading me to share more on the Word of God and with more understanding.  So I am writing on a different Psalm each week and how it can be applied to our lives today.  This is not a deep study, but one I hope enlightens you as we live in different times than when these were written, yet they hold the same truths.

When I first accepted Christ as my Savior, I began reading the Bible in a manner of someone starving.  I couldn’t get enough of it. I felt the Psalms spoke deeply to my heart and I read them over and over again.  Psalm #1 showed me that I was blessed if I stayed away from those who practiced evil.  What an eye-opener. These were my friends; people that I once admired and had worldly fun with.  I soon discovered my old friends wanted nothing to do with me as I shared the Word of God with them.

As time went on, I made new friends; they wanted to talk about things of God and we learned from each other.  They wanted to pray about the things that needed prayer, (vs.2).  Many of my new friends were like trees planted by rivers of water.  I could see that many of them brought forth fruit.  What I mean by that is that they were so excited to pray with people and see them give their heart to Jesus. It seemed like the more they gave of themselves the more they prospered in different ways; spiritually, mentally and physically.

Many times I’ve heard people say, “You can’t out give God.”  I have found that to be true; not only in giving of what you have, but giving of yourself so that others can follow our Lord. However in verse 4, we see a comparison that showed me, “The ungodly are not so.”   Over the years I have seen those who were church goers and so proud, but when things got tough, they walked away blaming God for everything that happened to them. Their hearts were cold and proud. 

I made a decision then that I would walk with God and stand no matter how hard things were.  I would not go backwards if my life depended on it and it did.  Verse 6 says, “The Lord knows the way of the righteous.”  Those words are what you might think were old-fashioned or meaningless, but the fact is they are as true today as when they were written. He knows the way of every Christian; he knows your mind, your heart, and even your thoughts.  Keep that in mind when you think being a Christian is not enough for you. It goes on to say, “Sinners will have no place among the godly.”

The last part of verse 6 says, “For the LORD watches over the path of the godly,” and finishes with these Words, “But the path of the wicked leads to destruction.”  This was enough to convince me that serving Jesus was the best path to take in my life.  Of course my life didn’t change overnight, but I tried to follow God’s way.  I chose to let myself learn from God’s Word and follow him.

What I learned from Psalm 1, is that we are given a choice on how we want to live.  If you wanted to be blessed, if you want to prosper, if you want the Lord to know you in a deeper way and for you to know Him, stick with Him; you’re headed in the right direction.

When God is Teaching You Something and You Won't Listen

When God is Teaching You Something and You Won’t Listen

 “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.”  (Isaiah 30:21)

We all have learned a lot of lessons in our lifetime.  Do we always listen?  God talks to us all the time even if you think he doesn’t.  Most of the time it is the ‘still small voice’ of God that speaks to us.  All of us at one time or another have heard it. It may say, “Don’t do what you’re planning to do” or, “It’s a sin to do this, or that.” Deep inside an alarm goes off warning you that you are doing wrong.

Isn’t there times when you are talking to someone about a thing that is not to be passed on and inside this voice is telling you to stop what you are saying?  You may be driving and going too fast and a voice tells you to slow down and when you don’t you may hear a siren coming up behind you.

Genesis 6:6 tells the story of a man called Noah.  He listened to God and basically the world was saved by Noah being obedient.  You know the story; Adam and Eve had the opportunity to live in a perfect world, but they failed to listen to God and were cast out of the Garden of Eden and the whole world became sinful except for Noah and his family.  If he hadn’t listened to God, none of us would be here today.

Times have not changed on God trying to teach us a lesson.  Numbers 20:7-11, “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals." So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him. So Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.”  God told Moses to speak to the rock and Moses, in his heart said to himself, “I’ll do it my way.”  He did, with terrible consequences; after all those years of leading the people to the Promised Land was not allowed to enter it himself.

As time went on, the world continued to change and still does so.  There are Godly people and those don’t even know who God is.  Some know but choose to ignore him and those who don’t even believe he exists.  There are others who make up their own God. The deal is, every one of us will die someday and then what? Everyone has a spirit, but if it isn’t God’s spirit, they will go to a place called ‘Hell’ for eternity.  You may not believe that, but it doesn’t matter because it’s going to happen. 

There is only two choices for eternal life; Heaven with the Lord, or Hell with Satan.  God doesn’t make the choice of where you are going – you do! When you are dead, you can’t make any choices.  What does this have to do with listening to God? Those of us who live in America have everything to show you how God wants us to live.  There are probably more Bibles in the U.S. than in any part of the world.  Every television, every day has people sharing the Bible and its truth.  There are thousands of libraries in cities and villages and towns where you could read the Bible and Christian books.  In other words, you have no excuse for not knowing the Word of God.

Many times God speaks to you from the Bible and expects you to listen because he loves you. Here is what he wants you to know in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  

Just think about it!

Sharing God's Words

Sharing God’s Words

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:8

            “I’m too sick”  “I’m too tired”  “I can’t make it to church any longer”  “I’m too old to minister”  These are some of the excuses people make for not sharing the Word of the Lord any longer.  You may feel like withered grass or a faded flower as the above scripture says, but God’s Word still stands.  If you are still able to speak, you can share God’s Word with others.

The Word of God is so powerful that just speaking the Word of God can bring life back to those who were dead.  In Ezekiel 37:4-6 God spoke to Ezekiel.  He said to him, “Prophesy to these bones and say too them, ‘O dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord! “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live.  I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you and you shall live.” 

Just speaking over the dead brings them to life.  This is how powerful the Word of God is.  Another example is that His spoken Word will not return ‘void’.   In Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

This is why I write these blogs every week. I want others to know that by sharing the Word of God, wonderful things can happen.  I probably don’t know and never will, how many were touched by hearing God’s Word. The power in the Word can fight the battles of the enemy against our soul. Ephesians 6:17, “And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”  Did you get that? “The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. 

 

This is why it’s so important not only to read the Bible, but to try to understand it.  If you have asked Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you do not have to go through trials and troubles alone.  The power of the Word of God is available all the time for you.  With God all things are possible (Mark 9:23).  Many Christians don’t even know what God has made possible for them.  This why we must continually share the Word of God with as many as we can.

The days we now live in are devastating.  We keep thinking and wondering why the Lord doesn’t come back and do something about it.  The young people in high school and college are being held up like offerings on the altar of Satan. So many things are being crammed into their minds that they don’t even recognize who they once were or what they once believed. This is another reason we need to keep speaking out the Word of God. Many are void of the difference between sin and morals. The only thing that is sure and true is the Word of God.

At times we feel helpless to help these who are often without hope.  This is when we need to turn to the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 14:26, “but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.  The Holy Spirit is our helper and he will direct us in how we should pray, how we should react to the things our loved ones are doing and He will lead us in the right decisions with love.

“Holy Spirit, I pray for my loved ones to hear the Word of God in a positive way and give them the knowledge to understand how much God loves them and wants to hold a place their heart. Help me, Lord to let them see my life as a child of God who stands in faith believing in them without chastisement.  Chastisement belongs to God alone and those he chastises, he loves.” Amen

The Changing Church - Part 4

The Changing Church

Part 4

Revelation 3:14-22

“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, these things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot I will vomit you out of My mouth.  Because you say 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked--I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”.

            Now that we have talked about our failures as a church of Jesus Christ, what can we do to turn it around to the power of success that we hold in our hands?  The scripture above says it all: “Repent and be an Overcomer and spend eternity with Jesus.”   However there are things we can change in our churches today and I will try to address some of these.

        
    #1. Let’s examine our own hearts to see where we are and why we go to church.  God never asked that we be entertained. You will not find it in the Bible.  The plan was to gather ourselves together as we see when we read in Revelation about Jesus view of the seven churches.   Hebrews 10:24-25 says it plainly, “ Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”   

  
          #2.  The Word of God will feed your soul.  In Acts 13:44 we see how important it was to these believers to hear the Word of God because “On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.”  Why would they do that; what is so important about hearing the word of God?  Think about this. “But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”  Luke 4:4.  The only way to really live is to fill up on the Word of God morning, noon and night.  The Word is God and Jesus himself was so filled with the Word of God, “He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”  Luke 4:43.  This leads me to #3.

    
        #3.  Respect for God’s house.  If the sanctuary in your church is not a place of holiness and respect, try sitting quietly with your eyes closed and head down praying for others to honor God. When it’s time for Communion do the same thing even though others are walking around talking.  Jesus asked that we take Communion in Remembrance of Him. Think about it; we cannot be visiting with each other and remembering Jesus at the same time.  It’s impossible!

      
      #4.  We must stand on the Word of God.  If the Bible says “It’s wrong; it’s wrong.  No matter what the world accepts and says that we are ‘hater’s’ if we don’t agree those who do these things. Stand up like a man or woman of God, they are at fault, not you.  You have the power of God behind you while those who practice these sins have nothing backing them up.

         
    #5.   Repent of those things in your life that are holding you back from serving God like you should. No matter what great movements tell you not to repent, do it anyway.  God tells the churches to repent before it’s too late.

        
    #6.   Last but not least, is the need to praise and worship God.  “Because your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you.”  Psalm 63:3.  To be thankful even for our life, we need to praise God.  “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.”  Psalm 95:6.

          
  These are some things that can help individuals stop the church from changing what is happening to what should happen.  Stand for what you believe and know is true, in the Word of God.  God will never fail you!