Psalm 31:15

Psalm 31:15 ^ESV

My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!

 

Praise Jesus, my times are in His hands.

          Times of turmoil; Jesus is my stronghold in the storm.

          Times of joy; Jesus is a deeper wine in my cup.

          Times of sorrow; Jesus is a warm friend.

          Times of peace; Jesus is my motivator to excellence.

 

to be continued…

 

Praise You Father for Your hand of compassion.

Praise You Son for Your hand of sacrifice.

Praise You Spirit for Your Hand of love.

 

Our times are in His hands,

Pastor Greg

Psalm 30:5

Psalm 30:5

        For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime.
      Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

 

Oh Lord God, weeping is a part of life here on Earth.  I know you weep also when you see the pain of Your children.  We weep because of our own sin; we weep because of the sin of others: we weep because of the sickness of this sinful world.  Give us this joy that You have promised.  Sustain us while we walk through the Valley of Bacca (weeping) and give us hope for the joy that will come one fine Morning.

 

Praise You Father for joy.

Praise You Son that You took our pain.

Praise You Spirit that You fill us with hope.

 

Praising God with you,

Pastor Greg

Ezekiel 37:3

Ezekiel 37:3 ^ESV

And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know."

 

Humility is one of the characteristics of wise men.  Ezekiel had no answer for God’s question: the best he could do is say, “O Lord God, You know.”

 

Now, such humility does not extend across the board: there are times we already know.  An example is the answer to God’s question: those bones can live.  How do I know?  Because God answered the question.  Now, because God answered; because God gave revelation, we can know that those bones can indeed live.  Praise Jesus.

 

We must remember that we are but dust and that are perspective on the cosmos is limited; we cannot know perfectly (at least not yet), but we can know truly.  Take from Ezekiel’s answer a proper humility, but also a proper courage knowing that if God tells you to talk to dead bones, he’s serious.

 

Praise You Father that You can raise dead bones.

Praise You Son that You died so my dead bones could rise.

Praise You Spirit that You make them alive.

 

Humbly courageous with you,

Pastor Greg

Prov 28:1

Proverbs 28:1 ^ESV

The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

 

This was hard this morning because I wanted to comment on the New Covenant in Ezekiel 36.  But this stood out so well to me.

 

When your conscience is hurting you, you are always afraid: when your sins do not cause you to fear you won’t fear anything.

 

I’m not afraid of persecution; I’m afraid of my own sins catching up with me.  Someone can mock me, despise me, hurt me, and even kill me: but if I shame my Savior, that is shame indeed.

 

Praise You Father for courage.

Praise You Son for salvation.

Praise You Spirit for righteousness.

 

Bold with you,

Pastor Greg

Psalm 27:1

Prov 27; Ezek 31-33

Psalm 27:1 ^ESV

OF DAVID. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

 

What does it mean to say that someone or something is your stronghold?

          It means you trust in it for security, hope, etc.

          It means you value it more than other things.

          Having something/one as your stronghold means that you put time and energy into it.

          Having something/one as your stronghold means that nothing is more valuable.

 

So, what are some common strongholds people use?

          People (relatives, children, parents, spouse)

          Jobs

          Money

          Fame

          Entertainment (of numerous kinds)

 

But what do these things have in common:

          All of them will fail.

          All of them will disappear and will take those who trust in them with them.

 

How do we make sure that the Lord is our stronghold.

          Trust His promises (that means you 1^st have to know them, then you have to apply them to various areas of your life)

          Spend time with those who trust Him

          Organize your life around the promises/commands found in Scripture.

 

Father, give me courage to forsake all my strongholds that are not built on You.

Son, give me blessings commensurate with Your promises.

Spirit, give me direction that I may make You my stronghold.

 

Resting secure with you,

Pastor Greg

Proverbs 26:13-16

Proverbs 26:13-16 ^ESV

The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!"

¹⁴ As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed.

¹⁵ The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.

¹⁶ The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.

 

The sluggard is one who refuses to work even for his own benefit.  The sluggard is one who is a willing conspirator against his own welfare.  The sluggard is one who ultimately destroys the fabric that makes up a community, a culture, and a society.  The sluggard is the one who has made our Republic the welfare state it is.  Forgive us Father.

 

The sluggard is always afraid; he finds any excuse to withdraw and pull back instead of taking the bull by the horns.

The sluggard is always tired; and uses that as an excuse not to accomplish that which he need to accomplish.

The sluggard is always lazy; and he refuses to go to his garden, to clean his toilet, to do the work that must be done merely to survive.

The sluggard is always haughty; and he refuses to listen to good advice.

 

Oh Father, forgive me for the characteristics I see here in my own heart.

Oh Son, bless me with the grace I need to fight the sluggard within me.

Oh Spirit, grant me to follow hard after Your grace so that I may not be ashamed.

 

Fighting the sickness of the age with you,

Pastor Greg

Ezekiel 28: 23, 24, 26

I have noticed many times a refrain at the end of a passage in Ezekiel: "Then they will know that I am the Lord." Sometimes it is a very similar phrase (verse 28 ends..."their God"). 

 

God's favorite name for Ezekiel is 'Son of Man'.  This does not have the same meaning as that when Jesus used it as His favorite Self-appelation.  It basically means in Ezekiel 'Hey, you, mortal!  Pay attention!'

 

I  have said many times that Ezekiel is my favorite prophet.  Isaiah was evidently a member of royalty; Jeremiah is the most poetic of the major prophets; but Ezekiel must have been a man of wild eyes!  He must have just been completely unpredictable!  No one could understand the man at all! Out of the blue he would lay for a year on his side!  The men of Judah around him by the river Chebar could not account for him.  And oh, the depth of the pain and anguish: when his wife died merely for the sin and the exclamation to the sinful men sitting around him; no mourning, no tears...  Ezekiel was completely INSANE to his contemporaries and completely SANE to God.  The anguish, the fantastic vision, the soul sickness: all for the glory of God.

 

You know: God must indeed be the most amazing Being in all the universe; He must be astoundingly beautiful to deserve this kind of life; and the reward for following Him through this kind of pain, well

"Eye has not seen, ear has not heard..." (1 Cor 2:9)

"For this slight momentary affliction..." (2 Cor 4:17)

 

Praise You Father for giving us men to show us Your worth.

Praise You Son for saving those sinful men.

Praise You Spirit for putting their courage in our hearts.

 

Becoming Insane for Sanity with you,

Pastor Greg

Psalm 24:1-2

Psalm 24:1-2 ^ESV

A PSALM OF DAVID.

The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,

² for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

 

Truth: such a wonderful blessing to know the truth.  Men search high and low: some to cover the truth with their lies; others to find what is true but not to rejoice in it, but to use it for themselves and their stomach.  But God’s Word is Truth; in it we see God revealing Himself so that we may know, so that we may become more like Him in speaking the truth to men about us.

 

We cannot know full truth while corrupted with our sinful flesh. But the truth we can know is fully truth.

 

And this truth is that the earth belongs to the Lord; the earth and everyone who lives in it.  We blush at this because we see the evil; we cringe because we know the evil in our own hearts: Forgive us oh Lord!  Count not my trespasses against me!  Lift the burden off my family and those whom You have give me to love!

 

And we know that the Earth and everyone in it belongs to the Lord because He is the One who established it, founding it upon the unknown and unknowable.  Praise be to Him Who is far greater than we can even imagine.

 

Praise You Father for creating.

Praise You Son for saving.

Praise You Spirit for sealing.

 

Seeking the Truth with you,

Pastor Greg

Ezekiel 20:44

Ezekiel 20:44 ESV

     And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD."

 

I chose this verse because Ezekiel 20 is a chapter of judgment.  God explains at least 5 times that he is going to make it known that "I am the Lord." The Israelite leaders had come to Ezekiel 'to inquire of the Lord'.  God said, 'Nothing doing!'  You don't really want to know what I'm saying, you've been ignoring me all along."  But, God says, I'll tell you something anyway, you're getting judged because you're ignoring me, well, go to your idols because I'm not going to let you blaspheme my name any more!"

 

Near the end, but not before all His words of judgment are done, God declares: "And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD."

 

Amen, and Amen!  What more could we ask of God than that???  Praise Jesus for GRACE!

 

Praise You Father, that in the midst of judgment You provide words of grace.

Praise You Son, that You accepted the final judgment against us that we might be free to live.

Praise You Spirit, that You reveal to us this grace through Your Word.

 

Living in the midst of Grace with you,

Pastor Greg

Proverbs 22:29

Psalm 20:1-5

Ezekiel 16-18

Proverbs 22:29

Proverbs 22:29 ^ESV

Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

 

Work is honorable.  Good work is more honorable still.  An honorable man known for doing good work is one who will be promoted to serving the rulers of a country.  Praise Jesus that He gives glory to those who earn it.

 

Praise You Father for giving us work.

Praise You Son for working in us and through us.

Praise You Spirit for causing us to glorify You in our work.

 

Working together with you,

Pastor Greg

Psalm 18:25-26

Psalm 18:25 ^ESV

With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;

²⁶ with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

 

Why do some believe when they hear the Good News and others do not?  Obviously the answer is, those whom the Father chooses (Matt 11:27).  And yet, there remains the human perspective that we too choose either to serve or disobey God. 

 

These verses help us understand the human perspective on this question.  Men behave in a certain way and God responds accordingly.  He loves to be gracious and He loves to bless.  For those however who choose to live ‘crookedly’ among the people around them God makes Himself ‘seem tortuous’.  The wicked cannot love God because to them He seems to be a cruel taskmaster (Matt 25:14-30). 

 

It is for this reason (others could also be named) that we must live as joyfully as possible so that those who are apart from God may see that we base our hope and our joy on something other than what the world has to give.  Praise Jesus that over time we can wean ourselves from the poison this world has to offer and come to love the nourishment of our Savior.  Give us this blessed dependence oh Father.

 

Praise You Father for showing yourself merciful.

Praise You Son for being the instrument of that mercy.

Praise You Spirit for showering us with that mercy for Your glory.

 

Basking in the warmth of God’s mercy with you,

Pastor Greg

Psalm 10:1; 11:7

Proverbs 14:3

Ezekiel 7-10

 

Proverbs 14:3 ^ESV

By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back, but the lips of the wise will preserve them.

 

Lord, save me from my own lips.  Guard my heart because I cannot guard it properly.  Save me from the wickedness in my own heart that comes through my mouth and guide me in the everlasting way.

 

Praise You Father that You take Your House seriously.

Praise You Son that You have taken away our sin.

Praise You Spirit that You work in us to make us more like you.

 

Silent,

Pastor Greg

Psalm 9:19-20

Proverbs 12:19

Ezekiel 5:11

Psalm 9:19-20 ^ESV

Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you! ²⁰ Put them in fear, O LORD! Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah

Psalm 3:7 ^ESV

Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.

Psalm 7:6 ^ESV

Arise, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.

Psalm 10:12 ^ESV

Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted.

Psalm 17:13 ^ESV

Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him! Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,

Psalm 132:8 ^ESV

Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.

 

Having read this phrase now 3 times very recently I decided to look it up.  I didn’t leave in the 3 times it occurs outside the psalms.

 

Here’s the thing: praise Jesus that God invites us to ask Him to act.  God knows that there is much we cannot do with out Him (is there anything we can do with out Him???).  In most of the cases above, the arising has to do with asking for individual help.  God is not above rescuing His children.  So, let us call out on Him and call for Him to arise!

 

Praise You Father that You will rescue Your children.

Praise You Son that You rescued us already.

Praise You Spirit that You rescue us daily!

 

Trusting in God’s rescue with you,

Pastor Greg

Psalm 8:1, 9

Psalm 8:1, 9 ^ESV

TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO THE GITTITH. A PSALM OF DAVID.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

Proverbs 11:24-28

Ezekiel 3:27

 

Majesty in the OT refers to the ‘superiority of something/someone due to superior power or might’.  Glory is, on the other hand, the radiance of God’s excellent character (it is also used as a synonym of ‘honor’ or ‘reputation’, and when used of God refers to the superlative honor due Him). Thus majesty and glory are related but speak to differing aspects of how God relates to His creation. 

 

In our present verse David proclaims that God power or might is vastly superior to all the power and might of the earth, and that His glory is greater than the glory of the stars, and planets, and moon, and even the sun!  Both in power and in beauty God is great and greatly to be praised! 

 

So, with David, praise Him!  It is worth doing and it is good for us!

 

Praise You Father!

Praise You Son!

Praise You Spirit!

 

Praising God with you,

Pastor Greg

Proverbs 10:19

Psalm 7:17

Proverbs 10:19

Lamentations

 

 

Proverbs 10:19 ^ESV

When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.

 

Ecclesiastes 5:2 ^ESV

Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

 

Forgive me for my many words oh Lord.  Restore to me the joy of my salvation.

 

Praise You Father for forgiveness.

Praise You Son for propitiating me.

Praise You Spirit for indwelling me.

 

Speaking few words with you,

Pastor Greg

Proverbs 9:12

(The first part of this is to help me keep track of my daily reading because I have recently changed how I am doing it.)

Psalm 6:1-2

Proverbs 9:12

SOS 1-8

Proverbs 9:12

If you are wise, you are wise for yourself;

if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

 

Wisdom helps the wise one; scoffing at wisdom hurts the one who scoffs.

 

Hear wisdome, don't scoff.  Listen to those who reproach you so that you will be wise.  forsake your self-centeredness and seek the Lord while He may be found.

 

Hear oh my soul!  Guard yourself strongly that you may live.

 

Praise You Father for Wisdom.

Praise You Son that You came.

Praise You Spirit for speaking wisdom to my heart.

 

Seeking wisdom with you,

Pastor Greg

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ^ESV

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. ¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

 

The end of the matter, on the story that is vanity, the life lived apart from God, the end of the matter is this: Fear God!

 

Whatever people use to define ‘reverence’ (for people don’t like to use the word ‘fear’ in reference to God though the Bible is not ashamed of the word from beginning to end…hmmm, I wonder if that means anything significant, oh well we shouldn’t think about that???!), whatever people use to define ‘reverence’, if that word is correctly defined it means exactly what we say when we define the fear of God. 

 

Another verse in my reading today was:

Proverbs 8:13 ^ESV

The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

 

To Fear God is to hate evil.  That is pretty simple in my mind.  But just in case we missed it:
2 Corinthians 5:11 ^ESV

Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.

The key to 5:11 is found in 2 Cor 5:10. Who is the ‘we must all’ in this verse if not also believers.  In light of that day let us life holy lives (n.b. 2 Peter 3:11-13 !).

 

2 Corinthians 7:1 ^ESV

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

 

Note the emphasis on ‘promise’ in these last two verses.  Note how the promises of God are associated with a correct understanding of the ‘fear of God’.  We are not cringing in our walk with Jesus: we instead look to Him so that we will find favor (Psalm 123:1-4).  Keeping our eyes on Jesus is the reality that is the fear of God for all those who trust Him for salvation by grace through faith.  Let us then press on towards godliness and holiness, for Hebrews 12:14!

 

Thank You Father that You can be both loved and feared.

Thank You Son that You redeemed us from eternal fear.

Thank You Spirit that You speak peace and sonship into our hearts so that we need fear nothing on earth.

 

Fearing and loving God together with you,

Pastor Greg

Psalm 3:5

Psalm 3:5 ^ESV

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.

 

Praise You Lord for sleep.  Thank You Lord for rest.  Thank You Lord for sustaining me.

 

Praise You Father for controlling the universe.

Praise You Son for purchasing my salvation.

Praise You Spirit for sustaining my soul.

 

Trusting the Lord for rest,

Pastor Greg

Ecclesiastes 5:13-17

Ecclesiastes 5:13-17 ^ESV

There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, ¹⁴ and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. ¹⁵ As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. ¹⁶ This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? ¹⁷ Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.

 

It never ceases to astound me how I can read a verse and think, “I know to whom this verse applies!”  Ouch!  I then realize the Holy Spirit says to me, “Thou art the man!”  Double Ouch!

 

Riches are meant to be used for the glory of God.  When they are not so used it is a ‘grievous evil’.  It is also to the owner’s hurt.  Ultimately the sinner loses those riches.  Matt 25:14-30 is a good example of this principle.  The master was angry at the servant who did nothing; his ‘riches’ were his downfall, it would have been better for him had he never received anything in the first place.  Luke 16:1-13 is another example of the principle that we must use God’s riches for His glory.  We are to make friends with money so that some will welcome us in our eternal homes.  The best use of money is that use which brings the most people to Christ in this life.

 

Don’t get caught with a bank full of gold; use that gold to glorify God and you will never cease to have riches enough forever (Matt 6:19-24).

 

Thank You Father for riches.

Thank You Son that those riches are more than physical.

Thank You Spirit that You give us grace to use those riches for Your glory.

 

Using God’s riches for His glory with you,

Pastor Greg

Ecclesiastes 3:11

Ecclesiastes 3:11 ^ESV

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

 

 

God makes all things beautiful. Man, it doesn’t feel like it at times… I think it instructive however that following this statement is the statement that God has put eternity into our hearts.  Though up close all the ugly that is in the world is now overwhelming, the beauty and the grace of God changes it and transforms it into beauty.  I suspect however, that the way, the means of this beautification will be the courage and trust of God’s people counteracting this ugly.  It is up to you and me to be God’s hands and feet on earth to do our part (wholly through the grace and mercy of God) to change beauty for ashes.

 

Praise You Father for the promise of beauty.

Praise You Son for making the ugly beautiful.

Praise You Spirit for working in me to change beauty for ashes around me.

 

Enjoying the beauty around us with you,

Pastor Greg

Esther

Esther 3:15

… And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.

 

Normally devotions on Esther come from Esther 4:13-14; perhaps even Esther 10:3, but I have chosen 3:15 (even only the last ½ of the verse).  The reason is that this verse displays the utter debauchery of the king and his officials.  Esther had something to fear in approaching the king, they were obviously so capricious that the king may have killed his wife just for showing up at his business.  “Kill a large part of the people in my kingdom, sure why not if you’ve got the money to do it???!”  The wastefulness in the process of choosing a bride; the wastefulness in the fact of the harem in the first place.  The rank opulence that reeks even above the wastefulness of our own society ought to sicken us.  In spite of all this, Esther stood firm and God provided: amen.

 

Praise You Father for providing for Esther and for Your people.

Praise You Son for being the source of that provision.

Praise You Spirit for moving in Your people to have courage.

 

Trusting God with you,

Pastor Greg

 

Nehemiah 8:10

Nehemiah 8:10 ^ESV

Then he said to them, "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

 

This day is holy to the Lord, therefore, throw a party!  Why, because “the joy of the Lord is your strength”!  God is not a prude; nor is He a wimp: and neither is He a drunkard.  Yet, the command is to enjoy life because God has given us so many blessings.

 

One thing I have learned from 3^rd world countries is that life is so hard, so tedious, so tiring that the people need a party.  Now, what this ‘party’ often turns into is NOT good for the partiers: but the fault of poor partiers does not make a party bad.  God incorporated celebrations so that the people would celebrate rightly.  And He incorporated them fairly often: thus insuring that the people had a creative way to enjoy Him and the life He gave without sin.

 

One more thing to note: incorporated in the command is the command to ‘send portions to anyone who has nothing ready’.  In the party, give to those who can’t celebrate.  The kind of heart that does this is the kind of heart that God loves: this is the kind of heart that God isn’t worrying about partying because the party won’t turn into something it shouldn’t be.

 

Praise You Father for reasons to party.

Praise You Son for partying with us.

Praise you Spirit for a heart to party correctly.

 

Party on dude!

Pastor Greg

Nehemiah 6:9

Nehemiah 6:9 ^ESV

    "But now, O God, strengthen my hands.”

 

This is a prayer of a man who works.  Nehemiah did not pray that God would take away the stresses of leadership; Nehemiah prayed that God would make him equal to the stresses of leadership.  This is the kind of man God can use.

 

Praise You Father for stresses that stretch us.

Praise You Son for grace in those stresses.

Praise You Spirit for stretching us to make us more like You.

 

Stretching for Jesus,

Pastor Greg