November 26, 2011 Journal Entry Philippians 4:4-7

Philippians 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS! I will say it AGAIN: REJOICE! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in EVERYTHING, by PRAYER and PETITION, with THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God. And the PEACE OF GOD, which TRANSCENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING, WILL GUARD YOUR HEARTS AND YOUR MINDS IN CHRIST JESUS.

Powerful!

The Lord shared this with my heart a couple of months ago when I was worrying, dwelling, and thinking about several situations in my life and in the lives of others around me. He actually brought Philippians 4:6 to mind and it was as if He whispered to my heart, “Instead of running around in your own mind trying to figure things out and see all the angles and wondering what to do, what can you do, and what will happen? Just bring all of these issues to Me and talk to Me about them. And speak to Me about how My promises pertain to these situations and events and thank Me that I AM ABLE and WILLING to do ALL things. Thank Me that I have a good plan for You, to prosper you and not to harm you, and that all things will work together for your good, because you love Me.”

Really, it was as if He opened the eyes of my heart a little wider and revealed this to me – and I believe He is reminding me this morning – to thankfully bring all of my concerns to His loving side, lean there and rest – knowing His peace. His peace truly does go beyond any human understanding. And I believe it is guarding my heart and my mind. I am still experiencing the fact that the more I surrender to the Lord, the happier, more satisfied and at peace I become.

Thank You, Father, please continue to speak to me, mold me, and grow me up in You. All glory and honor and praises, to You, Jesus!

Another key to peace!

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is TRUE, whatever is NOBLE, whatever is RIGHT, whatever is ADMIRABLE, – if anything is EXCELLENT or PRAISEWORTHY, – think about such things. 9 whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into PRACTICE. AND THE GOD OF PEACE WILL BE WITH YOU.

Another key to enjoying PEACE, is dwelling on positive, good, true, right, noble, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy thoughts. It is OK to be informed about what is going on around you and in the world, such as keeping up with the news. The Bible does say to watch and to pray and Jesus gave us signs to look for regarding how the world would be, leading up to His triumphant return. But we are not to dwell on these things out there, or even right in our own life, that are not pure, holy, positive, and uplifting things.

November 25, 2011 Scriptures

Psalm 25 is a great prayer written by David.

Psalm 25:14 The Lord confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them.

Psalm 25:15 My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only He will release my feet from the snare.

Psalm 55:16-19 But I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice. He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me. God, who is enthroned forever, will hear them and afflict them – men who never change their ways and have no fear of God.

Psalm 55:22 Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.

Psalm 85:2-3 You forgave the iniquity of Your people and covered all their sins, You set aside all Your wrath and turned from Your fierce anger.

Psalm 115:1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness.

November 21, 2011 Journal Entry & Scriptures

Psalm 51 – written by David when the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed. David confesses and repents – a great prayer when convicted of sin. An example of the correct response of the heart!

Psalm 51:6 Surely You desire truth in the inner parts; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Psalm 51:9-12 Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalm 51:13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will turn back to You.

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

Psalm 71:20-21 Though You have made me see troubles, many and bitter, You will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth You will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again.

Psalm 81 – another psalm of Asaph v 1-5 Reminds God’s people to observe the celebrations which honor God and bring to mind His love, deliverance, provision, and mercy. v 6-7 God says “I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.” v 8-16 God says, “Hear, O my people, and I will warn you – if you would but listen to me, O Israel! You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god. I am the Lord Your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. But My people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. If My people would but listen to Me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their foes! Those who hate the Lord would cringe before Him, and their punishment would last forever. But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the Rock I would satisfy you.”

In Psalm 81, I see that God truly loves us and wants to bless us abundantly. He says to open our mouths wide and He will fill it. He wants to warn us and speak to us – if we would just listen! He has delivered us, restored us, protected us, provided for us, blessed us with His very presence – yet we get busy with everything else and forget Him. He says to us, “I am the Lord your God,” not “the” God, but “OUR GOD.” He desires our love, our worship, our reverence, our attention – so that He can fill us with more, more of Himself. He is the only one who can truly satisfy us – mind, soul, spirit, and body. If we continue ignoring Him, rejecting Him, and choosing our way over His, then He will turn us over to our own stubborn hearts to follow our own devices – O Lord, please, NO! I know there is nothing good in us and apart from God and if we are left only to our own devices, plans, schemes, desires – the only outcome ends up in destruction, devastation, desolation – evil and death. There are more ways to die than just physical death. We can lose our mind, relationships can die, our spirits dwindle and perish when we do not seek God.

November 19 & 20, 2011 Prayer & Scriptures

Thank You, Lord, for Your mercy and forgiveness and understanding and for all the chances and lessons that You have given me – for where You have brought me from and for where You are taking me. I know that I can trust You to complete the good work which You began in me.

Proverbs 18:7 A fool’s mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul.

Proverbs 18:8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts.

Proverbs 19:11 A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.

Proverbs 19:15 Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless man goes hungry.

Proverbs 19:18 Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.

November 18, 2011 Scripture and Journal Entry

Psalm 18 is great. There are so many good verses in this psalm – here are just a couple of my favorites: Psalm 18:1-6 & 16-36 & 46-49

Psalm 18:28 You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

Psalm 18:32 It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.

Psalm 18:35 You give me Your shield of victory, and Your right hand sustains me; You stoop down to make me great.

Psalm 18:36 You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn.

Psalm 18:46 The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!

Psalm 78 Asaph is saying that we should tell our children all the praiseworthy things God has done – His power and the wonders He has done. He is saying that we should pass on to all generations, the decrees and laws that God set forth, and His great deeds so that our children will not turn away from the Lord, but they will trust Him, remember His deeds and His greatness and will keep His commandments. He says that if we teach our children of God’s laws, deeds, wonders and love, then they will not be like their forefathers – a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to Him. Then, Asaph goes on to give examples of how God’s people turned against Him time after time and how God performed miracles for them and provided for all their needs, and even their wants, out of His love for them. Yet, even though God  proved His love and care for them, they still did not trust or appreciate God. His anger burned against them and He showed His power by striking down the sturdiest of them, the young men. In spite of all this, they continued to sin. In spite of God’s wonders, they did not believe.

Psalm 78:34-39 Whenever God slew them, they would seek Him; they eagerly turned to Him, again. They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer. But then they would flatter Him with their mouths, lying to Him with their tongues; their hearts were not loyal to Him, they were not faithful to His covenant. Yet He was merciful; He forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time He restrained His anger and did not stir up His full wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.

Then, v40-64 of Psalm 78 goes into more detail of God’s wonders and His people’s rebellion. Finally, v 65-72 tells of the Lord, once again, showing mercy to His people and then choosing a servant, David, from the sheep pens, to shepherd God’s people.

I would like to focus on v34-39 of Psalm 78 for me to remember and constantly check my heart and be sure that I am not just running to God in times of distress or trouble. I’ve got to praise You, Lord, in the good and in the bad times. There is no time when you are not with me! You are ever-present! I never want to find myself, where I once was, like the people described in these verses. Yes, they knew God’s wonders, His laws, and He loved them, showed them mercy, provided for them, delivered them, and disciplined them. But they didn’t truly believe and trust God. They eagerly ran to God when trouble came, when He reminded them that they needed Him. But, as He gave to them even what they wanted, not only what they needed, they became content, satisfied with what they had, and forgot to honor God, to remain loyal, and faithful to Him. They would say the right words, get God’s attention, get what they wanted, and then sit down and go back to the attitude that they were doing okay, and God would be there “if they needed Him.” O Lord, forgive me for being this way in my life. I see now that is one way I kept drifting so far from You, to places in my heart I dared never go – places I didn’t dream existed within me. Lord, I wish to dwell with You forever – to cherish time with You, hearing from You, praising You, and honoring You with all that I am. And praise You, Father – in v38 & 39 – it says that even though Your people continually forgot to honor You, You were merciful! You forgave their sins and You did not destroy them. You remember, Lord, that we are flesh, weak – Psalm 103:14 – You know how we are formed – You remember that we are dust. Thank You, Lord, for Your mercy and forgiveness and understanding and for all the chances and lessons that You have given me – for where You have brought me from and for where You are taking me. I know that I can trust You to complete the good work which You began in me.