Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Riches of His Word... immeasurable!


For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11

Brothers and Sisters blessed in the LORD,

We serve a God who is good, period. Always. There is no unrighteousness in Him. Everything He does springs forth from His goodness. He cannot be anything other than good. God’s goodness alone should cause us to bless the LORD. Many testimonies are spoken about God’s goodness in relation to how He answered their prayers. Often His goodness is related to timing of something requested.
A person who receives a ‘no’ from God often makes a personal journey that takes him through doubt, as he questions God’s goodness and wrestles with fear, while learning to walk by faith and not live by feelings. If in earnest he continues to choose to trust God, even when it doesn‘t make sense to him, he will again arrive, stronger than ever, at the assurance that God is good. Just as David reveals his faith struggles in the Psalms, so will all with authentic faith make their own journey, arriving at truth of God’s goodness unrelated to what they previously decided defined that goodness.

Faith is not the direct result of answered prayer it is the fruit of the power of God’s word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17

I remember many years ago the verse in Psalm 84 being applied in my life to hopefully attain what I decided was good. Some pray for a husband and have decided this alone is good. But God may have called them to singleness and all that is a precious part of being ‘wed’ to the heavenly Father, in a holiness others cannot understand. Why do we think we should tell God how and when to answer our prayers?

 In Psalm 103 David starts with a heart overflowing with praise. He reminds himself of God’s goodness to him.

 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;

I have questions LORD,
Am I faithful to praise You with all my heart, all that is in me? You are worthy!
Have I thanked You for all You do every day in my life? You are faithful.
You alone have cleansed me from sin! You are my Sin-bearer.
You have given me a wonderful body that is able to heal itself. My Creator.
You lift me from the pit of my own bad choices. You rescue me.
You pour out your undeserved love and compassion on me. You are merciful.
You satisfy my years with good things and because of all this, my youth is renewed like the eagles. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is Your lovingkindness toward those who reverence You. And the most amazing thing is Your lovingkindness is from everlasting to everlasting for us who fear You! 

The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all. Psalm 103:19

Do I just read these truths or do I believe them?  Psalm 103 is rich with Truth that is worth meditating on, verse after verse.

We may question ‘why’ God allows things in our life we would never choose, but we are not ask to understand, we are ask to trust Him. He has reminded me to trust Him again and again this past week; especially when I think I cannot take another step. Life is unfair. Life hurts. Or it may be life never changes… and the sameness is choking the life out of you… faith is always a choice. Look how David begins Psalm 103 and how he ends it!

Part of not forgetting God’s benefits is recognizing His kindness and wisdom in what He sovereignly permits and what He does not. RA

After reading this we each face a choice. Trust God or focus on self and demand God explain Himself to us. Is Psalm 84:11 a contradiction to Psalm 103:5?

‘Who satisfies your years with good things.’

What if God in His sovereignty withholds your hearts desire (good things), when it says He will not withhold any good thing in Psalm 86? I remember when the meaning became clear to me; If God is withholding something from my life, it may be ‘good’ in itself, but it is NOT good, for it to be in my life right now. We can find ourselves alone again, to be crowded to Christ. Is there really any other place you would rather be? He is life and breath, love and purpose.

Father-God, You who look on us with love so powerful it cannot be measured. You who spoke the universe into being, know the number of hairs on our head. You know the depths of foolishness and selfishness in our hearts and are in our life to be ‘living hope’. You are never halted in Your purpose of creating the likeness of Christ in us! You who cannot be explained or dissected or defined, Holy is Your name. Your purposes are great. You alone are worthy to be praised. I pray in the Name above all names, Jesus. amen

With all that is in me….. I bless His holy name,

You are loved and prayed for precious ones,

az









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