Then....

Then…. Webster says, ‘next in order of time’ . Reading that definition, I think of that cliché’ ‘First things first’..…

So often we get last things first.

Reflecting on verses 41-48 of Psalm 119, I am impressed with the order that should be in place in our lives. Knowing and understanding the love of God is paramount. THAT is the first thing….and sadly, I think there are a whole lot of people who don’t have a clue about the love of our Creator.

God’s love, His promises, the salvation He provides, then the ‘then’….

“May your unfailing love come to me, LORD, your salvation, according to your promise;
then I can answer anyone who taunts me, for I trust in your word. (Psalm 119:41-42)

I am convinced that once we are secure in the love of God, trusting completely that what He says is always and only good and best, our will changes, our ‘want-to’ changes…

It makes absolutely no sense in the world’s way of thinking, but the free-est freedom we can experience is obedience to God.

Again I pray with David…I pray that I put first things first. Always…


“Let your love, GOD, shape my life with salvation, exactly as you promised;
THEN, I'll be able to stand up to mockery because I trusted your Word….your commandments are what I depend on.

I'll guard with my life what you've revealed to me…And I'll stride freely through wide open spaces as I look for your truth and your wisdom; Then I'll tell the world what I find, speak out boldly in public, unembarrassed.

I cherish your commandments--oh, how I love them!--
relishing every fragment of your counsel.” (Ps. 119:41-48 The Message)

First things first…..

THEN……

Priorities...

Priorities… It is so easy to get them wrong. Why do we so often put value on something worthless…

Reflecting on the fifth section of Psalm 119, I am drawn to verse 37, “Turn my eyes away from things that are worthless….keep me alive as You have promised.”

It is difficult to keep priorities in order. It is easy to be deceived and believe a lie about the worth of some ‘thing’.

We mistakenly think that in ‘things’ we secure ourselves somehow.…then the enemy comes with accusations, pointing out the mistakes and the foolishness, urging us in some new direction where he tells us that security might be found.

The enemy of our souls would have us continue to seek fulfillment and life down those empty paths he points out. Paths that take us in the opposite direction of God and true life.

In the words of this Psalm, David prays for divine perspective and divine restraint.

Tonight, I also pray for those.

I pray that my eyes do not look upon worthless things and believe them to have more value than they do.

I pray that the habits and manners of my life do not divert or detour me from the life God intends for me.

Father, I pray that in YOUR way, You will give me life, and empower me to see the richness of it. And I thank You for the magnificent wealth of my now….

Worn out...

Worn out… Tired. Old and tired….

I say it jokingly almost daily….that I’m old and tired. It becomes more true all the time !

Reflecting on verses 25-32 of Psalm 119, I am drawn to verse 28... “My sadness has worn me out. Give me strength as you have promised.”

On nights like this when sleep leaves too soon, I am left to be awake with my thoughts, and my mind is sometimes assaulted by those nasty flaming arrows of the Accuser. Liar that he is… ‘You should have…’ ‘You could have…’ ‘You didn’t…’ ‘You’ll never…’

My sadness wears me out. Father, give me strength as You have promised.


I recognize them sooner that I once did, but the accusations and lies of the enemy still sting.

Praise God I do recognize them, and that I have learned that although ‘.. I do live in the world…. I don't fight my battles the way the people of the world do. The weapons I fight with are not the weapons the world uses. In fact, it is just the opposite. My weapons have the power of God to destroy the camps of the enemy. I destroy every claim and every reason that keeps people from knowing God. I keep every thought under control in order to make it obey Christ. (2Cor. 10:3-5 NIrV)


“I have chosen to be faithful to you. I put my trust in your laws.” (Ps. 119:30NIrV)


“I'll run the course you lay out for me if you'll just show me how”
(Psalm 119:32 The Message)

And He will….

“I have put myself under God's mighty hand….I turn all my worries over to Him. He cares about me….. He always gives me all the grace I need. So I will only have to suffer for a little while. Then God Himself will build me up again. He will make me strong and steady…” (1Peter 5:6,10NIrV personalized for me, by me)

Hallelujah.

Truth...

Truth… There is absolute truth. You might believe a devil’s lie, you might be deceived, you may question it…but nothing changes truth. Who gets to define what truth it?…..

God. Absolutely.

It has been demonstrated to humanity that we are subject to believing lies, prone to try to over-rule truth, making it what we decide it should be. But all those efforts are useless…and thinking we have prevailed in it will eventually be obvious to us. Painfully obvious. We do well to admit our foolishness and rebellion sooner rather than later….

In my study of Psalm 119, in the third section of 8 verses, I am drawn to verse 18.…

“Open my eyes so that I can see the wonderful truths in your law.”

Eve was deceived and believed a lie. I do not want to be like my mother Eve.


“Your covenant laws are my delight. They give me wise advice.”(verse 24) Truth is hard sometimes. Truth about myself is often very hard. And very ugly… certainly not delightful.

I am thankful to have come to know Jesus well enough that even when He shows me hard ugly things, I hear Him speak with a Voice of love and not condemnation.

I know that He is not mean and nasty…I know that what He says IS true, and that He wants only what is good and better for me.

But I do not forget that what He says is truth. Whether I like it, or whether I don’t. Whether I choose to make my decisions accordingly, or whether I try to re-define it.

What He says, IS.

Absolutely.

Lord, open my eyes and make me see the wisdom of what you say. Help me to see the folly of ignoring or refusing truth…..

Pure...

Pure…Webster says unmixed. Separated from every other thing…

What is pure….

and more importantly, who is pure? Are you?…..


I tried. And although I don’t have some of the stains of impurity that somebody else may have, there are stains.

The second section of 8 verses in Psalm 119 address the issue of personal purity.

“How can a young person keep his life pure?….By living in keeping with Your word.

I trust in You with all my heart. Don't let me wander away from Your commands. I have hidden Your word in my heart so that I won't sin against You.

LORD, I give praise to You. Teach me Your orders. With my lips I talk about all of the decisions You have made.

Following Your covenant laws gives me joy just as great riches give joy to others.

I spend time thinking about Your rules. I consider how You want me to live.
I take delight in Your orders. I won't fail to obey Your word.”
(Psalm 119:9-16NIrV)

Purity is important to God. He calls us to be pure. And at the same time, He knows that since the catastrophe of the garden, it is impossible. Impossible without His intervention.

ONLY by His Word can a young person (OR an old person) have a pure life. Only by knowing WHAT He has said can we act on it and DO what He has said.

There is power in the Words uttered from His Mouth, power in the Word that is so readily available to us in written form. But it won’t leap off the page by itself. We still have that same liberty of choosing.

“Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin"? (Proverbs 20:9)

Certainly not me.

Praise God that He also said, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9)


Choose today to spend time thinking about what He has said

Regret...

Regret… Remember as a child, while playing some game, you could call for a ‘do-over’ when something went wrong? Wouldn’t it be great if we could ‘do-over’ those things in our adult lives that we regret?

I’m reflecting on the first 8 verses of the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119. Here it is from The Message version. I have personalized it.

“I am blessed when I stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by GOD. I am blessed when I follow His directions, doing my best to find Him.
That's right--not going off on my own; but walking straight along the road He set.

You, GOD, prescribed the right way to live; now You expect us to live it.

Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course You set; Then I'd never have any regrets in comparing my life with Your counsel.

I thank You for speaking straight from Your heart; I learn the pattern of Your righteous ways.

I'm going to do what You tell me to do; don't ever walk off and leave me.”


There are many things I regret. A number of them are not things I did that I wish I had not…but things I did not do, things I did poorly, effort I did not put forth.

Some of the things I regret are the impulses and reactions that were birthed out of my own fear and insecurity. My lack of faith…

Living without regret is only possible one way…keeping our steps on the course that is set…walking in ‘The Way’…comparing our lives to His.

It is just simply fact… God designed. God created. Trying to manipulate what He has engineered and use it in a way He never intended just causes problems. And regret.

Each morning, I make an effort to submit my will to His. Again. ‘I’m going to do what YOU tell me to do….’

I am so encouraged to find the rest of that sentence this morning….’don’t ever walk off and leave me.’ And I am comforted even more to remember the very words of my Savior, Jesus the Christ….

“…you can be sure that I am always with you, to the very end." (Matt.28:20)

He IS doing it over…..“You have started living a new life. It is being made new so that what you know has the Creator's likeness.” (Col 3:10)

Hallelujah.

Necessessity..

Necessessity…… What is on your list of necessary things? Vehicle? Computer? Cell phone?

What IS necessary really? Certainly not those things.

We have to have food. And water.

I’ve been praying for rain for a couple weeks, ending my request with ‘in Your time’. I know that God knows how long it has been since raindrops have fallen on my head. (…and on my yard.)

Perhaps I was being a bit pious when I added that phrase to my prayer. I did not expect Him to wait this long. I expected a ‘yes’ to my prayer by now… Since it has not come, I struggle now with really submitting to His time.

Last night, as I held the water hose in my hand, pouring out water onto parched plants and flowers, I was complaining again to God about my desire for water to fall from the sky. My complaint was answered with ‘…look how available water is to you !’

No, He hasn’t sent rain yet, but He has provided the necessary water for me, and even an abundance to pour out on plants that aren’t necessary… flowers aren’t the food that goes on my table. (…and I also have more than the necessary food supply required.)

My necessity of water is readily available. But in this relatively small matter, my faith is challenged and stretched. How sad… I hear Jesus’ words in Luke 12…

“Connie, consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you Connie, O you of little faith!” (personalized by me, FOR me)



“He split the rocks in the desert and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
He brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.
But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.
They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God saying, "Can God put food on a table in the desert?” (Ps. 78: 15-19NIrV)



Lord forgive me for such mumbling and complaining. I must sound just like your people in the wilderness with Moses. And thank You for the abundance of water and food that are so readily available to me.