Lead Me

Psalm 25 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.

A great prayer that God will most certainly answer.

We can follow all sorts of “truths” out there, ones that change from day to day depending on the announcer, the leader, or the media.

Or we can follow HIS truth and learn of him, the way of meekness, gentleness, and mercy.

He is our Salvation.

He is our Teacher.

And nothing else will do but him, at the end of the day.

God will always lead us when we are willing to follow in His ways that lead to life.

Great & Gentle

Psalm 18 

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand upholds me; And Your gentleness makes me great.

Look what we have when we know HIM.

The shield of His salvation – nothing can harm us or take us out.

His right hand – when we fall and stumble he grabs us and holds us up to carry us onward.

His gentleness – this makes us great.

Say what?

Yes, his gentle spirit makes us great.

I love that thought, and I want to be gentle like he is, and great in love and mercy like he is, as well.

But...

Psalm 13:5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

See that preposition “But?”

Those are the kinds of words we need to use when we are discouraged or starting to believe lies about our God.  We need to switch out thoughts using words like “but,” “yet,” “nevertheless,” and then follow it with our faith and trust, and the truth.

If we feel God is unfair or unjust, we can switch our thought to the truth that he is loving and good.  That’s the truth, whether we understand his ways or not.  Just like our kids think we’re mean when we won’t give them every piece of candy they see in a store, we’re not mean – we’re their parents.  And we know what’s good for them.

Even more so, God know what we need, when we need it, and how to dispense it.

He is our savior.

And we can tell our hearts to rejoice in the knowledge of that truth!

Face Them

2 Chronicles 20 You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.”

What a great passage!

There are times we need to be reminded that the battles we face in life are not ours to fight.  Seriously, they’re not.  We have a Savior who takes on our enemies and defeats them daily in our lives, and all we have to do is trust him.

So don’t fear or be downcast today, or tomorrow.

Face what’s in front of you.  The Lord is with you. And you don’t have to fight.

Just stand still and see what He does on your behalf.

What a great passage! 

Did I say that already?

Day to Day

I Chronicles 16, for this Easter day:

Sing to the Lord, all the earth; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.

I hope you’re attending services somewhere today to sing with others in a loud voice of His salvation and love that drove him to the cross, to be the perfect sacrifice, to cleanse us and save us eternally, from sin and death.

Sure, there are hypocrites in the church, but isn’t that the best place for them to be, where they can hopefully let go of the fear that causes them to act the way they do?

Sure, churches are flawed with religious people who judge, but shouldn’t we who have been humbled and realize it’s all about HIM be a shining light to those who still try to perform?

Sure, we can stay home and worship quietly alone, but why?  Why wouldn’t we want to hear the roar, the harmony, and the beauty that comes from corporate worship?

Enjoy the song today with multitudes of others standing by you in a crowded room, looking up…

5 Titles

II Samuel 22 says My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence.

I love these words used to describe God:

Rock

Shield

Horn

Stronghold

Refuge

Savior

What more do we need?  A firm foundation, protection from rapid fire, a peak of strength, a place of security, a place of safety and a rescue from death.

Sounds like a good place to be.

Three S's

It is Easter weekend, when we celebrate the risen Lord.  

And why do we do that?  It’s because of his death and resurrection that we experience salvation – rescued from the penalty of sin – into eternal life.

Exodus says, “The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him.”

What a pretty verse!

Three S’s

Strength, Song and Salvation

If we can remember over this weekend to praise Him for each of these aspects of His willingness to obey his Father and die for us, we will experience joy in His presence.

He is our strength always…even on our weakest of days.

This realization places a song we can sing without missing a note – a song that He hears and loves.

And salvation – the great rescue from death – is ours for now and forever.

Is he your strength, your song and your salvation?

If not, just ask Him to be and He is more than willing to say YES.