Psalms 23 - Instruction for This Day...

Dear Jesus - We praise You that You ARE the Word sent down from heaven to fill us each and every day!  We confess our appetites are not healthy because we feed so much of the time on junk food.  Please help us - create in us a clean heart and renew our appetites today.  Thank You Jesus!

Let's see what specific instruction we get today from Psalms 23:

Excellence a Habit?

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. -Aristotle

 

What do you think?  Certainly what we repeatedly do forms 'habit'.  But the leap from there to 'Excellence'?  Not according to the Bible... 

 

Check this out:

Ears - Are They Safe?

Be a good listener. Your ears will never get you in trouble. -Frank Tyger

 

 

I have no idea who Frank Tyger is - and I certainly wish him all the best.  However - if I were his friend, I'd have to say:  'Pssst - Frank...  Can I let you in on something?  Our ears CAN get us into trouble!  They are a 'window' to our souls.  That's what the Bible says - and I believe it.'

 

Consider for a moment the following scriptures:

Job's Confidence

Dear Jesus - I praise You that we can bring You all of our questions and You will answer them!

A few weeks back, I concluded reading the book of Job and jumped straight into Psalms.  Both of these books have many things in common - but the theme that struck me was this:  Job & David vehemently and with confidence declare themselves righteous.  Sometimes - in the same breath used to utter not-so-nice phrases against those who disagree with their statements.  This puzzled me.  The picture in Psalm 51 resonates more loudly with my life struggle wherein 'my sins are always before me'.  I wanted to know:  how could they tout their own righteousness so confidently?

Am I in Hot Water - Again?

Dear Jesus - My will is stubborn.  That makes my path crooked.  Please create a clean heart within me and renew a right spirit within me - that I may lean not on my understanding, but in all my ways acknowledge You that You might direct my paths...

Luke 24:13 (NKJV)

¹³ Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.

This is an interesting verse often read.  But recently - some elements came together for me in a special way.  It happens, that geographically, Jerusalem is set upon a hill and so this walk would have been a downhill walk.  Further, when we look at the names of the cities - we see Jerusalem (the City of God) and Emmaus (Hot Water, warm spring).

In actuality, the two of them were leaving the City of God, going downhill, headed for Hot Water.  Which may help explain the further verses which describe them as blinded towards the presence of Jesus.

As I reflect upon myself, I find I too am frequently IN hot water, with the City of God somewhere far away because I have left it.  The City of God didn't go anywhere - in leaving it, I headed downhill and landed in hot water...

Thank You Jesus, that even when I'm headed directly for trouble You are with me, wooing me with Your gentle spirit...  Thank You that You are ever faithful...

The Strangeness of Matthew 24...

Dear Jesus - We confess that sometimes we miss the beauty of Your word because we are sin-filled creatures.  But we are YOUR creatures.  So please heal our eyes, ears and hearts to hear Your word as You would have us to do.

Matthew 24 is an odd read.  Really.  Read it.  The flow is stilted and the reader is left off-kilter.  Why do you suppose that is?

For His Sake...

Mustard Seeds

Dear Jesus - We praise You that You are not like men.  We confess that we - along with our memories - are corrupt.  Help us to realize today - deeply - how much You do for us for Your own sake.  Not because of anything we have done.  That we may praise You for it!

God takes a seed of willingness in our hearts, and blossoms it for His name's sake.  Let's see how true this is...

How Stubborn AM I? How Stubborn was Jonah?

Inside a Blue Whale Stomach - Orlando Sentinel

Dear Jesus - Take my stubbornness.  Take my pride.  Make me entirely Yours....

The Bible is just so amazing.  Recently at a Bible conference teaching Bible study, the pastor emphasized 3 times the first word of Jonah 2.  It took at least 3 times before we in the class understood what he meant.  Check it out below:

Psalms 1 - A Picture For Me...

Old Oak

Dear Jesus - Thank You for the pictures You give us in Your Word.  Please send Your Spirit and Your angels to activate them in our minds at the right times...

The other day my morning devotional included the first Psalm.  I find this a beautiful piece of inspired devotional reading for a few reasons.  But first - let's read the lyric...