“I will run in the way of your commandments when You enlarge my heart!”(Psalms 119:32)
What a promise these words hold! What encouragement and hope they offer. “But Lord”we ask, “how will I run the course”?
How was it that Paul was able to say “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7)?
It is by this – when (after, because, inasmuch as, since) The Lord has enlarged (broadened, opened wide, made room in) our hearts, we are able to live according to all He commands of us.
His word will enlarge my heart – through the testimony of His word our faith grows stronger.
His Spirit will enlarge my heart – by the testimony of His Spirit, our understanding grows deeper.
His works will enlarge my heart – through the wonder of His works, our worship grows richer.
It is not by our own words, or will, or works, that our hearts grow wider and stronger, it is only by the Word, the Spirit and the work of Jesus Christ. I get so tired of trying and failing, don’t you? That’s the point. In our own strength it is impossible, but with Christ, all things are possible.
By the love, grace and mercies of God, we can say with confidence “I will run in the way of His commandments”.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” (Isaiah 52:7)
The world sure could sure use some good news about now, wouldn’t you agree? If you’re a child of God, you’ve got the best news of all, the Good News that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In this world of confusion, violence and turmoil – you have the message of peace.
In this world of anger – you have the good news of happiness.
In this world of fear and hopelessness – you have the word of salvation.
As followers of Christ we have been entrusted with a great message. It is a message that people desperately need, and I believe one that they are longing for. So why do we hesitate? Let us confidently and with joy shout from the mountain top – “Our God reigns”!
and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3)
As I read this passage from Isaiah, my thoughts go to the words our Lord spoke (I suspect with great sorrow) in Matthew 23:37:
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (Matthew 23:37)
We know from scripture that it is the Lord’s desire that all should come, yet the people still reject Him. Just as Isaiah prophesied, Jesus came to teach and to lead and to save, yet so many continue to say “no”. I don’t know of a single person who doesn’t have at least one loved one – family member, friend, co-worker, who are not willing, and so we pray.
Our world is in a mess and we cry “come quickly Lord”, but for the sake of those who are perishing, He waits. As we enter the week-end and prepare ourselves for corporate worship, I invite you to join with me in prayer for revival.
“Father, by Your Holy Spirit, bring revival to the hearts of Your children. Bring Your salvation to the world. Bring those who are in darkness to the foot of the cross. Bring the nations to the Holy Mountain of the Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen”
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips (Psalms 63:3-5)
What could be better than life itself? The loving kindness of the Lord. Surely He is good. His mercies are more than the stars of the heavens. His patience with His children extends far beyond our failures. His love cannot be measured – it is infinite.
And what does He ask of us? Not much. Our praise. Hands open and lifted high.
Let this be our continuous thought – that we will be fully surrendered to Him. Let this be our constant desire – that we will testify of His loving-kindness. Let this be the pattern of our lives – thankfulness to Him in every situation. Let this be always on our lips – praise and glory and honor to the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, the Savior of our souls.
Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart. (Psalms 26:2)
Psalms 26 is one of the Davidic Psalms.
If you’ve read many of his Psalms, you know that David was not shy before the LORD. Throughout David’s writings, you can see his boldness, his weaknesses and his vulnerability; David is a great example of how to get real before God. For me, Psalm 26:2 was like cold water in the face. Have you heard the saying “be careful what you pray for”? Psalms 26:2 might be a good place to which you apply that saying. Don’t misunderstand, it’s certainly a prayer we need to pray, as a matter of fact, it’s a prayer that eventually, every Christian must pray. However, praying Psalms 26:2 will take courage, conviction and commitment. When you pray it, you better be sure you mean it and that you’re ready for God to answer because this is a prayer that is going to bring some testing.
The Message
Let’s look at the words of Psalms 26:2 and see exactly what you’ll be asking God to do in your life.
Examine me – Examine is not a word that means to simply look over or give a glance to, it means to scrutinize. Not to be a sexist here, but it makes the point so I’ll go ahead and say it – ever watched a man buy a used car (or a new car for that matter)? It’s an amazing thing to behold. They lift the hood, jiggle all the wires, tug on all the hoses, check the oil, kick the tires, I mean they go over that thing with the proverbial fine toothed comb; that’s what it means to examine. When you pray this Psalm, that’s the kind of examination you’re asking God to do on you.
“Lord, do I meet Your standard? I know I may not be the best car on the lot, but will you check me out and see if you can use me?”
Prove me – To be proven is a term used in the processing of metals, especially gold or silver. I won’t go into all the details of how metals are tested, you can find a number of articles on the internet, but needless to say, the process is not a pleasant experience for the metals that are being proven. It is not an easy, one step process, but in the end, what remains is pure. After all, isn’t that what we all want? It’s clearly what God wants, “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2)
“Here I am Lord. Put me through the fire. See if I’m real. See if I’m strong enough to hold up to whatever is coming.”
Try me – Ever had someone try you? (she asked redundantly). Our children try us, our husbands, our bosses, folks on the highway, coworkers, the dog – lets face it, life is trying. But I would offer that we don’t know what it means to be tried until we’ve been tried by God. Daily trials of life are but for a moment but the trials God gives us (yes, our trials from God are a gift), they change us. Always. When God tries your mind, it changes how you think. When God tries your heart, it changes how you act. The length of the process used is pretty much up to you, determined by how you respond to the trying [note: if your response is not consistent with God’s ultimate objective, you should expect to repeat the examining and proving steps]. Are you up to the challenge?
“God, I’m willing. Try my mind, try my heart! God I want for my life the things you want for me. I trust you Lord and know that whatever trials you bring will be for my good. I know You love me.”
Perspective
Before we finish up, I would like to turn your attention to another prayer from scripture. It’s found in the gospel of Luke.
The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. (Luke 18:11)
There’s a big difference between what the Pharisee prayed and what David prayed isn’t there? David had a true desire to know where he stood with God. He evidently had done a self-examination. If you read the rest of Psalm 26, you will see that, like the Pharisee, David thought he was right before God. But unlike the Pharisee, David wasn’t satisfied with what he thought. What mattered to David was what God thought. That’s what has to matter to us as well.
In Closing:
If you take prayer seriously, which I trust that you do, asking a Holy and Just God to examine, prove and try you is a prayer that takes great courage. You can be sure that changes are going to come. But, if you want to experience the fullness of God’s grace, mercy and love, if you want the joy of seeing the power of God in your life, it is a prayer that must be prayed, it is a prayer you will offer with great anticipation. A final word to encourage you: If you’re feeling doubtful or fearful about praying 26:2, just remember –
I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)
Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved. (Psalms 55:22)
What is your burden today? Do you want to be rid of the weight of it? “Cast your burden on the LORD”
Cast – Throw out. Hurl. Shed. Cast off.
That burden that’s wearing you down, don’t just drop, throw it away. For those of you who like visual, picture a football game. You’re the quarterback, you’ve got the ball and you’re surrounded. You’ve got to get rid of the ball or you’re going down – hard! But just down the field is a receiver, wide open, hands out, waiting and ready to take the ball. “He will sustain you”
Sustain – Keep in. Maintain. Abide. Bear. Guide. Hold. Nourish. Make provision.
I think this is where we tend to get discouraged. The songs, the sermons, the books – they lead us to believe that if we will just give it to God the rain will cease, the clouds will part and it will be all sunshine and roses. But, that’s not what I’m reading here. The words say “He will sustain”. He will keep you through that storm. He will be with you, He will bear you up. Whatever your need until the storm passes, He will provide. “He will never permit the righteous to be moved”
Moved – Waver. Slip. Fall. Cast out. Be out of course. Be fallen in decay.
What great assurance! The One who has all power over all things – He is your God. He will show His power before the enemy (on your behalf ) and He will not allow the enemy to overtake you. He will not permit you to fall.
Fear. Uncertainty. Self-sufficiency. Pride.
Why are you holding on to your burden? Whatever your reason, the counsel is the same. Put your trust in the Lord. Give your burden to Him.
This they said to test Him, that they might have some charge to bring against Him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself, and said unto them… (John 8:6-7a)
Have you ever been falsely accused or had someone try to “trick” you into saying or doing something they could later use against you? If so, how did you respond? I will tell you how I respond –
First, I get defensive – “That’s not what I meant”, “I didn’t do that”.
Then, I get angry – “how dare they”, “what right do they have”.
Sometimes, I even try to get even. “Who do they think they are?” “I’ll show them”.
Not Jesus. The KJV translation gives us an even greater sense of what was going on, instead of test, it uses the word “tempt”. This account is not an isolated incident, Jesus dealt with this kind of conflict throughout His ministry. (See Matthew 19:3, Luke 10:25, Luke 11:53, Luke 11:20). But, see what Jesus did? He ignored their accusations. He ignored their prodding. He ignored their words. I’ll be honest, until now, I’ve spent so much time with this verse trying to imagine what Jesus was writing that I’ve missed the whole point. But, now that I see it, I don’t know how I ever missed it – Jesus is giving us the model for handling conflict.
First, Jesus stopped. (Jesus bent down)
Then He reflected. (wrote with His finger on the ground)
And then He responded. (He lifted Himself up and said to them)
Look what happens next (this is the best part) –
And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one (John 8:8-9a)
Which way do you think is better? Jesus’ way or my way? Silly question huh? My way causes anger and resentment, Jesus’ way results in conviction. My way gives way to more lies, Jesus’ way reveals truth. My way passes judgment, Jesus’ way delivers justice.
Its hard enough to own up to what we do wrong. Its nearly impossible to accept being falsely accused; our only hope is to ask Jesus to give us the strength to surrender it all to Him. In such times, we must remember that God is our Defender (Psalms 18:1), He is our very present help in times of trouble (Psalms 46:1), that He will fight for us (Exodus 14:14).
We can overcome if we will pause and pray, asking the Lord’s help to keep our thoughts from becoming words and our words from becoming actions until they have been filtered through the word of God.
Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God (2 Corinthians 3:5)
Ever feel like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole? Boy I do, often. Sometimes, it gets so frustrating trying to fit in we just want to give up. It’s not that our hearts are not in it, we want to make a difference, we want our lives to account for something. But the world comes at us hard and soon we begin to question if even our best efforts are good enough.
I was deep into this mindset recently – but then I came to 2 Corinthians 3:5 and the light came on. I was right! I am not sufficient, but most of the time I work as if I am. I want to be Wonder Woman, to be strong, indestructible, fast, durable, accomplished. Oh, and one more thing, I want to be beautiful.
Who we are, the abilities we have, the good of the life we live – these are gifts from God. He has equipped us to do the work He gives us to do. If we want to enjoy the full benefits of God’s gifts, we have to learn to agree with Him, to accept that its His work, not ours and we have to learn to depend on His sufficiency. We have fit our lives into who God wants us to be rather than striving in our own ideas of who we think we should be. Remember – you are not who the world says you are, nor even who you say you are –you are who your Father says you are. And He thinks you are pretty wonderful.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” (John 5:2-6)
Does the question Jesus asked the man at Bethesda surprise you? Shouldn’t the answer be obvious? This man has suffered for nearly 40 years, surely he wanted to be healed. The man was likely as surprised by Jesus’ question as we are. Rather than answer the question, he began to make excuses.
We read: The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” (John 5:7)
Almost as if he didn’t hear the man, Jesus pressed on.
Jesus said to him,“Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” (John 5:8)
Like the crippled man, we get it into our minds that God’s power is limited by our circumstances. That’s wrong thinking. Look closely at the sequence in the next verse.
And at oncethe man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. (John 5:9)
Jesus saw the man’s hopelessness and He did not delay. Even when our faith fails, God does not.
Throughout His ministry, Jesus asked many “Do You?” questions. The questions He asked in ages past are relevant for us today. They are questions that each of us must answer for ourselves.
When we need faith
“But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)
“Why do you question these things in your hearts?” (Mark 2:8)
When we need help
“What do you want me to do for you?” (Matthew 20:32)
“Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28)
When we need answers
“Do you not understand?” (Mark 4:13)
“Whom do you seek?” (John 18:4)
Every day
“ do you love me more than these?” (John 21:15)
“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? (Luke 12:57)
Thinking back on all the “do you” questions Jesus has asked me through the years, I realize how often I gave excuses instead of answers. Like the man at the pool, there have been many times that I was crippled by past experiences and overcome by present circumstances; there still are. I’m so glad that God is not a God of circumstances, aren’t you?
For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. (John 1:16)
We’ve talked a lot about GRACE over the past few days –
the grace of Christ toward us
the grace that Christ has called us to extend to others
Today I want to talk about one of the most often neglected aspects of grace – the grace we extend to ourselves.
Have you ever talked to someone about God’s grace only to hear “but you don’t know what I’ve done”. Or, “if God has forgiven me, why do I still feel guilty?” I’ve felt this way myself and I’m pretty sure that at some point in your life you have too. Here’s the good news! God’s word teaches us that if we have repented of our sin, it is removed from us as far as the east is from the west, it is buried beneath the floor of the ocean. God remembers it no more. So, if God has forgotten why don’t we? Why do we insist on clinging to our guilt as if it were some sort of security blanket? Why are we so sure that grace is for other people but not us? There could be a lot of reasons we think this way; here are three that I’ve dealt with in my own life – maybe they are stumbling blocks for your as well.
Un-confessed sin. Are you holding on to unforgiveness, anger, or other wrong thoughts? Is there some past sin you’ve closed the door on because you don’t want to face it? God longs to forgive you, He wants us to be free from all our sins.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
Bitterness from past hurts. Is there an issue you have failed to deal with because it was just too painful? Get rid of it! That means forgiveness, of others and of ourselves. Holding on to past bitterness and pain only gives ammunition to the enemy and keeps us from the peace that we’re desperate for.
Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; (Hebrews 12:14-15)
Shame, fear, denial. Faith is not about feelings, it’s about faith. Feelings deceive us. They distort truth. Feelings of shame, fear, denial, or condemnation over some past sin for which you’ve already repented, are lies! As the preacher likes to say, “they smell of smoke”.
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:10)
It should come as no surprise that our old enemy Satan is working overtime to keep us mired down in our sin. The longer he can keep us from God’s presence, the deeper he can take us into a sense of despair. He convinces us that we are unworthy. The more unworthy we feel, the farther we move away from our Father. We get out of fellowship with God and our sense of guilt grows stronger. It is a vicious cycle. Do you remember how we defined GRACE in our first article? We said that grace is the unmerited favor of God. Here are some further definitions.
Unmerited
not deserved
unearned
Favor
kindness
gift
vindication
justify
mitigation of punishment
These words and their meanings are important to remember. Above all however, note that the source of this unmerited favor is GOD. The writer of Hebrews sums it up for us perfectly:
And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for hewho promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:15-23)
Aren’t you glad that our LORD has made a way for us to come into His presence? Aren’t you glad that no matter what your past looks like you can enjoy the unmerited favor of God? Aren’t you glad there is GRACE for even you?
Sandra Bivens Smith 