Monday Morning Meditation: Off the Snare and On the Lord (Psalm 25 Series)

Here is today's passage in the Psalm 25 series (v. 15):

My eyes are ever on the Lord,

for only he will release my feet from the snare.

In times of trials or problems, what do you tend to look at? On what do you focus?

This is easy for me to answer. I tend to focus on my problems. In the past, this was my typical pattern:

First, I would stare at the trap or potential trap.

Second, I would try to think up a solution I could do myself.

Third, I may begin to think about how the God of the impossible could probably help me out with this situation.

Fourth, I generally end up talking myself out of God being able to really do anything because isn't this problem just too big for God?

When I say it out loud, it sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?

But this is what we do all the time.

Today at church, my pastor said, "What is impossible for God?"

And all of us good Christians answered, "Nothing."

If only we acted as if we truly believed this.

We say it, but we don't live and act as if we believe it.

We limit God.

As I read this passage a few months ago, I realized how often I fix my eyes on the snare. I analyze it. I imagine all possible outcomes and how I can avoid it or fix it. I lament at the difficulty of the situation.

And often I end up expending so much emotional energy evaluating the snare that I practically fall into it.

"My eyes are ever on the Lord...."

What would happen if we instead fixed our eyes on the One who is able to release us from the snare?

God does not tell us to evaluate the snare. God calls us to look on Him. I've included some past blog posts at the end to encourage you in looking to God.

Pray this with me:
Lord God, forgive me for trying to fix things all the time, as if that is within my power. You call me friend, and yet I am slow to ask for help. Your Word says, "You have not because you ask not," and so, I ask. Help, Lord. May my eyes ever be on You, the Rescuer, and not on the snare. I pray this in the mighty, powerful name of Jesus. Amen.

Several blog posts that might be helpful:
Seeing with God's Eyes
Look Beyond Your Mountains
Watch for God

Monday Morning Meditation: Friendship with God (Psalm 25 Series)

Here is today's passage in the Psalm 25 series (v. 12-14):

Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord?
He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.
He will spend his days in prosperity,
and his descendants will inherit the land.
The Lord confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.

What is fear of the Lord? We addressed this a bit in the Psalm 34 series. One commentator on Psalm 25 says fear of the Lord is "an attitude of reverence and awe toward God, which is transformed into an appropriate manner of living." This goes hand in hand with the ESV's translation of verse 14:

The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant.

To those who approach God with an attitude of reference and awe, He extends His friendship, his "secret counsel," as a footnote says "friendship" can also be translated. According to the Hebrew, that word can also be translated "confidential talk."

What an encouragement to get close to the Lord!

Lord Jesus, empower us to draw close to You today. Help to revere You by living lives of awe and obedience. Teach us in the way we should go, as the psalmist prayed earlier in Psalm 25, "for You are God my Savior and my hope is in You all day long." Thank You, Lord.

Peter C. Craigie, Psalms 1–50. Vol. 19 of Word Biblical Commentary Accordance/Thomas Nelson electronic ed. (Waco: Word Books, 1983) 221.

Freedom Friday: My Stone of Remembrance

"People come and people go; only You remain. Constant. Faithful. Loving. Kind. Good. Comforting. Patient. Wonderful." I tweeted this on Monday.

To say I've been struggling in the past year, and even more so since my father died, is an understatement. Some days, weeks, months are more difficult than others. I find myself anxious, despairing, eating to numb the feelings.

I had been asking myself, if this were someone besides me, how would I be advising them? How would I be helping them? I would be telling them to give themselves grace, that God deeply deeply loves them, and that He doesn't see them as the broken person that they see themselves to be.

So, I have just been telling myself those things. That I am God's favorite. His beloved. Cherished. That He has so much more for me than I have allowed myself to experience.

Something happened almost 2 months ago to make these things feel even more real and true.

On April 9th, I was driving to work as I do many days. I was on the highway, going just under 60 miles per hour.   It was in the mid 70s, so I had the window open about 5-6 inches. There was a truck in the lane to the left of me, driving about 10 feet in front of me.

All of a sudden, several rocks flew out of the truck. The trajectory of each rock was different, so there was no way to swerve or try and get out of the path of the rocks.

Several of the rocks were large and coming straight at me, so I did what I thought to do: I ducked! My windshield already has a crack in it, which has been repaired, but I didn't know if it's still as strong as an intact windshield would be.

I heard a big clanking noise and looked up, expecting my windshield or window to be shattered. It wasn't. I finally realized the rock must have come right in the crack in the window, not breaking anything, and narrowly missing my head. 

I felt God speaking to my heart, "See, Brenna? I am faithful."

When I finally got a chance to stop, I looked for the rock. It was by the passenger side door, and it was the smallest one that had fallen off the truck. Some of the rocks looked as big as the palm of my hand.

The rock in my car

I'm keeping the rock. It is a stone of remembrance for me, like when Joshua and the Israelites crossed the Jordan River.

Look back on your life, on your stones of remembrance. Those hopeless situations where God allowed His hope to shine through. Those small lights in your life. Write them down. Reflect on them. Trust in the character of the God who parted the Jordan at flood stage.

God is faithful. And His faithfulness shines best in impossible-seeming, flood-stage situations. Choose to trust today in the God who can calm the storm and part the waters.

Monday Morning Meditation: Embrace Grace Again (Psalm 25 Series)

Welcome, friends. Here is today's passage in the Psalm 25 series (v. 11):

For the sake of your name, O Lord,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

I can't get past this verse. I want to tack some of the following verses onto this blog post, but I just can't.

My heart cries out with David.

For the sake of your name....

My sins, Lord - they overwhelm me.
They flood over me,
To the point where I feel as if I might drown.
Do you see how great my struggles are?
Do you see the foolishness, 
Not only of my youth, but of today?

David, in his humble state, wrestles with the questions that I imagine many of us do:

Will God forgive me?

Can He?

Read again verse 10:

All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
For those who keep the demands of his covenant.

David knows God's character. He spends much of this psalm declaring that truth. And yet, he still seems to express almost a doubt here about those times he did not keep the demands of the covenant -

For the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

David knew a Messiah would come. We know the Messiah has come.

We look at our sin, reminding God of how great it is. God shows us the cross, reminding us how sufficient He is.

I'm so thankful for the cross. Through it, we have the opportunity to experience his grace everyday, grace that seems to good to be true.

Grace declares all of our sins forgiven, even the one you committed yesterday that you've committed a million times before.

Grace also empowers us to resist sin through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Can you embrace grace today?

"Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)

Approach the throne. Embrace the power of grace. Rather than beg for forgiveness, as David did, ask to be continually filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18) who is able to empower you to resist the lure of temptation. Look to the cross. It is sufficient.

Monday Morning Meditation: Need Help? Ask For It (Psalm 25 Series)

Friends, we are back to Psalm 25.

Today, we look at verses 8-10:

Good and upright is the LORD;
Therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.
All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
For those who keep the demands of his covenant.

This passage directly reflects the message I heard at church today. Our pastor discussed the importance of living a life wholly devoted to God. As he shared of the importance of turning from our sin, I thought, I wonder if he is going to share the "how" part. Once we make a decision to turn from a sinful habit or tendency, what next?

I of course thought of Learning to Walk in Freedom. He pointed to these verses in James 4 for help in the "how."

As I read these verses from Psalm 25 again in preparing this blog post, I thought, The Bible is full of "how"!

Look back on the Psalm 25 series so far.

Do you need direction? Are you weighed down by the foolishness of some of your decisions?
Are you struggling to see a way out of a trial or life-controlling issue?

Need guidance from the Lord?

Ask. 

This may seem really obvious. Of course I should ask for help when I need it! But my most-read post here of all time is "You Have Not Because You Ask Not." Evidently, I'm not the only one who struggles with asking for help when I need God to come through.

Remember that God is good.
He wants to instruct you, enable you and lead you.
God's ways are loving and faithful. 

The NASB says, "All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth."

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." James 4:10 (NIV)

Freedom Friday: Watch For God

Have you ever noticed that sometimes, God gets our attention in the strangest ways?

So often, we beg for God's guidance in a situation.

We ask for a sign. We generally have an idea of what that sign might look like.

Yet, all around us, God is speaking to us. He has His hand on our situation, guiding us, directing us, but we're so busy looking for a particular sign that we miss Him completely.

I was at a Spin class yesterday morning, and I noticed the man in front of me had the word "God" on his wristband. I strained my eyes to see if I could decipher exactly what it said.

The message of the bracelet?

Watch for God.

Image from ebay.com

Before Spin, I had been reading 1 Corinthians 2 (finally done with Jeremiah!). I prayed on my run over to the gym: for myself, for others, for God to be revealed in my life and the lives of my family. You can read the whole chapter here. But a few verses caught my heart:

"But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets." verse 10

God's deepest desire is that we know who He created us to be. He longs to reveal His perfect will to us. Yet we often pray as if we somehow have to beg in order to get God to speak loudly and clearly enough for us to hear.

God spoke to me through that bracelet. He said, Watch for me. I am working, always and everywhere. Open your eyes. I am calling you to hope (Eph 1:18).

The passage continues:

"No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us." verses 11-12

God has freely given us so much.
His Son (Jn 3:16-17).
His life (Jn 3:16-17).
His Spirit (Acts 1:8).
His joy (Gal 5:22).
His peace (Jn 14:27).
His mind (2 Cor 2:16).

Today, I encourage you. Watch for God. He calls you "beloved." He calls you "mine." He says, "You are my favorite!"

God is working around you, in you and through you. Watch for Him.

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13

Monday Morning Meditation: Every Day Can Be Easter

I've been reflecting this past weekend on the progression that occurred when Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected.

I really want to talk about that, but the focus of this post is:

Sunday came!

The tomb was empty!

No need to look for the living among the dead!

No more mourning! No more asking why!

A risen King! The fulfillment of prophecy!

These are all the things I thought this morning as I went for a short run, set out the Easter baskets, and drove to church.

Oh happy day! Jesus has risen!

Chains are broken
Shame has fallen
All my sins are gone!*

As I sat in church, I suddenly had the following thought:

Did you know that every day can be Easter day?

The good news of Jesus' resurrection is good news every day.

Every day, we have access to the power that rose Christ from the dead (Eph 1:19-20).
Every day, we have new mercies available to us (Lam 3:22-23).
Every day, God is faithful, even when we are faithless (2 Tim 2:13).
Every day, God's hope does not disappoint (Rom 5:5).

Every day, we have a choice to trust in God (Rom 15:13).

It doesn't matter what happened yesterday, or if you, like Peter, denied Christ 2 days ago. Even Jesus' death, which on Saturday looked like the end of the story, did not define His future.

There is an opportunity in every day for resurrection, new life - for freedom.

Do you need a fresh start? Grab on to Jesus' hand. Rest in Him. Trust in Him. Believe that He wants to lead you onto new paths (Prov 3:5-6) and into new places.

See, I am doing a new thing! 
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? 
I am making a way in the wilderness 
And streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:19 (NIV) 

Do you think the tomb on Saturday looked like a wilderness and a wasteland? Well, guess what? Our God turns wastelands into streams and wildernesses into ways. He also turns Saturdays in the tomb into empty tombs on Easter.

Every day, we can go to the cross. It's empty. Jesus is not there. But that cross represents power; there lies the hope of new life.

Every day, we have the opportunity to be resurrected (Rom 6:5). Seize it.


*"To the Cross" by Paul Baloche