Back and Forth and Back and Forth

When I was younger, my little brothers were younger too. Make sense? Anyway I remember when my little brother went through this "yes/no" phase. My mom would ask if he would like something to eat; he would say yes. When my mom brought out the food, he would change his mind and say no. When the food was gone ... he was back to "yes, I want food." The cycle never ended ... until my mom gave up his little "yes/no" game. Just so you know, this wasn't just with food - it was with everything ... my little brother lived his life under the strict policy of the "yes/no" game. When I read the Psalm this week, it reminded me a little of the yes/no game. You'll notice that king David goes back and forth on his focus - First, it's on God, then his enemies, then back to God, and again back to his enemies. What's the chapter about? ... Well ... both. Psalm 31



Verses 1-5 So we start out pretty basic right? David is just talking about God the way he normally does. God is our strong tower, He is our fortress, and our defense. So many times in life when we face a difficult situation, we tend to dwell on the thing going wrong in life. As you'll see, David is dealing with a few issues himself, but the first thing He does - goes to God. Why do you think he would do that? It goes back to the principle of the three little pigs right? Do you want to build a shelter out of wood? out of straw? No, you need to make a shelter out of bricks; sooner or later the wolves of this world will come huffing and puffing on your shelter - will it stand? 1 Corinthians 3:9-15 gives us this same picture. You can choose to build your life on the hay, straw, and bricks of this world but these aren't the materials the "wise master builder" should be using. "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand." David has chosen a mighty fortress - an unshakable shelter to keep him from harm. David commits his life to the hands of a strong God [strong's an understatement really ... no words can describe God's might]. Anyway, he chooses God as a shelter ... here's why ...

Verses 6-13 At the beginning we see a little bit of this "God/enemies" game David seems to be playing in this chapter, but here's a list of some of David's troubles: he's depressed (9-10), He's fallen prey to sin (10), he has enemies who hate him (11), his neighbor's can no longer stand him (11), people have forgotten him (12), he has been let down, people are trying to KILL HIM (13). If you thought you had a lot going on ... think about David's list. Even so, you might read this and think, "man, this David dude is a complainer." Well ... what is he doing? He's taking all of his problems and all of his frustrations to the God he knows will take care of it - casting all his cares upon God because he has faith in the fact the God loves him (1 Peter 5:7). That's a man of God. That's the King David I have come to know and love. Just a quick check for ourselves - how often do you we lay our problems out before the king of kings? ... probably not very often right? So we've gone from God to enemies ... back to God

Verses 14-16 I like this. After complaining about his problems, the first thing David asks God is for God to make His face shine through in every situation in life. We're never too quick to hand over our problems to God, let alone, surrender our emotions to His will. From David, we could all learn just a little bit more what it means to be trusting of God - to give Him not only our problems but also allowing Him to handle the situation for us. "Let your face shine upon me" should be the basis of our prayer - that God would shine through us in every situation or choice we make in life. Just a quick note: Matthew 5:14 calls us the light of the world and a city on a hill. The thing most people forget is that when the people of this world look at you, they ought not be impressed with you, but with how God works in and through every situation of your life. How'd you become the light of the world? By God's grace, His love, and his never-ending mercy. Back to the bad guys ...

Verses 17-18 David continues here to talk about his enemies. He cries out for justice - for his enemies to be buried by a righteous God. Is that okay? Absolutely. Our God is a just God - he knows His right and wrongs - no way about it. He knows the way he has asked us to live our lives and holds us all to it. I think this section flies back up two paragraphs - David here is giving God the situation. Rather than being the 5-year old boy who says "I'm gonna kill him," David expresses his feelings honestly to God and trusts that God will do what is best. David was honest in prayer ... not afraid to express how he felt - something we could all learn to do just a little bit better.

Verses 19-24 If you see anything you want to add here, then go ahead - there is a lot of good stuff, but we've made our point ... which is: We go to God first to be our shelter - before we go anywhere else. We share our problems and our struggles with Him honestly/truthfully ... why? He cares. Lastly, we ask that He shine through in our lives in every way possible - even in tough situations that you might feel you want to face alone.


Have a great week guys!
- Chris

Faithfulness and the Morning

One of my favorite songs on my current playlist is Beautiful by Phil Wickham. In the song he sings:

I see your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside your eyes

There's something special about a sunrise. Every morning as the sun rises, you can watch the light chase the darkness across the sky - it's new, it's refreshing, it comes without fail. So, it's true, God's eyes are filled with grace, faithfulness, and unfailing love. I remember one year when I was in Costa Rica in a hotel room dubbed "the unicorn palace" - no air conditioning, hundreds of mosquitoes. On the other hand, this room was also roughly 200 feet from the Caribbean Ocean. Every morning when I woke up, I got to watch the sun rise over the water - a simply breathtaking way to start the day. The morning is such a beautiful picture of God's grace and mercy - "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; They are new every morning" [Lamentations 2:22-23 (ESV)]. Without fail, God will forgive (just as the sun is faithful to rise). This week, we feature a verse that says "joy comes with the morning." Have you found joy in forgiveness? Is God's mercy something that you are excited/joyful about? Or did you forget just how beautiful it is?



Verses 1-3 I like to call sections in the Bible like this, the "you have's" ... All David does here is say, "God you have [fill in the blank with something wonderful]." Think about it though, what does this speak of? What does this tell us about our God? He is faithful. Unlike pretty much everything else, he pulls through for us ... all the time. The last 29 chapters of Psalms are riddled with David's praise, but also his petitions and requests to God - here, in chapter 30, they are answered. Maybe you don't feel the same way ... maybe you feel like you and God just don't have a "you have [fill in the blank]" type of relationship. I pose this question: Have you asked? Have you made your request known to God? Have you given him 29 chapters of your life so that he can faithfully answer in the 30th? James 4:2 says, "you do not have, because you do not ask." You can't expect an answer if you don't ask. You can't expect provision if you do not ask (granted, God surprises us from time to time, right?). In Psalm 3 (27 weeks ago), we talked about a word "selah." We can almost replace that word in the Bible with "stop and think." I encourage you to stop and think. To meditate on God's word daily (even if it's just for a little bit). I would ask you to consider a time of prayer where you give God you day and make you requests know to Him. In Jesus' model prayer, He even says to ask: "give us this day our daily bread." Make your desires known to God and He will faithfully answer - more faithfully than the morning sunrise.

Verses 4-5 I like how verse 5 reads. I really like it. Think about before you dedicated your life to Christ - before you "purposed in your heart" as the book of Daniel would say, God seemed convicting - God seemed angry. I think that people who struggle to accept God are intimidated by the fact that their standing on the opposite side of the battle field facing God. God hates sin, and that's scary. On the other hand, He loves us. Think about the times you have fallen into a period of sin - you felt convicted, you felt like you were fighting against God ... detached, maybe even scared. David says here, God's anger is but for a moment ... why? It only takes a moment for person to step from sin and to walk into his mercy, grace, and forgiveness. It's easy not easy to step out of sin, but the reward is the Father's favor of a lifetime. Forgiveness - it brings joy like the morning - faithfully, on time, without fail. This whole section is a highlight. David is so enamored by God's faithfulness that he can only describe the feeling by pointing to creation - to the morning ... to the sunrise (see last week). What do we do about this? (v4) Sing praise, give thanks, and remember/never forget how good God is to us.

Verses 6-12 Just read this for yourself. It's kind of off our topic for this week , but there is still some very excellent stuff in here. Favorite: "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing" (v 11). If you think something is really cool, post on it in the comment section :)


It's so easy to overlook a sunrise ...
Don't make the same mistake with God's faithfulness.

-Chris

Creator - Kind of an Understatement (29)

Today when I was driving to visit my parents for dinner at their house, I turned on the radio and listened to a man named Jack Hibbs teach a message on defending creation. He did a fantastic job explaining the holes in evolutionary logic and an even better job explaining the poor approach people generally take to seeing God as our creator. As we have been reading the gospel of Luke and looking at the truly perplexing history of Jesus and the disciples, we have come to realize that the Bible is no ordinary story. In fact, it seems obvious that we have come to the conclusion that the attitude we have had all along while reading scripture is not the one we should have. The Bible is crazy. The Bible is out of this world. The stories about Jesus life are intense and uncomfortable. Guys ... our creator is not boring. Our creator is not dull or unimpressive. Look around. Our God - our mighty God - created all of this. All that you see and all that you have ever been impressed with in nature comes from an awesome creator (by awesome, I mean jaw dropping - knock your socks off). Just think. The roar of the ocean show us his power. The beauty of a sunset shows us his passion and creativity. The sound of the wind blowing though the trees shows us his gentleness. The list can go on and on ... the term creator is not one to be taken lightly. In fact, our creator revealed himself to us in the masterpiece of his creation - all for the sake of His love for us. He is the creator ...



Verses 1-2 So what's this Psalm about anyway. We read it and we find David pleading with us to do something. What exactly is he asking? He wants us to "ascribe" to the Lord - or in other words "give credit where credit is due." When I work very hard on something, I always anticipate someone giving me a 'pat on the back' - telling me my project looks nice, that I did a good job on my homework, that my GPA is impressive, that I did a 'good job' ... we all do it right? We're so prideful - quick and ready to receive applause but slow to dish it out. What this Psalm is about is taking a step back, looking around at the world, and realizing the credit that God deserves. Just look up at the stars, watch the clouds, have a staring contest with the sun ... I don't care what you do as long as you take David's challenge seriously - ascibe to God. Ascribe to the mighty creator.

Verses 3-9 I'm pretty sure I don't need to say much here. Think about the mightiest storm you've ever been in. One year when I went to Costa Rica, there was a hurricane hitting a neighboring country which obviously dragged some storms to where I was staying. For the first time in my life, raindrops hurt my skin ... thunder shook the very core of my being. For once ... real thunder - not wimpy, not boring, not lame ... but powerful, body shaking, intimidating. David says here - our God's voice is like thunder (just a crazy picture of who God is right?). David even says that God's voice is powerful enough to shatter one of the worlds strongest trees ... that's the real deal. God's creation was intended to give us a picture of who he is. Think about it a little bit - Jesus says that even when we fail to represent Him, the rocks will cry out. CREATION SPEAKS. Creation tells us of the power of our God, or at least gives us a slight glimpse of it. David doesn't even stop with the thunder. God is more brilliant than lightning (brightening up even the darkest of places). God's presence strips forests bare. You can tell a lot about a painter by what they paint. On a greater scale, you can also tell a lot about God by observing pieces of his creation.

well what now? I remember the first time I heard a message like this. I can't drive in my car the same way anymore. I can't go a regular day without thinking about at least a small piece of God's creation. Take it to heart. Look at creation. Observe the masterpiece that surrounds you on a daily basis. God is our creator ... what does that mean to you? Perhaps that he kinda just threw the universe together? ... nope ... he painted a picture for you to know who he is and who he wants to be in your life.


Creator ... kind of an understatement yeah?
-Chris


Verses 1-4

What's your Tone? - Psalm 28

Dillon smells. Dillon smells really bad. This is mostly because he thinks that Martin guitars sound better than Taylor guitars ... which is false (opinion based). Needless to say, every guitar has a distinct tone - Martins are known for being dark, full, and bluesy whereas the Taylor guitar (cheaper) are known for their well-rounded range, and rich sound. It's amazing to think of all the things that play a role in the making of a quality guitar - professional guitar makers have even studied the effects of different woods on the overall sound of the instrument. Even more so, those three little knobs in the picture below also play a huge role in how an amplified acoustic guitar will sound. We're not even going to talk about all the important components to a guitar, but there are so many things to think about when it comes to buying [or making] a guitar - fret board, woods, action, shape, glues, bolts, etc. There's just an unbelievable amount of things that goes into the making of a rich sounding guitar. Luckily, as Christians, the choice of our spiritual "tone" is much easier - as there is only one choice that truly outweighs the competition. Do you have an attitude that resonates beneficially with people that surround you? Does your live "sound" like Christ's? Are you using the right materials (reference: the Bible), or are you filling your life with worthless junk? The question today is - what's your tone? Psalm 28



Verses 1-5 Sometimes when I read the Psalms, I get really confused - it almost seems at times that David, the king of kings (other than Jesus), is crying like a baby. Why would the manliest of men be in such a questionable state? When I cry, I hide my face, but David shows himself openly - what in the world is going on? The answer is pretty simple, and we'll form it into a question - what's David's tone? Even though kings David was probably one of the most powerful men to roam the Earth, he knew one who was more powerful - the Living God. The tone here is one of desperation - "God, I know I can't do this, but you can!" David is a man who recognized that he could not answer his own prayers, that he could bring contentment to his own heart (or others for that matter), or that he could protect himself from evil. What a mighty man of God - found where? On the floor crying for God. Are you getting the picture here? Jesus was found once washing the disciples feet - talk about "practice what you preach." Jesus also said that we are to humble ourselves if we are to be exalted (Luke 11:14). The fact of the matter is that you cannot bring about spiritual success in your life unassisted. If you try, you will fail. Paul constantly talked about the death he experienced - but he was still alive at the time (obviously) ... what? He said that it was not he who lived, but Christ in Him (Gal 2:19-20) - because Paul recognized the truth of Christ's preaching ... he understood king David's tone - that God is the answerer to our prayers, the strength in our weakness, the light in our darkest our, and the Father to all who come to him. My dad changed my oil on Saturday - because I'm a loser, and he does it 13422034502754 times faster than I could ever do it. I wish that in my life I gave more control to God - that I would trust Him to work in my life 6423984392834 times better that I could ever. This is just the first tone of two - one of humility, desperation, and need. Do you have it?

Verses 6-9 The second tone is one of praise, but it will never come before the first one. Even to obtain salvation, the Bible talks of a repentant heart - joy comes at the price of self-sacrifice. Even so, the man who a few verses was crying, has come to the realization that God is all of those things in his life that he had asked for. It takes a big heart to humble yourself, but God rewards those who do with a heart filled with joy, peace, patience [insert the rest of the fruit of the spirit]. I just love how this Psalm ends - start with a tone of desperation and end with joy in God's fulfilled promises. So we go back to the beginning - what's your tone? Are you desperate for God? Are you hungry for the word? Are you living a life in pursuit of an intimate relationship with an interested creator? If so ... Are you living in joy? Are you abounding in happiness? Have you found shelter in the God that calls himself our rock and shelter? I leave you with this ...

Let Him "be your shepherd and carry you forever"

There is an illustration that talks about history when shepherds would brake their sheep's legs when the sheep disobeyed or did something stupid. The shepherd would then carry the sheep until the wound healed. The picture shows us, the sinner, being brought close to God in order to learn to stay near to Him. I don't know about you, but I never want God to put me back down (even if i'm "not a sinner anymore") ... I want Him to carry me forever.


See you later!
-Chris