hemmed in

Maybe it's because I like to sew, maybe it's because I like being tucked in my bed like a little cocoon - I don't know why exactly but I've always loved Psalm 139:5

"You hem me in - behind and before; You have laid your hand upon me."

Merriam-Webster defines hem this way "a border of a cloth article doubled back and stitched down"

To me that says something is really being well secured.

I love the picture it paints in my mind of God's great, powerful hand being folded over my life (doubled back... stitched down).

He has laid his hand up on me! Secure!

slaying giants

I love the story of David and Goliath. I've been hearing it in one form or another since I was just a few years old. I can just picture the flannel graph now!

Reading it again today (1 Samuel 17) I'm reminded of a time when I did something harder than I ever thought I was capable of and someone distinctly told me "You've slayed a Goliath in your life today". As difficult a time as that was those words made my heart leap. It was an amazing testimony of God's power in me - giving me strength to do what would've been impossible in my own strength.

There are places in my life today that need that same, God-invested power. As David gets in the face of the champion of Gath he says "... but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty... this day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head... for the battle is the Lord's!..."

(I can hear Take 6 singing it now) :)

What a necessary reminder that the battles in my life are not mine but HIS - if I will just get out of the way and give him room to hand over to me those things that need to be slain. And there's the rub - finding my part in it. The getting out of the way or the surrendering what I need to surrender or the doing what only I can do so that my heart is soft and ready and I give the Lord a place to move and work in me.

Jesus, Help!

sacrifice, obedience and fear of man

"To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams." 1 Samuel 16:22

I've read this verse numerous times over the years and it's always made sense to me... the show of sacrificing something for the sake of God's glory means nothing if, in my very heart of hearts I'm not living a life of obedience to Him. Today more of the passage spoke to me.

..."Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you..." (vs.23)

Saul's response follows: "I have sinned. I violated the Lord's command and your instructions, I was afraid of the people so I gave in to them."

And there it is! Saul was more concerned about how the people perceived him than he was concerned about his standing before God; more willing to do what kept the people pleased with him than to act in obedience to the living God and risk the backlash of unhappy people. He wanted to make a big show of sacrificing the best of the livestock they had plundered from the Amalekites rather than simply obeying God's specific instructions that they take NO plunder and ALL should be destroyed.

I still find it far too easy to read about God's judgment, his wrath, his incredible love and sacrifice that so deserves my obedience and still bow to the part of my heart that gets caught up in what people will think of me. Blech!

Jesus, would you please continue to shape my heart to fear You alone, to obey You alone and to love You alone above anyone or anything else in this life! You ALONE are worthy!

who is like our God?

I've been mourning, along with the city of Pittsburgh, the loss of 3 Pittsburgh City Police Officers. It has made my heart heavy, partly because of the senselessness of the whole incident; but more so because it touches family! As I watch my niece grieve the loss and have to go back out in the field as a Pgh. Police Officer herself and as I recognize that one of the deceased officers was married to a girl who grew up across the road from my family home and leaves behind 2 young daughters - it just hits harder than a typical "news story".
I've been praying for my niece, for the families of these 3 men and for the rest of the police force in Pittsburgh and as they mourn and these words from Psalm 77:13-14 were a powerful reminder to me today that none of it catches God of guard - He is not a hands-off God:
"Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; You display Your power among the peoples."
While I will never fully understand His ways or His timing I am confident that He is great and holy and powerful and that HE LOVES US.
I pray that those touched by this tragedy in the Steel City will see his miracles and his power displayed in their lives as they walk through this season of grieving and that they would be drawn closer to His heart every day!

mastered by righteousness

Along with my Bible reading plan I've been digging into Milton Vincent's "A Gospel Primer for Christians". A book of bite-sized readings that dig into the heart of God's love for us. While the readings are bite-sized in length they are so meaty that it takes a day or two to digest each short piece.

Today after reading the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1 and 2 I read these words by Vincent (just a short excerpt of today's reading): "According to Romans 6, when I obeyed the gospel call I was both declared righteous and "became a slave to righteousness" at the same time... Hence, it could be said that 'sanctification' is merely the lifelong process wherein I joyfully surrender myself to God's imputed righteousness... Indeed, God has clothed me with His righteousness. Now He wants this righteousness to master me."

The combination of reading about Hannah and her amazing profession before God to give her son to God's service if He would bless her with a child... her faithful obedience to do just that; and reading the statements above re: the effects of righteousness on the life of believers has me wondering how much my life is effected by or mastered by righteousness. How often does what I'm doing with my time, my life, my choices, my heart reflect the directions given by God's righteousness. How often does my life reflect more of ME?? Sadly, if I examine my days too closely I think there is much more of me than I want to see and far too little of God's righteousness reflected in my daily living.

Holy Spirit shape my days by shaping my heart. Help me to grasp the reality of being declared righteous and being a slave to righteousness so that my life reflects Your righteousness for Your Glory!

transformation???

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Yesterday was one of those days when I felt like anything but transformed. My pride getting the best of me... letting frustration and self-doubt rule the day (or at least the hour).

If I am being transformed, if there is freedom from sin, freedom from self, freedom from lies once believed - how is it possible to go from point A to point B in a heartbeat?

Jesus, I pray for your Spirit's freedom and your transforming power to be at work in me today. Thank you for not leaving me where I am. Thank you for grace and mercy to pass through the times when I look/feel nothing like a reflection of you.

down payment or paid in full?

"Now it is God who makes us stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, GUARANTEEING what is to come." 2 Corin. 1:21-22

The notes in my Study Bible mention this deposit of the Holy Spirit as a sort of down payment on the eternal life that is yet to come. I'm not sure I agree with that assessment? When I make a down payment on a car or a house I am promising to pay the rest of the cost in the future. In the spiritual realm the cost has already been Paid in Full!

It's amazing to me that God would go beyond all he did through the cross and in addition send his holy spirit to bless my life in the here and now. A promise of greater things to come. A daily reminder of eternity with him. A moment-by-moment helper to insure his LIFE in me here on earth until I enter eternal life in him one day.

The Message says it this way: "Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete."