Verse of the Day 3/30

Verse of the Day 3/30

Psalm 8:3-4

New King James Version

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
4 What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?

In Monday's post we considered how God asked Elijah "what are you doing here?" as he was hiding in a cave. I'm reminded how God also called out to Adam and Eve in the garden after they had sinned and tried to hide from God, when the Lord said "Where are you?".  They couldn't hide from God no matter where they should go.  But the important thing to notice is that it is God who initiates the contact, calls out to them and in doing so draws them to Himself and causes them to evaluate their circumstances and their need of Him.

Very early this morning I woke up in the middle of the night and these verses came to my. mind.  It may have been due to the fact that I knew that they'd be coming up in my reading this morning, but I felt as if God were calling to me, He was being mindful of me.  I felt that I should be praying but not sure of what specifically, but a prayed for a while and felt better for it.

Yesterday, Jean and I had a walk along the ocean beach and the pier that ran out into the ocean.  We saw dolphins coming out of the water.  We looked down and saw schools of bait fish under the pier.  We saw the sea and the waves, we saw the sun and a bright blue sky and we saw children "creating" castles in the sand and swimming in the ocean.  The psalm reminds us that even with the majesty and glory of all of His creation, He is still mindful of us and we should be mindful of Him.  He is the one who draws us to Himself "and keeps us cleaving", keeps us holding on.

Pastor John Piper writes, "It is a great and wonderful truth of Scripture that God is faithful and will keep forever those whom he has called. Our confidence that we are eternally secure is a confidence that God will do whatever is necessary to "keep us trusting!"

The certainty of eternity is no greater than the certainty God will keep us trusting now. But that certainty is very great for all whom God has called."

"[The Lord] will sustain you (keep you) to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:8–9).

The thought of God keeping us and sustaining us reminded me of the old hymn "Praise the Savior".

Praise the Savior, ye who know Him!
Who can tell how much we owe Him?
Gladly let us render to Him
  All we are and have.

Jesus is the name that charms us;
He for conflicts fits and arms us;
Nothing moves and nothing harms us
  When we trust in Him.

Trust in Him, ye saints, forever;
He is faithful, changing never;
Neither force nor guile can sever
  Those He loves from Him.

Keep us, Lord, oh, keep us cleaving
To Thyself and still believing,
Till the hour of Thy receiving
  The victorious Bride.

Then we shall be where we would be;
Then we shall be what we should be;
Things which are not now, nor could be,
  Then shall be our own.

I said earlier that I didn't know what or who I was to be praying for this morning.  So among those I prayed for I prayed for you and all who would be reading this today that they may know that God is calling out to you and is mindful of you.

Blessings,

Mike

Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV

Psalm 8

New King James Version

The Glory of the Lord in Creation

To the Chief Musician. [a]On the instrument of Gath. A Psalm of David.

8 O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth,
Who have set Your glory above the heavens!

2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have [b]ordained strength,
Because of Your enemies,
That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
4 What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit[c] him?
5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen—
Even the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

Verse of the Day 3/28

Verse of the Day 3/28

1 Kings 19:9

New King James Version

9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

Today's verse came up in my Old Testament reading for today.  Have you ever been in a place where things weren't going well and is seemed as if everything was going against you and you just felt like finding a cave and crawling into it like Elijah?

In those times we need to turn to God's Word and go to Him in prayer and seek His guidance.  Quite often His Word will ask us the same question, "what are you doing here"?  Elijah was not alone, God had reserved 7,000 people for him that Elijah was not aware of who would stand with him.

Verse 15 begins with a small word of major importance, God said "go".  Go where He sends you, guided by His Spirt and the Word and through prayer.  Be bold, be strong, for the Lord your God is with you.

The following verse came up this morning in my devotions in Psalms.  It fits well with thee thoughts.

Psalm 25:12

New International Version

12 Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?

    He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.

Be bold, be strong
For the Lord your God is with you
Be bold, be strong
For the Lord your God is with you
I am not afraid
I am not dismayed
Because I'm walking in faith and victory
Come on and walk in faith and victory
For the Lord your God is with you              (Morris Chapman)

Blessings,

Mike

Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV

1 Kings 19:9

New King James Version

9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

Verse of the Day 3/25

Verse of the Day 3/25

James 2:5

New International Version

5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

Our Tuesday Men's Bible study went through James chapter 2 this week and this verse jumped out at me.  Most of us reading this would not consider ourselves to be poor, but we may know of some who are in different ways.  Our older son Jeff, will turn 40 this year.  He suffered a traumatic brain injury at the age of 16 which has left him disabled since that time. He really doesn't have anything to his name but he isn't worried about it.  He has food, clothing, our home to live in and he enjoys life and often tells us "thank you for this wonderful life".

He is blessed by having many who love him and care for him.  He appreciates everyone who cares for him and loves being with people and sharing his joy with them.  I would say that he is rich in a few areas - faith, hope and love.

The verse above speaks of those who have faith "inherit" the kingdom".  Normally we think of inheritance as something that comes to us with the passing of a loved one.  But this verse looks at the kingdom that begins with being in the present tense and carries over to the future tense, sharing in Christ's rule over the present and future eternal kingdom.

.

I"m sure that you may know of someone who is poor according to this world's standards but are rich in faith.  Pray for them today, encourage them if you have the opportunity, let them know that you appreciate them, their joy, their faith, their hope put on display, their peace that passes understanding, and their love freely given to their friends, whom you are one blessed to be.

I don't think that there is anything that could separate God's love for Jeff and his love for Jesus.

Romans 8:35-39

New International Version

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

"For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."[a]

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Blessings,

Mike

Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV

James 2:1-7

New International Version

Favoritism Forbidden

2 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

Verse of the Day 3/21

Verse of the Day 3/21

Psalm 1:1-2

New International Version

1 Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.

My daily reading in the Psalms has gone back to Psalm 1 where we'll go for today's verses.  The first two verses show a progression of being "comfortable" with those who oppose the good news of the gospel.  First there is walking, then standing and finally sitting down.  The more time spent in associating with nay sayers the easier it is to become comfortable and the more comfortable we are the more likely we'll be to compromise on God's standards.

The "blessed" person is the one who "delights" in, who loves God's Word, reads and meditates on it, takes it to heart and lives according to it.  That person will be "like a tree firmly planted" by a tree.  He is stable, well rooted, grounded in what He believes.  The wicked in verse 4 are like the chaff, which is easily blown away or discarded.

A.W. Tozer writes, "Let's practice the art of Bible meditation.... Let us open our Bibles, spread them out on a chair and meditate on the Word of God. It will open itself to us, and the Spirit of God will come and brood over it......I do challenge you to meditate, quietly, reverently, prayerfully, for a month. Put away questions and answers and the filling in of the blank lines in the portions you haven't been able to understand. Put all of the cheap trash away and take the Bible, get on your knees, and in faith, say, "Father, here I am. Begin to teach me" The Counselor, 136-137.

Are you like the one who is 'firmly planted"?  Don't be blown away by winds of change, spend time in God's Word, meditate on it, sing about it, pray over it and be that tree firmly planted and the Lord will "watch over your way."

Blessings,

Mike

Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV

Psalm 1

New International Version

BOOK I

Psalms 1–41

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Verse of the Day 3/20

Verse of the Day 3/20

Psalm 150:3-5

English Standard Version

3 Praise him with trumpet sound;

    praise him with lute and harp!
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance;
    praise him with strings and pipe!
5 Praise him with sounding cymbals;
    praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

My daily reading in the Psalms brought me to Psalm 150 yesterday.  It is a fitting verse at any time, but especially so as we move from winter into spring.  If you have had the chance to be outside in the sunshine over the past few days it was as if all creation was singing praise to God.  The birds chirping and singing busy with building their nests, the flowers beginning to bloom, and the trees beginning to blossom.

I enjoy reading Psalm 150 because it is a reminder that we are not limited in the instruments to be used in praising the Lord.  Growing up, organ and piano were the common instruments used, but today, we have much more, but probably not as much as is mentioned in today's passage

Verse 2 says "praise Him for His mighty deeds, praise Him according to His excellent greatness".  If you have not head off to church this morning, prepare to sing praise to HIm.  If you have already gone, sing out again, go for a walk, sing to yourself or out loud.  Sing a new song or sing an old hymn, either way, praise Him for His excellent greatness.

We'll close with one of my favorite hymns from Fannie Crosby.

1. Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
   Sing, O earth—His wonderful love proclaim!
   Hail Him! Hail Him! Highest archangels in glory;
   Strength and honor give to His holy Name!
   Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children,
   In His arms He carries them all day long.
   • Refrain:
     Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness;
     Praise Him! Praise Him! Ever in joyful song!
2. Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
   For our sins He suffered, and bled, and died.
   He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
   Hail Him! Hail Him! Jesus the Crucified.
   Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows,
   Love unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong.
3. Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
   Heav'nly portals loud with hosannas ring!
   Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever;
   Crown Him! Crown Him! Prophet, and Priest, and King!
   Christ is coming! over the world victorious,
   Pow'r and glory unto the Lord belong.

Blessings,

Mike

Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV

Psalm 150

English Standard Version

Let Everything Praise the Lord

150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens!
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds;
    praise him according to his excellent greatness!

3 Praise him with trumpet sound;
    praise him with lute and harp!
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance;
    praise him with strings and pipe!
5 Praise him with sounding cymbals;
    praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!

Verse of the Day 3/17

Verse of the Day 3/17

Isaiah 66:2

English Standard Version

2 All these things my hand has made,

    and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
But this is the one to whom I will look:
    he who is humble and contrite in spirit
    and trembles at my word.

We've been considering how we are to be "doers" of the Word and not "hearers" only.  Our reading and studying are to be more than simply reading a verse or a passage for the day and then just going about "our" business.  What we read and study should have an impact on our life and those whom we communicate with.

Today's verse is at the core of this, they help us to realize who God is, His power and authority are unmatched.  Not only that, we acknowledge that He is the One to whom we should look for wisdom and guidance all the days of our life.  The Word is Holy, it is powerful and we are blessed to have it and should tremble at the thought that our all powerful God cares for us.

 "Remember, it is not hasty reading--but serious meditating upon holy and heavenly truths, that make them prove sweet and profitable to the soul. It is not the bee's touching of the flower, which gathers honey--but her abiding for a time upon the flower, which draws out the sweet. It is not he who reads most--but he who meditates most, who will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest and strongest Christian." Thomas Brooks

"The first thing that makes a prayer acceptable to God is the brokenness and humility of the one who prays. They tremble at his word." John Piper

The wise will hear Him and obey His word  Long and blessed will be their days upon the earth  The fool will perish in the folly of his ways  Do you tremble at the Word of God  Have you considered the scope of eternity  In the light of unwavering truth  Have you regarded the works of a strong and mighty hand  Do you tremble at the Word of God  CHORUS  At the Wod of God  Yeah, do you tremble at the Word of God. (Wes King)

Do you tremble at the Word of God?

Blessings,

Mike

Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV

Isaiah 66:1-4

English Standard Version

The Humble and Contrite in Spirit

66 Thus says the Lord:
"Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
    and what is the place of my rest?
2 All these things my hand has made,
    and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
But this is the one to whom I will look:
    he who is humble and contrite in spirit
    and trembles at my word.

3 "He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;
    he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck;
he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers pig's blood;
    he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.
These have chosen their own ways,
    and their soul delights in their abominations;
4 I also will choose harsh treatment for them
    and bring their fears upon them,
because when I called, no one answered,
    when I spoke, they did not listen;
but they did what was evil in my eyes
    and chose that in which I did not delight."