Psalm 57: 1-3 

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

    for in you my soul takes refuge;

in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

    till the storms of destruction pass by.

I cry out to God Most High,

    to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

He will send from heaven and save me;

    he will put to shame him who tramples on me. 

Selah

God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

During our time traveling through the Psalms, we have seen many faces of David revealed in his songs. We have seen joy and adoration. We have seen sorrow and despair. We have seen adultery and murder. In this song we see a different face of David, this is his face and attitude in the presence of fear.

In the beginning of the David story, we see David as a strong young man with confidence and strength. David is on the front lines of the Israelites war, where the entire army of the Israelites are shaking with terror.  But David is strong in his determination to win the battle against Goliath. This courage has been conveyed over the ages as a pinnacle part of courage in the face of fear. In his later years David also experiences fear when his son is king and David is exiled from his kingdom.

But in Psalm 57, this experience of fear is when David is being pursued by Saul the king of Israel. At this time Saul is David’s father-in-law.  David has served as a major general in Saul’s army.  David has been his personal musician.  David is Jonanthan’s best friend.   David knows that king Saul has been anointed by God. Because of this David will not raise a hand against him.  Saul relentlessly pursues David for an extended amount of time upto the point where David hides in the cave.  In this cave, Saul comes within inches of death and harm from David, but David spares his life.  

Psalm 57 illustrates how God protects us in the face of certain death and fear. The only way I can equivocate this setting is if you are standing in front of a tiger who is three feet from you but the tiger does not see you and he does not harm you. The overwhelming presence of that fear can immobilize a person or cause so much fear that the person falls dead. But when God is with us he protects us and gives us calm and peace in the fear.  God protects David in such a way that he blinds the threat and allows no harm to come to David.

There are many people currently that are experiencing such terror and fear in the direct face of opposition and they try to run or fight and do not succeed. This psalm is telling us that when we actually believe that God is in control and He is true to his promise.  We can literally stare at anything that threatens us and be calm. This is not only physical, emotionally, mentally,  financially or spiritually. He is able to comfort us and allow us to rest in the midst of adversity and condemnation if we are in him.

Because of this I am able to smile every day despite what is happening around me. I hope that the Spirit will allow you to rest in him as well.

In the first psalms I shared about the gardener and the seed. As reflecting on the last entry of Psalms 9,  I see my belief rooted in God as the gardener in the garden from the beginning of the Bible. He nourishes me and prepares everything that I need.   He gives me strength and places me where he needs me to be please in order for me to grow into the mature person he has for me. The gardener creates life in each one of us.

In gardening, after the seed germinates it starts to grow and there are several steps in order to make the seed turn into a plant. One of the main things that has to be done is the seed has to be moved. The seed moves from the seedling starts into a bigger pot. The seed is moved into the ground. Each of these movements is essential for the true growth of the seed.

In our lives, God moves us at the optimal time in which He sees that we can no longer grow in our current situation.

A master gardener knows that if the seed is left in the seedling form there would be no growth for the seed. The seed has to be moved to change and make the seed more mature in order for fruit to grow. The seed’s movement has to shake the foundations of the roots in order to become stronger. This movement causes a change in the plant in order to bear more fruit.

Psalm 21:1-7 

O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices,

    and in your salvation how greatly he exults!

You have given him his heart’s desire

    and have not withheld the request of his lips.     Selah

For you meet him with rich blessings;

    you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.

He asked life of you; you gave it to him,

    length of days forever and ever.

His glory is great through your salvation;

    splendor and majesty you bestow on him.

For you make him most blessed forever;[a]

    you make him glad with the joy of your presence.

For the king trusts in the Lord,

    and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

In the Psalms 21, we see the life of David that God has given and has purposed for David. This is David’s life in review: David is a shepherd. Then David is a musician in a court. Then David is a soldier. Then David is a prince. Then David is a sojourner. Then David is a king. Then David is exiled. Then David is a king that rules his lands.

In each of these movements God is with David and God placed him in the new situations. This is what Psalms 21 shows: how the king David has been blessed by God in the mist of these moves. How lovely is it to have God in the mist and then have God move in us.

It is sometimes difficult for us to understand when God moves us. Sometimes the move is voluntary. Sometimes the move is involuntary. But we have to understand that each movement in which God has for us He still bestows upon us his protection and in the end for his glory.

The question we have to ask ourselves daily is how will I respond to God’s movement of me in this life and will I rejoice at the movement and at the results that he has given me.

This is why I believe: Psalms 21:1-2

O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices,

    and in your salvation how greatly he exults!

You have given him his heart’s desire

    and have not withheld the request of his lips.

Today’s Reading : Genesis 3: 8-15

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
¹⁵ And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring^[a] and hers;
he will crush^[b] your head,
and you will strike his heel.”

The beginning of Advent is one of my favorite times of year. It’s the anticipation of the renewing of our spirit and of our faith. It is excitement for the renewing of hope and joy. It is the renewal and refreshing of our relationships.  It is a time of reflection and introspection into ourselves and our relationship with God.

In this particular passage of the day I see it through a different lens. I’ve had a paradigm shift since reading these passages from being a young boy to a young man and now a husband and a father.

As I’m reading the third chapter of Genesis and the fall of man, I can revert to the old Lynden and “Just try to get through it” or ask the Spirit to allow me to see it in a different perspective. Now as I have matured, I can see the deeper side of the true story.

The setting is ten years into the future: I come home after a day at work and Jillian is not home but the kids are at home. Oliver,19, Ruby,16, and Nadya,15. I know that they are home because I had contacted him before I left work to make sure that they had the dinner started and chores completed. As I come to the house I called out to all of them. The food is in the oven and the chores are done, but they are nowhere to be found.  As I search the house I call for them but no one answers.

I find them in the attic where they have found the mother’s wedding dress. Ruby and Nadya tried to put the wedding dress on and have destroyed the wedding dress. Oliver is trying to help them mend the dress.  They are all distraught; they are all crying; they are all sad. I look at them with heartfelt sympathy and remorse. Their actions have created a painful and disappointing error. But this is created an opportunity for love and compassion and redirection.  I give them their consequence: They have to tell their mother that they have destroyed her wedding dress. The have to deal with the consequences of their actions, but I will continue to give them the needed love and support that they need.

This is an example that I think many people can relate to. This is essentially what has happened to Adam and Eve in the garden. Our loving Father has come to fellowship with his children. When He comes, they are ashamed of what has happened and remorseful.   God knows what is going, and he asks a simple question. This question is inquisitive and without any punitive tones or condemnation.  He is asking because he loves them.  He already knows what has happened he wants us to come to him and take responsibility for what has happened.

Many times I’ve seen this scene as a wrath of God or wrath of a malevolent father.  But now I can really see the gentleness and the sorrow in which He sees that his beautiful creation has changed. But the most amazing thing that I am able to understand now is His love and compassion for us.  He sees how this circumstance creates an opportunity for change. God with all his power, all his wisdom, and all his might could’ve easily wiped the slate clean and create a new world with new people and have “Paradise” once again. But he understood that no matter how “perfect” anything is there has to be a balance. He knew that there was have to be a balance between the light and dark, chaos and order, love and apathy.

Advent is the expectation and anticipation of the newness of life. But Advent is also showing God’s purpose and God‘s love for us. He knew that the perfect world in which we to live it had to be balanced. That’s why he knew from that moment of the fall, Christ will come to balance the world and us.  He knew that to change in the absence of suffering, we would not truly appreciate and understand the fullness of his love.

Because of his fatherly love, he knew the only way that we could I understand our part in his love was to allow us to go through the hard times, but He will be there with us in those hard times.   To the point where he himself came down in the form man as Christ.

My prayer for this Advent season is that God is with us, showing us with his Fatherly love He’s there with us in every and any circumstance. Creating pockets of Opportunity and that His love has a purpose and a plan. He spoke it into existence that the Offspring would trample the serpent under his heel. We have to acknowledge that Christ has prevailed and given us that power.

Can you imagine, we are only a month away from beginning of Advent. The time to reflect about the coming of Christ into our life or the renewing of our relationship with Christ. We have just celebrated Halloween and we were entering the High Holy time of the year. This is a time of deep reflection, a period of time to allow our minds to become centered not only on the outside but on the inside. We can see this with our spiritual and physical sides. The days are getting shorter and the weather is turning cooler.   We are finding new ways of connecting with each other inside, but at a safe distance.

We begin our new journey into the reflections and writings of the Apostle John in the book of the Apostle John.  In this book, we see one of Jesus’ closest friend’s accounts from the beginning of the ministry to the crucifixion and the burial and the resurrection. With this unique opportunity to view through the eyes of John we can see the true transformation of Christ in many different aspects. John is one of a few disciples who experienced many of the intimate details of Christ’s life. John was there when Jesus was baptized. John was there when Jesus meet with Moses and Elijah on the top of mountain in the Transfiguration. John was there at the garden of Gethsemane.  John was there at the Crucifixion.  John was there at the tomb of the Resurrection.

John is the apostle that is referred to as beloved because he was there through the most intimate times of Christ’s ministry. He also is three main authors in the New Testament, besides Paul and Luke.  The Apostle John wrote: the book of the Apostle John, I John, II  John, III  John, and Revelation. 

The relationship that John had with Christ is one that we should emulate on a daily basis. We should make a point of taking time to be with Christ daily to know his voice, to know his touch, and know his purpose in our lives. Many times we have gotten distracted by the outside world. During these past eleven months we have been given a opportunity to start slow down and reflect on Christ in our life. A prayer of mine is that we were able to find time as we journey through this book of John and into the Advent season in December and slow down.   Come inside to the place where Jesus waits patiently. And begin to reconnect with Christ on a daily basis. Allow his words, his testimony, and his love for fulfill us and show us his purpose.

May you be blessed. 

Knowledge is where you receive information gathered from different sources.  Wisdom is the synthesis of the knowledge and experience to create a meaningful understanding. 

I have been fortunate and blessed to have many mentors in my life, and one of the most influential mentors I have currently is my aunt. On the 31st of October she will reach a new chapter in her life, she will be 80 years young. She has had a life full of experiences. She is my mother’s older sibling. She was born right at the beginning of World War II. She experienced segregation and integration on a very intimate level. As she grew up to adult she worked in the school system. Her career in the school system spans over approximately six decades. 

She is a person who has shown me how to work hard and diligently for the future. She started her school career as a cafeteria worker.  She pursued her dreams and aspirations by attending night school to complete her Bachelor and Masters degree.  She became a teacher, then a counselor, and then an administrator. For the last 20 years post-retirement she has still been in the classroom teaching technology to kindergarten through second graders. She has so much life experiences that I hope to attain half of that information in a knowledge in my lifetime.

When searching for a subject for my “Writer’s choice” my first thought was to call my aunt and ask her what are her words of wisdom that she would give to me to share in this blog. As we spoke she tells me about life; about marriage; about children; and about health.  As we speak I ask her, “ What are some of your favorite verses or scriptures?”  Her first response is John 14:1-3

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 

As we speak the Holy Spirit starts to speak to her and she gives me some very amazing nuggets of wisdom starting with Luke and also Genesis. She mentions Luke 6:27-36  where Jesus is telling the crowd to love your enemies as yourself

27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Genesis 45: 1- 3 (The Full chapter relays the fullness of the story) 

Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.

3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.

In Genesis 45, this is the ultimate reveal of Joseph to his brothers. In this particular situation Joseph meets his brothers after several years been estranged from them because they sold him into slavery to never be seen again.  In this particular scene Joseph could have done one of two things: he could have completely banish them and set them off in isolation or he could show love to his enemies, which are his brothers, he chooses the latter. 

In this particular section we can see how Love is through the Holy Spirit in both Luke and Genesis. It’s amazing how my aunt was able to bring these two sections together in such manner with flawless effort. 

It is easy for us to love our friends our neighbors our family. But it is almost impossible to love individuals that want to do harm to us in the flesh. But we have been given this amazing gift to be able to lookout outside of our flesh and allow the Spirit to love unconditionally through Christ.  This same love can be seen between David and Saul.  (Refer to Samuel I & II) 

In this conversation that we had my aunt also gave us some additional nuggets of wisdom:  Even though you are asked to love others, you can choose the proximity in which you can love them. You can love without making yourself completely vulnerable to the other person. She referenced my grandmother: “Some people you have to feed with a long handle spoon”.  This is translated to mean: “In order to love some people, you have to love some individuals at a distance at the same time protecting yourselves”. You can not be dissuaded from giving your love to them because of fear.  God is Love and Love conquers fear.  May you be be blessed this week. 

Today’s Reading: Psalms 24:5 NIV

In a classic tale written by Victor Hugo, we get a glimpse of vindication.  The story of Jean Valjean is one that is timeless and has been recreated in several forms and venues.  It was originally released as a novel then transformed into plays, opera, and movies : Les Miserables.  In the story Jean Valjean is arrested and imprisoned for stealing a piece of bread from the local baker for his widowed sister and her seven children.  After several attempts to escape prison, he is released after 19 years.  Immediately after his release Jean is befriended by a bishop of the church and then steals from the bishop.  Jean is recaptured and brought back to the bishop for questioning.  While the police have Jean at the bishop’s residence, the bishop tells the officers that he was a friend and he had given him the silver items.  The bishop also tells him that he has forgotten the set of silver candlesticks.  This act changes the course of Jean Valjean’s life and he becomes a truly honest man.  But throughout the novel there is an antagonist, Javert, who constantly is seeking out Jean Valjean to re-catch him in the act of being dishonest.  

This story is written in the mid-to-late nineteenth century in France, 1862.  This is the same time that the America was going through a civil dispute that put many individuals at risk of poverty and starvation.  It was a time of cultural and political unrest.  This is a time of uncertainty of everything.  This story shows that in the time of complete desperation, a man is imprisoned due tot need for him  to feed his family.  Jean is a man who has worked hard and still unable to help support his widowed sister and seven children.  The system has then changed his life for 19 years.  Once out he reverts to his past ways: survival.  He’s true vindication is from the bishop in the scene with the police.  The bishop could have condemned Jean Valjean, but he took compassion on him and gave him everything.  

The vindicator is one that clears one of shame or suspicion.  It has taken me 38 years to fully understand a portion of how God vindication works.  As a young man, I would spend countless hours at my grandmother’s house and see how she would interact with everyone.  During these times she would aid and assist many people who were family, friends, and strangers.  In these interactions she would always give more than expected.  There were even times that she would give repeatedly and repeatedly without question.  This puzzled me at the time.  I wondered, “How many times will she keep giving?”  But she kept giving until she passed away at the age of 84.  The secret was  she knew that God’s vindication on the person is infinite.  She always had a connection to God through her faith and this was communicated through her actions. She continued to give and bless others. 

 As with the bishop in the story, she knew that the grace that God had given her would be passed on to the next person no matter the circumstance.  God’s vindication is one that is contagious.  When you have been given the spirit of vindication, you will be able to pass this on through your actions.  

One main point to stress is that even though we have been vindicated, the enemy will continue to purse us even  after we have severed our penance and have claim our victory.  This  is why it is important to continue to have a relationship with God and thank him for the vindication that he has given us, lest we all fall victim to the countless reminders of our old selves.  

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 22:19; Psalms 18:22

From the day that we were born we are supported by many individuals in our life: our mother, our father, our family, our friends, our spouses, our children, our teachers, and our community. We learn how to interact with each other and how to support each other from these relationships.  There is a complexity that surrounds these simple relationships.  The very nature of our relationships have us to depend on someone else with blind trust that can be either enhanced or destroyed.  There are many times in our lives that our main support systems sometimes do not have 100% support for us.

For instance, when we are babies, our parents be able to provide the proper nourishment for us through breast milk or inability to produce or lack of funds to purchase formula. But God provides us and them with required amount of nourishment.   

Another example is when we are having our friend support us and our friends cannot understand the true complexity of what we are asking them to do.  They may not be able to fully support us and that leaves us wanting more. 

Another example is in marriage, your spouse may support you in 99% of the things that you want them to support you but there is a one percent chance that they will not completely support you in every aspect that you are needing. 

Another example is with children,  we will support them in their development and sometimes they support us later in life and they may not be able to for fill those needs 100%. 

In all of the these examples we see that in these important and meaningful relationships we are supported and are cared, but these relationships will not provide 100% of the needed support.  That is where we have a benevolent father who is able to provide support for us 100% of the time. He is unlike our human counterparts which we love and cherish, God is able to give us 100%  support 100% of the time throughout eternity.

We may not be able to see his full support but he is there to support us through the good times, the bad times ,the hard times, the challenging times, the difficult times, the crying times, and the laughing times we go through in this life.

In these two passages, these are the exact same words verse by verse.  This is one of the first semi-autobiographical accounts of the Bible.  The words that are used in the psalms that David wrote in Psalm 18 is echoed from 2 Samuel.   This is the last testament, declaration and prayer of David. This is at the end of his life. He has gone from being the youngest and smallest son of Jesse, living the life of a shepherd to being the King over all of Israel and Judah. The life of David live was one from our human perspective was full of complexities and strife and joys.  From a human perspective David’s life could be seen as one where he has risen to glory and “fallen out grace”.  From God’s perspective, God in his infinite mercy and grace has given him resolution and absolution from his sins. 

Throughout David’s life he had many supports: his father, Saul, Jonathan, his wives, his children. But at the end of his life he acknowledges that throughout his entire life the only main support that he had throughout endless times and that saved him many times was God.   The entire life and story of David is one that cannot be retold here in a few words.  David’s life is one that is truly defines how an open and trusting relationship with God can be transformational.  Take an opportunity to review David’s life in I & II Samuel.  If you take the opportunity to read through I & II Samuel and the Psalms, you will see how many areas of his life were broken; how many areas of his life that were fallen; how many areas his life were tragic; but in the mist of everything he was supported by God because he loved God, he knew God’s heart, and he knew that he was a true child of God. And he knew that God’s promises to him were 100% accurate and 100% truthful.

To many times in our lives we try to get support from our loved ones, but sometimes the support that we get and the support that we can give may not be 100% percent of what that person needs and so they feel something lacking.  This is the area where we need to know that God has our support God is our support and he gives it freely.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, please allow us to look to you in the mist of our lives, in the mist of our days, in the mist of our troubles, and find you are there as our eternal support.   Heavenly Father thank you for being our eternal support. Thank you for allowing us to ask you for whatever needs we have and you will be our support. Amen