I am ashamed to admit that I still find myself questioning God and not fully trusting Him and His promises.  I am definitely getting better at it, but it is not 100% natural to turn directly to Him first.  When I have to face my fears in certain situations, I find I battle in my mind before I turn to God.  

Today in Psalm 56, we read:

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.  In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust;  I shall not be afraid.  What can flesh do to me?

Psalm 56:3-4

“In God We Trust” can be see on our money.  We say these words in our pledge of allegiance and our national anthem.  It is easy to say in the pledge, or sing about, or even read.  But, is it that easy to apply to our lives when we face a fear?

King David experienced all kinds of fears, anxieties, and pain.  Just because he loved the Lord didn’t mean his life was easy.  Psalm 56 shows us that he was fearing for his life.  It proves to us that when he was afraid, he put his trust in God.  

When we believe in God we have a choice.  We can choose to live in fear, or we can choose give our fear to God and let our faith turn into trust.  When we turn to God our perspective changes.  We can focus on how big God is instead of how big our fear is.  Our faith will grow as we remember that God is for us and we can trust in His promises.

Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call.  This I know, that God is for me.  In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust;  I shall not be afraid.  What can man do to me?

Pslam 56:9-11

Psalm 51

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me away from Your presence.

And do not take Your Holy Spirt from me.

2 Samuel 11 outlines a salacious story about King David, a chosen leader of God.  David, who was king of Israel, saw an attractive woman on the roof of her home.  Being a man of great power, David called on the woman, who he found out was the wife of one of his leading warriors.  Even though David knew of her marriage to one of his loyal fighters, Uriah, David had a relationship with the woman, Bathsheba.  Bathsheba became pregnant. Discovering this, David arranged for Uriah to be sent to the frontline of battle where he knew he would be killed.  David not only slept with a married woman, but he also had her husband “murdered.”

King David was rich, was the most powerful person in Israel, and was accountable to no man.  He was accustomed to getting what he wanted.  He was accomplished and things typically worked in his favor.  His expectations of his life became bigger than his accountability and commitment to God.

What gives us a “moral compass” to do the right thing? How do we hold ourselves accountable to what is good and what is bad?

Acknowledging that we need guidance and admit when our life goes “off track” is imperative.  The inspiring part of this story is that David acknowledged his sin and prayed to God to “cleanse him” of his sin and help him be a better person.  We will sin.  We will make bad decisions.  God wants us to acknowledge our sin, which we call repentance, and apply His commands to our lives.  God will allow us to sin. He does not control our actions. The most vital decision for us is to admit and acknowledge when we have done wrong.

Admitting we are wrong can be a hard “pill to swallow.”  Humility is not always a common trait. Life will throw us challenges and strife, along with happy times and hopefully prosperity.  The constant in our journey on earth is that God loves us and wants us to give Him reverence and praise for our blessings.  Even when we sin, God loves us.  He is a loving Father that wants what is best for us. But as a loving Father, He allows challenges and strife in our lives so we will appreciate and acknowledge His love and grace for us.

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 16:29-17:7

Motivational speaker Jim Rohn says we are the average of the five people with whom we spend the most time.  He asserts that surrounding yourself with people that look like you want to look and/or act like you want to act, increases your propensity to become who you want to be.

Our text for today introduces us to King Ahab who, like the seven kings before him, did evil in the sight of the Lord.  In fact, verse 33 tells us King Ahab was the most evil of all the Israeli kings.

He did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him (1 Kings 16:33).

Do you know why King Ahab was so evil?  You guessed it, he spent all his time with the wrong people.  King Ahab married Jezebel, a pagan woman.  Not only did she lead King Ahab to worship idols instead of following the ways of the Lord, she also encouraged him to listen only to people who brought him good news and who encouraged him to do whatever he wanted.

God sent the prophet Elijah to advise King Ahab, much like he had sent prophets to counsel the kings before him.  (Remember King David’s friend and trusted advisor Nathan?)  The problem was that King Ahab didn’t want to spend any time with Elijah because Elijah only gave him bad news that he didn’t want to hear.  Ultimately, by refusing to listen to Elijah’s warnings and humble himself before God, King Ahab brought destruction on himself and all his descendants (1 Kings 21:29).

Bad news, or counsel that goes against what we want, is hard to accept.  Sometimes, however, it is just what we need to set our paths straight.  God encourages us to seek advice from wise counselors.  But how do you know if your advisors are wise and their guidance is good?  Wise counsel always aligns with the principles outlined in God’s word, the Bible.

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm (Proverbs 13:20).

Guilt is hard to handle.  It can drag you down; it can control your thoughts and emotions.  Some people can hold onto guilt for weeks, months, years, to even a lifetime. Guilt from sin can bring fear, shame, and hurt.  If you are dealing with guilt from something from long ago or recently, ” STOP.”

In a world full of sin, God sent His son to give us all eternal freedom when we repent from them.  He sent Him to forgive us our sins and show His love for us.

Today’s reading is Leviticus 16:20-34.

Historically, this passage refers to today’s Day of Atonement or Yom Kipper.  The day of Atonement was a time for confession from rebellion and wickedness.  A time to deny self.  What happened on this day with the high priest once a year is now available to us today.  Every day through our Lord’s decision to send Jesus to save us from our sinful nature.

Whatever happened today, yesterday, or in the past. Take it to God. Repent.  Come with a sincere heart. Deny yourself from making excuses or downplaying the sin.  Cleanse yourself from this guilt.  For years I have held onto sin, I would find ways to avoid talking, thinking, or owning it.  I was ashamed, too proud, and would downplay the thoughts and actions I made.  I wish I could say that each day gets easier, that I’m sin-free.  You already know the answer.  Every day is a daily prayer to deny me and my desires.  A new day to repent and pray for obedience and complete surrender of my life for eternal life with Him.

Hebrews 10:19-22 A Call to Persevere in Faith

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Today’s Reading: Leviticus 16:1-19

 

Atonement. When you hear this word or think of this word: visions of isolation, despair, desolation comes to mind. These are the same images that we think of when someone loses a family member, especially a child. This loss can be emotionally loss, spiritually loss, mentally loss, or even physically loss. The myth of these losses is that you are alone and no one can understand you or the needs that you are going through. This is a very hard place and difficult place to comprehend and cope.

This past week, my family and I were blessed with a magical blessing. We have met the criteria with Ruby’s and Ollie’s health condition to be recipients of Make-a-wish. Ruby’s wish was to go to Disney world. Both of the children’s conditions are genetic and non terminal, but they had the chance to do something that was top of their list. As part of the this beautiful organization, there is another organization called “Give Kids the World.” This entire experience is so surreal. Both organizations are made to give hope to all kids no matter their abilities.

Give Kids the World, GKTW, provides unlimited meals and accommodations at no charge to the guest. They are staffed with employees and over 16,000 volunteers. They make the wishes and the week you spend there truly magical. Each week that the guests are there they have a theme for each day. Monday – Halloween, Tuesday-Taco Tuesday, Wednesday- surprise birthday for the imaginary bunny Mayor, Thursday- Christmas, Friday – Fairy Tale day. Each week gives the guest a time that might not come that year for the guest that has a terminal illness. The entire concept of GKTW came from a hotel owner.

The story goes, one day a child had a wish to come to Disney World. The parents called looking for a reservation, but the phone call was not able to go through. The parents could not find a room anywhere in Orlando. Unfortunately, the child passed away before their wish was granted due to no rooms available. The owner of the hotel made a promise that any child that needs a place to stay for a wish, there will be a place for that child. Due to the unfortunate loss of this child a new vision and mission was created that has helped over 170,000 families have their wishes granted. Nothing can take the place of a child, but their lives and legacy can have profound impacts.

In today’s reading we are presented with the loss of Aaron’s sons. These sons had played a very crucial role in the establishment of the Judaism priest duties. They were some of the original priests and keepers of the tabernacle. They are referenced at the beginning chapter of Leviticus. They knew God better than the majority of the people, they were the connection between God and the children of Israel as they assisted their father, Aaron. Unfortunately, they succumbed to their own insights and perished. But the loss of the sons was not the end of the people. God created a new connection to the people. He created a way of renewing the relationship between the people and God. This could have been seen as insignificant, but this is the beginning of how God showed us how to reconnect with us in the midst of our losses, failures and inadequacies.

The loss of anyone is always hard. The loss of children is unimaginable and unfathomable. But in the midst of this heartache, God still finds a way to connect us and create a space where we’re not alone. The diagnosis of an illness or disease seems to isolate us. The loss of a child isolates us from the very people that we still have and love. But when we allow God to work in us, and work with us He will show us that we are not alone. Aaron was not alone in his suffering or his renewal. The first family at Give Kids The World, GKTW, was not alone in their sufferings. We are not alone in our suffering, God has placed others in our lives to give us support in all that we do, all we have to do is listen and sometimes look up.

Be blessed

*The above photo is a collection of stars from the children that have visited the GKTW.  This is a tower that is part of the castle , there are over 170,000 stars here.  Each week there are more multiplied.  Ruby’s was added this week. www.gktw.org

Let those who are wise understand these things.  Let those with discernment listen carefully.  The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them.  But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.

Hosea 14:9

This last verse in Hosea chapter 14 sums up the entire book and presents us with a response. 

There are two paths for each of us to choose.  There is God’s way and then there is the way that Israel took. God has given each of us the freedom to choose which path we will take.  The question is, which way will we choose?

We have been reading about Israel and their choices to not follow God’s ways.  We have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.  The wise person will take heart and listen and obey God and choose to walk in His ways.

The foolish person will continue to stumble in their sinful ways.  They will disregard God’s commandments.  God will continue to seek and appeal to the sinner, but they will not listen or turn from their ways.  

We have the awesome opportunity to bring our sins to God and He will forgive them.  Then he will delight in us and we will delight in Him.

The Lord says, “Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;  my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever.  

Hosea 14:4

God, thank you for Your faithfulness to all, even when we go astray.  Thank you for your promises and forgiveness.  Thank You that even when we choose the wrong path, you are still there loving us and calling us back to You.  Thank You for saving us.  Amen

God’s promise for Israel is His promise also to us:

I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven.  Israel will blossom like the lily;  it will send roots deep into the soil like the cedars in Lebanon.  

Hosea 14:6