Everlasting to Everlasting

Nehemiah 9:5 The  leaders of the Levites – Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani,, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah – called out to the people: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting! Then they continued, “Praise his glorious name! It is far greater than we can think or say”.

Today’s name of Jesus is “Everlasting to Everlasting”. The word everlasting is defined as “lasting forever or a very long time”. There are a few things that seemed to take forever in the last few days for me. It took forever for Mike to get out of his hip replacement surgery (everything went very well by the way). Then it took forever to get discharged and get home. It took forever for my outdated PC to warm up and start working. It took forever for the traffic light to change so I could walk across the intersection in the rain. It took forever to get to work because of the traffic. It takes forever to get the test results from the doctor. It takes forever to…….You fill in the blank. I am obviously desensitized to the word forever. The reality is, we cannot begin to comprehend FOREVER, let alone everlasting to everlasting. “It is far greater than we can think or say”.

The word everlasting is a word that causes my mind to implode. I cannot fathom the idea of never ending.  Revelation 22:13 says “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the last, the Beginning and the End”.   This name of Jesus is a reminder of how powerful our God is. We will not be able to truly fathom this concept this side of heaven. And this all powerful, everlasting God also cares about the details of your life. He cares about the frustrations of this world that cause us to stumble, like rainy days and waiting impatiently for things to start moving. He is in the waiting of all of those little moments.

“Stand up and praise the lord your God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting!”

Shelly

Everlasting Father

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

This verse has made me reflect a lot this last week. It’s an amazing verse that can provide so much comfort wherever you may be at today.  Out of the many names of Jesus we have studied and lifted up we come across, Everlasting Father.

Initially, my thoughts brought me back to my own earthly father, the late Ronald LaFrance.  I never really got a chance to know him before he passed away.  My parents got divorced when I was in 5th grade and as a family, we had many dysfunctional situations that occurred before this time.  My father passed away just over 17 years ago.  Sadly, I couldn’t tell you if he was a believer.  I pray he was.  For many years growing up I was searching for a father.  For many years after he died I was still searching for one.  It wasn’t until 8 years after my earthly father’s death I truly met and started focusing on a true relationship with my Everlasting Father.  I had an earthly father but he is gone.

Fast-forward 17 years to today. I’m a husband to Jennifer and father to Jackson (9), Marshall (5), and Gianna (18 months). I try to model to the best of my earthly abilities how to be our Heavenly Father for my family.  I fall short daily in many ways. My daily prayer is to close the gap between what we read or hear in His Living Word and how I personally act and say.  What’s in my heart and who am I living for?  The difficult part to imagine at times is just like my earthly father who passed away,  so will I.

The greatest part of this reflection of being a son who spent many years searching for a father, and now spending years trying to be the best earthly father is that we have an Everlasting Father who is there always.  An Everlasting Father that whether you grew up with your dad or not or if you are knocking it out of the park as a parent or have messed it up, you have an Everlasting Father that will provide everything you need and everything your children will need.

You have a Father forever.  Someone who has known you even before you were born and will be there even when our midst of time on this earth passes, waiting to tell you, “well done“.

This week like only God can do I sat in church thinking about our everlasting Father. What were some of the scriptures shared?  Verses about our Everlasting Father, verses about prayer. Thank you, God, for your perfect timing always.

Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Mark 14:36

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1

Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” Galatians 4:6

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:15-16

Isaiah announces the birth of our coming Father.  As an Everlasting Father, he will show unconditional love, concern, and care for us. This will never stop.

Dear Dad,

You are the Father of Eternity. You care for us, love us, and will be present for us forever.  I had a father but now he is gone, I am a father, but I will be gone too one day.  Please help me to tell and show others that we have an Everlasting Father just waiting to provide us with eternal life. We just need to call on you, turn away from our sins, and love you.

 

Eternal Life

 

Today’s Reading: John 11:25; 17:3

One of the most complex ideas that we as humans think about is what will happen after we depart from the world of the living.  Life and death is the one thing that is guaranteed to everyone, but it is also one of the most mysterious.  These events happen daily to many people and each time there is a birth or a death, people’s lives are changed.

I have been fortunate to be present at all of my children’s births.  This is one of the most profound and life changing events of my life. During the actual birth of the children, it seems that time stands still.  The process can take several minutes or longer, but when you are in the midst of the birth its seems as if time stands still and each minute last for several minutes.  The excitement and anticipation is so present, you are hanging on each second of the miracle.

Conversely, I have been in the room when patients have expired.  In these situations, the time seems to stand still.  When someone breathes their final breath, the room is silent and the seconds turn into eons.   In both of these situations time seems to obey different rules.  It is a time when the spirit comes or goes and our minds and bodies cannot comprehend what is happening.

In the book of John, we are given the principle verse: John 11:25

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[a] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

John 17: 3

3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Jesus is telling us that eternal life is simple: know God and know Jesus.  By knowing Jesus we will know God and not die but live forever.  How can we know him: Know his example, know his words, now his promise.    The bible gives us a map of how to get to eternal life.

Know his example.

The life of Christ is one that points us into the direction of eternal life.  The life that we know currently consists of permanence and object significance.  We know where we were born, where we were raised, where our parents are from, where we live, where we will be buried at the end of the journey.  But the life Christ led was not completely associated with the permanent places, but the eternal destination.  He was born in a manager in Bethlehem (temporary placement), he was raised in Nazareth, during his ministry he had no home to dwell, his final days in the body were in a borrowed tomb.  He knew that his life on earth was a temporary assignment.  He knows that the holding on to the things here would not have a true significance compared to the place he was destined. This showed that the life we are living and the things that we are coveting would not be the final portion of living.  He knew that the life that we are living is a practice for what’s to come.

Know His words.

In the book of John, there are 18 different references to the eternal life that is given by Christ. In the readings for today, these particular passages are during the most grievous and agonizing times of Jesus life. In Chapter 11, Jesus has been informed that his best friend, Lazarus has died and been buried for days.  This section reveals that Martha knew the promise of resurrection and the life after, but not through Christ.  Christ used this opportunity to show that he was the resurrection and had authority over death.  He also shows his humanity and sorrow for a friend.   This same sympathy and compassion that Jesus showed to Lazarus by weeping, is also showed to us in our time of need and despair.

In Chapter 17, Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane in his final hours before the passion and crucifixion. In this High Priestly Prayer, Jesus is presenting us to God.  He is revealing the completion of his earthy duties and preparing himself to enter into the eternal life. A life that he is preparing for us.  In this prayer, Jesus is showing us that the only way to eternal life is through him and the sacrifice that he is making.

Know His Promise.

John 14: 1- 7

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;[a] believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”[c] 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.[d] From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

This is his ultimate promise to us, that if he goes to prepare a place, he will come again to accept us into his kingdom. This kingdom will not have an end, eternal life.

Christ came out of eternity to reconcile us to God and open the way for the Holy Spirit to manifest in humans.  Christ stepped out of eternity into time, reunited us with God, and then stepped back into eternity.  From his example, his words, and promise we can have a taste of what is to come.  At the beginning of this blog, I have seen and witnessed the mystery of time with the beginning and ending of life.  I still have so much more wonder of the coming life in eternity with Christ.  Be Blessed.

Heavenly Father,

Allow us to understand and accept your will for us as we strive for the eternal life.  Amen.

The End

I would never pretend that I am adept with knowledge about our political system.  But, it does not take in-depth knowledge to know that we are at a cross roads in our current situation.  If you happened to watch the Democratic Debate on Wednesday evening you might be where I am at today, questioning what in the world can come from all of this.  

I imagine that is how the Jews felt during the time that the book of Revelation was written.  The Jews were God’s special people.  They were the great family, which had been promised to Abraham in the desert eons ago (back in the first book of the Bible, Genesis).  But now, the Roman Empire seemed to be taking over.  The Jewish people were questioning their identity as the Roman Empire continued to rule their power over all the people.

The Jewish people were yearning for a different kind of government.  They longed to be ruled by a savior.  God gave the people a new vision in the following verse,

And he said to me, “It is done!  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

Revelation 21:6

In times of confusion and tension we can imagine that our kingdom is breaking down.  Or, we can imagine that God’s kingdom is coming to fruition.  We can sit back and watch our government, schools, neighborhoods or families change and struggle.  Or, we can lean into God and be the change we wish to see in the world around us.  

God is in EVERYTHING, even in the political instability we see today.  He is in all the areas of our life where we feel unsettled.  We have a choice in all these matters as to how we respond.  

It is Jesus who is the beginning and the end, the first and the last.  Jesus is the one who died, rose from the dead and is alive forevermore.  

Thank You Jesus for Your gracious plan of redemption.  This plan starts and finishes with YOU.  Today, may we share Your living water with all around us so that they may know who You are and what You have done for us.  

The Eagle that Leads His People

Today’s reading is Deuteronomy 32:11.

As Americans we hold a high esteem for eagles as animals. The Bald Eagle is our national bird for a reason – it is powerful, lightning-fast, an apex predator, and flies free and unrestrained as the wind. But often we tend to focus on the strong nature of the eagle, rather than how Moses describes the eagle in Deuteronomy 32. When speaking one last time to the people of Israel before his death, begging them to submit to God’s council:

“He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, the Lord alone guided him, no foreign god was with him.”

Interestingly, Moses demonstrates God’s caring nature by comparing Him to the nurturing, child-raising side of the eagle. As parents, eagles are incredibly watchful: for the first roughly 3 months of their children’s lives, at least one parent is always dutifully watching over their children as the other finds food. Slowly, the parents will begin leaving more and more, moving to nearby trees or circling overhead to closely watch over their young as they attempt to leave the nest and learn to fly, allowing their chicks some self-direction but always ready to protect and provide help (If you’re interested in more eagle nesting facts at all, here’s a neat little fact sheet courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Madison: https://journeynorth.org/tm/eagle/annual/facts_nestlings.html).

As we learn to fly on our own and navigate through this life, we know that God is our protector, as Psalm 121 says: “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 3:3 says “you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head”; The Lord is ready to protect us from evil and lift us when we feel weary. Though we may feel lost and stumble when we work on our own volition, the Lord is ready to catch us, to set us upright and on the right path, and to direct us to holiness when we look to Him. Like a baby eagle, we are never alone when we learn to fly; our protector is always there, powerful and mighty and ready to swoop in for our behalf on a moment’s notice.

Do you live like God’s always watching over you, ready to take leaps in your faith under His instruction and with His guardianship? Are you stuck, constrained by your own volition, thinking your sin renders your own efforts meaningless? Or are you ready to soar free, unrestrained by death and sin, how God wants you to live? All this time, all our lives, the Lord has watched over us carefully, provided for us, and brought us up to live freely from death’s clutches. Today, celebrate that the Lord would break your shackles and give us the freedom from sin that life in Him provides. Be thankful that he watches over us so diligently. Above all, today and always, praise God!

 

Dwelling Place

What is your morning routine? How do you start your day? Do you work out? Read the newspaper (yes some still do)? Check social media? Pray? Morning Devotional?

Now that my physical health is back, my weekday routine typically involves working out. It also involves reading Bible Journal to get in the Word, prayer, and writing down at least 3 things I’m grateful for that morning. I also write down my 2-3 most important work activities for the day so that I prioritize them over things that seem urgent.

Today’s word to describe God is “dwelling place” and our verse to go with it is Psalm 90:1.

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.”

Later, Psalm 90:14 reads..

“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad in all our days.

The last verse of the chapter, Psalm 90:17, says…

“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!”

My weekday morning routine help establish the Lord as my dwelling place to start my day. He speaks to me through His Word and prayer, and I give him thanks for His blessings through my gratitude list. I started this last piece of after hearing some years back you can’t feel stress and gratitude at the same time. Generally speaking, no matter how busy my day will be and even if I’m running late, my anxiety level is pretty low on weekday mornings. However, anxiety tends to go up as the day goes further along, and I forget to dwell in the Lord through talking to Him in prayer. I forget about what I’m grateful for despite the problems which arise. I forget to ask him again in the fire to “establish the work of my hands.” He no longer is my “dwelling place”…my “dwelling place” is now the troubles the day has brought.

Ironically, some of the days I seem to be worried the most about getting my to do list done or am short tempered are the weekends. Some of the days I tend to be the most anxious about what the future may bring are when I’m on vacation..yes…vacation..which is supposed to be the time to re-charge! Why? I get away from my morning routine on the weekends and vacation which make the Lord my dwelling place. Just yesterday the discussion came up, bringing some stress and anxiety, about when we may change houses and if our kids will change schools. We must remember to pray for wisdom and guidance on these decisions and remember that regardless of the physical location of where we live or where our kids go to school, He is our true dwelling place. Instead of worrying about these things, we should be grateful that we even have a home and a school which many in other countries, and even our own country for that matter, don’t have.

Let us pray..

Lord, please help us to remember that you have been, and will always be, our true dwelling place in all generations. Help us remember this throughout each day in the little decisions and in the big ones which affect our long-term plans. We know that when we truly dwell in you and you dwell in our hearts and minds, you will establish the work of our hands and we will rejoice and be glad in our days!

A Royal Diadem

 

 

Is. 28:5-“Then at last the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will himself be Israel’s glorious crown. He will be the pride and joy of the remnant of his people.”

Is. 62:3- “The Lord will hold you in his hand for all to see-a splendid crown in the hand of God.”

Webster defines “royal diadem” as a crown that is worn especially by a king as a symbol of royalty. The difference between a royal diadem and a crown is that a crown is a reward of victory or a mark of honor while a diadem is an ornamental headband worn as a badge of royalty. So if we apply this meaning to Is 28:5 we see that God himself is our king, royalty for us, our pride and joy! While He has done everything to earn victory and honor, this phrase, royal diadem, means that He is royalty because of who He is, not because of what He has done. He is inherently royal. “King of kings” royalty is what defines Him. So who are we to be given the Creator of the universe, the Beginning and the End as our personal king? What have we done to deserve Perfection as our royalty? Why do we get to have the Almighty as our very own pride and joy? The answer is that He loves us so much that He wants us to have this. We don’t deserve any of it. We cannot earn our way into His kingdom, we are not good enough to be chosen by Him and we cannot buy our spot in His kingdom. We only have to accept His gift. We need to recognize that we cannot be in His presence because of our sin. Our sin separates us from Him because he is perfect and holy. We have to be washed clean to be in His kingdom. He was the only blameless option to pay the price for our sin. He willingly completed the only plan that would pay the price for us, removing our sin from our record so we could be with Him. This is amazing love that takes our place in death so we can have life with Him! Is this not extravagant enough?

Our Father’s love so greatly exceeds what is reasonable that He goes on in Is. 62:3 to say that He holds us in his hand for all to see. He has named us His splendid crown, His royal diadem. When He gifts us eternal life, He makes us His. His kingdom is given His name and heritage. We are so precious to Him that He gives us His royalty.

This morning, are we remembering Who’s we are? Before starting the day, can we think about Who’s hand we are held in because we are so precious to Him? Think about the “family” you have been adopted into. Are our fears valid based on our heritage in God? You are a splendid crown in the hand of God!

Despised By Men

Sin is rooted inside each of us. Humanity naturally runs toward sin because of the sinful nature that is in each of us. We despise what is good. It is hard to imagine, but many of us run away from Jesus and reject his teachings. Jesus came to the Earth to fulfill all righteousness and create a deep relationship with each of us, yet we still despise and reject Him.

 

Our theme for today comes from Isiah 53: 3 (ESV), “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not”. Isaiah starts off the beginning of this chapter with giving prophetic context that these verses reflect the coming Christ and the servant that He will be for us. Isaiah describes the coming Christ as one with “no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him” in verse 2. The coming servant, Jesus, will be despised by the ones that He came to save. Luke 23:20-21 (ESV) states, “Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, ‘Crucify, crucify him!’”. Our true comforter and redeemer was despised by those that He came to save.

 

Jesus wasn’t just surrounded by the physical Jewish residents at that time asking for Him to be crucified, but he was surrounded by us. Jesus experienced a death that nobody could ever imagine. He took on all of sin, hatred, and rejection by everyone. However, Jesus did this because He was the only one that could save us from our sin. Looking back toward Isaiah 53, verse 12 states, “yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors”. Jesus took on all of our sins and pardoned us at the moment he was put to death. He took away all of our guilt and shame and became the only servant that could redeem us. Jesus was only able to be our sacrifice because he was the Son of God.

 

When we enter into a relationship with Jesus and believe in all that He did for us, we are made new. There is redemption through Jesus Christ. Our past sin and rejection have been forgiven and we are made new. Jesus has served us by sacrificially giving His life to make you a part of His plan.

Are We Quick to Judge? I Know I Am

My Testimony

Here’s my story. I was invited to write for this Bible Journal, and I was nervous. Self doubt took over. I was scared that I did not know enough about the Bible, nervous that I might look silly, and afraid that I would not know what to write.

I prayed about it and relented. I agreed to be a contributor. I received my first assigned verse and it was Haggai 2:7. Ok. This is a book in the Bible I had never read, could barely find, and honestly, had never heard of.

Fast forward three days later and my family goes to worship at Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, VA led by Senior Pastor Gary Hamrick. (Cornerstonechapel.net). The sermon and Bible study for the day…Haggai. What are the chances? There are 66 books in the Bible and 52 Sunday’s to attend church, and today’s lesson was Haggai. God dispelled my worry and provided Pastor Gary’s teaching on a book I had never read, and candidly, was unsure what I should write. God’s got this.

Why Did God Want the Temple Rebuilt?

In 538 BC, God freed the Jews after 70 years of slavery in Babylon. In 536 BC, the Jews began to reconstruct the Temple, which has not existed since the days of Solomon. Two years after starting construction, the Jewish people stopped building the Temple. The book of Haggai talks about when God came to Haggai and encouraged him to preach to the Jewish people about beginning again to rebuild the Temple.

God told the Jews in first chapter of Haggai, verse 9, “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” Says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house.”

God was calling his people to rebuild the Temple to sacrifice their time, resources, and lives to commit to worshipping Him. God was trying to get their attention. He had freed the Jews from years of slavery but they were focused on their own well-being and not praising and thanking God for his grace and mercy to them. I learned today from Pastor Gary that the Jews started building the foundation for the new Temple and then stopped. In fact, the Temple sat unconstructed for sixteen years before God spoke to Haggai to encourage the Jews to rebuild.

I began writing this journal focused on how the Jewish people should have made sacrifices and praised God for His mercy. They should have wanted to rebuild the Temple. My writing was going to be judgmental about the Jewish people and their lack of willingness to follow God’s wishes and rebuild the Temple, especially after he delivered them from their bondage. Why should they be focused on their own well-being and not praising God to fulfill His wishes? There are some lessons for my life in that question for sure.

Here is where today’s lesson from Pastor Gary became awesome. I learned that the book of Ezra provides context and understanding to the book of Haggai as to why the Jewish people stopped building the Temple. Ezra 4:23-24 tells us that King Artaxerxes, ruler of Persia, wrote a cease and desist to the Jews regarding the reconstruction of the Temple. King Artaxerxes did not want the Jews worshipping and loving God more than him. The Jews were intimated and directed to stop construction of the Temple. They were threatened. So they stopped. They were afraid for their well-being, especially after coming out of 70 years of slavery. They likely did not want to cause a problem with the king and risk being returned to slavery. I would not have learned this without learning about the explanation in the book of Ezra.

What‘s the Lesson?

I was judging the Jews for not following God’s wishes. My message was going to be about honoring and glorifying God with our time, resources, and sacrifices. Certainly a lesson I need to follow as well. There was much more to the story that I did not know.

Pastor Gary led my heart to the best part of this lesson. It’s not just about following God’s wishes. It is about judgement and having an opinion about others. I am guilty to rush to judgement or have an opinion about someone, and many times, I fail to ask more about their story. What I did not know was why the Jews stopped building the Temple and the threats by King Artaxerxes. I rushed to judge.

So, it could be the terribly negative co-worker, the annoying neighbor who always turns everyone into the HOA, or maybe your own family member who constantly creates drama. We might resent people in our lives for the issues they create and judge them for the problems they cause. The simple question is, what is their story? Why are they so unhappy? Why do they cause problems? I was reminded today, I need to ask why. Try to understand. Seek more information. There is always more to someone’s story.

I know this, of course, that there is always more to someone’s story. But, in a fast-paced world of fly by news, and sometimes brutal social media, we can quickly skewer someone with a harsh comment, negative judgement, or squash a person because they are a irritant in our lives. The message today was simple. Do not rush to judge anyone until you learn more about them.

My prayer is that we stop, seek understanding, and treat others like Jesus did. Invite the nasty neighbor to church. Get that negative co-worker a gift for their birthday. Or, make sure to get your difficult family member something for the holidays. No, this is not easy. But, without knowing someone’s story, let’s not rush to judge them. This is certainly a goal of mine this year.

My Deliverer

David spent seven years running from Saul. He was literally hiding in caves and trying to elude his enemies night after night. He had lost his wife and best friend, and yet he continued to have faith in the Lord. Even when he had opportunities to end the discord with Saul and could have stopped all the fighting, he didn’t. He showed grace and restraint, knowing that God would deliver him, in his time and in his way.

Do you have relationships that are adversarial? Maybe you know you need rescued from the chaos, and delivered from the strain? How does David’s example of patience and grace sit with you? It’s pretty humbling and leaves me wondering… if I were in David’s shoes and had the opportunity to “have the last word” and end the back and forth in difficult relationships, would I take it? Or would I follow David’s example and let God work how and when he will?

We can learn so much from David’s long suffering in his relationship with Saul, starting at the very beginning. 1 Samuel 18 outlines the jealousy that grew in Saul: David being praised by the people as a stronger warrior than Saul, and also David’s relationship with Jonathon. Saul got caught in the comparison trap that so many do, and his jealousy spiraled out of control. Jealousy turned to scheming and plotting, trying to get David killed and not able to threaten Saul’s position as king.

I’m sure there were many cold nights on the run where David didn’t know how it would end. He was afraid and wasn’t sure what to do next. Psalm 57 describes on of these nights, where he is equally pleading with the Lord for mercy, and also declaring God’s faithfulness, love and glory. What a testimony to the faith of David!

2 Samuel begins the reign of David after Saul’s death. David worships his Deliverer, and his words are perfect:

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my savior; you save me from violence.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.  2 Samuel 22

I love both of these passages, to pray through when I’m in the middle of a storm and need delivering. He IS faithful, He loves us so.  And then praising God for his deliverance. His ways and timing are perfect!

Today’s focus challenged me to make a list of my own rescue stories of deliverance. Long list. And it got me thinking, what’s NOT on my list? What rescue missions did He deliver me from that I’m not even aware of? Maybe something that I consider a closed door, or a failure, He used as a deliverance. Or situations I am oblivious to, He orchestrated a rescue mission. He’s so so good to us.