December 19 – Tested Blameless Protection

“As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the Lord is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.”  Psalm 18:95  (NASB)

 

As we move day to day looking for and finding promises in every book of the Bible, the Book of Psalms is not out of the ordinary. We’ve already found many promises in these songs written by David and many others which bring praise, worship, honor, and adoration to our Lord God. As we often notice and underscore, God’s Word is true and powerful. The New Testament book of Hebrews (4:12) says God’s Word is living, active, and sharp.  Today we find the promise that God’s way is blameless – that means it’s never wrong and will never lead us astray from the path He places us upon. We also have the promise that it is ‘tried’ which means tested and proven to be true. No errors or mistakes or falsehoods will be found in the original manuscripts of the Bible inspired by God through human writers. Third, God and His Word is a place of refuge, a safe place where we are shielded from the attacks of our evil enemy. Why can we know it’s a safe place? Because it’s God’s true and trusted revelation of His will and it’s able to judge our heart’s thoughts and intentions.  

 

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November 26 – A Life of Waiting

“Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.” - Psalm 25:5 (NASB)

 Are we not all in need of guidance through life? With many crucial decisions to make the wise one looks to God for help in making the best choices. Much like traveling in a region or city that we are not familiar with, we need directions and we get that from many sources. We all have many things to learn from the Lord. Even though we may have been following the Lord for many years and even though we may have been learning from Him many things, He still has very much to teach us. And how will God have an opportunity to teach us what we need to learn? We have that opportunity by recognizing and waiting on God. By constantly being ready and expecting God to teach us His ways and His paths. It is through an attitude of expectation that we wait with hope for God to teach us what He wants us to know. “Lead me in Your truth and teach me” is what David wrote. We too can be at all times looking expectantly to God for Him to show us and teach us and lead us.

 

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November 25 – Being at Home - Always

“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.” Psalm 90:1 (NASB)

And this day many are traveling home after their visit with families or other travels on the busiest travel day in some countries. Going home is often a wonderful trip no matter what the reason. This is a very short verse today from a Psalm written by Moses. He was writing about his own experience and the experience of other people of faith who lived before him. We believe his words can describe our experience today as well. We like the picture of the Lord as being our dwelling place. It is like saying that the Lord is our home. Isn't it true that when we trust in Him we do feel at home? Our Lord does want us to feel at home with Him. It is so comfortable to be able to trust Him and to sense His fellowship. So let's always remember to come home to the Lord because that is where we belong. He is and He always will be throughout all generations for those who believe and accept Jesus. That is something we can be very thankful for today...tomorrow...forever.

 

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November 24 – Thanks Giving Every Day

“Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!” Psalm 107:21 (NASB)

Giving thanks is an important activity in the life of faith believers. We’re commanded to be thankful for everything and that is not always easy. This week we have celebrated Thanksgiving Day in the USA. To the north in Canada, our friends have celebrated Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October. But whenever we pause for a national day of thanksgiving, it is good to think of the real reason we do that. We have reason to make every day a day of Thanksgiving.  Today's verse is just one of many that focuses on giving thanks to the Lord. He is certainly worthy of our thanks. He has done so much for each of us. He has loved us and because of His love He has brought us into His family. Some of us will be together with our earthly family and we should remember God's help for each of our loved ones and let's be thankful that God has brought us into His family.

 

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November 17 – He is the Only One

“Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.  How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust, and has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood. Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done, and Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, they would be too numerous to count.” - Psalm 40:4-5 (NASB)

 

Many promises can be found in our verses today. One which we may not often think of as a promise because it is a result of one action is “How blessed is…”  True followers of God remember times when God has shown how great He is and how He takes care of our needs. Notice the word ‘trust’ used as a verb (in the last line of v. 3) “And will trust in the Lord.” Then the word ‘trust’ as a noun; “who has made the LORD his trust,” The verb and noun forms connote a faith of commitment in the right object, God alone. As we read our Bibles we know that God has been demonstrating His greatness and His love to people for many centuries. When the psalmist David wrote the words we read in today's verse He was thinking of what God had done already many centuries before. God has never ceased to show Himself in the same way and has done so all the time throughout the centuries. The promise we carry today is that no other person or entity can compare. Our God is the only true and living God.

 

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November 13 – Letting Joy Be Seen

“The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;  The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.” – Psalm 19:7-8 (NASB)

 

One of the greatest blessings which God has given us are his words and thoughts in the Bible.  When David wrote this psalm he expressed his appreciation using selected words. This Psalm extols the Words God has given to us. Each of four parallel lines in today’s verses contains a word (a synonym) for God’s Word; each describes what His Word is; and each pronounces what it effectually accomplishes.  God has given us the Bible to reveal His thinking about how we should live.  This, of course is a manifestation of His perfect love for us.  So, when we read the Bible we are reminded of God's love and His concern for us. That should resonate in the heart and mind of every faith believer. And when our hears are full of joy it shows in our eyes?  Our inner sense and well-being can be seen by other when they look at us. Yes, our eyes reveal our inner spirit as they glisten with joy and that is what David was expressing about his experience.  Let's be sure to pay attention often to what God has revealed to us in His Word. 

 

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November 12 – Unending Song To Sing

 “I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.” Psalm 89:1-2 (ESV)

 

Today we look again at a psalm the people of Israel sang to express their feelings of devotion and thanksgiving to God. The Covenant God made with David is the focus of this Psalm. It is not attributed to David but to Ethan the Ezrahite who was a Levitical singer (1 Chronicles 6:42).  Ethan’s wholehearted belief that God is faithful was the basis for his appealing to the Lord in his dilemma. As we think of God's love for us we too can be inspired to sing with real joy.  When we remember how faithful God has been to us, always keeping His promises we can be inspired to share that with others.  This is what and how the psalmists shared God's faithfulness with their mouth.  This is how we too do so when we sing praises, spiritual songs, and hymns.  God's love and His faithfulness are not just temporal but they are eternal and have always been and will always be. Those of us who believe and have received God's gift of salvation know the  blessing of singing about it and the promise that we will continue singing the praises to God in heaven.

 

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November 11 – From Whom Comes Victory

“For by their own sword they did not possess the land, And their own arm did not save them, But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, For You favored them.”  Psalm 44:3 (NASB)

It’s Veterans Day in the United States. On this day we honor those who have served in our armed forces. One of the ways that the Children of Israel preserved their history and it’s stories was in songs.  Psalm 44 is a song written for the purpose of remembering what God had done for them in securing the Promised Land and to offer up prayer and thanksgiving to God.  It was good for them to remember that God was the one giving them the victory.  Although God is Spirit this song says uses terms we can visualize. His right hand, His arm, and the light of His face, protects and providentially cares for us out of His love for us.  We can rejoice that God is the same today and Christians around the globe are God's children and members of His family wherever we are.  He cares for us and watches over us just as He did for the people of Israel.  As we reflect we can remember the ways God has intervened in our lives and it is by His grace and power and wisdom that we make it through day by day.

 

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November 10 – Resting In Silence

 “My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.” – Psalm 62:5-6 (NASB)

There are times in our lives that our best option is to back away from our worries and take a respite, like a breather. The idea of waiting in silence as we read in this verse is very close to the idea of resting.  God created us humans and gave us a physical body that needs rest for recuperation from the work we do.  God also gave us a soul which also requires rest and we get that rest by waiting for God in silence.  When we wait we can hear and learn to believe in God's promises.  That's what gives us hope and that hope comes from God.  Our word 'hope' means a way to wish. We want but don't know if we will get it and perhaps will be disappointed.  But God created us to have hope that comes from Him and never disappoints us.  Our hope grows and gets stronger as we wait in silence.  As we wait in silence, we think about and meditate on what God has promised.  He promises hope from his unchangeable character and lovingkindness.  Today let’s do it; let’s wait only for God and for Him alone.

 

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November 8 – The Offering That Is Due

“Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed.  O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come.”  Psalm 65:1-2 (ESV)

These verses remind us of several reasons why God's people come to Him.  Just as His people were used to going to Jerusalem to praise God so we have the same desire and opportunity wherever we are.  We can praise Him any time, any place, in our hearts.  It does not matter where we are and we don't have to be at any special place or take any specific posture. There are no required or set words that must be repeated but the words of our prayers should include words of Praise to our God.  As we turn to the Lord we remember the promises we have made to Him.  We don't need to go to the temple or to a church building to fulfill our vows for we can renew our promises as we draw near to Him anyplace, with our supplications and thanksgiving. And, of course we know that we can approach God in prayer because He does hear our prayer.  What a joy it is to remember just as David did in our verse today that our praise is due to God who promises to hear our prayers of praise. 

 

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November 7 – Being One of God’s Favorites

The LORD favors those who fear Him, Those who wait for His lovingkindness.”  Psalm 147:11 (NASB)

Can you believe that you are one of God’s favorites? It’s true if you by faith have believed in Jesus and received His gift of salvation. For all who have, it is our purpose to please God and to praise him. We can do this by how we live. Our God has done so much for us that our supreme desire should be to please Him.  We find in our verse today a wonderful promise from God and a means to please Him.  We've mentioned that when the Bible speaks of fearing God it means showing Him the awe and respect which He deserves.  This is what God expects of us and when we do show Him respect and reverence He is pleased with us. He wants us to know and expect Him to act in love toward us. Even when things do not seem to be going our way, He loves us and we have reason to anticipate Him to demonstrate His love.  If we do that, He will be pleased and delighted as our verse says. This is one way we can know to please our promise giving God today.

 

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November 5 – Always Accomplish, Never Forsake

“The Lord will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.”  Psalm 138:8 (NASB)

Each day we look at a verse or two in our Bible and we consider the promises from God that we find there. We know that when God promises He will absolutely keep that promise.  David is affirming his belief in this in today's verse. We take notice of two promises from God. Promise number one is that our Lord God will, in all ways, accomplish what concerns each of us each day because he is involved in our lives.  Other versions say that the Lord will “fulfill His purpose” or, that “He will vindicate”.  God's work is our salvation and growth in the Holy Spirit.  A second promise is that God's love is steadfast and endures forever and it is out of His everlasting lovingkindness to us. The last promise David declares is his confirmation plea to God to not forsake or abandon His work.  David knows, and so can we, that God will never forsake us and He will never abandon His work in our lives. We have assurance of that certainty.  Let's affirm these promises today.  God is at work and He will accomplish what He intends to do.

 

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October 6 – Essential Understanding

“The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.” -  Psalm 14:2 (ESV)

 Among the essentials we need to progress as Christians in our life here on earth is the essential ability of understanding. Understanding is spoken about frequently in the Bible. Understanding does not come naturally but through a process of learning. Our promise in today’s verse affirms the Lord’s inspection of our thoughts and deeds. The words translated “looks down” in the original Hebrew text include a verb that actually says “bent over” to look. In a very real sense all the children of men are made to pass in review before Him. Because God is omniscient, he knows everything about his creatures including those who believe and those who don’t believe God’s words. We cannot escape his will by redefining words and instructions in the Bible and make those difficult to accept more satisfactory to us in our day. Customs change what is accepted or rejected as good and evil. None of these changes cause the meaning of God’s Word to change. What was an abomination to God 4000 years ago still today what God hates. God is always looking to see if there are those among his creatures who are discerning and seek after Him.

 

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October 3 – Even Before

“Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.” – Psalm 139:4 (NASB)   

King David had superlative understanding of God’s awesome attention to our details. The first verses of Psalm 139 cover how intimately God attends to His own. More than a hint of knowing…God knows the details down to the smallest insignificant bit of our activity. Now, it is likely that many of us live without paying much heed to God’s involvement in our day-to-day. But when a crisis erupts, so do we with prayers begging for God’s attention. We respond as if before we pray, God is elsewhere attending to more important things. But God is Supreme and that means there is no limit to the attention he gives each of us. Here is today’s promise: God know every word that we will utter even before it forms in our brain, before our breath rushes past our voice box, before our tongue, teeth and lips can form the word. Before any thought takes shape to the point it can be cast into the appropriate word, God knows what it is going to be.  Even before…God knows every word so He knows every thought that passes through our head and comes out our mouth. Friends, this is God’s superlative knowledge.  

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September 22 – When To Obey?

“How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart.”
“I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments. I shall keep Your statutes; Do not forsake me utterly!”   Psalm 119:2; 7-8  (NASB)

There is no time for us as faith believers to cease from obeying the word of God. Some pay little attention to what Scriptures say and pretend they can yet obey what they think they understand. Obedience is observing God’s testimonies found in the Bible so reading the Bible is essential to obedience. Obeying whenever we do read what the will of God is. 

“Only Jesus Christ is perfect, therefore, only he could walk in sinless, perfect obedience. But as we allow the Holy Spirit to transform us from within, we grow in holiness. This is the process of sanctification, which can also be described as spiritual growth. The more we read God's Word, spend time with Jesus, and allow the Holy Spirit to change us from within, the more we grow in obedience and holiness as Christians. ’Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.’ - 2 Corinthians 7:1.  “This verse says, ‘Let us work toward complete holiness.’ We don't learn obedience overnight; it's a lifelong process that we pursue by making it a daily goal.”*

* Fairchild, Mary. "Why Is Obedience to God Important?" Learn Religions, Aug. 28, 2020, learnreligions.com/obedience-to-god-701962.

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July 28 – Listen. Hear. Receive.

“I will hear what God the LORD will say; For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones; But let them not turn back to folly. Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land.” -  Psalm 85:8-9 (NASB)

God has many things to tell us each day and He has several ways of speaking to us. We are so glad for the way He speaks to us when we read the Bible or hear someone teach us from it. Sometimes He speaks to us by reminding us of something we have read earlier in the Bible, maybe years ago.  We know that He can also speak through our consciences through the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Our verse reminds us of what happens in our hearts when we become conscious that God is speaking to us. When we recognize God's voice speaking to us and we receive what He tells us in an obedient manner we sense His peace within. How wonderful to know it is the voice of God speaking to us. The peace ultimately comes in fullness in the Messiah’s kingdom. In Ezekiel 10-11 we can read about the time that the glory of God departed from Israel because of their apostasy and refusal to believe and obey God’s word.  His promises were delayed until the end of time when the glory will return. Listen today for God’s voice from His Word. Listen and learn.

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July 27 – Trusting In Our Refuge

“It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.” Psalm 118: 8-9 (NASB)

We might ask what it means to take refuge in the Lord? We are glad that the psalmist really explains it by what he says in the last part of each verse. There he uses the word trust. If we take the time to listen to what people are concerned with ⸺ we are talking about faith believers, ⸺ we find many who trust in “a way of life.”  They fret and worry about how our society is changing and what once was common piety is being cancelled by a sinful world. God has been left out of the process of reckoning and replaced by wanton heathenism. We turn to take refuge in the Lord by reaffirming our trust in Him. Our teach us that it is better to put our confidence (trust) in the Lord than in any human being. Our presidents, princes, and kings are not good object of this kind of trust. So if we need to depend on the help of any person us let’s be sure that our real trust is first and always on our God. Trusting in God is a sure and safe means to find God’s way that never fails us. 

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July 23 – He’ll Heal All, Large and Small

 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.   He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.” - Psalm 147:3-4 (ESV)

 

This is a wonderful reminder of how God is involved in our lives as His children. This psalm speaks of His response. He knows how to give us the help we need and to bring healing – to restore our spiritual health.  The context of these verses is the return of the Children of Israel to Jerusalem after 70 years in captivity. These words of praise are about how God cares for his own and about his knowledge as Creator God. God has given all the stars their names – not the names we use but the names given when He created each one. It is beyond our comprehension but He knows how many stars there are, something we’ll never know. Our verse mentions the wounds we suffer at times. They might be small wounds or large wounds. No matter the causes, God knows just how to bring healing.  And our verse also mentions hearts that are broken. Our wounds might be more serious hurts but God can take care of them too and bring complete healing. So whether our hurts today are large or small, let's allow God to do the healing promised and we know He can do.

 

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July 12 - Remember Our Good and Merciful God

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.” Psalm 107:1 (NASB)

“The upright see it and are glad; But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth. Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things, And consider the lovingkindnesses of the Lord.” Psalm 107:42-43 (NASB)

The opening line of Psalms 105–107, “Oh give thanks to the Lord,” links together this trilogy of songs which praise God for His goodness and mercy. Most likely this psalm (107) has its origin in the time after the Exile of Israel. It begins declaring the goodness of the Lord and ends reminding us to heed what is said in the song. We find these two themes: 1) praising God for His continual deliverance in verses 4-32 verses, and 2) remembering God’s response to man’s obedience/disobedience in verses 33–42.  The entire 107th Psalm was written to remind God’s people of how He had helped them and their ancestors in various kinds of circumstances. And it concludes with this verse. The point of the verse is that people who knew how God had helped them in the past should remember that and be reminded of His great love for them. We should do the same. Think back of how God has helped us in past days and then remember that He has done it because of His great love for us. This will encourage us to trust Him for today, tomorrow and always. That is what God calls “wisdom.”

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July 10 – Wanting and Waiting For More

“Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.” -  Psalm 25:5 (NASB)

When we believers have begun with trembling feet to walk in the way of the Lord, we can still ask to be led forward like a little child upheld by a parent’s helping hand. David knew much, but he felt his ignorance and desired to be still in the Lord’s school: four times over in two verses he applies for a scholarship in the college of grace. It would be better for many of us if instead of following our own devices and creating new paths of insight, we would inquire for the good old ways of God’s own truth and beseech the Holy Spirit to give us sanctified understandings and teachable spirits.  “For you are the God of my salvation.” Our God is the Author and Perfecter of salvation to His people. If we believe this, we may use this as an argument for obtaining further blessings; if the Lord has ordained to save you, surely He will not refuse to instruct you in His ways. It is a happy thing when we can address the Lord with the confidence that David displays here; it gives us great power in prayer and comfort in trial.

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