Tag Archives: truth

Psalms 32:10-11 Surrounded by Love

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psalms 32:10

“Many sorrows come to the wicked, but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord. So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭32:10-11‬ ‭NLT

What a wonderful reminder in scriptures, that God’s love, which NEVER fails, surrounds those who trust Him. Sorrow may follow those who do evil, but as we trust in the Lord, He surrounds with steadfast love. Trusting in God is built by relationship. The more we consistently come to Him, He is able to prove His faithfulness again and again. We can trust even if we don’t have all the answers because we know that God is there watching over us as He reminds us is vs 9.

As Proverbs 3:5-6 exhorts, we should trust in the Lord with all of our heart and don’t lean to your own understanding or wisdom( which many times is limited & can’t see the big picture. As we acknowledge God is all of our plans, ways, thoughts, He will direct us. That is a promise!

We can and should rejoice in this knowledge that God has our back! That as we follow Him, He surrounds us with love, His perfect love that casts out all fear, all anxiety. As we rejoice, we become stronger in Him because the joy of the Lord is our Strength!

During this week, as we remember all that Jesus endured so that we may have this vibrant, victorious relationship with Him on this earth and eternally, may your joy overflow and permeate all that you do. May that joy strengthen you, even as it did when Paul and Silas praised the Lord in their chains, breaking the hold of those chains on them and everyone else in that prison! We are surrounded by God’s unfailing love which is always with us! That is Good News!

Psalm 32:9 Don’t Resist

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Ps 32:9

“Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭32:9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

In Ps 32:8 God tells us He will teach and guide us in the path we need to go. In this verse 9, we are encouraged to be willing participants in this process and not be dragged into following Gods instruction. The analogy is that of a stubborn horse, who has no understanding and therefore must be harnessed to be directed. The key words are the lack of understanding! When we understand God’s great love for us and His intention to restore and empower us to live in our purpose, we will gladly receive His instruction.

This is why there are so many references in the scripture to “opening” “eyes”, so that we fully see and know God’s heart, His protection, His plans, and His promises. We are encouraged to study and learn God’s principles so that we gain wisdom, discernment and understanding of how to make good decisions. We should be willing students! I love how Job explained it(Job 42:3-5) “surely I spoke of things I didn’t understand, things too wonderful for me to know– my ears had only heard of you but now my eyes have seen!”

Lord, help us to not resist Your instruction or Your presence. Continue to open our eyes that we can clearly see You in all of Your glory, and understand Your heart for us. May we abide in You, keep our eyes on You, as we are being transformed in this process. Search us and bring light to those areas where we may be resistant, stubborn and unwilling and lead us. Help us to yield to you in every part of our lives in Jesus name.

Psalm 32:8 Divine Direction

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Psalms 32:8

“The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” Psalms‬ ‭32:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What a precious promise we have in the Lord, that when we come to Him in prayer, confess our sin(s), not only will he hide us and protect us ( in previous verses 6-7) but he instructs and guides us the BEST path we need to take. And this is not one and done. As we are before Him, He continues to guide and counsel us in the process and watched over us.

Lord, thank you for guiding and teaching us to adjust our sails so that we are following the best and right path for our lives. Your Word continues to be a light to our path in every dark place. Thank you for always being right there with us in the process, counseling us and watching over us. You are indeed a Good Father! Thank you Lord!

Ps. 32:3-5 Confess and Be Free

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Psalms 32:3-5 NLT

When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone”. Psalms‬ ‭32:3-5‬ ‭

When we hide and don’t confess our sins, the burden of it weighs us down and impacts our health and mental well-being – we groan under this great burden. Additionally, we lose strength because God’s hand of discipline is heavy on us.

So why do we continue to hide from God? Shame is a primarily reason, just as Adam hid from God in the Garden of Eden after the fall. The guilt of sin makes us feel exposed and we don’t want to be judged. Pride can also hinder us from coming to God. We would rather be right than healed and we are weakened by holding it in.

But then when we finally stop trying to hide and confess our sins to God, He frees us immediately, and the burden is lifted. Like the Psalmist, we have to talk to ourselves and encourage our souls to run to God to get the deliverance we need.

Lord, help us to confess our sins to You and not hold them back. Don’t let pride, shame or anything else keep us from coming to You so that we are unnecessarily carrying the burden of sin. Help us to come to ourselves and quickly confess our guilt – Help us to resist the tendency to hide! Father, by Your Word, the stronghold of guilt/shame to hide is broken in Jesus name. Thank You for forgiving us and freeing us from guilt, in Jesus name.

Morning Mediation: Galatians 5:19-21 Self examination

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Galatians 5:19-21

“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” Gal. ‬ ‭5:19-21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I resisted posting this yesterday because I wanted to stay in the theme of walking in the Spirit. But this morning God led me back to this passage because when we see evidence of these in our lives we have stepped out of alignment with God.

some of these results seem obvious to be avoided like sorcery, but we often brush others aside or make light of them. When we see that we are arguing more or “blowing up” – examine yourself. I joked in the previous post how my daughter could tell if I had prayed that morning, because of my mood or I was easily provoked. But it was an indication that my shield of faith needed polishing, or I needed to adjust my shoes of peace to walk calmly in rocky times.

The culture today promotes do what YOU want, whatever YOU want, whenever you want by any means necessary — bringing colder uncaring hearts toward others. Things like sexual immorality, impurity and lustful pleasures all center on gratifying self at the expense of others.

Dissension, division, strife are also prevalent today, especially in the church. James 3:16 says “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” We see self righteous anger, outburst and cruelty and the Word says human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

Self examination is hard but vital to our growth. When we see any of these things in our lives , it is an indicator that we need to spend more time with God. God knows us so well and He says, when you focus on Him , His goodness & great love for us, we wont have deal with the sinful nature. He is so very faithful to build us up in the Fruit of the spirit to overcome our sinful nature.

Morning meditation: Galatians 5:13 Freedom to Serve others

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Galatians 5:13

“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I really love how Paul builds on this narrative about the freedom we have in Christ. But it comes with some parameters. After exhorting us to stay free & warning us to keep from enslaving false doctrine, this passage now provides guidance to use this freedom God provides, not just for our own benefit but to humbly serve others.

This is counter culture which glorifies serving and indulgence on selfish desires ( beyond self care). Now that we are free we should use it to love and serve others.

As Toni Morrison famously quoted “ The function of freedom is to free someone else”. This is a good paraphrase of this scripture.

Now that God has made us free. We should be conduit of Grace, love, mercy, service and freedom for others. Help us O Lord, to walk in this kind of freedom with a heart to serve and liberate others.

Morning meditation: Galatians 5:7-10 Course Correction: Who’s holding you back?

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Galatians 5:7-10

“You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. “This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you. Gal‬ ‭5:7-10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There is so much in Galatians 5! This passage immediately follows the exhortation in vs 5 Christ has set you free! NOW make sure that you STAY FREE! Like a good. friend, Paul continues in verse 7 paraphrasing , You were doing so well – WHO is detracting you from the truth which guides your purpose, goals, (insert whatever else).

This is a pause to examine your relationships or whoever you have been listening too! The news? A new distraction? Paul is clear it is a WHO. In this case, he is calling out false teaching that was requiring an old practice of circumcision as a requirement of righteousness. It had an “appearance” of a good thing to show off our intention, but Paul called it out as false principle that was gaining traction!

This distraction is clearly not from God either, who is calling us into Freedom! God knows us so well and our propensity to fall into performative works based religion, rather faith-based relationship!

Likewise, it may not seem like a big thing to you ( or it may even appear like it’s in alignment) but as Paul notes, if it is not judged it is like yeast where a tiny bit permeates the whole loaf! We must nip this thing in the bud!

As we bring these things to God, He will keep us from believing whatever may cause us to detour, AND HE will judge the person who caused the confusion. So thankful that God gives us counsel and provides these course corrections to keep us on the path of Freedom #Thankful

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Morning Meditations: Galatians 5 Stay Free

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Galatians 5:1

“So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.” Galatians‬ ‭5:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When I read Galatians 5 at the end of October, I was really provoked to study it during this November, my birthday month, because so many verses were encouraging, spoke to self reflection, and walking in freedom! Holy Spirit Activate!

From the first verse, it starts off with a bang, proclaiming now that Christ has set us free, we need to make sure we STAY FREE! This means we have do our part in maintaining the freedom that Christ brings! And the first thing to avoid is not getting entangled in the legalistic performance based mindset of earning our way to freedom. The law of do’s and dont’s. And it says don’t get tied up AGAIN, which means that is is something that we have struggled with before. It takes effort to cast off old mindsets, unhealthy beliefs, etc to fully embrace that Christ brings!

Now thankfully, the scriptures tell us that His burden is light and that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. If we keep our focus on Christ Jesus, we are consumed with His light, His glory, His peace, His limitless possibilities and those former things no longer have power over us. Hallelujah!

Galatians 5 verses in a nutshell in following posts:
✨Stay Free
✨Who is holding you Back?
✨Use your freedom to Serve
✨Live by the Spirit
✨Fruit of the Spirit in you
✨Follow the Spirit’s Leading

Wisdom Fruit: Journey in Proverbs 3 – the Conclusion

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Proverbs 3:33-35

“The Lord curses the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the upright. The Lord mocks the mockers but is gracious to the humble. The wise inherit honor, but fools are put to shame!” Proverbs 3:33-35 NLT

As we close out the final verses of Proverbs 3, we see that unlike the previous verses there is no command,or exhortation, but a listing of stark consequences to those who honor God and His precepts and those who choose unrighteousness. These are spiritual realities that are also mentioned previously in Proverbs and most notably in Deuteronomy 30, so that we understand that there are consequences to the decisions and choices we make. As Deut.30:19 says so poignantly, “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!”

The Lord not only detests the wicked, but He curses the entire household of the wicked included their dealings and concerns. People who willfully harm are far from the heart of God and bring misfortune not only on themselves but their families. However, God blesses the home, the habitation, of the upright, those who follow Him. This chapter already highlights the benefits of God’s principles and He brings those temporal (physical) and spiritual blessings to the entire households of the upright.

Likewise, those who mock and pridefully scorn God’s precepts and others, bring down the Lord’s scorn on themselves. But again, we see that God extends His abundant grace and favor to those who are humble, who yield to His counsel and serve others. Humility also means that we learn to trust God and seek His help when challenges or uncertainty arise. God extends his grace and blessing to those who trust Him.

The final verse of Proverbs 3 closes with the honor ( and glory) that comes when we operate and align our lives with wisdom and God’s principles. Solomon leaves his audience with the lasting inheritance of favor that wisdom brings that has generational impact. But the foolish, or “self-confident fools” receive a legacy of shame. Because they ridicule or ignore what is right and just, they bring about dishonor and contempt.

Lord, help us to trust in You alone, and help us to embrace all wisdom to learn, act and walk in Your principles, precepts that lead to life, abundance, grace and blessing not only for ourselves, but for our families, neighbors and our communities. Our desire is to honor and please you with our lives always.

Wisdom Fruit: Journey in Proverbs 3 – No Oppression

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Proverbs 3:31-32

“Don’t envy violent people or copy their ways. Such wicked people are detestable to the Lord, but he offers his friendship to the godly.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3:31-32‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://www.bible.com/116/pro.3.31-32.nlt.

This is a relevant word for today, as our culture is shaped and influenced by violence. It has even seeped into theology, because of scriptures taken out of context. But this passage makes it very clear that God does not condone (He despises) violent people, calling them wicked and detestable. The Bible also refers to violent people as oppressors and perverse. does mince words.

Why would anyone “envy” a violent person or copy their ways? Well, throughout history and. especially today, society rewards violent and oppressive regimes. They gain power by cruelty, deviance, unethical or conniving ways and use similar tactics to stay in power. That power is what many people envy, and they may be tempted to use similar tactics to gain / maintain power. This passage is a direct appeal to our hearts to not envy these people or to copy, mimic or follow any attributes or ways of oppressive violent people. When we embrace violence and violent oppressive tactics, we are not operating in wisdom or faith in God.

It is wonderful that the verse ends with God extending His friendship & deeper relationship with those who follow Him and His ways. That friendship is also called a confidently communion and sweet counsel. He invites us into closer counsel with Him as we walk in His precepts.