For Those Whose Walk is Blameless

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

the Lord bestows favor and honor;

no good thing does he withhold

from those whose walk is blameless.

Oh Lord Almighty,

Blessed is the man who trusts in you.

Psalm 84:11-12

For those whose walk is blameless ... no good thing is held back.

For those whose walk is blameless ... You bring honor.

For those whose walk is blameless ... You bestow favor.

For those whose walk is blameless ... You protect.

For those whose walk is blameless ... You provide life.

For those who trust You ... You bless.

Lord, I know I am far from blameless. Come and purify my heart, my motives, my mind. I know that I am forgiven, but set my core solely in You. Why would I attempt life without You? Your promises are clearly pronounced. Your purposes are proven. I would be nothing but a fool to not seek You first in all things.

I will trust and know that You will protect me. I will trust and know that You will provide. I will seek Your favor and know that it is You that will provide honor and favor. No good thing that You see fit, that You ordain and purpose will be kept from me.

I will trust.

Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

Deuteronomy 5:33

Change can be refreshing. A new job. A new home. New friends. New opportunity.

There is a small town northeast of Los Angeles call Adelanto. It's a particularly forgetful town except for one billboard that sits positioned along highway 395. Amidst the vast openness of the high-desert, the handful of joshua trees and tumbleweeds, and the occasional dilapidated shack, this sign stands tall, welcoming all to the wonderful city of Adelanto, "The City with Unlimited Possibilities."

On more than one occasion I have driven by this sign only to spend the next ten minutes pondering its nature. A vast desert, an empty slate. A cleared lot by which a city could indeed take on any possibility.

What a metaphor for life. Like the Israelites who wandered in the desert, stripped of all but the essentials, we will go through seasons of refinement meant to rid ourselves of all that is not necessary. Often this process is very, very difficult. Sometimes this process takes significant time. Through it all we can be assured that there is a purpose and a plan, for on the other side we can emerge purified and prepared, an empty canvas for The Master to craft His masterpiece.

Through it all, always remember to stay on the path that the Lord has commanded us to follow.

But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.

Deuteronomy 4:29

Have you turned from God? Are you not where you once where? Are you feeling a bit like Jonas, running from where you know you aught to be? Or is it that you are simply not seeking the Lord like you should. Other things occupy that thought and that time.

Let this be a source of encouragement to you, knowing that the choice is yours. If you decide to seek again, fervently, desperately, you CAN find Him again. You WILL find Him again.

God doesn't play games with our heart. He doesn't manipulate our minds by hiding Himself from us. But knowing us completely He is real with us. He knows the true nature of our motives. Turning to God when all else has failed is a good thing, but we must be sure of our motives else we risk turning that good thing in to an insult. If we are friended by one who has been left behind by others, how would it feel to be left abandoned when those "others" return.

Yet this is how we are with God. We turn to Him in our times of desperation only to turn away when desperation disappears.

... and if you search for Him with ALL YOUR HEART AND SOUL, YOU WILL FIND HIM.

Every word of God proves true.
He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.
Proverbs 30:5

God's word is always proven to be right and true, correct and just, hopeful and enduring. Why is it that I fail to feast on God's promise and guidance each and every day. I have never once been led astray by it. It has never once failed to yield significance when read with a correct heart. Lord, help me to turn to your word in all decisions each and every day.

First, help me never to tell a lie.
Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!
Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.
Proverbs 30:8

Not too much that we loose sight of the fact that no matter how much we have we will always need you. Not too little that causes me to seek dishonest gain, damaging your testimony in my life.

... A Time to Awaken!

There is a time for everything, 

a season for every activity under heaven. 

A time to be born and a time to die. 

A time to plant and a time to harvest. 

A time to kill and a time to heal. 

A time to tear down and a time to rebuild. 

A time to cry and a time to laugh. 

A time to grieve and a time to dance. 

A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. 

A time to embrace and a time to turn away. 

A time to search and a time to lose. 

A time to keep and a time to throw away. 

A time to tear and a time to mend. 

A time to be quiet and a time to speak up. 

A time to love and a time to hate. 

A time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

I think it is time to stop resting in this comfort He has allowed. I think it is time to allow God to awaken my soul.

Voice of Truth

Prov. 14:9 Fools make fun of guilt, but the godly acknowledge it and seek reconciliation.

Has that internal voice that corrects us towards right from wrong grown quiet? Do you still experience discomfort when you know you have acted in the wrong? It is good to feel this and to act on it to correct our mistakes. The more we ignore it the more we are hardening our hearts to the correcting voice of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, sharpen our understanding of right and wrong and deepen our sorrow over the things that bring sorrow to You. Help us not to grow deaf to Your word and Your hand of discipline because we know that You discipline those You love.

As For Me and My House

Josh. 24:14 “So honor the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD alone. 15 But if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”

What are you living for? Who are you serving? What is your moral guide? What is the level by which you evaluate your life? Just as Joshua called the Isrealites to make a decision, we are called to that same decision each and every day. Will we follow God or will we follow something else?

Today, make that decision once again, "As for me and my house we will serve the LORD."

Search For Wisdom

Prov. 13:16 Wise people think before they act; fools don’t and even brag about it!

More then ever we should desire God's wisdom. He promises that he will answer our request for His wisdom and His understanding:

James 1:5 If you need wisdom — if you want to know what God wants you to do — ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking.

In every action, in every word, in every thought, in every breath we should seek for God's wisdom. Our natural reaction sometimes is to simply react to the situations around us, but this does very little to further God's plan. When we take the time we move from simply reacting to life to embracing and living out God's will for our life our life will have an impact.

God help us to rely fully on You.

Faith Like a Child

Luke 18:16 Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 I assure you, anyone who doesn't’t have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God.”

Trusting, without question. Children are an amazing example of how we are to be with God. The confidence they have in us as parents leads them to believe all that we tell them. We are free then to shape the essence of their being. We can sharpen their moral thought and beliefs. We can enable them with confidence to enter into this great big and sometimes scary world. We provide and they just about never wonder if or how they will be provided for. They assume all kinds of great things like going to the park and having a sleep over and playing cars and reading books, that we would desire to spend as much time playing with them as possible.

We are to be like them in our relationship with God. Know that God desires a deep and heart-felt relationship with us. He indeed longs to spend time with us. He provides for our every need. He shapes our minds and fills our hearts with courage to go into this world and face all that there is so that we might in some small way accomplish His will.

There should be no doubt that God loves us and desires the very best for us, that He will provide for us and guide us.