Scripture:

Psalm 139

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—    when I awake, I am still with you. 19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!  Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! 20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,  and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? 22 I have nothing but hatred for them;  I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

"I See You"

There is a scene in the first Avatar when Neytiri says to Jake Sully, "I See You!"   It is this moment where you understand that she is saying that she has seen the depth of Jake, that who he is has been revealed to her.   This is what I see when I read Psalm 139: we serve the God who "Sees" us, El Roi. Not only does God see us, but David reminds us that we are "Known" by Him in such an intimate way that He knew us in our creation, He knows the intricacies of our life, our gifts, our talents, our strengths, our weaknesses, our going and our coming, rising and lying down.   Not even your poor choices could hide you from the sight and presence of the Lord. He is omnipresent, but get this, He is omnipresent in your life, and by definition of this truth, He never leaves you or forsakes you.   Let all that simmer in your noggin...    

Now this should blow your mind to:  "He has thoughts of you."   The Great I AM, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords thinks about you, He has thoughts about you, a lot of them, He has been thinking about you more than you can count, you are "ON HIS MIND." 

If you have ever felt unseen or forgotten, this is a reminder that not only are you loved by the LORD, but you are SEEN, you are THOUGHT OF, you matter to Him, He is with you.   The world will try to isolate you, but the good news is that nothing can separate you from His presence or His love.  That is our God shot today, our takeaway... 

Maybe you needed this today!

Lord, we praise you that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, that you see us, that we are seen by you, that you have thoughts about us, that you are working for our good, working on our behalf, that there is nowhere we can go that will separate us from you, from your love, we give you all praise in Jesus' name, Amen!

Scripture:

1 Chronicles 23:25

 25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given rest to His people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever”;

"Rest"

"Jehovah Shalom,"  Maybe today you are looking for a reason to praise. Well, this verse is a reminder that we have that reason: the God of Peace, Jehovah Shalom, can give you rest just as He did for David and the people of his day. This verse has so much packed into it.

Listen to His words:

• The Lord God of Israel:            Reminding you that you are His children
• Jerusalem :                              God has placed His name on the place you live.
• Dwell in Jerusalem forever:     Stability 

Israel means "strives with God." This is a picture of coming alongside God, through good and bad, through ups and downs, through struggle and victory.  This word is translated as "struggles with God."   But it is the same picture, when the Lord is beside you, you can face anything, when you struggle with God, meaning when God is with you in your struggle, life is better.   This name is a reminder that we need to do life with the Lord, to strive with Him, which is why this verse is powerful.   You want rest, get alongside the Lord. 

Trust the Lord for the rest you need. Remember that you are His child, that He can bring you into a place of stability and rest, He is Jehovah Shalom, the God of Peace.  Strive with Him, don't choose to struggle alone, but with God; His strength is perfected in your weakness. 

Lord, we praise you that you are with us in our struggles, that you can bring us into a place of rest, you are able to bring peace in the midst of storms, you can speak into them, to calm the storms of this life, you are able to bring us into a place of security and rest, and we praise you for your wonderous hand in our lives, let us not get far from your presence in Jesus' name, Amen!

Scripture:

Psalm 110:1

The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

"Above it All."

This is David's prophetic word about Jesus. I love it when we connect the Old Testament to the New.   David is referring to Christ, the Messiah. Here are some of the New Testament references (Matt 22:44,  Mark 12:36, Luke 20:42-43, Hebrews 12:2, Hebrews 1:3, Ephesians 1:20, Acts 2:35, 1 Cor 15:25, Hebrews 10:13...)   This verse is declaring Christ's supreme authority and His victory over death, this is such an important prophecy because without it we would have not had hope, it is the resurrection that assures us of eternity in heaven, it is His life, death and resurrection that is our hope.   1 Corinthians 15:14 Paul says that without the resurrection, our faith is foolishness, and there is no hope of salvation.   This is why the connection to this verse is spoken across the New Testament.

• He is the Author & Perfector of our Faith....
• He Gave His Life For Us WIllfully
• He Rose
• He Lives

And because of it we can too.  

He is above it all, and in Him are found all things.

Hebrews 12:2

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The application here is not to lose sight of the power that Christ has brought to us through HIs defeat of sin and death, that it is because He lives that we can live, it is because of His sacrifice that we have a future. 

Lord, thank you for your sacrifice, for dying for us, for paying the price on the cross, thank you for you life, your death, and your resurrection, for it is the power we needed to overcome sin and death, to enter into eternity, we praise you, we thank you that we don't have to wait for the messiah you came, you rose and you defeated the enemy, we praise you in Jesus' name, Amen!

Scripture:

Psalm 42:1-2

As the deer pants for the water brooks,

So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?

With All That is Within Me

What you think vs Reality:

You probably picture these peaceful waters with a deer drinking from them.  But in reality, deer don't pant; well, they don't pant for no reason.   If you see a deer panting it is because it has been running for its life, it has exhausted all its physical energy, exhausted its water, and is desperate to replenish itself.   This is the picture the psalmist is painting:   I run to the LORD with ALL that is within me, I put all of me in the pursuit, I am running from the things of the world toward God, to the place I know I will be replenished, the place that real life exists, in Him, with Him, I know I will find peace, and rest for my soul, he is saying I thirst for His presence, and I don't waste a second, I run, with all that is within me to get there.

Why?

• Because He has everything I need.
• Because He sustains my life.
• Because He is the source of everything good.
• Because He has the peace I need.
• Because He saves me.

To pursue the LORD with all that is within you, to find your reset in Him, your purpose in Him, your life in Him.

Lord, I pray that we would seek you with all that is within us, that our lives and our hearts would be fully given over to you, all the days of our lives, all that is within us, that like the deer, we would run to you, to your place of refreshing, replenishing, that we would find rest, most importantly we would find you, in Jesus' name, Amen! 

Scripture:16 Then a wise woman cried out from the city, “Hear, hear! Please say to Joab, ‘Come nearby, that I may speak with you.’ ” 17 When he had come near to her, the woman said, “Are you Joab?”

He answered, “I am.”

Then she said to him, “Hear the words of your maidservant.”

And he answered, “I am listening.”

18 So she spoke, saying, “They used to talk in former times, saying, ‘They shall surely seek guidance at Abel,’ and so they would end disputes. 19 I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?”

2 Samuel 20:16-19

"Wisdom is a Shelter"

Joab, one of David's commanders, is looking for a man named Sheba who has rebelled against the King, and Sheba has fled to Abel Beth-maacah, and Joab is about to destroy the whole city for the sake of this man, and that is where we find ourselves in today's scripture.  

One of the most important things when we read scripture is to ask questions.  Like in this story, why is this woman so significant that she should be told in this story?   What we discover is that it is her wisdom and faithfulness toward the Lord that saved that City.   She reminds Joab that this city is a "mother in Israel" and a place of peace and faithfulness.   

Wise people serve the Lord in faithfulness, and for Abel Beth-maacah, it was that faithfulness, obedience, and loyalty to the Lord that the Lord provided wisdom, and that saved them 

To seek the Lord, to be faithful to Him, and to seek His wisdom, so that in the day of our trouble, the Lord delivers us through it.   What you do today, how you serve the Lord now, what you sow now, that will be the harvest you reap later. The blessings you are seeing today are because of the things you sowed in the former days.  Be faithful, serve God, trust that He will deliver you.

Lord, let us all be wise, let us always be faithful to you, be a shield about us, let our trust and our salvation always be found in you, in Jesus' name, Amen!