So Easily Misunderstood

The Bible is such an encouragement. I love Psalm 139, especially verses 1-5. Another favorite verse is Psalm 37:4, which says ‘Delight yourself in the Lord;And He will give you the desires of your heart.’.This verse is often misunderstood. There can be a tendency to assume this verse means that whatever we ask of God, He is obligated to give us. However closer investigation reveals this to be a long way from the truth. Just as many bible verses do, this promise has a condition attached. To discover the real meaning, we need firstly to concentrate on the first part … Continue reading →

Questions From a Psalm

What do your thirst or hunger for? In Psalm 42 the psalmist states the deep thirst he has for God, like that of ‘a deer panting for water,’ verse 1. Do I have that same ongoing desire and need to meet with the Lord as this psalmist?I admit I have been struggling in this area recently. What about you? Do you have this same deep longing for God – that you simply couldn’t imagine life without Him? That you can’t wait to be in His presence? God certainly convicted me this hasn’t been my response of late. The psalmist recognizes … Continue reading →

How Can Reading a Psalm Help You?

Let me give you some ideas of how reading a psalm can sharpen and challenge our thinking. And suggest how to apply it to your life. This morning I read Psalm 57. In verse 1 David pleads with God to be gracious. Why? Because his soul ‘takes refuge’ in God. Is God my place of refuge and the One I run to when trouble comes? Is he yours? Notice David’s confidence in verse 2. He knows exactly where to turn and why to go there. He has confidence in God’s ability to undertake for him. David knew God ‘accomplishes all … Continue reading →

Psalm 5: Praying Expectantly to Combat Discouragement

The older I get and the closer I grow to the Lord, the more I’ve come to realize that discouragement is really ungodly thinking in disguise. I don’t really mean to say that one should never be discouraged. But rather a discouragement without hope, one that ruins our day and our thoughts, is discouragement that hasn’t been handed over to God. And yet, how do we hand discouragement over to God? David, if anyone, had a reason to be discouraged. Like so many of God’s faithful he was persecuted for doing nothing wrong. He served Saul faithfully, so faithfully in … Continue reading →

Psalm 1: Uncompromising Godliness

Yesterday I gave a brief introduction to the Psalms as well as to David’s life, who is the author of many of the Psalms. Today we’re going to delve right into Psalm 1 and look at some of the truth there. I am going to follow a somewhat inductive pattern of study and so you might find it helpful to pull out your Bible and pen if you’re using this for devotions. The Progression of Sinful Compromise Look at the first 3 verses of Psalm 1. . .”Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the … Continue reading →

Lessons From Levi

Have you ever found when you read something in God’s Word, that He gives you an opportunity to put into practice what you have read? This happened to me after I read about the friends of the paralytic man. I wrote my last blog, a href=”http://christian.families.com/blog/faith-and-persistence-bring-results”>Faith and Persistence Brings Results days ago but experienced major troubles when attempting to post it. Then today while reading,Streams in the Desert by Mrs. C.E. Cowman which I’ve been using this year as part of my morning devotional time, the reading talked about not letting obstacles depress and put us off. It echoed what … Continue reading →

Five Lessons from John the Baptist

The prophesied preacher prepares people for Jesus. What about you? What lessons can you learn from John the Baptist about your role in God’s plans? Let’s look at Mark 1:1-8 1. Mark begins his gospel account of Jesus by stating clearly who Jesus is the Son of God, verse 1. The gospel focuses on Jesus in the first verse, so that we who read it do not lose sight of the fact that Jesus is the focus. Jesus should also be the focus of all that we do. As you look at your life, is Jesus the focus of all … Continue reading →

The Names of God: Jehovah, The Great I Am

If there is an attribute of God that stirs up awe within us, this is it. God is Jehovah, the Great I Am, the self-existent one. Jehovah is the name for God most frequently used in the Old Testament. It is derived from havah which means “to be, to become.” Therefore, Jehovah speaks to God’s very being. Nathan Stone, a Biblical scholar writes this in his commentary, “Jehovah is the One who in Himself possesses essential life, permanent existence.” The Great I Am We first see ‘I Am’ at the burning bush. Remember Moses is speaking with God, trying to … Continue reading →

The Names of God–Adonai

Out of all the names of God that we’re going to study, this is the one that goes against the grain in our society and culture. If we’re going to reject one of God’s attributes; one of His names–Adonai is the one that gets overlooked or twisted. Adonai means Lord and Master. Can you say that’s true in your life? Lord and Master In Biblical times, slavery was common and so I’m sure the ideas of servitude, submission and being dependant on a master were easily understood. A slave was not his own person, but was the property of the … Continue reading →

The Names of God–El Shaddai

El Shaddai means “The All Sufficient One”. There are so many things to say about God being all sufficient I hardly know where to start. He is all sufficient to provide for our needs–both physical and spiritual. He is all sufficient to carry us through the storms of life and He is all sufficient for salvation. We see the name El Shaddai, all throughout the Old Testament. We see El Shaddai especially in the life of Abram turned Abraham. Abraham was in an impossible situation. He was nearly 100 and did not yet have a child. Sarai was baron, and … Continue reading →