As I was reflecting on some of my journey as of late, I realized that much of it has been about finding the true freedom that Christ offers. This poem springs from that.
Satan's lies long believed
Child of God stuck in captivity
Lies that go so deep
They seem to be a part of me
Tired of the lies
My heart desires freedom
Seeking freedom to be found
In God`s Truth alone
Tearing down the lies
Felling walls with God's truth
Only in the Word of God
Can true freedom be found
Wishing this could just be done
But knowing it take times
Freedom is a work in progress
Seeking God and seeking truth
Friday, June 18, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Psalm 139:23-24
The final two verses of this psalm. David is requesting and allowing God to get personal in his life.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me;
and lead me in the way everlasting.
-Psalm 139:23-24
The depth of these requests of David is incredible. He is not wanting to stay on a surface level with God. After all he has acknowledged about God - about who He is and how much He loves and cares about us - David was asking God to reveal things about his heart to him so that he could grow.
Search me, O God, and know my heart (Ps. 139:23)
God already knows our hearts. He is waiting to reveal to us what He knows to help us grow in our relationship with Him. When we ask God to search us and know our hearts, He may point out things we would rather not acknowledge about what is in our hearts, but it is through God revealing this knowledge to us that we grow.
Test me and know my anxious thoughts (Ps. 139:23)
Those areas where we often anxious are those areas where we are often not trusting God. God can reveal those areas to us so that we can choose to place them in His hands rather than
See if there is any offensive way in me (Ps. 139:24)
In our fallen world it is quite easy to get caught up in things that are offensive to God. Sin is offensive to God. God desires to point out those things in our lives that are sinful so that we can work with Him to remove them from our lives. The question for us when God does point out an area of sin in our lives is how will we respond? Will we be humble enough to confess it and repent? Or will we try to ignore it or justify it?
And lead me in the way everlasting (Ps. 139:24)
One way of responding to the things that God points out to us in the requests of the previous phrases leads to us following God in the way everlasting and the other leads to us going our own way. Which way will you respond?
The question really is, will we ask God to the things asked by David in these two verses in our own lives. When we ask Him, will we then really follow through and allow Him to point them out? We can so easily deceive ourselves, but these words are asking God to reveal some really personal things that we often try to keep hidden. Will we really allow God to do this? Are we really ready to face the things that may come up if we pray this?
In may ways, this is a fitting way to end this psalm. It is pretty clear from pondering it that God already knows it all about us and yet He loves us anyways. We can rest in the assurance that anything God points out will be done in love for us, not out of spite. This is a prayer that we can pretty safely pray; knowing that while all it reveals may not be pleasant or comfortable to face, it is all revealed in love and for our good.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me;
and lead me in the way everlasting.
-Psalm 139:23-24
The depth of these requests of David is incredible. He is not wanting to stay on a surface level with God. After all he has acknowledged about God - about who He is and how much He loves and cares about us - David was asking God to reveal things about his heart to him so that he could grow.
Search me, O God, and know my heart (Ps. 139:23)
God already knows our hearts. He is waiting to reveal to us what He knows to help us grow in our relationship with Him. When we ask God to search us and know our hearts, He may point out things we would rather not acknowledge about what is in our hearts, but it is through God revealing this knowledge to us that we grow.
Test me and know my anxious thoughts (Ps. 139:23)
Those areas where we often anxious are those areas where we are often not trusting God. God can reveal those areas to us so that we can choose to place them in His hands rather than
See if there is any offensive way in me (Ps. 139:24)
In our fallen world it is quite easy to get caught up in things that are offensive to God. Sin is offensive to God. God desires to point out those things in our lives that are sinful so that we can work with Him to remove them from our lives. The question for us when God does point out an area of sin in our lives is how will we respond? Will we be humble enough to confess it and repent? Or will we try to ignore it or justify it?
And lead me in the way everlasting (Ps. 139:24)
One way of responding to the things that God points out to us in the requests of the previous phrases leads to us following God in the way everlasting and the other leads to us going our own way. Which way will you respond?
The question really is, will we ask God to the things asked by David in these two verses in our own lives. When we ask Him, will we then really follow through and allow Him to point them out? We can so easily deceive ourselves, but these words are asking God to reveal some really personal things that we often try to keep hidden. Will we really allow God to do this? Are we really ready to face the things that may come up if we pray this?
In may ways, this is a fitting way to end this psalm. It is pretty clear from pondering it that God already knows it all about us and yet He loves us anyways. We can rest in the assurance that anything God points out will be done in love for us, not out of spite. This is a prayer that we can pretty safely pray; knowing that while all it reveals may not be pleasant or comfortable to face, it is all revealed in love and for our good.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Pslam 139:19-22
Now, for the portion of Psalm 139 that seems a little out of place in this psalm . . . at least at first glance.
If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
-Psalm 139:19-22
I have always felt like these verses seemed a little out of place in this psalm. Up to this point, David has been worshipping God and praising Him for His works. Verse 19 seems to be such an abrupt change from verse 18. It can kind of catch you off guard when reading the psalm as a whole.
When I read these verses the other day, something made sense to me about these verses being a part of Psalm 139.
[Disclaimer here: What I am about to write may or may not be completely theologically correct. This is where my thinking went as I was reading. I do believe it was God who was showing me this, but I do not want to put anything that may be my ideas out there as the truth. If you have thoughts on how these verses fit into Psalm 139, I would love to hear them in a comment on this post.]
When we praise God and acknowledge all of the greatness of what He has done, just as David did in the first 18 verses, then the logical response has to be growing to love what God loves and hate what God hates. As we better understand God's omniscience (He knows everything), omnipresence (He is everywhere), and omnipotence (He has power to do anything), the natural response is to begin to see the world as God sees it. Seeing the world as God sees it should be a reminder to us to pray and to seek God's will to be done in this world.
This means we begin to see evil the way that God sees it - as against His plan and His will for things. And we count as our enemies, God's enemies. Our lives and way of seeing the world line up more and more with God's. Even as this happens, we must remember that it is God's job to deal with His enemies, not mine. He will bring His judgment and punishment to bear in His time.
If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
-Psalm 139:19-22
I have always felt like these verses seemed a little out of place in this psalm. Up to this point, David has been worshipping God and praising Him for His works. Verse 19 seems to be such an abrupt change from verse 18. It can kind of catch you off guard when reading the psalm as a whole.
When I read these verses the other day, something made sense to me about these verses being a part of Psalm 139.
[Disclaimer here: What I am about to write may or may not be completely theologically correct. This is where my thinking went as I was reading. I do believe it was God who was showing me this, but I do not want to put anything that may be my ideas out there as the truth. If you have thoughts on how these verses fit into Psalm 139, I would love to hear them in a comment on this post.]
When we praise God and acknowledge all of the greatness of what He has done, just as David did in the first 18 verses, then the logical response has to be growing to love what God loves and hate what God hates. As we better understand God's omniscience (He knows everything), omnipresence (He is everywhere), and omnipotence (He has power to do anything), the natural response is to begin to see the world as God sees it. Seeing the world as God sees it should be a reminder to us to pray and to seek God's will to be done in this world.
This means we begin to see evil the way that God sees it - as against His plan and His will for things. And we count as our enemies, God's enemies. Our lives and way of seeing the world line up more and more with God's. Even as this happens, we must remember that it is God's job to deal with His enemies, not mine. He will bring His judgment and punishment to bear in His time.
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