Promise-keeping God!

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 111. Here is what I learned.

He has sent salvation to his people. He has ordered that his promise should continue forever. His name is holy and terrifying. Psalm 111:9 (GW)

He ·sets his people free [sent redemption to his people]. He ·made his agreement everlasting [commanded his covenant/treaty forever]. ·He [His name] is holy and ·wonderful [awesome]. Psalm 111:9 (EXB)

He has paid a full ransom for his people. He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever. What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has! Psalm 111:9 (NLT)

"He hath commanded his covenant for ever." His divine decree has made the covenant of his grace a settled and eternal institution: redemption by blood proves that the covenant cannot be altered, for it ratifies and establishes it beyond all recall. This, too, is reason for the loudest praise. Redemption is a fit theme for the heartiest music, and when it is seen to be connected with gracious engagements from which the Lord's truth cannot swerve, it becomes a subject fitted to arouse the soul to an ecstasy of gratitude. The Treasury of David

Ever have someone promise you something, only to learn that they did not have the ability to fulfill that promise? It’s not only disappointing, but it causes distrust. 

However, God is able to not only promise an everlasting covenant with us, He is able to fulfill that promise. Because God, Himself, is eternal, everlasting, only He can promise an everlasting covenant. God also has a “proven record” on keeping His promises! He is trustworthy! 

So, when God promises me eternal life with Him, I know that He can and will keep that promise. And all He requires of me is to believe in Him. 

God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. John 3:16 (GW)

No guessing. No wondering. A solid promise from an eternal everlasting, promise-keeping God! 

To create a positive day, I only have to take God at His Word, for He is the promise-keeping God!

Expressing Gratitude

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 100. Here is what I learned.

Enter his gates with a song of thanksgiving. Come into his courtyards with a song of praise. Give thanks to him; praise his name. Psalm 100:4 (GW)

Go through His gates, giving thanks; walk through His courts, giving praise. Offer Him your gratitude and praise His holy name. Psalm 100:4 (VOICE)

"Be thankful unto him." Let the praise be in your heart as well as on your tongue, and let it all be for him to whom it all belongs. "And bless his name." He blessed you, bless him in return; bless his name, his character, his person. Whatever he does, be sure that you bless him for it: bless him when he takes away as well as when he gives; bless him as long as you live, under all circumstances; bless him in all his attributes, from whatever point of view you consider him. The Treasury of David

Thankful: feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative.

How do I express my thanks to Almighty God? 

1. In prayer. Tell God thank you. 
2. In my conversations. Let others know that I’m thankful for Who God is, and what He is doing.
3. In my life. Live a life pleasing to God. If I’m truly thankful to God, I’ll want my life to be honoring to Him. 
4. In my thoughts. What do I think of God? Remembering that my thoughts are words to God! 

Expressing gratitude to Almighty God will make each and every day a positive one! 

Everlasting to Everlasting

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 90. Here is what I learned.

Before mountains were born, before You fashioned the earth and filled it with life, from ages past to distant futures, You are truly God. Psalm 90:2 (VOICE)

Before the mountains were brought forth or ever You had formed and given birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting You are God. Psalm 90:2 (AMP)

Everlasting: infinite, never-ending abiding, boundless, ceaseless, constant, continual, continuous, deathless, endless, eternal, immortal, imperishable, indestructible, interminable, lasting, limitless, permanent, perpetual, termless, timeless, unceasing, undying, unending, uninterrupted, unremitting.

Even from everlasting to everlasting - From duration stretching backward without limit to duration stretching forward without limit; that is, from eternal ages to eternal ages; or, forever.

Thou art God - Or, "Thou, O God." The idea is, that he was always, and ever will be, God: the God; the true God; the only God; the unchangeable God.  The mind cannot take in a grander thought than that there is one eternal and immutable Being. Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Everlasting to everlasting is a concept I just can’t grasp. But even if my human mind can’t comprehend it... it’s still true! And I find that knowing that God has always been and will always be, is a great comfort. He is a constant that never changes. He was God. He IS God. He will ALWAYS be God. Nothing I can say, do, or feel will change the fact that God is God. Fact doesn’t change.

Permanent. Timeless. Unceasing. Eternal. Limitless. Everlasting. 

The eternal God is your shelter, and his everlasting arms support you. Deuteronomy 33:27 a (GW)

Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard? The eternal God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t grow tired or become weary. His understanding is beyond reach. Isaiah 40:28 (GW)

To create a positive day, I simply rest in the knowledge that God is God—from everlasting to everlasting.

Say, “No to Sin”

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 47. Here is what I learned.

God rules the nations. He sits upon his holy throne. Psalm 47:8 (GW)

God is King over the nations. God sits on his holy throne. Psalm 47:8 (EXB)

God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness - He is a holy God; he proclaims holiness. His laws are holy, he requires holiness, and his genuine people are all holy. The throne of his holiness is the heaven of heavens; also the temple at Jerusalem; and, lastly, the hearts of the faithful. Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Holy: blessed, chaste, clean, consecrated, dedicated, devoted, devout, divine, faithful, faultless, glorified, god-fearing, godlike, godly, good, hallowed, humble, immaculate, innocent, just, messianic, moral, perfect, pietistic, pious, prayerful, pure, revered, reverent, righteous, sainted, saintlike, saintly, sanctified, spiritual, spotless, sublime, uncorrupt, undefiled, untainted, unworldly, upright, venerable, venerated, virtuous.

Evil: depraved, immoral, irreligious, irreverent, sacrilegious, sinful, unholy, unsacred, vile, wicked.

Holy. Evil.  Pure. Vile. Sanctified. Sinful.

There is a huge contrast between God and man. God is pure, without sin. Sin is vile to Him. And sin is not what I say it is, rather what sin is, is based on a Holy God. 

I can never live a sin-free life. For I am a sinner. However, because of God’s love and mercy, He provided a way of forgiveness for my sin—the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. It is through Him that I have eternal life and my sins are forgiven. 

Do that give me a “free ticket” to sin? No! For if I truly love God, I will not, and do not want to live a life of sin. Paul states it with way: 

·So [What then shall we say?] ·do you think we should [shall we] continue sinning so that ·God will give us even more grace [grace may increase/abound]? 2 ·No [Absolutely not; May it never be]! We died to ·our old sinful lives [sin], so how can we continue living ·with [or in] sin? Romans 6:1, 2 (EXB)

To create a positive day, I need to acknowledge that God is holy, and that because of His love and mercy, I am forgiven of my sins.... but remember that I am to say “no to sin” because I love a holy God.

Pure Satisfying Joy

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 43. Here is what I learned.

Then let me go to the altar of God, to God my highest joy, and I will give thanks to you on the lyre, O God, my God. Psalm 43:4 (GW)

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God who is my joy and happiness. I will praise you with a ·harp [lyre], God, my God. Psalm 43:4 (EXB)

He is not his joy alone, but his exceeding joy; not the fountain of joy, the giver of joy, or the maintainer of joy, but that joy itself. The margin hath it, "The gladness of my joy," i.e., the soul, the essence, the very bowels of my joy. To draw near to God, who is such a joy to us, may well be the object of our hungering and thirsting. The Treasury of David

"Exceeding joy." This can be said of no other joy. All other beauties have their boundaries, all other glories have their glooms. This is that illimitable sea, God. E. Paxton Hood

Since God is the joy itself, why do I search for joy in other things and in people? Joy obtained from things and people is short-term joy. It doesn’t last. Only the joy that is God and that God provides is satisfying and eternal. 

Ever find yourself getting excited to a special activity or day? Perhaps is a weekend outing, or attending a concert or spending time with friends. We drag ourselves through the day/week in great expectation of that event. But then the event is canceled or doesn’t live up the expectations, then we are disappointed. The joy we had hoped for, didn’t materialize. 

But God is accessible 24/7, the joy that is Him and He provides is also available 24/7. I don’t have to wait until a particular day or time to celebrate His joy. And God’s joy is perfect and complete. It always meets expectations.  No disappoints. No let-downs. Just pure satisfying joy.

To create a positive day, I need to look to God for pure satisfying joy, and stop trying to make it or find it in things or people around me.  

Shattered or Gently Molded

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 29. Here is what I learned.

The Eternal’s voice shatters the cedars; His power splinters the great cedars of Lebanon. Psalm 29:5 (VOICE)

The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon. Psalm 29:5 (NLT)

Facts about the Cedars of Lebanon: “Cedrus libani” is an evergreen coniferous tree growing up to 130 ft tall, with a trunk up to 8 ft 2 in in diameter. The Cedar of Lebanon was important to various ancient civilizations. The trees were used by the Phoenicians for building commercial and military ships, as well as houses, palaces, and temples. The Hebrew prophet Isaiah used the Lebanon Cedar as a metaphor for the pride of the world (Isaiah 2:13). Foreign rulers from both near and far would order the wood for religious and civil constructs, the most famous of which are King Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem and David's and Solomon's Palaces. Because of its significance the word Cedar is mentioned 75 times (Cedar 51 times, Cedars 24 times) in the Bible.  

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon_Cedar)

"The Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon." - What a shame is it then that our hard hearts break not, yield not, though thunder-struck with the dreadful menaces of God's mouth! John Trapp

"The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars." "Black from the stroke above, the smouldering pine Stands a sad shatter'd trunk."

Noble trees fall prostrate beneath the mysterious bolt, or stand in desolation as momentoes of its power. Lebanon itself is not secure, high as it stands, and ancient as are its venerable woods: "Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon." The greatest and most venerable of trees or men, may not reckon upon immunity when the Lord is abroad in his wrath. The gospel of Jesus has a like dominion over the most inaccessible of mortals; and when the Lord sends the word, it breaks hearts far stouter than the cedars. The Treasury of David

My name “Rhonda” means “strong and powerful”. Often I think I’m the strongest and most powerful being.. I’m super-woman! However, I have to say that I’m thankful that God is stronger and more powerful than I am. He only needs to speak and He can shatter the mighty cedars. 

When necessary, I’m thankful that God can break through my stubbornness and get my attention. But it’s much more pleasant a learning experience when I’m soft and pliable in His hands. 

To create a positive day, I can be shattered by God or I can choose to listen to Him and be molded into His image gently.