Cry Out to 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 61. Here is what I learned.

Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. Psalm 61:1 (AMP)

God, hear my cry; ·listen [pay attention] to my prayer. Psalm 61:1 (EXB)

Hear my cry, O God. He was in terrible earnest; he shouted, he lifted up his voice on high. He is not however content with the expression of his need: to give his sorrows vent is not enough for him, he wants actual audience of heaven, and manifold succour as the result. Pharisees may rest in their prayers; true believers are eager for an answer to them: ritualists may be satisfied when they have, "said or sung" their litanies and collects, but living children of God will never rest till their supplications have entered the ears of the Lord God of Sabaoth.

Attend unto my prayer. Give it thy consideration, and such an answer as thy wisdom sees fit. When it comes to crying with us, we need not doubt but that it will come to attending with God. Our heavenly Father is not hardened against the cries of his own children. What a consoling thought it is that the Lord at all times hears his people's cries, and is never forgetful of their prayers; whatever else fails to move him, praying breath is never spent in vain!  The Treasury of David

So often we expect people to know what’s going on in our lives.... but we neglect to tell them! In reality people can’t automatically know what’s happening in our lives if we are silent. 

God does know what is happening, as He knows everything... even our thoughts are words to God. However, God still wants us to communicate with Him. We need to cry out to God in prayer. 

Why? If God already knows do I have to pray? The best reason, is because it makes us realize that we are dependent upon God! Another reason is that prayer is not just to give God our wish list, rather prayer helps us gain wisdom and change our hearts to be in tune to God’s will and purpose. 

To create a positive day, I cannot remain silent, rather I need to cry out to God, sharing my deepest secrets and accepting His wisdom and love. 

Won the Prize

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 57. Here is what I learned.

He will send from heaven and save me from the slanders and reproaches of him who would trample me down or swallow me up, and He will put him to shame. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! God will send forth His mercy and loving-kindness and His truth and faithfulness. Psalm 57:3 (AMP)

He sends help from heaven and ·saves me [gives me victory]. He ·punishes [reproaches; scorns] those who ·chase [trample on; hound; snap at] me. ·Selah [Interlude] God sends me his ·love [loyalty] and ·truth [faithfulness]. Psalm 57:3 (EXB)

As I read Psalm 57:3, I immediately thought of a “deluge of blessings” send directly from Heaven! I was  overwhelmed by the fact that God will send His mercy, loving-kindness, truth, and faithfulness. I can be the recipient of God’s blessings! 

This past week, I won a gift card to a local mall. The gift card was waiting on the mall for me to pick i up. Now, if I didn’t go pick it up, I would have lost the benefits of the prize. Winning a prize is always fun and enjoyable, but getting the prize and taking full advantage of the prize is even MORE enjoyable! 

The same is true with blessings from God. He is sending His mercy, loving-kindness, truth, and faithfulness, am I ready to accept and take full advantage of those blessings? It’s up to me to receive God’s blessings, and allow His blessings to impact my life. 

To create a positive day, I know that I “won the prize” of God’s blessings, but I have to be willing to accept and enjoy the blessings God sends. 

The gift card helped me buy a new Air Popcorn Popper! And the very cool thing... is that a friend gave me a new bowl today....and it's a PERFECT Popcorn Bowl!
Once again God sent blessings that complimented each other!! I know, how cool is that!?? 

My Praise Songs Echo

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 30. Here is what I learned.

What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit (the grave)? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth and faithfulness to men? Psalm 30:9 (AMP)

I said, “What ·good will it do if I die [profit is there for you in my blood]  or if I go down to ·the grave [corruption; destruction]? Dust cannot [Will the dust…?] ·praise [thank] you; ·it cannot [will it…?] speak about your ·truth [faithfulness]. Psalm 30:9 (EXB)

“I’m no good to You dead! What benefits come from my rotting corpse? My body in the grave will not praise You. No songs will rise up from the dust of my bones. From dust comes no proclamation of Your faithfulness. Psalm 30:9 (VOICE)

“Can you sell me for a profit when I’m dead? auction me off at a cemetery yard sale? When I’m ‘dust to dust’ my songs and stories of you won’t sell. Psalm 30:9 (MSG)

David is pleading his case, that if he dies, he will no longer be around to give praise to God for His faithfulness. 

As I read Psalm 30:9, the first thing that came to my mind, is ”would there be a difference if I die?” Meaning, am I praising God NOW? Am I singing songs of praise to God, so that someone would notice if they stopped? 

Often when we are in a bad situation, we cry out to God and then once the situation turns a good one, we briefly praise God. Then we ignore God until we find ourselves in trouble once again. 

Praising God is to be done continually. It’s not based on what He’d done, but WHO He is. Our circumstance does not alter the fact that God is to be praised. 

Back to Psalm 30:9, if I’m silent now, when I die there will only be continued silence—nothing different. Yet, if I’m busy praising God each and every day, when I die my songs will be silenced, but I think that the sound of my praise songs will linger for a bit. 

To create a positive day, I need to let the sound of my praise songs echo of God’s goodness.

Security

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 28. Here is what I learned.

Save Your people and bless Your heritage; nourish and shepherd them and carry them forever. Psalm 28:9 (AMP)

Save your people, Lord, and bless those who are yours. Be their shepherd, and take care of them forever. Psalm 28:9 (GNT)

The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. Psalm 23:1 (AMP)

The Lord is my shepherd; I ·have everything I need [will lack nothing]. Psalm 23:1 (EXB)

"The Lord is my shepherd." What condescension is this, that the Infinite Lord assumes towards his people the office and character of a Shepherd! It should be the subject of grateful admiration that the great God allows himself to be compared to anything which will set forth his great love and care for his own people. David had himself been a keeper of sheep, and understood both the needs of the sheep and the many cares of a shepherd. He compares himself to a creature weak, defenceless, and foolish, and he takes God to be his Provider, Preserver, Director, and, indeed, his everything. No man has a right to consider himself the Lord's sheep unless his nature has been renewed, for the scriptural description of unconverted men does not picture them as sheep, but as wolves or goats. A sheep is an object of property, not a wild animal; its owner sets great store by it, and frequently it is bought with a great price. It is well to know, as certainly as David did, that we belong to the Lord. There is a noble tone of confidence about this sentence. There is no "if" nor "but," nor even "I hope so;" but he says, "The Lord is my shepherd." We must cultivate the spirit of assured dependence upon our heavenly Father. The sweetest word of the whole is that monosyllable, "My." He does not say, "The Lord is the shepherd of the world at large, and leadeth forth the multitude as his flock," but "The Lord is my shepherd;" if he be a Shepherd to no one else, he is a Shepherd to me; he cares for me, watches over me, and preserves me. The words are in the present tense. Whatever be the believer's position, he is even now under the pastoral care of Jehovah. The Treasury of David

The Lord is MY Shepherd. I can rest in the security that God will supply my needs and protect me. The security that God is MY Shepherd, creates a positive and peaceful day.

Quiet the Noise

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 27. Here is what I learned.

You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for, and require [of necessity and on the authority of Your Word]. Psalm 27:8 (AMP)

The prodding of my heart leads me to chase after You. I am seeking You, Eternal One—don’t retreat from me. Psalm 27:8 (VOICE)

My heart said of you, “Go, ·worship him [seek his face].” So I ·come to worship you [seek your face], Lord. Psalm 27:8 (EXB)

In this verse we are taught that if we would have the Lord hear our voice, we must be careful to respond to his voice. The true heart should echo the will of God as the rocks among the Alps repeat in sweetest music the notes of the peasant's horn. Observe, that the command was in the plural, to all the saints, Seek ye; but the man of God turned it into the singular by a personal application, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. The voice of the Lord is very effectual where all other voices fail. When thou saidst, then my heart, my inmost nature was moved to an obedient reply. Note the promptness of the response -- no sooner said than done; as soon as God said "seek," the heart said, "I will seek." Oh, for more of this holy readiness! Would to God that we were more plastic to the divine hand, more sensitive of the touch of God's Spirit. The Treasury of David

Is my heart open to hearing God? Am I listening? Or is it too noisy with my wants, wishes, worries, frustrations, or my will? 

To create a positive day, I need to quiet the noise I create, so that I can hear God and respond to His words. 

My Thoughts will Determine My Actions

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 15. Here is what I learned.

He who walks and lives uprightly and blamelessly, who works rightness and justice and speaks and thinks the truth in his heart. Psalm 15:2 (AMP)

Here is the answer: The one who lives with integrity, does what is right, and speaks honestly with truth from the heart. Psalm 15:2 (VOICE)

With our heart. That is, to the speaking of truth, it is necessary our words agree with our mind and thoughts about the thing. We must speak as we think, and our tongues must be faithful interpreters of our mind: otherwise we lie, not speaking as we think. So what is truth in itself may be spoken by a man, and yet he be a liar; namely, if he does not think as he speaks.

With the thing as it is in itself. Though we think a thing to be so, which is not so, we lie, when we affirm it; because it is not as we say, though we really think it is so. Benjamin Bennet's "Christian Oratory," 1728

What I THINK is what I act on. What are my thoughts based on? Are my thoughts simply about making me feel good? Do my thoughts focus on me? What am I thinking about?

First and foremost, I’m to get my thoughts in alignment with God. God is the absolute and He sets the standards. Then I have a responsibility to make sure what I think on is...  “right or deserves praise: things that are true, honorable, fair, pure, acceptable, or commendable.” (Philippians 4:8, GW)

To create a positive day, I have to make the choice to fill my mind with God’s Word, then keep my thoughts on the right track—for my thoughts will determine my actions. 

The Pulse Beat of My Experience

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 1. Here is what I learned.

But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night. Psalm 1:2 (AMP)

But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. Psalm 1:2 (NLT)

To meditate in God's word, is to discourse with ourselves concerning the great things contained in it, with close application of mind and fixedness of thought. We must have constant regard to the word of God, as the rule of our actions, and the spring of our comforts; and have it in our thoughts night and day. For this purpose no time is amiss. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

I’m reading the book, “Holy Sweat” by Tim Hansel. Chapter 2  “Turning Our Theology into Biography” Tim Hansel ends the chapter with this: 

A dear friend wrote the following words to remind us that God wants and needs to continually “write on our lives” and express himself uniquely through each one of us. I trust they will ignite you as they did me, to live and write and do whatever you do in the pulse beat of your own experience. 

It’s been so long since I’ve seen a burning bush.

Some seasons I see them in every desert wash

The magnificence, the miracle.....”burning and not being consumed.”

Yet, who do I fool? 

Moses paid dearly for his burning bush—sweaty desert miles, and exhausted, sweaty tears—

All for the dubious blessing of talking with God. 

What claim have I to a burning bush? (or to God?)

I have not yet even learned to remove my shoes! 

I’ve learned so much of me. 

Every inch of it has hurt......to see honestly and at length......

because at first all I could see were the wounds of humanity.

I looked for cool unflawed marble of deity but found only a heart of flesh.

But hearts of flesh are all that God can write on. 

Write on me, Father, write on me. 

Barbara Francken Kelley (from “Holy Sweat” by Tim Hansel)

To create a positive day, I need to not only meditate on God’s Word, to change the pulse beat of my experience to be that of God’s.