VICTORY LANE

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 146. Here is what I learned.

Do not put your ·trust [confidence] in princes or other people, who cannot ·save you [give you victory].

Happy [Blessed] are those who are helped by the God of Jacob [another name for Israel]. Their hope is in the Lord their God.  Psalm 146:3, 5 (EXB)

Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help. Happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is he who has the God of [special revelation to] Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God. Psalm 146: 3, 5 (AMP)

I won tickets to the Chicagoland Speedway for the weekend. Today, I arrived at the track early, to pick up the tickets and enjoy watching the trucks practice. Those were MY plans!

Had a great trip to the Track, including meeting some nice people at Dunkin’ Donuts! I arrived at the track and parked in the most perfect spot. Big different between Truck race days, and Nationwide and Sprint Cup days. Not many people attend the Truck races. 

I went to the Will Call booth to pick up the tickets. However, they could not find the tickets. I called the contact person who told me I won.... she was in a meeting.

So, I slowly returned to the car to wait. Met some nice people along the way. I reclined in the car and read Psalm 146. As I read verses 3 and 5... I laughed. 

Do not put your trust in man.........there is no help. Happy is the man who is helped by God. As I reclined in the car, I simply smiled. As humans, we make mistakes, and there are those who we know cannot be trusted. But God is a constant and never changes. He is steadfast and sure. 

As I looked up from reading Psalms, I noticed the “Lost and Found” sign waving nearby. I laughed out loud. Yes, the tickets were LOST, and there was nothing I could do to find them. I had to wait. 

About an hour later, I received a phone call, that the Representative would meet me at Will Call. I arrived and was given my tickets.

Why did God have me wait and miss some of the truck practice? Not sure exactly why, but I did learn that even when I carefully plan my day, God can change it to make it fit His plan. During that waiting time, I was able to talk with some EMTs and other people so, the time was not wasted. Plus, the wait allowed me time to let my pain level lower from the ride to the track. 

To create a positive day, I need to not trust in man..... rather keep my trust and hope in God, for He will provide the real VICTORY..... or to put it racing lingo—I’ll be in VICTORY LANE! 

Growing in the Knowledge

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.

Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his[a]; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:3 (NIV)

Knowledge provides a good foundation. If I “know” that the Lord is God, that creates a firm foundation on which I can rest secure. Since the fact that the Lord is God is truth, that fact allows me to trust all that the Lord says in His Word. He is truth, therefore, He can only speak truth. 

Know ye that the Lord he is God - Acknowledge in every possible way, both in public and private, that Jehovah, the uncreated self-existent, and eternal Being, is Elohim, the God who is in covenant with man, to instruct, redeem, love, and make him finally happy. Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Knowledge can be gained in several ways. 1. Study, in this case studying God’s Word. 2. Experience. 3. From other’s who have studied or experienced. 

I went to college and graduated with a BS degree. I have a diploma which states that I studied and passed the requirements to be awarded that diploma. I gained the knowledge necessary to be awarded the degree. 

God doesn’t give diplomas. But I would still like to strive to master what I need to understand and know about God.... so that I can achieve a deeper understanding and appreciation for Who God is and all He does for me. 

To create a positive day, I need to continue in growing in the knowledge that the Lord is God. 

Unspent 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 90. Here is what I learned.

Make us glad in proportion to the days in which You have afflicted us and to the years in which we have suffered evil. Psalm 90:15 (AMP)

We have seen years of ·trouble [harm; hurt]. Now give us as ·much [many days of] joy as you gave us ·sorrow [affliction]. Psalm 90:15 (EXB)

You have spent many days afflicting us with pain and sorrow; now match those with years of unspent joy. Psalm 90:15 (VOICE)

As have been our sorrows, so let our joys be great and long. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us - Let the one correspond with the other. Let our occasions of joy be measured by the sorrows which have come upon us. As our sufferings have been great, so let our joys and triumphs be. And the years wherein we have seen evil - Affliction and sorrow. They have been continued through many wearisome years; so let the years of peace and joy be many also. Barnes' Notes

“How can you smile, when you are in pain?” That’s a phrase I like to hear. For it lets me know that I’m allowing God’s goodness to shine through. 

It’s much easier to focus on the pain and trouble, especially when you are in the very midst of it, rather than seeing God’s goodness. Yes, even in what we would call “trouble” God is at work. 

And I know that no matter how many years I live in pain (and trouble) on Earth, God has an amazing Eternity waiting for me... pain free and rejoicing and praising God! 

To create a positive day, I need to look beyond the pain and troubles of now, and rest secure that “unspent joy” will be mine for eternity! 

False Reality-I’m in Control

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.

The princes and nobles of the peoples are gathered together, a [united] people for the God of Abraham, for the shields of the earth belong to God; He is highly exalted. Psalm 47:9 (AMP)

The ·leaders [princes] of the ·nations [or armies] ·meet [gather together] with the ·people [or army] of the God of Abraham, because the ·leaders [shields; military leaders] of the earth belong to God. He is ·supreme [highly exalted]. Psalm 47:9 (EXB)

The shields of the earth are God's, is understood by many as spoken of princes. I admit that this metaphor is of frequent occurrence in Scripture, nor does this sense seem to be unsuitable to the scope of the passage...Yet the sense will be more simple if we explain the words thus: That, as it is God alone who defends and preserves the world, the high and supreme majesty which is sufficient for so exalted and difficult a work as the preservation of the world, is justly looked upon with admiration. The sacred writer expressly uses the word shields in the plural number, for, considering the various and almost innumerable dangers which unceasingly threaten every part of the world, the providence of God must necessarily interpose in many ways, and make use, as it were, of many bucklers. John Calvin

“That, as it is God alone who defends and preserves the world....” Oh, and so often I think I control it! I’m sure you’ve felt that way to.... “I’m in control of my world, my life....”. A good reminder that I’m NOT in control, is taking a look at the weather. I can’t make it rain, or stop it from raining. I can’t make it snow in Chicago in mid-June. Nor can I make it 80° in mid-February. As much as I like to say that I’m in control..... I am not. And in reality that is a comforting thought. 

I’m not in control. Rather God, who was, is and is forever, is in control. The only One who knows the future. God is in control... period. Not man, no matter how much we try to convince ourselves that we are. 

To create a positive day, I need to give up my false reality that I’m in control, and acknowledge that God is not only in control, but very capable of being in control!