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!?? 

Beyond My Imagination

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.

For Your amazing mercy ascends far into the heavens; Your truth rises above the clouds. Psalm 57:10 (VOICE)

Your ·love [loyalty] ·reaches to [is greater than] the ·skies [heavens], your ·truth [faithfulness] to the clouds. Psalm 57:10 (EXB)

"For thy mercy is great unto the heavens." Right up from man's lowliness to heaven's loftiness mercy reaches. Imagination fails to guess the height of heaven, and even thus the riches of mercy exceed our highest thoughts. The Psalmist, as he sits at the cave's mouth and looks up to the firmament, rejoices that God's goodness is vaster and sublimer than even the vaulted skies. "And thy truth unto the clouds." Upon the cloud he sets the seal of his truth, the rainbow, which ratifies his covenant; in the cloud he hides his rain and snow, which prove his truth by bringing to us seedtime and harvest, cold and heat. Creation is great, but the Creator greater far. Heaven cannot contain him; above clouds and stars his goodness far exceeds. The Treasury of David

“Heaven cannot contain him; above clouds and stars his goodness far exceeds.” Far exceeds. Greater than I could even imagine. Beyond my comprehension. 

I’m so thankful that I don’t need to grasp God’s amazing mercy toward me. I only need to accept it. 

To create a positive day, is realizing that God and His amazing mercy is well beyond my imagination. 

Eleemosynary

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 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)

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)

Kind:  generous, good; Synonyms: affectionate, all heart, beneficent, benevolent, big, bounteous, charitable, compassionate, considerate, cordial, courteous, eleemosynary, friendly, gentle, good-hearted, gracious, heart in right place, kindhearted, kindly, lenient, loving, mild, neighborly, obliging, philanthropic, propitious, soft touch, softhearted, sympathetic, tenderhearted, thoughtful, tolerant, understanding.

Eleemosynary. This is a new word for me. 

Eleemosynary [el-uh-mos-uh-ner-ee, -moz-, el-ee-uh-] adjective

1. of or pertaining to alms, charity, or charitable donations; charitable.

2. derived from or provided by charity.

3. dependent on or supported by charity.

Eleemosynary. Dependent on or supported by charity.... I think that’s a good way to describe my relationship with God.  I am dependent upon God for His love and mercy. There is nothing I can do to deserve it. There is no way to buy it. God in is grace, simply gives it to me. 

Eleemosynary. Dependent..... I am dependent upon God’s loving-kindness, His mercy. God freely gives His loving-kindness, mercy, grace to me, do I accept it? And being dependent upon God should have an impact in my life. Do I “make it my own” thus, allowing it to change my attitude, actions, and speech?

The Lord has told you, ·human [O man], what is good; he has told you what ·he wants [the Lord requires] from you: to do what is ·right to other people [just], love ·being kind to others [mercy; lovingkindness], and ·live humbly, obeying [walk humbly with] your God. Micah 6:8 (EXB)

Eleemosynary should translate into doing what God wants me to do—obeying, walking humbly with God.

To create a positive day, I need to remember “eleemosynary”—dependent upon the charity of God’s loving-kindness and mercy, and act accordingly.

The Pantry is Full, the Storage Unit is Full, & the Trucks are Waiting to Unload

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 117. Here is what I learned.

For His mercy and loving-kindness are great toward us, and the truth and faithfulness of the Lord endure forever. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) Psalm 117:2 (AMP) 

Because ·the Lord loves us very much [great is his loyalty/love toward us], and his ·truth [faithfulness] is everlasting. Praise the Lord! Psalm 117:2 (EXB)

The word “great” means so much! It’s means “strong, powerful, but with blessing”; it is not only great in bulk or number; but it is powerful.

Often I wonder what it would be like to have an unending supply of stuff in my home. The refrigerator would always be filled with yummy food, the pantry would have enough boxes, cans, and spices that I’d be able to cook any recipe without having to substitute. The linen closet would be full of all the cleaning supplies, soaps, shampoos, etc; again so that everything I’d need would be right at my fingertips. 

Yet, although that is wishful thinking to have an unending supply of stuff.... it’s not so when it comes to God’s mercy and loving-kindness. Not only is God’s mercy and love powerful enough to forgive my sin, and it’s so abundant there is a unending supply.

Seems like some days I need more of God’s mercy and love than others. And some days it seems like I’ve needed so much I’ve “used up” His supply... but the truth is that’s impossible. For no matter how much mercy and love I need, there is always more, and God is always ready to give it to me. 

So, not only is God’s mercy and loving-kindness unending, it’s always available for me to accept. Not only is the pantry is full, but the storage unit is full, and then there are trucks just waiting to unload. When I realize how great God’s love and mercy is and that there is literally an unending supply... WOW! How can I not stop and praise God? 

Just knowing that the pantry is full, and the storage unit is full, and the trucks are waiting to unload......that is just a small amount of the unending and powerful mercy and love my God wants to give me. 

To create a positive day, I only need to open the pantry door and see it overflowing with God’s mercy and loving-kindness. 

Specific Destination

Throughout this year, each day of the month, I'm "Treasure Hunting" in a Psalm. I've created a "Ponder Every Morsel of Truth" Book to record the truths as I learn them. The eleventh of each month, I'm studying Psalm 117. Here's what Treasure I found today.

For His mercy and loving-kindness are great toward us, and the truth and faithfulness of the Lord endure forever. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) Psalm 117:2 (AMP)

Toward us: literally, prevailed over or protected us.

God’s mercy and loving-kindness is great TOWARD US... TOWARD ME! It’s not just randomly thrown out there. God’s mercy and loving-kindness has a specific destination—me (and you too!). God knows about me. He cares about me, specifically 

God, investigate my life;

    get all the facts firsthand.

I’m an open book to you;

    even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.

You know when I leave and when I get back;

    I’m never out of your sight.

You know everything I’m going to say

    before I start the first sentence.

I look behind me and you’re there,

    then up ahead and you’re there, too—

    your reassuring presence, coming and going.

This is too much, too wonderful—

    I can’t take it all in! Psalm 139:1-6 (MSG) 

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;

    you formed me in my mother’s womb.

I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!

    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

    I worship in adoration—what a creation!

You know me inside and out,

    you know every bone in my body;

You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,

    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;

    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,

The days of my life all prepared

    before I’d even lived one day. Psalm 139:13-16 (MSG)

God’s love and mercy have a specific destination—TOWARD me! Knowing that I am the specific destination of God’s love and mercy, sure makes for a very positive day! 

Abandonment vs An Ever-Present 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 138. Here is what I learned.

Lord, you ·do everything [fulfill/accomplish your plan] for me. Lord, your ·love [loyalty] continues forever. Do not ·leave [abandon; forsake] us, ·whom you made [L the work of your hands]. Psalm 138:8 (EXB)

Jehovah will perfect that which concerneth me: Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, endureth for ever; Forsake not the works of thine own hands. Psalm 138:8 (ASV)

Lord: of deity Yahweh.

Will perfect: complete, accomplish, in the sense of completion, come to an end.

That which concerneth: on behalf of, at by means of, for.

Lovingkindness: Beauty -- favor, good deed, mercy.

Forever: indefinite futurity, continuous existence, indefinite, unending future.

Forsake: to slacken, abate, cease, be slothful, idle, leave, let alone.

Not: nay, neither, never, no, nothing, nought.

Works: business, deed, do(-ing), labor, thing made, possession, accomplishments, achievements.

Of thine hands: indicating power, means, direction.

Forsaken. Abandoned. Left alone. Ever feel that way? I know that living with chronic pain can cause isolation. Can’t leave the apartment, because it hurts to much to move. No one stops by, because they are busy, or are embarrassed because they can’t make it better. Abandoned. 

Satan likes us to focus on “being abandoned”. When we think we are abandoned, that opens the door for Satan to turn our thoughts from God and what God is doing, to doubts, fears, and self-pity. 

But the truth is—God will not abandon His children. Because His lovingkindness is indefinite—an unending future. Plus, we are God’s business! He created us. He loves us. He provided a way of salvation for us. We are His children. He will not abandon us. We might walk away from Him and do our own thing, but God is waiting for us. He will not, no never, leave us. 

Abandonment vs An Ever-Present God.

Which will I chose? 

  

God is concerned in all that concerns his servants. He will see to it that none of their precious things shall fail of completion; their life, their strength, their hopes, their graces, their pilgrimage, shall each and all be perfected. The Treasury of David

I have a choice to make. I can allow Satan to fill my mind with a sense of abandonment, fears, doubts and self-pity, or I can claim God’s lovingkindness and rest assured that He has not and will not abandon me and rest in that truth.

To create a positive day, I must chose God’s lovingkindness knowing full-well that God is at work in my life and that He is EVER-PRESENT!

Gushing out of me, Causing me to SCREAM!

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.

·Fill [Satisfy] us with your ·love [loyalty] every morning. Then we will sing and rejoice all our ·lives [days]. Psalm 90:14 (EXB)

Surprise us with love at daybreak; then we’ll skip and dance all the day long. Psalm 90:14 (MSG)

Satisfy: Fill to satisfaction (literally or figuratively) -- have enough, fill (full, self, with), be (to the) full (of), have plenty of, be satiate, satisfy (with), saturate.

Morning: figurative of bright joy after night of distress.

Your lovingkindness: favor, good deed, kindly, mercy in redemption from enemies and troubles.

Sing: o shout (usually for joy) -- aloud for joy, cry out, be joyful (greatly, make to) rejoice, (cause to) shout (for joy), (cause to) sing (aloud, for joy, out), triumph. 

Rejoice (be glad): cheer up, be make glad, have, make joyful, be make merry, cause to, make to rejoice, to brighten up.

All: enough, every one, as many as, whole.

Days: age, always, continually, daily, birth, each, today, season

I like that word “satisfy”. To be saturated So soaked, that I’m “dripping” with God’s lovingkindness. God has given me—in such abundance—lovingkindness, mercy, graciousness that I can’t contain it—it oozes out from me, and not just in a little trickle, it gushes out! 

The past few weeks, my pain has been “gushing” out of me. Between slipping on the ice and twisting my back to the surgery for the spinal stimulator trial, the pain level has been severe. No matter what I do I’m saturated in pain. 

Even afflictions are welcome when we see them to be his, though the way that he would choose, and the way that this prayer entreats, be only mercy, "Satisfy us early with thy mercy." - John Donne.

Yet, greater than my pain, is God’s lovingkindness and goodness. Knowing that God is fully aware, and has allowed the pain to fulfill His purpose allows me to shout...no make that SCREAM with triumphant joy. Understanding that God is loving and gracious, I know that He only allows what is necessary  to fulfil His will and draw me into a closer and deeper relationship with Him. 

So soaked in God’s lovingkindness that I’m “dripping”! When God’s mercy and grace are gushing out of me, causing me to SCREAM with Triumphant Joy, now that creates a positive day!