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In His Word 4-23-2012

As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him? Day and night I have only tears for food. While my enemies continually taunt me, saying “Where is this God of yours?” My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be I walked among the crowds of worshipers leading a great procession to the house of God. Singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration! Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again my Savior and my God!Now I am deeply discouraged but will remember you-- … I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your waves and surging tides sweep over me. But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me and through each night I sing is songs, praying to God who gives me life. “O God my rock,” I cry, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies? Their taunts beak my bones. They scoff,”Where is this God of yours?” Why am I so discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God! Psalm 42:1-11

Have you ever felt as the Psalmist did in this passage? Did you feel as if everything was against you, as if God had left you forgotten in the midst of your misery? Perhaps you were left behind when a family member died; or maybe you where the child left behind when a parent left in divorce. It could be that you are feeling 'stuck' and forgotten in a level at work, or after High-school graduation when all your friends are going off to college you are left behind working for a living.

Whatever it is, wherever you are at this moment, God cares about you and what you are going through.

In this Psalm I chose this morning the writer is clearly feeling as if God has pulled away from him. But we know better than that, we know our God will never leave us nor forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5) We can also know that if we are stuck in a spot, and tempted to go or do where we should not go or do; He will make a way of escape, if we but seek Him to find it. (1 Corinthians 10:12-14)

When things happen in our lives that we do not expect or plan we can know that God is not leaving us there to suffer alone but as the writer of the poem “Footprints” He may be carrying us, or we may be walking in the steps He has first put down for us to step in.

As a young child in British Columbia I can remember walking to school in the early snow, not yet prepared for it. We still had our tennis shoes and had not yet been able to get boots for winter when a beautiful snow would dust the ground. I remember that if I tried to walk in the fresh clean snow my shoes would be soaked through to my socks, but if I walked in the footprints of someone who had already gone down that road; the way was made clear for me.

That is what Jesus did for us on Calvary; He walked in the snow before us. He took on the cold wetness of the snow so that our feet could remain dry and warm and get us where we need to go.

Though sometimes it may seem as if He has walked on ahead of us down the trail where we cannot see him anymore, but he is still there. He told the disciples in John 14:2 that He went to prepare a place in His Father's house. This tells us that He has gone on ahead and will be there when we need Him.

The Psalmist at the beginning of this article tells us how much he longs to spend time with the Lord God. We need to ask ourselves today do we long to spend time with our God today? Or do we just dash through life tossing a few hellos to God and run on at the mouth about all our problems then run off to our busy existence? I have to admit I have often been guilty of the later. I throw out a nibble of a prayer of thanks giving then run off to do my daily deeds, amidst that I find myself complaining about how this person or that person left a towel or a shoe or a cup or saucer in the wrong place. These are such small things yet if I allow myself to dwell on them I become a whiner, and I can see them as such big holes in my existence if I choose to. Generally when I catch myself fussing over such foolishness I remind myself of how great a God I have that has given me the people who leave these things around. I remind myself also of the fact I can bless them by not making them come from their slumber to pick them up but can do so myself. I think it is all about perspective. We need to think like the psalmist and put our trust in God. We need to praise Him in the midst of the trials we are living in no matter how we are feeling about it at the moment.

“...O' God, we give glory to you all day long and constantly praise your name.”Psalm 44:8

This was written to remind us to give Him glory and honor and praise throughout our days. No matter what we are going through, no matter what is in our way; we need to praise our Lord each hour of every day. Let's try this as our challenge this week! Let's try and speak out a praise to the Lord for every hour of our day. Look for the small things first then go to the big things; thank Him for the light turning green just when you needed to get to work on time. Thank Him for the Lord who sends that one friend to phone you just when you needed a friend to call and ask you how you are doing. Thank Him that you can go to life groups, Bible studies, or other fellowship times with friend, or would be friends. Thank Him that you have a home to live in, or food, or shoes on your feet. I could go on all week with praises!

Now I am not expecting us to sit and watch the clock, you all know how praise and thank the Lord for things I just want you to think of it when you glance at a clock, think to praise Him for something. Speak it aloud if you can because someone else may hear you and think about praising Him too! This is how we multiply our praises to our God; we exalt Him, we lift Him up and He will draw all men unto Himself! Praising God aloud is one way we can help other people come to know Him.

It is a great way to get perspective on our troubles as well.

When we begin to praise Him and thank Him for those small things, and work our way to the larger things we will see things more in His eyes, than in our own. When we look through the eyes of the Holy Spirit we will see things as they really are; small in comparison to the greatness He has given us.

Today lets try to praise Him 8-10 times, that would be a good start. Then lets try to praise Him more and more each day this week. Write it down if you want to be sure you remember to do so, but shout out for Jesus today!

Dear Heavenly Father,We give you praise today for waking us up and getting us on task for the day. Help us to realize this week that we have an abundance of things for which to give You praise, In Jesus' name, amen.

Suggested readings Psalm 42:1-11, Psalm 43:1-5, Psalm 44:1-9, John 14:1-31 and 1 Corinthians 10:1-33

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.Proverbs 3:5-6

by Teresa M. Wilson.

No portion of this book study may be reproduced without explicit permission from the Author.

In His Word— Forgiveness

Stephen offered up the most precious forgiveness prayer as he was being stoned to death for sharing the love and story of the Truth; Jesus Christ. He had more right than anyone alive today to get mad at them but instead he chose to not merely turn the other cheek, but to also forgive them himself and ask for the Father God to forgive them as well.

Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” Acts 7 57-60

Too many Christians today hold grudges. We are taught not to take offence in the first place but it really is adding insult to injury when you take the offence then decide to keep it.
“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. “I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. Matthew 18:15-18

Do not allow selfish pride to rob you of a blessing; if you choose to be offended at someone, take it to them and get over it. If you find you cannot forgive them in yourself then ask God to help you. After all He chose to forgive you your sins even though you were not worthy of the forgiveness anymore than I am. Yet still we are forgiven of whatever this offence was ourselves just the same; one sin is the same as another in God’s eyes.

Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Mark 6:3

Jesus could have been offended at this but he wasn’t. He knew who He was. We need to realize that people will offend us and learn to let it roll of our backs and land on the ground behind us.

It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.” Matthew 15:11

When we choose to take offence instead of forgiving one another we defile ourselves if we let the words come out of our mouth to support our prideful remorse. I say that it is prideful because we make it all about us. When we lash out at the person who offended us instead of speaking to them and asking God to help us forgive the offense then we are causing ourselves to have rotten “leaven” inside of our heart. When we choose not to forgive and allow God to help us get over it or ‘forget’ the offense then we are choosing to enjoy that leaven and let it grow.

Many a bitter person was born of offense. Think about it for a moment, someone you know is holding a grudge of offence. What can you do to help them?

First- pray that they will forgive the person.

Second- suggest they go to the person and discus with them the problem.

Thirdly- have them pray together for forgiveness because usually if one person is offended the other person is too.

Sometimes people choose to wallow in their offence. They enjoy it because they feel they have a right to be offended because after all--- whatever happened we do not have a right to hold a grudge.

Jesus tells us;

Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. Luke 17:2-4 KJV

We need to be forgivers not haters, not gossipers, not people who hold a grudge; Jesus said to forgive our brothers and sisters 70 times 7; in other words keep on forgiving.

After all we are to become more and more like Jesus every day, how can we do that if we weigh ourselves down with such sinful behavior as holding a grudge. Grudges lead to hate, which leads us generally to gossip; remember gossip is not just a lie, it is talking about someone else when they are not there to defend themselves; it is talking about anyone who is not with you talking about themselves too.

Dear Heavenly Father, help us not to hold grudges but instead to forgive and let it go. Help us not to allow an offense rob us of the joy we have in You. Bless us today with peace and understanding, in Jesus name, amen.

Suggested Reading: Luke 17:1-37, Zechariah 7:1-14,Luke 11:1-54, and 2 Corinthians 2:1-17.

***If for any reason you choose ever not to receive this devotion again please remember that all it takes is replying with a "Please remove me from this list." I do ask that if there is a problem with anything I write for you to feel free to write me back and let me know what the problem was, that we might go over it together and seek the truth in love.

In His love,

Teresa M. Wilson

In His Word- 12-26-11~ Hope for the New Year

Where is your hope, who is your hope in?

This time of year when people make their plans and goals for the year I like to think on what the last year brought me.

This year it was hard, we had a rough year; some good, some bad, but we pulled through it and are ready for a bit of a better year in 2012. I believe in setting Goals, and I try to achieve them, but if not then its okay because I have another year to work on them.

My goal to complete two books is almost there, I got one finished and am in the editing process now. Look for it in the coming year.

My goals with home teaching are plugging right along.

I am okay with my goals from last year where they are at because I do not like to set them beyond an achievable level. I try to be reasonable when I make a goal.

Do you know what my goal is for the coming year?

It is to have hope!

I will have hope for this year to be better than the last.

I will have hope for tomorrow to bring me joy, but more than that to bring someone around me joy too!

Of course, I will have hope that things go better for me financially; we can all use a break there right?

I will have hope that my family is healthy, and happy, and whole.

I will have hope that my friends will know Jesus and follow His direction in their lives, as I too hope for myself to do!

None of this will be attainable with out one thing; my hope is in the Lord, who made the heavens and the earth to help me to achieve all that I desire to achieve this year.

For without His guidance I will go no where, without His love I cannot know what real love is; and with out Him in my life, there is no hope.

I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol. Psalm 16:8-10

Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful and fully repays the proud person. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:23-24

For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You. Psalm 33:21-22

Thus I am like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth is no response. For in You, O Lord, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God. For I said “Hear me, lest they rejoice over me, lest when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.”

Psalm 38 14-16

I hope that I will follow my Lord to the place He would have me in at the end of this year; because wherever I am, there I will be, and I can only hope it will be in a good place.

We all need to set our hearts to hope in Him, because nothing is possible without the trust that comes with hoping in Him.

When we trust God to be there when we call then we can hope for tomorrow to be a better day knowing He is there with us.

Sometimes life deals us a lot of rotten eggs, or freezes our lemons. Though they taste nasty or bitter our days can be fruitful still if we think to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus for help in these situations.

Rotten eggs can still sharpen the garbage disposal and make things move smoother through the process. In life that means the stinky things we have to deal with can help us in some way by sharpening our instincts to avoid such things, while the bitter things can still make juice if we add a little sweetener to it. A kind thought, a joyful word… equals sweetener for the soul.

So if we look at lemons of the world as words that come to us as bitterness we just have to add the sweetener! God is good! Jesus loves you.

This morning I was dealing with some unkind words and instead of being a jerk about it like I could have I walked away and sang “Jesus loves me” quietly and thanked Him for helping me remain calm. People do not always treat us the way we would like, they are not God after all. We all grumble at times and spit out bitter words; the key is to accept that we have failed and ask forgiveness of God and man. Then go on to find the sweetener! I happen to know there is a lot of sweet delicious words in the Word of God just for today!

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for your Words in the Bible. Help us to relish the sweetness of it each day and we dig in and enjoy your Word. In Jesus name, amen.

Suggested readings: Psalm 31: 1-24, Psalm 32:1-11, Psalm 331-22, Psalm 38:1-22.