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Archive for the ‘Blessing’ Category

Random, but not Trivial

Posted in Blessing, Consequences, Faith, General, God Thoughts, Grace, Mercy, tagged , , , on June 21, 2026| Leave a Comment »

I usually post pictures when some event has happened, a hike or climb, a family gathering, or visiting something new and interesting. But what about everyday life and simple things along the path? Do we celebrate or give them a second thought? Are we thankful for the daily indications of God’s creativity, power, and care for us? We can avoid thinking a day is dreary if we look at the little interesting and beautiful things along our path. Look all the harder on the days when struggles want to overcome you and drag you down. When the day is gray, look for the shades of gray and hints of other hues. Thankfulness to God for the daily mercies and manifold graces is glorifying to God and healing to your bones, as it is honoring and encouraging to others through pleasant words (Proverbs 3:7-8, 16:24).

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Free Grace

Posted in Baptist Catechism, Blessing, Faith, General, Gospel, Grace, Joy, Person of Jesus, Salvation, Sanctification, Work of Jesus, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I rejoice that the transcendent, all powerful, sovereign, Creator of all things condescended to pour out His free grace upon an undeserving, rebellious sinner like me (1). I rejoice that his free grace (2) gifted me with eternal life (3), every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places while here on earth (4), all that I need for life and godliness (5), a growing knowledge of Him (6), and the ongoing sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit to completion (7).

Grace was free but not cheap. That sounds like a contradiction, but to clarify, grace was free to the recipients but very costly for “…Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (8) Not only did He leave the throne of God to die on a cross, our Redeemer “became flesh, and dwelt among us.” (9) His condescension included permanently taking on the nature of a man and temporarily taking on flesh, for “much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.” (10) “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (11)

Question 24: Did God leave all mankind to perish in the condition of sin and misery?
Answer: God, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, having chosen a people to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the condition of sin and misery, and to bring them into a condition of salvation, by a Redeemer.
Ephesians 1:3-4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Romans 5:21; 8:29-30; 9:11-12; 11:5-7; Acts 13:48; Jeremiah 31:33.

Question 25: Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?
Answer: The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was and continues to be God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, forever.
Galatians 3:13; 1 Timothy 2:5; 3:16; John 1:14; Romans 9:5; Colossians 2:9.

  1. Isaiah 55:8-9, Romans 11:33; Job 42:2, Numbers 11:23; Psalm 115:3; John 1:14, Psalm 103:7; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:23, Jeremiah 17:9, Nehemiah 9:26
  2. Ephesians 2:8-9, John 4:10
  3. Romans 6:23
  4. Ephesians 1:3
  5. 2 Peter 1:3
  6. 2 Peter 3:17-18
  7. Philippians 1:6, 1 Corinthians 6:11
  8. Hebrews 12:2
  9. John 1:14
  10. Romans 5:15
  11. 1 Timothy 2:5

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First Things

Posted in Baptist Catechism, Blessing, General, God Thoughts, theology on November 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

As we began the catechism questions in the worship service, The Catechism starts off with questions of highest import.

Question 1: Who is the first and best of beings? Answer: God is the first and best of beings.
Isaiah 44:6; Psalm 8:1; 96:4; 97:9, 1 Samuel 2:2

First has more than one meaning. Chronologically it means first in time, or in this case, eternity. Additionally, it means first in position, rank, or accomplishment, as it says in Isaiah 44:6-7a: “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it…”

He is best: “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth, who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!” (Psalm 8:1) Being best of beings extends far beyond power and glory. “There is no one holy like the Lord…” (2 Samuel 2:2a) Holy is so unreachable and unfathomable to us. We can better understand and appreciate a best being who “…is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.” (Psalm 145:17)

He is best at being best, that is, He is best at any and all areas of which you may think.

Question2: What is the chief end of man? Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. 1 Corinthians 10:31; Psalm 16:11, 37:4, 73:25-26; Isaiah 43:7

What is our purpose for existing, our reason to remain alive, the goal around which we should center our lives? The answer given is twofold when the question asks for just one. I think that they are really one answer given from two perspectives, God’s and ours. Enjoying God, while obviously a great benefit to us, is the ultimate way to glorify God. Our passion of enjoyment of Him communicates more solidly than words that He is valuable and worthy of my attention, worship, witness, relationship, obedience, and our whole life. The more I cherish and desire Him, the more He is glorified. Therefore, do not look at your belief in God as a responsibility to be fulfilled but a relationship to be sought out.

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Metaphorically Speaking

Posted in Blessing, Faith, General, God Thoughts, Metaphor, Psalm, Strength, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

A brother in Christ was laughing with me about how I make lists. It set me to thinking about how I organize, deal with, and convey information. I do make lists, either numbered or bulleted (1), often indented much like outlines I enjoyed in school, and metaphors. Somehow, those seem worlds apart, lists and metaphors, but they seem to delineate the two most divergent (2) types of human thinking, analytical and creative.

So, when I run across lists or metaphors in the Bible, my mind and emotions sit up and take notice. Reading through the Psalms recently I came to the following verses in Psalm 84:5-7:

“How blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
In whose heart are the highways to Zion!
Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring;
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
They go from strength to strength,
Every one of them appears before God in Zion.”

Heart as highway is certainly metaphorical, but initially I struggled with what it meant, how it represented the heart. Two sources of confusion were 1) What is the antecedent of “it”? and 2) What is the meaning of the metaphor in light of the change from inanimate, singular “it” to personal, plural “they” and “everyone”? Further, confusion arises from how to end verse 5. Many translators believe that “to Zion” is implied because verse 7 ends “in Zion.” Translations without this phrase struggle to make sense out of the words. The context of the psalm is the temple in Zion.

Clarity came to me by zooming out to see what the overall message was before making inroads (3) into the details of the metaphor. How does one gain strength in God? He is a believer, a follower, a disciple, a worshipper. These children of God are blessed because each one makes his heart to contain multiple highways for God, to God, to and for blessing, to and for worship, and to and for righteousness.

When these hearts pass through the valley of weeping (“Baca”), they make them into springs. The early rains (those needed to sprout the crop) make blessings (literally, pools (4)). These highways in the blessed ones’ hearts are wet, initially with tears, but ultimately with life-giving springs and pools. The antecedent of “it” is valley of Baca. The antecedent of “they” is the ones’ whose hearts are highways.

“Strength to strength” reminds me of the phrase in Romans 1:17, “faith to faith”, which I find to be very confusing words. I don’t know exactly how to interpret it, but the passage certainly conveys a transition from the strength of trusting in God through the trials of the valley of weeping to the triumphant appearance before God for worship (5).

And what is the ultimate point to be understood? Those who trust in God have strength and blessing even in the midst of sorrow, and they mark the world with that blessing, being enabled (strengthened) to appear before God for worship. So, “direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone” (1 Samuel 7:3 (6)), and He will bless and strengthen you.

  1. https://clearlyscientific.com/best-practice-writing-formatting-bulleted-lists/#:~:text=Sub-bullets%20should%20be%20indented%20further%20in,%20and%20it%E2%80%99s%20worth
  2. I am using the word divergent, not as opposed to convergent thinking, but in the usual way of considering the distance between the two, as in right and left brain.
  3. I hope that you didn’t miss that one.
  4. https://biblehub.com/interlinear/psalms/84.htm
  5. I keep assuming worship because Zion is where the temple was and that was where the children of Israel worshipped. The wider context of the psalm is about worship before God in the temple.
  6. 2 Chronicles 11:16-17, Isaiah 51:1, Hosea 6:3

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His Abundance

Posted in Blessing, Delights, General, God Thoughts, Metaphor, Providence, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Psalm 65 is a tremendous call to worship. It highlights the marvelous abundance of God toward people and the earth. It emphasizes both His spiritual and physical abundance.

Having been asked to read Psalm 65 as the call to worship this morning, I read through it several times. Then I read it in several different translations. It was with difficulty that I got past the first phrase of verse 1. It reads variously as follows: “There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, O God” (NASB), “Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion” (ESV), “Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion” (NIV), “Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion” (KV), “Praise is rightfully Yours, God, in Zion” (HCSB), “God, you will be praised in Jerusalem.” (NCV). To my reading, there are three interpretations of whatever is going on in Hebrew concerning praise of God: Praise of God 1) comes through silence, 2) is due Him, or 3) awaits or will be coming.

Seeing that these three translation routes are significantly different, I was somewhat confused. Then I found a commentary online (1) that shed light on the source of the confusion. The literal Hebrew translation of the phrase reads, “to you silence praise Oh God in Zion.” (2) Unlike English wherein adjectives precede nouns, Hebrew adjectives and articles follow nouns (3) So, in English, I understand the phrase to read “praise silence”. In my everyday way of thinking, that sounds like “calm before the storm”. In other words, waiting to praise, anticipating praise, praise that should momentarily happen (is due), and praising by silence (meditating, considering) do all make sense.

Verse one concludes with praise acted upon through performing vows made. Given what follows, it occurs to me that contemplative silence is praise intended and thought, vows performed is praise acted out, and the rest of psalm is praise pronounced.

Then David pours out praise. In verses 2-5a, he praises God for the following spiritual blessings to believers: 1) hearing prayer, 2) forgiving sin, 3) choosing His own, 4) bringing them near, 5) satisfying them (4), and 6) answering prayer by awesome works.

Verses 5b through 8 praise God for His sovereign control of earth and its peoples, a great blessing in what otherwise would be chaos. David uses some illuminating and endearing word pictures throughout the rest of the psalm. Consider the ones related to His sovereignty. How far do people trust God? Answer: to the “ends of the earth and the farthest sea”. That pretty much covers everywhere. God controls the roaring seas and waves is an apt word picture for the “tumult of the peoples”. What is the full extent of where people are who are in awe of His signs? Answer: “the dawn and sunset”. And these “shout for joy”, meaning the peoples are overjoyed at His wonders.

The description of God’s provisioning through the earth’s abundance in verses 9-13 is not hyperbole. Water, grain, pastures with their flocks “overflow”, “greatly enrich”, “full”, “abundantly”, “bounty”, “drip with fatness”, “drip”, “gird themselves”, “clothed”, “covered”, “rejoicing”, and “shout for joy, yes, they sing”. David had been a shepherd, but he knew of farming. I enjoy his word picture of the furrows watered abundantly, settling and softening its ridges, so that its growth is blessed (v. 10). For a plowed field hardened by sunlight and lack of rain this is a reality, but the word picture conveys a sense of how the plants (grains, vegetables, or grass) are watered without ever mentioning them.

We are not an agrarian society, so that our praise may go in other directions, and yet, no one may prosper if the agricultural pursuits do not prosper. They are primary to all other life pursuits. We can all understand how God blesses us through His benevolent provision of food. Certainly, His kind providence extends to all of our needs and many of our desires. Life is good, because God is good.

Being largely concrete and tactile when it comes to our desires and feelings, I pray that God would enable us to gain a deeper conceptual understanding and trust of His attributes, yes, of His person through His works on our behalf. His great name which represents all that He is and does is to be praised.

  1. I did and you should read the statement of faith for any commentary online before you start accepting any significant counsel from online sources. It was solid.
  2. https://www.bibleref.com/Psalms/65/Psalm-65-11.html
  3. https://www.hebrewpod101.com/blog/2020/08/07/hebrew-word-order/#4 Any comments that I make about translation in Hebrew or Greek do not come from study of those languages, but rather from references I seek out for understanding.
  4. 4) and 5) are accomplished through His temple, symbolizing God’s presence with His people and their worship of Him.

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Better than Best

Posted in Blessing, Change, Contentment, General, God Thoughts, Reflection, tagged , , , on June 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

I was raised to do the very best at anything that I attempted. That is good and agrees with the Scripture that says, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” (Colossians 3:23-24) In context that is speaking to slaves, but it must surely include employees, and in reality, all who belong to Christ. As it says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” We cannot do less than our best.

But my upbringing extended beyond that. I was put under considerable pressure to be really good at all that I did.

My little brain and emotions interpreted that to mean that I was supposed to be the best at whatever I did. Then, because I never seemed to meet my father’s expectations, I strove to be the best at a good many things and did not accept less than excellent or even perfect in all that I attempted. It is obvious where this is headed. I was frustrated, angry, and depressed because I didn’t meet up to my own or my perceived expectations from others. I had a deep-seated fear of being found out to be a fraud because I didn’t know how to do something.

Praise be to God that I have been rescued from the guilt and shame of that thinking. But old habits and patterns die hard. I was on a walk today, enjoying the exercise and the beauty of the view from the hill I was surmounting, when a tune came to me, Minuet in G Major by Bach. I was joyously pacing my steps by it. Then a sudden flash of sadness came across me and I felt as if tears would well up within me. I took piano lessons for seven years when I was a child, deeply desiring to succeed at it. I could in fact play quite hard pieces, but I was never able, though I try real hard, to sit down and play most hymns from a hymnbook so that others might sing along. It frustrated me that I was not really good at the piano and here all these years later there was still this tinge of regret and sorrow.

But God has been rich in His grace toward me. The next thoughts that came to my mind as I neared the top of the hill were of a thankful sort. Most of what I had desired and dreamed of attempted and pursued and trained for, frustrated over, and failed at had fallen by the wayside. In its placed He has developed other talents, pursuits, compassions, joys for which He has made me and with which He is pleased. I still try my best to do my best, but I don’t need to be the best and far less than perfect is acceptable and pleasing. I am more content with who I am and what I can do than ever in my life, and that is better than best. In those moments when I regress, I have opportunity to repent and find rest in who He has made me to be. All glory be to His name. He is a loving, patient, kind, and caring teacher and guide.

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Flip Side

Posted in Blessing, General, Implications, Praise, Thanksgiving, tagged , , , , on May 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

In the last entry (“Many Forms“) I mused on the real problem with complaint, fretting, and irritation. It may well be that the cause of these negative thoughts, speech, feelings, and actions are physical or mental/emotional, but they will soon become a spiritual problem unless immediately curbed. So, it may be that I have to take care of physical problems like fatigue, hunger, sickness, or emotional problems like stress or broken relationship. Charles Stanley liked to say that one should HALT what they are doing when Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired, and correct these things before making any decision or moving forward. They increase the likelihood of falling to temptation. Eat, discover the source of anger and resolve it, be reconciled and build relationships, rest, and cover all things with prayer.

These considerations are all along the lines of what needs to be done when I am in a place of temptation or have fallen to it. Of course, with the latter there is also repentance. But prevention and maintenance of a peace and joy requires more. I think that the best way to avoid complaining, fretting, and irritation is to regularly praise God and be thankful to Him in all things. Certainly, being thankful in general is good, that is, being appreciative to those around us. But this is no call to thanking the Native Americans at Thanksgiving or thanking your lucky stars. The Pilgrims thanked God for protection and abundance. Thankfulness is a Christian discipline, privilege, and conduit for blessedness of soul. Being the giver of all good gifts (James 1:17), God deserves our thanksgiving for what He does. He also deserves our praise for who He is. Being rightly oriented to God through praise and thanksgiving brings joy and peace and the blessedness of God’s presence.

I want to live more in that light and less in the blasphemous darkness of complaint, fretting, and irritation.

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A Baker’s Dozen

Posted in Blessing, Family, Grandchildren, Poem, tagged , , on February 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

There is no way you could have been cheated on a dozen if you receive thirteen, thus the Baker’s Dozen. It feels like a number of abundance and integrity. So, I am announcing the arrival of my thirteenth grandchild on Sunday, January 28. I have written each of my grandchildren a blessing poem. I pray and poeticize for my grandbabies in the light of both my Savior’s grace and protection and my society’s darkness. God has overcome this world, and it is right that I asked Him to overcome it on behalf of my family.

Magdelena of the tower (1)
May God give you of His power
As He directs you to each place
May you be endowed with His grace

As Mary who followed Christ well
Much of His resurrection tell (2)
Share the true Gospel to and fro
Living it wherever you go

Faith, assurance of things hoped for
Conviction of unseen before (3)
May God grant it early to you
And may it spread to not a few

Miss Francis ready for battle
Resist evil acts and prattle
Pray in the Spirit, armor on (4)
Know God’s Word which you stand upon

  1. Magdelena means “woman of the tower”
  2. Matthew 28
  3. Hebrews 11:1
  4. Ephesians 6:10-18

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D21E, The Result

Posted in Blessing, Faith, God's Law, God's Word, Grace, Piety, Psalm 1, Sanctification, Wickedness, tagged , , , , , on January 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

I will have to practice by repeating Psalm 1 in order to retain it, but I have memorized it in the process of these 21 days. Reading and reflecting for 21 days has deepened my resolve to focus more on God and His Word. In context, the Scripture says, “Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.”” (1) (Galatians 3:18) A desire for God’s law and the totality of His Word is not the way of salvation but a result of it. The righteous are and will be known by these things, but salvation is by grace through faith. This grace separates the saved from the unbelieving lost, resulting in righteousness or wickedness.

I hope that you have benefited even a fraction of the amount that I have from doing this 21-day Psalm 1 Challenge. In some respects, I did it twice, because I read and journaled last month and clarified and deepened it to present to you this month.

  1. Habakkuk 2:4

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D20E, In and Through

Posted in Blessing, Psalm 1, Work of Jesus, tagged , , on January 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

It is in and through Jesus Christ that men and women are made righteous and blessed. We love and pursue Him because He first loved and pursued us.

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Ephesians 1:3

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” 2 Peter 1:2-4

  1. 1 John 4:19, Romans 5:6-11

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D20M, Similar?

Posted in Blessing, Consequences, God's Law, God's Word, Judgment, Piety, Psalm 1, Sanctification, tagged , , , , , on January 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

How are the righteous and wicked similar? Both are created by and accountable to their Creator (1). Being made in their Creator’s image with a spirit, they will exist for eternity (2). Both of them have fallen, sin natures, and are therefore under God’s wrath (3). They can hear the Word of God and are responsible for what they hear (4). They both have knowledge of God’s existence, nature, and power through what is created (5). Both have sinned and deserve hell (6). The sun and rain fall on both (5), an indication of common grace.

  1. Ephesians 3:9, Romans 3:19
  2. Genesis 1:26-27, Matthew 25:46
  3. Ephesians 2:3
  4. Romans 10:18
  5. Romans 1:20
  6. Romans 3:23, 6:23
  7. Mathew 5:45

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D19M, Re-evaluate

Posted in Blessing, Consequences, God's Law, God's Word, Piety, Psalm 1, Sanctification, Wickedness, tagged , , , , , on January 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Re-evaluate what counsel you walk in. Does it claim to be wise only to really be worldly wise? Does it claim to be biblical when in reality it is tainted by cultural thinking and tradition? Does it claim to be Christian though wrapped in secular theory, education, or psychology? Does it claim to be healthy and profitable but turns out to only be the schemes of man? It is not enough to stand still and be a spectator with regards to counsel. Walk in God’s counsel found in God’s Word, meditating on it and praying for good application of it for your circumstances. May God help us to hear the “voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues.” (Revelation18:4)

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D17E, Hide His Word

Posted in Blessing, Delights, God's Law, God's Word, Piety, Psalm 1, Sanctification, Wickedness on January 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

I have two sons who can memorize long dialogues in movies by just watching it several times. I am not so gifted. However, if you repeat something long and often enough, it eventually sticks. This day I realized that I had memorized a bit more than the first three verses of Psalm 1.

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. For he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so.” Psalm 1:1-4a

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D17M, “Delight”

Posted in Blessing, Delights, God Thoughts, God's Law, God's Word, Piety, Psalm 1, Sanctification, Wickedness, tagged , , , on January 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord.” (Psalm 1:2)

It is not enough to not “walk…stand…[or]sit” (v.1) in wickedness. We need God and His Word daily. And because it is a relationship, apathy or lack of passion cools or destroys the relationship. Where is your delight? Perhaps a better question, which delight(s) are you developing?

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D16E, Contrasting Ways

Posted in Blessing, Consequences, God's Law, God's Word, Piety, Psalm 1, Sanctification, Wickedness, tagged , , , , , , on January 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The whole of Psalm 1 is about contrasting ways. One establishes, blesses, makes righteous and eternal the traveler. The other brings death, that is, separation from God, the righteous, life, and blessing. The starkness of the contrast is meant to warn the sinner and saint away from the one and toward the other, for their good.

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D15M, Wicked Counsel

Posted in Blessing, God's Law, God's Word, Piety, Sanctification, tagged , , , on January 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

“The counsel of the wicked” (Psalm 1:1)

Is wicked counsel limited to those actively pursuing evil, or does it include seemingly benign culture wisdom like “it’s just the way its always been done.”

Jephthah of Judges 11 was desperate and vowed a foolish thing when he tried to buy God off instead of resolving to serve Him all of his life. David could not give up numbering the people even when warned not to (2 Samuel 24), and he had the ark carried on a cart (1 Chronicles 13). These seemed like the thing to do but people were killed because of them. And so, it was with Joshua and the elders who only sent a few thousand men to fight at Ai without inquiring of the Lord (Joshua 7). Had they inquired, God would have showed them Achan’s sin. More people lost their lives. Let us take heed not to walk in the counsel of wicked, be it ever so benign, passive, or non-threatening. Walk in God’s counsel watching, waiting, and inquiring of the Lord.

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D14E, Rooted in the Source

Posted in Blessing, God's Law, God's Word, Metaphor, Piety, Sanctification, tagged , , , , on January 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

“He will be like a tree firmly planted…in whatever he does, he prospers.” (Psalm 1:3)

The psalmist moves smoothly into and out of the metaphor, transitioning from he to tree and tree to he. It all points to the righteous prospering. Why does he prosper? In the metaphor, the tree prospers because it is rooted in the Source, the Living (flowing) Water of Life. Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that the water He gives prevents thirst and springs up to eternal life (John4:14). The righteous man rooted in this Source is in a perpetual state of fruitfulness, undeterred growth, and prosperous activity.

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D13M, “By Streams of Water”

Posted in Blessing, General, Grace, Sustaining, tagged , , , on January 13, 2024| Leave a Comment »

“He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water.” (Psalm 1:3)

God fully supplies the needs of His own with an overflowing abundance. Do you suffer, particularly for His cause and as a believer? Yes, but even then He provides comfort, confidence, and purpose. Tap into the Source that never runs dry.

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D12E, At Odds

Posted in Blessing, God's Word, Implications, Piety, Sanctification, tagged , on January 12, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Psalm 1:1- “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, not stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers.” “wicked…sinners…scoffers.”

In regard to intention, action, and speech, these people are at odds with and God and man. Their counsel is destructive; their way is away from God; their conversation is demeaning, if not degrading.

It occurs to me after making these statements, that frequently these people seem to be nice, helpful, well educated, and well-spoken, but spiritually their conduct may simultaneously be destructive, away from God, and demeaning.

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D12M, Ways of the Wicked

Posted in Blessing, Consequences, God's Law, God's Word, Piety, Sanctification, tagged , , , , , , on January 12, 2024| Leave a Comment »

In Psalm 1:1, the psalmist lists three ways of the wicked to be avoided: “counsel…path…seat.”

Counsel is the advice or wisdom of the wicked, and therefore of the world. Walking in their counsel means that you have more than heard it or considered it. It means you are heeding it and have more than your toe dipped in this way. If you are day and night meditating on God’s Word, I cannot see how you would get past the considering and rejecting it phase.

Path or way is the rut or habit that sinners run in. We should not even stand there, let alone walk or run there. Keep your way far from that way, even if you must bushwack across country to avoid it. In reality, however, heed “Thus says the Lord, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls.”” (Jeremiah 6:16)

Seat is a place of repose. In their self-satisfied, self-important perspective, scoffers mock the righteous and anyone who would dare to seek for truth. Do not take up your repose nor linger in their presence, but rather run out of earshot.

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Myrela

Exploring nature, ancient civilizations, art, photography, and written reflections through stories, visuals, and cultural inspiration.

Overflows from the Heart

"But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart…" Matthew 15:18

CreatorWorship

Pointing to the One who made, saved, and sustains