A Gracefull Place

 

In all the turmoil of the world, I am so amazed how God is keeping my heart in Him.  It’s not that I have no fears, but I have a deep, abiding peace that He is ultimately in control, and He will take care of us.  That doesn’t mean I won’t suffer or that I will go on blissfully as if nothing is happening, but I need not fret about what to do, how to prepare, what if……. HE is my ALL!

 

And my quiet times have been confirming this!

 

For today, some thoughts from three different Psalms:

 

Psalm 31:1-3

"In Thee, O Lord, do I put my turst;  let me never be ashamed :  deliver me in Thy righteousness.  Bow down Thine ear to me;  deliver me speedily:  be Thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.  For Thou art my rock and my fortress;  therefore for Thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me."

 

The whole Psalm is good!

 

Psalm 41:1-2, 11-13

"Blessed is he that considereth the poor:  the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.  The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive;  and he shall be blessed upon the earth:  and Thou wilt not deliver him unto the wil of his enemies."

 

"By this I know that Thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.  And as for me, Thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before Thy face for ever.  Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting.  Amen, and Amen."

 

Psalm 71:1-8, 14, 16, 23-24

"In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust:  let me never be put to confusion.  Deliver me in Thy righteousness, and cause me to escape:  incline Thine ear unto me, and save me.  Be Thou my strong habitation whereunto I may continually resort:  Thou hast given commandment to save me, for Thou art my rock and my fortress.   Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.  For Thou art my hope, O Lord God:  Thou art my trust from my youth.  By Thee have I been holden up from the womb:  Thou art He that took me out of my mother’s bowels:   my praise shall be continually of Thee.  I am as a wonder unto many;  but Thou art my strong refuge.  Let my mouth be filled with Thy praise and with Thy honour all the day."

 

"But I will hope continually, and will yet praise Thee more and more."

 

"I will go in the strength of the Lord God:  I will make mention of Thy righteousnes, even of Thine only."

 

"My lips shall greatly rejoice, when I sing unto Thee;  and my soul, which Thou hast redeemed.  My tongue also shall talk of Thy righteousness all the day long:  for they are confounded, for they are broguht unto shame that seek my hurt."

 

Nothing that happens, either to us individually or as a nation, has taken God by surprise.  He Who knows the beginning to the end has it all under His control.   He often used ungodly nations to chastise His chosen Israel, and many times used the gods His people chose to trust in instead of Him to teach them that He is the ONLY true God, the only One Who has power to do anything.

 

As much as I am angry at the self-serving people who got our country into this mess, I can’t really lay all the blame at their door.   And if we think choosing the "right" person for office (be it president, governor, congress, whatever) will change everything, we’re wrong.  We have a responsibility to vote, but that isn’t what’s going to ultimately change this country.  

 

It will only be as we are willing, as Christians who say we follow Christ, to truly follow our Savior and live giving Him control of our every moment, our every breath.  He has it anyway, but as we acknowledge He is Lord in everything, the world sees a powerful God that makes a difference in people’s lives, vs. a nice, comfortable god we pull out to reassure us or ask a little blessing on our endeavors that we have no intention of submitting to the true God’s will.  Even our good works can be iniquity (Mt. 25:41-45), if they are not truly done for Him.

 

I have been soul-searching here lately.   I certainly am not perfect, and I want Him to show me the ways where I actually am a "false witness" to His Name, His character.  It is my desire to live in a way that points in every way to Him and Him alone. 

 

In the little booklet I’ve been reading, In the Footprints of the Lamb by George Steinberger (available from Mount Zion Bible Institute), there are a few statements that stood out this morning:

 

"What is humility?  Humility is not a virtue, but rather the soil in which all other virtues thrive.  No virtue which has not grown in this soil has any value."

 

"Humility is the power which can tolerate the shortcomings of others."

 

Oh, may we seek this loveliness first and foremost!   There is a far greater crisis in the world today than the stock market collapsing and another Great Depression.  How much worse is the famine of God’s Word being believed for what it is, not altered to suit our wants!  How great the crisis of a collapse of holiness that comes from this humility!   And much worse is the Great Void of those who would truly follow in the footprints of the Lamb of God!

 

Whatever happens in the days and weeks and months to come, I pray that we all will be more serious about seeking Him and hearing Him and obeying Him—letting go of our preconceived ideas and follow Him wherever and however He leads.

 

I have no doubt that He will take care of His own, though it may be through ravens in the wilderness!

 

But are we willing to stand for God against the modern day "prophets of Baal"?  

 

We can only do it in His strength and at His bidding—and it starts in the home, where we must put Him first and all must flow through Him.   All my plans, my homeschooling, my computer time, my time discipling, being with my children, my homemaking….all to the glory of Him.   All done seeking His will first, trusting His plans.

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 

 "Trust in the Lord with ALL thine heart;  and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In ALL thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."

 

Whom will I trust?  What will I fear?  I am to fear nothing but God Himself.  Will I reserve anything for myself?  Or will I give it ALL to Him–the only One Who is able to keep me?  Will I acknowledge Him in some ways, but in others "lean unto my own understanding"?  I cannot expect Him to direct my paths until I first surrender ALL.

 

"It is only the fully surrendered heart that can fully trust God for all that He has promised." 

Andrew Murray

 

If I am doubtful, fretful, fearful–it is because I have not fully surrendered an area of my life to Him.

 

This is my desire, to be fully surrendered in every area of my life.   Then I have that deep, quiet peace that doesn’t care about the storms above…..it is too far below to feel it, and is undisturbable as long as I abide in Him. 

 

Remember this quote by Dr. A. T. Pierson:

 

"The peace of God is that eternal calm which, like the cushion of the sea, lies far too deep down to be reached by any external trouble or disturbance;  and he who enters into the presence of God, becomes partaker of that undisturbed and undisturbable calm."

 

 

Rest.

 

Surrender.

 

JOY!

 

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 11th, 2008 at 9:45 am and is filed under Saturday Psalm and Praise. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.