Amazon

The Lord is… my deliverer

A Series from the Psalms

Psalm 116

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20116&version=NIV;NLT

 

You’ve seen their vans and trucks driving on your highways and through your neighborhood. They’re bringing shoes, small kitchen appliances, movies and jewelry. Virtually any merchandise that you can buy at a brick and mortar store, you can buy online through Amazon. Not only that, it’s delivered direct to your door step; sometimes within the hour.

 

Amazon is successful because they hear your call and deliver; but this isn’t new. The psalmist wrote about these same elements in reference to the Lord.

 

¹ I love the Lord because he hears my voice
    and my prayer for mercy.

⁸ For you, Lord, have delivered me from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling,
⁹ that I may walk before the Lord
    in the land of the living.            NIV

 

The word deliver, or save, is used several times in this psalm. In fact, it is the overarching theme of the psalm. But don’t misinterpret it to mean that the Lord is your own personal “genie in a bottle”. Keep in mind that He has his own timing for when things will happen.

 

Consider that Israel was in bondage in Egypt for 430 years despite their desperate pleas. They were in exile for 70 years; a lifetime for many. And Paul begged the Lord to remove his “thorn in the flesh” multiple times, without the desired results.

 

You may be facing your own kind of bondage or exile or thorn in the flesh. Call out to the Lord for him to save you; to deliver you; and keep calling even if nothing seems to be happening.

 

You know that He loves you; is always with you; and always at work in your life. You know that the Lord hears your prayers. He may not answer them today, next week, next month, or even next year. But He does have a plan for you. Therefore...

 

² Because he bends down to listen,
    I will pray as long as I have breath!   NIV

 

 

 

 

 

A Force to be Reckoned With

God with you - A Series from the Psalms

Psalm 91

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2091&version=NIV;NLT

 

Patrick Mahomes is the 24 year old quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs who played in Super Bowl LIV. For the first 3 ½ quarters, the San Francisco 49ers defense dominated Mahomes and his high powered offense. Following his second interception, Mahomes was quoted to have said to a teammate, “You’ve got to believe brother. It’s going to happen man, I can feel it.”

 

When the Mahomes led offense returned to the field, they were down by 10 points with 6:13 left in the game. At that point, Mahomes willed his team to victory by scoring three touchdowns. Even in the face of desperate odds, Mahomes’ confidence proved to be a force to be reckoned with.

 

The author of Psalm 91 wrote of a confidence that is also a force to be reckoned with.

 

⁹ If you make the Lord your refuge,
    if you make the Most High your shelter,
¹⁰ no evil will conquer you;
    no plague will come near your home.

¹¹ For he will order his angels
    to protect you wherever you go.
¹² They will hold you up with their hands
    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. NLT

 

A refuge doesn’t have to be just a safe place. It can be the thing that you trust in the most when the chips are down. That could be your career; your family; your possessions; your achievements. The problem with human nature is that we try to make everything else other than the Lord Almighty our “refuge”.

 

You most likely will never win a Super Bowl, but you may find your refuge through the promises of God. And that refuge will give you the confidence to face trials and temptations.

 

¹⁴ The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
    I will protect those who trust in my name.
¹⁵ When they call on me, I will answer;
    I will be with them in trouble.
    I will rescue and honor them.
¹⁶ I will reward them with a long life
    and give them my salvation.”               NLT

 

So the question that you need to ask yourself is, “Who, or what, is your refuge?”

 

² This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
    he is my God, and I trust him.  NLT

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Does Your Desk Look Like?

2 Chronicles 20:1-30

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+20%3A1-30&version=NIV;NLT

  

You can tell a lot about a person by their desk or work space or living area. For instance, my desk is almost always uncluttered and neat. Everything is in its place. You won’t find papers scattered all over my desk or a half-eaten sandwich stuffed in a drawer. Do you know why? Because it’s an attempt to control a small part of my world.

 

The story in 2 Chronicles 20 that surrounds verse 17 is about the struggle between trust and control. Early in the chapter, King Jehoshaphat learns that there is a “vast army from Edom” that is marching against them. His immediate reaction is to be terrified, but this leads him to “beg the Lord for guidance”.

 

The men of Judah begin praying. They plead for the Lord to rescue them based on the history of God’s work with Israel and on who God is – His promises, faithfulness, love and power. While praying, Jahaziel receives a word from the Lord. That word is “do not be afraid... for the Lord is with you”. Just trust Him.

 

It sounds easy, but it isn’t. Keep in mind, while the men of Judah are praying instead of preparing for battle, the mighty army from Edom is steadily marching towards them. Talk about trust and giving up control.

 

What the Lord said through Jahaziel was counterintuitive. There were no instructions to prepare for battle; no strategizing; no sharpening of swords. In fact, the only action to be taken was, “take your position; then stand still and watch. Watch the Lord’s victory”. Impossible for us as humans who need control.

 

We don’t like to trust others because it involves risk. And risk can result in failure, losing valuable resources, rejection or just plain looking bad. We prefer to keep control ourselves in an attempt to avoid the painful consequences of risk, and to gain power over our circumstances and people.

 

Our lives are like my desk. I try to control my life as much as I can so that everything has its place; everything is orderly. That way I know what to expect. Risk is minimized. But what about trusting the Lord? Where does that fit in with my orderly life? I frequently need to remind myself of Jahaziel’s word: “the Lord is with you” Joe.

 

What does your desk look like? Is it neat and orderly because you have control, or does God have control?

 

 

¹⁷ But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!”     NLT

 

 

 

 

 

The $33 Million Man

Proverbs 3:5-10

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%203%3A5-10&version=NLT;MSG

 

 

In my office at work there is a picture of the 1968 Detroit Tigers who won the World Series that year.

 

:

Players on that team included:

Ø  Denny McLain, the last Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher to win 30 games in a season.

Ø  Mickey Lolich who won 3 of the 4 World Series games for the Tigers.

Ø  Willie Horton, a power hitter who was the home town hero.

Ø  Gates Brown, the best pinch hitter in the game.

Ø  Future Hall of Famers - Eddie Mathews and Al Kaline.

 

Despite each one of these players being stars, none of them, nor any of their teammates, made as much as $100,000 that year.

 

In 2017, according to the USA Today, the average annual salary for a MLB player is

$4.47 million. At the top of the list is Clayton Kershaw, star pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who will make $33 million this year in salary alone.

 

Very few people have the level of wealth that Clayton Kershaw has, or for that matter, what the average MLB player makes. But that’s not the point. For us as believers and followers of Christ, the passage in Proverbs gives us direction on how to use our gifts of time, talent and treasure, no matter how much we have or what they are.

 

⁵ Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
⁶ Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.      MSG

⁹ Honor the Lord with your wealth
    and with the best part of everything you produce.  NLT

 

The wisdom of Proverbs is that no matter what amount of “wealth” you have, you are to use it for God’s purposes. You are to trust, listen and honor the Lord with all that you have, all that you do and all that you are.

 

 

 

 

(If God has spoken to you through this blog, please feel free to share it with others.)

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I Want Patience and I Want it Now

Psalm 40:1-8

 

Patience is a virtue. Did your mom ever tell you that? I know we did to our daughter, and now to our grandchildren. However, patience doesn’t seem to be a natural human trait. Driving on the highway will show you exactly what I mean. Our world seems to be less and less patient as we want everything faster and faster.

    

Even characters in the Bible had trouble with being impatient. Esau sold his birthright for stew because he couldn’t wait to eat. The people of Israel formed an idol out of gold because they couldn’t wait for Moses to return from the mountain. Peter cut off the ear of the servant in the Garden of Gethsemane because he couldn’t wait for Jesus.

 

But in today’s passage we read that David learned to wait patiently on the Lord. The Message puts it like this: “I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened.”  Consider how David learned patience.

 

After he was anointed to be the King of Israel and then defeated Goliath, it looked like he was on the fast track to the top. But Saul had a different idea, and as a result, David ran for his life. Hiding and waiting; that’s how David learned to be patient.

 

What could the benefits have been for David learning patience in this way? Again, we turn to The Message to glean some insight into this question: “Being religious, acting pious— that’s not what you’re asking for. You’ve opened my ears so I can listen.”  

 

The Lord uses the circumstances in our lives to help open our ears so that we can hear Him. By being patient, David learned to trust God, not religious rituals or himself. Just like Elijah, we need to listen for His “still, small voice”. It’s not an easy task to do in our impatient world, but we need to slow down. We need to turn the radio or TV or iphone6 off so that we can be still; so that we can listen for the Lord’s voice.

 

What was the outcome for David in waiting patiently?

“Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
    it is written about me in the scroll.
I desire to do your will, my God;
    your law is within my heart.”

 

The Lord wants our heart. He wants our mind. He wants our soul. If we are willing to learn to wait patiently on Him, we just might be able to experience intimacy with the Lord that has no rivals.

 

Eeyore or Tigger?

Numbers 14:1-9

Who’s your favorite: Eeyore or Tigger?

 

Have you ever noticed that there are two kinds of people in the world? One sees everything as half empty and the other as half full. In Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore is a half empty kind of guy: “It’s not much of a tail but I’m sort of attached to it”. While Tigger is always bouncing around: “Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! I almost bounced clear outta the book!”

 

In today’s passage the Israelites are half empty as they respond in despair to the report concerning the Promised Land: “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?” Sort of sounds like Eeyore doesn’t it?

 

While Joshua and Caleb are half full kind of guys: “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.”  Do you feel like bouncing with Tigger?

 

How did the other ten spies explore the same land as Joshua and Caleb but came to the totally opposite conclusion? The answer is in the last statement in today’s passage. “The Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them”.

 

There are many examples in the Bible of people who believed and trusted that God would be with them in difficult, if not impossible situations. Moses ran away from Egypt and Gideon was hiding in a winepress when God promised each of them, “I will be with you”. The same promise is true for you and me.

 

Eeyore and Tigger are make believe characters from a fictional children’s book, but they have human traits. Traits that can be seen in people throughout the Bible. Traits that we can see in ourselves.

 

Are you more like Eeyore or Tigger? Or a better question to ask is this; do you see God at work in your life or do you only see the obstacles? Like the Israelites, do you ask God why, or like Joshua and Caleb do you ask God why not?