Psalm 62

Only God can save me,

   and I calmly wait for him.  

 God alone is the mighty rock 

that keeps me safe

   and the fortress

   where I am secure. 

    I feel like a shaky fence

   or a sagging wall.

   How long will all of you

   attack and assault me?

   You want to bring me down

   from my place of honor.

   You love to tell lies,

   and when your words are kind,

   hatred hides in your heart. 

  Only God gives inward peace,

   and I depend on him.

  God alone is the mighty rock

   that keeps me safe,

   and he is the fortress

   where I feel secure.

   God saves me and honors me.

   He is that mighty rock

   where I find safety. 

 Trust God, my friends,

   and always tell him

   each one of your concerns.

   God is our place of safety. 

    We humans are only a breath;

   none of us are truly great.

   All of us together weigh less

   than a puff of air.

   Don't trust in violence

   or depend on dishonesty

   or rely on great wealth.

  I heard God say two things:

   "I am powerful,

 and I am very kind."

   The Lord rewards each of us

   according to what we do. 

Psalm 62 cev

THIS I call to mind

Just thinking of my troubles

and my lonely wandering

makes me miserable.

That's all I ever think about,

and I am depressed.

Lamentations 3:19-20 cev

•

I rehearse it over and over—

my troubles

my complaints

the worries run circles.

Darkness falls.

Yes, it is bad.

It is all I see.

I am sinking.

But there's one other thing I remember,
   and remembering, I keep a grip on hope: 

Lamentations 3:21 msg

In the midst of the 

whirling of my mind

I stop and choose to 

look up.

•

The LORD's kindness never fails!

   If He had not been merciful,

   we would have been destroyed. 

 The LORD can always be trusted

   to show mercy each morning.

    Deep in my heart I say,

   "The LORD is all I need;

   I can depend on him!"

Lamentations 3:22-24 cev 

Shhhh! Quiet down, you crazy thoughts!

Remember what is true!

God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
   to the woman who diligently seeks.
It's a good thing to quietly hope,
   quietly hope for help from God.
It's a good thing when you're young
   to stick it out through the hard times.

When life is heavy and hard to take,
   go off by yourself. Enter the silence.
Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions:
   Wait for hope to appear.
Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face.
   The "worst" is never the worst. 

Lamentations 3:25-30 msg

Instead, we should think

   about the way we are living,

   and turn back to the LORD.

   When we lift our hands

   in prayer to God in heaven,

   we should offer him our hearts 

Lamentations 3:40-41 cev

From the bottom of the pit,

I prayed to you, LORD.

I begged you to listen.

"Help!" I shouted. "Save me!"

You answered my prayer

and came when I was in need.

   You told me, "Don't worry!"

You rescued me

and saved my life.

You saw them abuse me, LORD,

so make things right.

Lamentations 3:55-59 cev

 

Lift High Your Hands

"Your prophets courted you with sweet talk.

They didn't face you with your sin so that you could repent.

Their sermons were all wishful thinking, deceptive illusions."

"God did carry out, item by item, exactly what He said He'd do. 

He always said He's do this.

Now He's done it — torn the place down.

He's let your enemies walk all over you,

declared them world champions!"

Lamentations 2: 14, 17 msg

•

You are faithful.

You do what You say You will do.

I can trust You, 

because you never change.

You are pure and holy.

Righteous.

Spotless.

You cannot tolerate sin.

Ignoring it, does not work,

entertaining it,

reveling in it,

giving sin free reign destroys.

Serpentine tongues 

paint pretty pie in the sky pictures

turning my head

teasing me with promises of pleasure,

fulfillment, freedom.

Lies

You are the Source of Truth.

Your way is narrow,

leading me up to You.

•

"Give out heart-cries to the Master, dear repentant Zion.

Let the tears roll like a river, day and night,

and keep at it — no time outs.

Keep those tears flowing!"

"As each night watch begins, get up and cry out in prayer.

Pour your heart out face to face with the Master.

Lift high your hands. 

Beg for the lives of your children

who are starving to death out in the streets."

Lamentations 2:18-19 msg

•

You call me to come.

Turning to You 

away from my sin

I leave my filthy rags beind.

Learning from God-of-the-Angel-Armies

Listen to me now.
   Give me your closest attention.
Do farmers plow and plow and do nothing but plow?
   Or harrow and harrow and do nothing but harrow?
After they've prepared the ground, don't they plant?
   Don't they scatter dill and spread cumin,
Plant wheat and barley in the fields
   and raspberries along the borders?
They know exactly what to do and when to do it.
   Their God is their teacher.

And at the harvest, the delicate herbs and spices,
   the dill and cumin, are treated delicately.
On the other hand, wheat is threshed and milled, but still not endlessly.
   The farmer knows how to treat each kind of grain.
He's learned it all from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
   who knows everything about when and how and where. 

Isaiah 28:23-29 msg

 

The ground You have given me to work

is not mere soil, of earth — 

the ground I work is fleshy,

found deep within the hearts 

of these precious ones You have given me.

You have given me these hearts

to plow and break up,

to sow and to tend,

and to one day see a harvest.

Each heart is home to different seed.

Each needs different care.

Some must be treated with such tender, tender care.

Sheltered in the shade, until they are ready 

to face the sun.

Others are more hardy, 

growing quickly, without much effort,

ready to sprout up and thrive in the sun. 

 

Each soil, each seed needs tending,

needs water, food, light.

Teach me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

Show me how to care for each heart,

Gardener of Eden.

 

Thank You that You know 

everything about 

when and how and where.

 

Learning to Appreciate the Gift of Weakness

Because of the extravagance of those revelations, 

and so I wouldn't get a big head, 

I was given the gift of a handicap 

to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. 

Satan's angel did his best to get me down; 

what he in fact did was push me to my knees. 

No danger then of walking around high and mighty! 

At first I didn't think of it as a gift, 

and begged God to remove it. 

Three times I did that, and then he told me,

   My grace is enough; it's all you need.
   My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. 

I quit focusing on the handicap 

and began appreciating the gift. 

It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. 

Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, 

these limitations that cut me down to size—

abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. 

I just let Christ take over! 

And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become. 

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 msg 

Every day bits of it is revealed.

Some days more than others.

Too often I fight it.

I don't want it.

As I come before You

asking You to take it from me,

You whisper a sweet secret to my heart.

This is how your life can have more of Me.

This is a gift. 

This ties your heart to mine in a way

nothing else can.

Embrace weakness. 

Embrace me.

Your weakness draws you to me,

your guard drops down

allowing me to work —

to be strong in you.

Come to Me.

Capturing Thoughts

We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. 

We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, 

to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning 

and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle 

that keeps people from knowing God. 

We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 nlt 

•

They come trickling in,

day after day.

Thoughts.

Who are they from?

Are they true?

Whose voice am I listening to?

Even if I do not engage them,

even when I shoo them off,

the lies do damage.

Wearing down the truth, belief, trust —

just like water on a rock.

This is a battle.

 

If I choose to sit on the sidelines,

damage is done. 

Freedom is lost, bit by bit.

I have been given weapons to fight —

not as the world fights —

but to battle for truth.

The battle is against the lies.

Each and every thought that is a lie

must be taken captive.

For the truth sets me free.

 

And that about wraps it up. 

God is strong, and he wants you strong. 

So take everything the Master has set out for you, 

well-made weapons of the best materials. 

And put them to use so you will be able to stand up 

to everything the Devil throws your way. 

This is no afternoon athletic contest 

that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. 

This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight 

to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. 

 Be prepared. You're up against far more 
than you can handle on your own. 
Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, 
so that when it's all over but the shouting 
you'll still be on your feet. 
Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, 
and salvation are more than words. 
Learn how to apply them. 
You'll need them throughout your life. 
God's Word is an indispensable weapon. 
In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. 
Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. 
Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up 
so that no one falls behind or drops out. 

Ephesians 6:10-18 msg

"If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, 
you are my disciples for sure. 
Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, 
and the truth will free you." 

John 8:32 msg

1DAE039D-D08B-DABF-B4B3-FE34A9DF65E0

1.02.28

Giving Myself Unreservedly

The trial exposed their true colors:

They were incredibly happy, though desperately poor.

The pressure triggered something totally unexpected:

an outpouring of pure and generous gifts.

I was there and saw it for myself. 

They gave offerings of whatever they could —

far more than they could afford! —

pleading for the privilege of helping out

in the relief of poor Christians.

This was totally spontaneous, entirely their

own idea, and caught us completely off guard.

What explains it was that they had first 

given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. 

The other giving simply flowed out of the 

purposes of God working in their lives.

2 Corinthians 8:3-5 msg

•

When a believer gives all they have

to God, they are putting their full trust in Him.

Whatever He asks, they do

knowing full well that they can trust Him.

He will provide all that we need.

Love

Time

Money

Energy

Creativity

Whatever we need to fulfill the task, 

He will provide.

God is my Father, 

I know that He loves me,

and because He loves me,

I know that I can trust Him.

Lord, help me to always live and respond

in the knowledge of Your love; 

being willing to quickly obey all that You ask me 

to do, knowing that because You love me,

I can trust You.

1DAE039D-D08B-DABF-B4B3-FE34A9DF65E0

1.02.28