His Good

What if we were allowed to design our own lives, a buffet of options from which to choose circumstances and material possessions ... could we really be trusted to do that wisely? I can only speak for myself, of course, but I am neither wise enough nor trustworthy enough! David wrote in Psalm 103:2 & 5 (KJV), "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits ... Who satisfies my mouth with good things, so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's." That word "good" is the tumper because our idea of "good" is very different from God's! The Hebrew word means "pleasant to the higher nature, appropriate." We have this foolish notion that God is more concerned with our earthly happiness than our spiritual healthiness ... wrong! "Jesus opened His mouth, and taught them, saying, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'" (Matthew 5:2-3, KJV). The richest of spiritual lives are those who are the most spiritually impoverished, poor, literal paupers before God. "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you." (James 4:10, ESV). God knows what is best for me and for you, and He is most wise and altogether able to supply every need according to His purpose and plan for today, tomorrow and every day until He returns. My good, your good is His greatest delight; let's open our hearts and gratefully receive ... His good.

Holy Habits

Habits - we all have them. Not all habits are bad, however, when we say we "have a habit," it typically brings to mind ... bad habits. By definition, a habit refers to the frequent repetition or continuance of the same act (Webster's Dictionary, 1828). I suggest many of our habits are done with little thought. There are some habits to which we should be attentive and apply great deliberation - quiet time with God, for example. This is one habit none of us will be naturally driven to do! Psalm 27:8 (ESV) says, "You have said, 'Seek my face.' My heart says to you, 'Your face, Lord, do I seek.'" This is an example of God telling us what should be a habit for each of His children: stop whatever is occupying your time and seek Me! Note the response: yes, Lord, I will do just that - I will seek You. Is this a habit for you? Make a list of your habits - Look it over carefully. If time with God isn't on your list of habits, begin today and make it a ... holy habit.

Consider the Source

Behind my childhood home was the "appliance" that had no bearing on our electric bill nor did it ever break down: the clothes line. I was actually very familiar with how it worked, too! Perhaps you can remember the joy of crawling into bed and the feel of clean, line-dried sheets ... nothing like it. As I recall those days, I also remember right next to the clothes line was a pig wallow (more accurately pronounced "waller). Oh, how those pigs loved to roll-around (waller) in that mud hole; and, the stench was horrible. There was no escaping the odor as long as the clothes line and the wallow shared space. There's a spiritual lesson for us, something well worth our consideration ... that is, if we desire holiness. After David's most famously recorded sin, God confronted him and David acknowledged his sin; his prayer is profound, "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin ... Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." (Psalm 51:2,7, NASB). Noah Webster defines "wallow" as living in filth "as a man wallowing in his native impurity" (Webster's Dictionary, 1828). Our natural impurity is a terrible place in which our hearts should wallow! The stench of it is never contained: it overflows into our attitudes, our speech, our behavior. We must pray like David, "create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me" (V.10). Honestly, I don't recall those line-dried sheets having an unpleasant odor; that is not the way of the heart, however. Pay attention and carefully tend the heart because from it flows all that is life lives (Proverbs 4:23). The heart is the source of who we are ... consider the source.

Your Days

It's been said that each new day is like an unpainted canvas or a blank piece of paper; the day yet unpainted or unwritten. As sweet and inspiring as that may be, God says: "I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.'" (Jeremiah 29:11, NASB). How well thought-out are the plans we have or make for each day? For sure, we hope and pray for a calamity-free day but we - with our very best planning and efforts - cannot guarantee it. Jeremiah's words from God were to the Israelites who were in Babylonian captivity; most likely, they felt they had no say-so nor control over their days. Although we foolishly imagine we do, truth is - ultimately, neither do we! The older-me has come to understand each day is a magnificent gift of God, and each day is determined by God "according to the purpose of Him Who works all things according to the counsel of His will" (Ephesians 1:11, ESV). Here's the question for you and for me: how well do I trust The One Who is really in-charge of the universe, the world, my life ... all things? Let me testify with complete confidence, He is the only one I can truly trust with my days. He is not surprised when calamity comes; He is still at-work and bringing about His plans through it to shape me by His standards of prosperity and success. That is something I can never do, but He can and does. Why not trust Him with ... your days.

Gather My Heart

We can't time-travel, of course, but if we could, there is a gathering recorded in Scripture I would like to be part of. "Then all the people gathered together as one man at the open square in front of the Water Gate; and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses which the LORD had given to Israel ... So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men, women and all who could listen with understanding ... then he read from it ... from early morning until midday ... and all the people listened carefully ... Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people ... and when he opened it, all the people stood up ... Then Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God ... And all the people answered, 'Amen, Amen!' while lifting up their hands; and they knelt down and worshiped the LORD with their faces toward the ground." (from Nehemiah 8, AMP). How wonderful that gathering must have been - to hear the Word of God read, and how it moved the hearts of God's people. I'm deeply convicted of the neglect of my heart to read for myself God's Word, to carefully listen with understanding, to meditate morning into evening, to bless the LORD, to answer Him "so be it LORD" in my life, to lift my hands in praise and adoration, to bow head and heart to The Holy One Who loves me so. What a pleasing assembly and fragrant aroma to The LORD this must have been. We can't travel to the days of Ezra and Nehemiah but such love for Christ can and must be in the hearts of His people today. In the same way, O Father, unto You ... gather my heart.