A Babys Hug This is worth the read!

We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly sitting and talking. Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, 'Hi.' He pounded his fat baby hands on the high chair tray. His eyes were crinkled in laughter and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin, as he wriggled and giggled with merriment.

I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man whose pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and his nose was so varicose it looked like a road map.

We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled.. His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists. 'Hi there, baby; hi there, big boy. I see ya, buster,' the man said to Erik.

My husband and I exchanged looks,
'What do we do?'

Erik continued to laugh and answer, 'Hi.'

Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby. Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, 'Do ya patty cake? Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek- a-boo.'

Nobody thought the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk.

My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence; all except for Erik, who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments.

We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot. The old man sat poised between me and the door. 'Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or Erik,' I prayed. As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back trying to sidestep him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby's 'pick-me-up' position. Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms to the man.
Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young baby consummated their love and kinship. Erik in an act of total trust, love, and submission laid his tiny head upon the man's ragged shoulder. The man's eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime, pain, and hard labor, cradled my baby's bottom and stroked his back. No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time.

I stood awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms and his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, 'You take care of this baby.'

Somehow I managed, 'I will,' from a throat that contained a stone.

He pried Erik from his chest, lovingly and longingly, as though he were in pain. I received my baby, and the man said, 'God bless you, ma'am, you've given me my Christmas gift.'

I said nothing more than a muttered thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was saying, 'My God, my God, forgive me.'

I had just witnessed Christ's love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes. I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not. I felt it was God asking, 'Are you willing to share your son for a moment?' when He shared His for all eternity. How did God feel when he put his baby in our arms 2000 years ago.

The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me, 'To enter the Kingdom of God , we must become as little children.'

If this has blessed you, please bless others by sending it on. Sometimes, it takes a child to remind us of what is really important. We must always remember who we are, where we came from and, most importantly, how we feel about others. The clothes on your back or the car that you drive or the house that you live in does not define you at all; it is how you treat your fellow man that identifies who you are.

This one is a keeper.

A New Song Psalm 96:1

1O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.



Worship is a wonderful experience. To come to know God is the foundation of faith. Faith is believing that God is everything He says He is and that He will do everything that He says He will do. Worship is knowing Who God is and giving Him what He wants. Everyday that we live our lives in faith, trusting Him because of Who He is and What He wants to do in our lives, we worship Him. Worship is the expression of our faith. Every day that we live for Him, ought to be sweeter than the day before.

David tells us to sing unto the Lord. But, we are not to sing just any old song but rather a new song. Our worship is to be fresh and new because our experience of faith with the Lord is fresh and new. As we learn to walk with Him in absolute and uncompromising obedience, we will begin to experience God in ways that we could never imagine. The new song that David is referring to is a new and fresh testimony to what God is doing in our lives.

We are to worship Him in a new and vibrant way because He is doing a fresh work in our lives on a daily basis. God wants us to sing a new song. He wants our walk with Him to be fresh and new every day. He wants us to experience Him in new ways and enjoy the benefits of walking with Him.

If we could only trust Him enough to live our lives in His care and according to His instruction, we would discover a quality of life that is beyond our imagination. Hollywood cannot begin to compare with the joy and the happiness that a life surrendered to God would bring. Just imagine for a moment, how wonderful it would be to sing a new song because of God's goodness and His glory shining through in our lives. It is indeed amazing what God can and will do for us if we will just let Him.

Let go and let God have His way in your heart and in your life and sing that new song today!

Seeing is Not Believing Psalm 95:10

10Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:


The children of Israel saw God's mighty hand at work in Egypt and in the Exodus. However, they refused to see God in His potential through faith. They refused to trust Him in the days ahead even though they had experienced His power and provisions in the past. They erred in their heart, David wrote. The Children of Israel wanted to go back to Egypt. They wanted to go back to the bondage of sin that they were used to instead of forging forward in the power and presence of God.

Notice David says, "they saw My work" and then he wrote, "they have not known my ways." There is a difference between seeing God's work and believing God. Remembering the definition of faith, that faith is believing that God is everything He says He is and that He will do everything that He says He will do, God expects us to notice all that He is doing and has done so He can do even more things with us and for us. He wants us to see His mighty hand at work and He wants us to trust Him and walk in obedience to Him so He can continue to bless us.

We are too much like the children of Israel. We err in our hearts much like they did. We see the mighty hand of God and then just a short time later, we are right back in that same ole sin. We fail to "know His ways." To know His ways is to walk with Him in obedience and faith. To know His way is to trust Him because of all the He has already done for us. If we will allow Him to be God in our lives, He will continue to bless our lives and make our lives their absolute best!

Let us commit ourselves to seeing His work and knowing His ways!

Hear Him Today Psalm 95:7

7For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,



We are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. He is our God and we are His people. His pasture is green and plenteous and His hand is both sure and strong. God is responsible for our lives. We are to hear His voice and we are to heed His voice. Sheep respond to the voice of their shepherd. They hear his voice and they know it and they follow that voice. God's voice is to be a familiar voice to us. We are to hear His voice and we are to follow His voice.

David give us a word of warning as he writes, "8Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9When your fathers tempted me, proved me." The day of provocation was a day when the children of Israel murmured and complained about not having water to drink when God had led then out of the evil hands of Pharaoh. God led the through the Red Sea; He had sent plagues on Pharaoh; He had delivered them from the death angel. God had fed them and given them water to drink every day that they had been in the wilderness and they still grumbled and complained at Moses as if God was not taking care of them, as He should have been.

As result of their complaining and disobedience, God caused them to wonder in the wilderness for 40 years until every adult make over the age of 12 died in the wilderness, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. He did not want their disobedience to follow them into the land of promise. God does not like our disobedience today any more than He did then. I wonder how many people's lives are being held back in the wilderness because of their disobedience and the blessings of God are only a short trip away.

Just like the children of Israel, we have seen God's work. We know that He is capable of doing great and wonderful things. We know that His strong hand is there to provide for us as well as protect us. So, why would we choose any other direction than that the Lord has for us? Why would we even try to tempt the Lord in any way by refusing to be obedient to Him?

There is hope in this passage of scripture. The invitation to hear Him and heed Him is "today". When we make the decision to heed His instruction, the direction of our lives changes, immediately and that change is for the best every single time.

Rock of Our Salvation Psalm 95:1

1O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.



David refers to God as the Rock of our Salvation. He is not only our Creator; He is the solid rock foundation for our lives. As a child of God, Jesus is the Solid Rock upon which we are to stand. It is His gift at Calvary that secured our salvation and is our hope for the future. David wrote this before Jesus went to the cross. So what is it that David was trying to say to the people of his day?

God is the creator of life and He is the sustainer of life. Life began in Him and it continues to exist in Him. Not only is He the creator and sustainer of life, He is the source of life. Life has two aspects. First there is the quantitative aspect of life, which involves time. Life is a matter of time and existence. The second aspect of life is the qualitative aspect, which takes up time but has to do more with the quality of life that we experience. When David wrote that we must make a joyful noise to the Rock of our Salvation, he was referring to the God of the quality of life.

Jesus said, "I am come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly." As the Rock of our Salvation, God is the provider of our blessings, which enhance the quality of life as He originally planned for our lives to be. God wants our lives to be filled to overflowing. He wants us to experience life in all of its fullness. He does not want us to miss out on anything!

David wrote, "We are the sheep of His pastures." God wants to lead us and guide us to the green pastures where His abundant blessings can be found. He and He alone is the source of direction that we need. When we look to the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, we look away from His direction to follow the lure of the world that make great promises but never delivers. God is indeed the Great Shepherd.

His hand leads us, as Christians, into the green pastures. By Him we are protected and well provided for; to His honor and service we are entirely devoted as a peculiar people. We must therefore, seek to give Him glory and honor as we live our lives each and every day in the decisions that we make, one decision at a time.

He is indeed the Rock of our Salvation!

Sing a Joyful Noise Psalm 95:1

1O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.


David calls God the "Rock of our Salvation". He writes that we are to make a joyful noise to the Rock of our Salvation. God deserves our devotion and our dedication. He deserves to be the object of our praise and our thanksgiving. God has indeed done great and wonderful things for us.

Notice David says, "Come let us sing unto the Lord". This is an invitation, not a command. David is not saying that we should sing unto the Lord but rather come and join him in singing unto the Lord together. The issue of not coming together to sing unto the Lord is not even a question in the writers mind. The matter of worshipping God is not an option; the only question is where and when and with whom we choose to worship Him.

We are to make a joyful noise unto the Lord. God's delight is in the joyful and not the noise. Perhaps the most significant element missing in our worship services today is the "joyful" aspect of coming to God. So many times we come to the Lord out of duty or obligation. We mean well and our intentions are good but we fail to come to Him joyfully and as a result, we fail to worship Him and we miss out on the blessings that He has for us.

It does not matter what we do for God, we need to make sure we come to Him first and that will give us the joy that we need to find Him. We need to learn to seek His face instead of His hands. We need to learn to come to Him for Who He is and what HE has already done for us instead of what He can do for us. When we come to God and make a joyful noise unto Him, we will find God's joy becomes full and His joy overflows over into our lives and makes our lives all the more special and blessed!

God is interested in the joyful noise and the joyful giving to Him. It does not matter what we give to Him as long as it is our best both in our effort and in our motive. Story is told of a famous orator who was called to read Psalm 23. He came and so eloquently read the words, enunciating every syllable and so eloquently pronouncing every word. The audience sat quietly and heard every word and applauded his effort. An elderly man then stood up from the crowd and walked to the stage and asked if he could recite the same text. Reluctantly he was allowed to speak. His speech was slow and his grammar broken but when he finished there was not a dry eye in the house. Everyone stood on their feet applauding the old man's rendition that had been read just a few minutes earlier.

The orator was overcome by the response. He was the expert. This was His performance. Why was the crowd's response so overwhelmingly in favor of this inexperienced old man? The shows director stood crying and this was his answer, "You mastered the text; He knew the Master of the text."

Make a joyful noise to the Lord today. Let Him know that He is the Master of your life. Give Him your best so He can give you His best.

Thanksgiving in our Heart Psalms 95:1

1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.


Come let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout to the Rock of our salvation. When is the last time that you had a song in your heart because you had been alone with God?

When is the last time that you came to God with thanksgiving in your heart? Thanksgiving is a gauge that tells us just how important God really is in our lives. The more thankful we are to God, the closer we come to Him and the more He is able to be at work in our lives, which brings us more blessings, which should make us more thankful. The more thankful we are, the more God is able to do for us, which makes us that much more thankful which brings us even more blessings and we find ourselves in an endless cycle of blessing God and being a blessing to God and getting blessings from God! Glory to God that is enough to make a backslidden Baptist shout!

God is the creator of all that we have and all that we are. We need to come to Him and worship Him and bow down before Him so that He can be our God and we can be His people! We need to let God be God in our lives! What a difference He can and will make in our lives if we will just give Him the opportunity to do so, today!

Remember, worship is knowing Who God is and giving Him what He wants. God wants us to be a blessing to us. He wants us to know the joy of His salvation. He wants us to know the fullness of His provisions and His power in His presence in our lives. As He is able to bless us, His joy is made full. God notices us when we come before Him and we bow down and we worship Him. That is good. The thing that God is most interested in is our coming to Him in obedience and living for Him. When we do that, we really worship Him and allow Him to be God in our lives, which is all that He wants from us in the first place.

Let's just praise the Lord today and live for Him one decision at a time.

Be Wise Psalms 94:8

8 Understand, you senseless among the people; And you fools, when will you be wise?


Imagine how patient God must be with us! Here David is speaking to two groups of people, which include us all at times. He is addressing those who are senseless and those who are fools and the question to both is "when will you be wise?" David might have written this verse to go something like this: "You who refuse to listen to the voice of God and you who refuse to even acknowledge God at all, when are you going to wake up to the truth?"

God created our ears and our eyes for a purpose; we are to hear God and see Him at work in our lives and in the lives of those around us. God knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile, pointless, wasteful, ineffective and in vain. We do not know what we need. We do not know where we should go and until we are willing to understand that and look to God for His leadership and guidance, nothing is ever going to change in our lives! When are we going to wake up and be wise? Wisdom is knowing what to do and then doing it!

Most of us know what we need to be do and we do know what we do not need to be doing! Where we fail most miserably is not doing what we know we should do and then by doing what we know we shouldn't be doing. Most of us live our lives in this senseless routine.

It is one thing to be driving somewhere and make a wrong turn. It is another to keep on going in that direction knowing all along that you are headed in the wrong direction. God is speaking to us all through the hand of David as He asks us the question: "when are you going to be wise; when are you going to wake up; when are you going to start going in the right direction with your lives?"

You cannot get where you want to be in life when you are headed in the wrong direction. Failing to live your life as God directs you is like driving 1000 miles without a compass or a road map. The Bible is our road map; The Holy Spirit is like a built-in GPS unit. God will even be our driver if we will allow Him to be! I remember a bumper sticker that said, "God is my Co-Pilot." Friend listen, "If God is your Co-pilot" then change seats! Let's change seats and leave the driving to the Lord!

Lovingkindness and Faith Psalm 92:1

1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: 2To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,



It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises to His name. When we take the time to thank God for all that He has done, two things happen. First of all, we acknowledge God for all the good He has done in our lives. The second aspect of thanksgiving is that it opens the door for God to bless us even more. As we are thankful, He is able to do even more for us, which gives us reason to be more thankful.

David makes a statement that deserves our full attention. He writes that we are to "show forth our loving kindness in the morning and our faithfulness every night." When we look to the Lord in the morning, our day has a better chance of being characterized by faithfulness at the end of the day. in fact, the only way we can find faithfulness in our lives is to start our day in the right way. The truth is there is no better way to live our lives than by walking with God, in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening.

God wants our lives to be filled with His loving kindness. He wants us to be all that He has created us to be. He knows what we need and He knows what it is going to take to make our lives complete. The only real joy in life comes when we allow His will and His way to be our way. There can be no exceptions. When we refuse to follow His leadership and His guide, we lose and our lives suffer. God wants us to look to Him and allow His loving kindness to make a difference in the choices we make in our daily lives. When we do, He is able to direct our steps and guide our lives and make our lives all that He wants them to be.

Faith is believing that God is everything that He says He is and that He will do everything that He says He will do. His loving kindness toward us proves His involvement in our lives, giving us every reason to trust Him. Look to His loving kindness in the morning. Live for Him as your day unfolds.

The Way of His Steps Psalm 85:13

13Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.



God's mercy is extended every time He chooses not to give us what we deserve. Truth comes from God as well. It is God who establishes truth. God sets the standard to which everything evolves and exists. When we as God's children follow His truth, righteousness and peace follow. Truth David writes comes up from the earth and righteousness comes down from heaven. When we surrender our will to His will, His righteousness overshadows us and our lives are blessed indeed.

God wants to bless us and give us all that He has planned for us, which is good. He wants our lives to be filled to overflowing. He wants us to be blessed and happy and He wants our hearts to be full of joy and peace. God wants to bless our communities and our churches as well as our nation. Mercy comes down from heaven and truth goes up to heaven. When we as a people reach up to God, He is able to reach down to us. God wants to bless America. He wants to set us "in His way."

We have to be willing to stand for the truth of God's Word. We do not have to force others to accept that truth, but it is time for us as individuals to stand for the truth as found in the Word of God so the righteousness of God will come down upon us and our land will once again yield her increase.

The desire of God's heart is that we surrender our lives to His will and allow Him to do for us, as He so much wants to do. If we will just allow Him to bless us, He will do so exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever ask or hope for! He will set us in the way of His steps. There is no better place that we can be in at any given time in our lives, than in the steps that He has set for us. When we are in those steps, we will experience the abundant blessings of God. Life cannot get any better than that.

Prepare for God's Best Psalms 84:11

11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly. 12 O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!


David knew the heart of God. He knew that God had great plans for his life. He knew the blessings that God had in store for him were so much better than what the world had to offer. Listen to him as he says, a day in God's court was better than a thousand anywhere else. Imagine being willing to trade one day for two and a half years somewhere else! David knew God's plans and provisions were so much better than anything that the world would ever have to offer.

David goes on to say that he would rather be a doorkeeper in the House of God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked. God will not withhold any good thing from those who walk with Him. Blessed is the man who trusts in God! True happiness does not come in the way that we wish it would. Life is a paradox. The more we give the more we receive. As we surrender our will to His will, the more freedom we experience. Every aspect of life is that way! An athlete sacrifices his body and his time to discipline, which helps him become the best he can be. Students sacrifice their time and energy to studies to excel in their chosen field. People sacrifice their wants and wishes to go to work so they can then have some of the things that they want to have.

God's plan is simple. He is life. He knows what is best for our lives. He knows that life is what He has planned for us. God knows that the world offers a lot of distractions. The devil is not interested in the quality of our lives. When we listen to his lies and we choose his way over God's way, we lose! God loses. Everybody loses! The man who trusts God is the man who truly experiences real happiness.

It is foolish to think that God would love us so much that He would give the life of His Son and then refuse to give us everything else that He has planned for us! All that He wants from us is our trust in Him as we are obedient to Him. When we give our life to Him, He is able to give His life to us! When we give our best to God, He is able to give His best to us and that trade off is remarkably in our favor!

God Still Forgives Psalm 78:38

38But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not:



David went on to write, "40How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! 41Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. 42They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. 43How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan: " " 51And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham: 52But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. 53And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. 54And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased. 55He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. 56Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:

Take a minute a read the passages again.

The Israelites experienced the power of God's presence and His provisions but they refused to be obedient to His will. They knew His goodness but refused to allow His will to direct their lives. He punished them and they sought Him and He forgave them and restored them and they strayed again. One would think that they would remember the plagues in Egypt and the exodus and the parting of the Red Sea and the manna to eat and the water to drink while they were in the wilderness. However, they did not remember and they did not surrender their lives to the Lord's leadership and lordship.

Not much has changed. We have the same stories that they did. Sure we did not see the waters part nor did we taste the manna but look at all the blessings that God has given to us in our own lives that are just as miraculous for us as they were for the children Israel. Israel did not have the cross, which we have. They did not have the Holy Spirit living in their hearts but we do and just as they had no reason whatsoever not to walk with God, neither do we.

We have no reason whatsoever! We have the opportunity to walk with God and talk with Him and allow Him to lead our every decision and guide us and protect us and all we have to do is do it! There is absolutely no reason whatsoever that we should not give God our all. He has given His very best so that He can continue to give us His best and all we have to do is follow His guidance and leadership!

God wants to shower us as we allow Him to do so. Obedience is the key to the blessings that God has in store for us. God is still in the forgiving business.

Trust God From My Youth Psalm 71:5



4Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. 5For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth



Life has its ups and downs. Many of those downs are the result of poor decisions that we have made in the past. When we trust the Lord, we put ourselves in a better position to avoid many of the poor decisions that affect our lives so pitifully. David prays that the Lord would deliver him and help him to escape and save him. He prays, "Be my strong habitation whereunto I may continually resort." God wants to be our strong habitation. He wants us to lean on Him and build our lives on Him and His perfect will for our lives. When we are willing to do that and live our lives by His direction, He is able to deliver us from many of the troubles and the difficulties that surround us.

You see, not only can God correct whatever is wrong with our lives; He can help us avoid the pitfalls that are the result of decisions that we should not make in the first place. When we make the right choices, we do not have to suffer the consequences of bad decisions but enjoy the fruits of the good decisions. God is indeed our hope.

David writes, "For You are my hope, O Lord God; Thou art my trust from my youth." David knew the Lord from his youth up. While he walked with the Lord and he was a man after God's own heart, David made some terrible mistakes in his life. However, it was what he learned about God in his youth that proved to be the answer to the problems that he faced. The foundation that the Lord can build our lives on does work. Sometimes, the road may seem rough and rocky. It may seem that there is no way out for a situation that we may be facing but what we learned from our youth up about God will make a difference in our lives and the lives of our children.

The sooner we make God our hope, the sooner we will find life really worth the living and full and meaningful to us and to those that we love and care for so much. We need to trust God today. Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. We need to live it for the Lord and His pleasure, which becomes our pleasure!

Thanksgiving and Blessing Psalm 69:30

30I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.


David says, "I will praise the Name of God with a song and will magnify Him with thanksgiving." David knew the goodness of God in his life. He was thankful for all that God had done in his life and He wanted to be thankful to God for everything God had done for him. There are a lot of things that we cannot do because of a lack of talent or opportunity or even because of finances. There is one things that we have no excuse for and that is to fail to be thankful. If God never did anything else for us but forgive us of our sin debt and give us eternal life we should be forever grateful to Him.

God gave His Son so that we could be forgiven but also so that we could have life and have it more abundantly. God's goal is to bless us to the point that our lives are so full that the rest of the world would look at us and want to look to God so that He could do for then as He has done for us.

Notice David's comment, "This shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock" or hundreds of dollars in the offering plate or hours spent singing in the choir or teaching in the Sunday School. God is interested in our attitude and our relationship with Him. He wants us to look to Him for direction and then follow that direction so He can bless us and make us a blessing to others. When we come to Him in thanksgiving it opens the windows of heaven for Him to bless us even more, which should make us even more thankful, which gives Him the opportunity to bless us even more!

All God wants is to shelter and shape our lives so that our lives become their absolute best. Nothing pleases the Lord more than the opportunity to bless us and His blessings come when we are thankful to Him for all that He has done and all that He has planned to do for us.

Grace and Mercy Psalm 67:1

1 God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah. 2That thy way may be known upon earth,



God's mercy is forever with us. His blessing is ours even though we do not deserve it. What is the difference between God's mercy and His grace? How would you define "grace" or "mercy"? I heard someone define Grace and mercy this way: "God's grace is Him giving us what we do not deserve while His mercy is Him not giving us what we do deserve." We deserve death and His wrath but because of His love for us, He does not give us what we deserve but gives us what we do not deserve as He constantly blesses our lives.

David writes, "and cause His face to shine on us." When God is able to shower us with His blessings, His face shines brightly, which is a picture of the glory of God. God's whole purpose in creating us is to be able to bless us so that our lives can be their absolute best. God is blessed and we become a blessing to the rest of the world and then His way is revealed to the rest of the world.

Life is God's design. We are His handiwork. When He is able to bless us, He rejoices and His joy is made full. Others are able to see His ways in us and this helps them look to Him to bless their lives. God wants to see us happy and our lives filled to overflowing. He has the grace and mercy to accomplish that task.

Iniquity in My Heart Psalms 66:18

18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. 19But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me!



David learned a valuable aspect concerning God's character. When we allow temptation to become sin, God does not hear us. David is talking about prayer but he knows that this applies to every aspect of his life as well. It is vitally important for us to understand why God does not hear us.

When we regard iniquity in our hearts, or allow sin to come into our lives, we choose our way over God's way. When we allow sin to take hold of our lives, we say to God, "I know what I want for my life and I do not want what You have planned for me." When we allow sin to come into our lives, we limit God's ability to provide for us.

David says, "I will go to the House of the Lord and give my burnt offerings. I will pay my vows. I will give testimony to the great things that You have done." This is great! However, if we are not willing to surrender control of our lives to Him, and live for Him one decision at a time, we rob God of the opportunity to be God in our lives. Not only does this affect Him and the joy that He gets in doing for us, it affects the quality of our lives. We rob ourselves of the blessing that God has for us. We also rob God of the opportunity to touch someone's life through us.

When we regard iniquity in our heart, God is not able to hear us or help us. We need to learn to guard our hearts and be committed to being all that God would have us be so that He can do all that He has planned to do for us. When we make the commitment to walk with Him without compromise and without excuse, God is able to hear our prayer and He is able to bless us because His mercy is so wonderful and so great! Give God's way a chance and watch His mighty hand go to work in your life today!

Better than Life Psalm 63:5

3Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.



David knew the love of God. He knew how much his life had been impacted by God's love. In fact, life to David was nothing without God's loving kindness. It is what God does for us that makes our lives all that they were created to be. He is the source of life. It is what He does for us that makes our lives full and meaningful. When we make choices that are outside God's loving kindness, our lives are sure to suffer.

David knew those decisions. He had made a number of poor decisions that God had not been a part of. He had looked at his life and had seen the result of those decisions. His life had suffered so much because he had refused to do things God's way. David could see his life and how his life was impacted by the decisions that he had made. When he walked with the Lord, his life reflected God's goodness. When David walked on his own and in his own direction, his life reflected the lack of God's protection and provision for His life.

David wanted to walk with God. He wanted God's blessings. He wanted to know God and the joy of His salvation. David wanted his life to be its absolute best and he knew that walking with God was the key to experiencing that best. David knew when he gave God his best, God was able to give him His best. When God is able to do for us as He wants to do, our lives will not be any better. David wanted God's best. We need to want God's best for our lives as well.

God will keep His promises to us. He is faithful. He will never let us down. Will you choose to walk with God today and allow Him to do all that He has planned to do for you? There is no better blessing in life than to know that God's hand is upon our lives. He is able to bless us in ways that we would never be able to imagine. Obedience is essential. Our obedience to God allows His loving kindness to be exercised in our lives. When our lives are touched by the Master's hand, our lips will reflect our heart and they will praise the Lord.

God wants our lives to be blessed and filled to over flowing. David experienced that loving kindness. We can experience it as well, today.

Seek God Early Psalm 63:1

1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You;



The best way to get the day started is with the Lord. There is no better way to start your day! David acknowledges God as his God. This is a very significant statement. For you see, so many people have God in their lives but He is not their God. There is a big difference. Jesus, the Bible tells us, is to be both, Savior and Lord! The truth is, He is both whether we acknowledge it or not in our lives. However, when He becomes both Savior and Lord in our lives, God is glorified and we are blessed beyond measure!

When God is able to be God in a person's life, his life is rearranged! Early David said he would seek the Lord. It is virtually impossible to find God in the middle of the day when you have not started your day off with Him! It is not that it is difficult for God to find us; it is difficult however for us to find Him! When we begin our day with the Word of God on our mind and the Spirit of God in our hearts, He is able to guide us in the direction that He wants us to go and give us all that He wants us to have for that hour in our lives. As we continue to walk in the path that God has laid out for us, He continues to bless us and make us a blessing to those around us.

As we seek Him early in the morning, He is able to have a hand in the direction that we head off in that morning. As we begin our day, He is able to make a difference in the attitudes that we have which has a lot to do with how our day gets started, which has something to do with how it ends! If your day gets off to a great start, there is a greater chance that it will end up on a good note. If God is given the opportunity to make a difference in your life, there will be a visible difference in your life that others will see and respond to.

Start your day off with the King of King and Lord of Lords. Allow Him to be Lord and Master of your life. Allow him to be God in your life. Seek Him early in the morning. You might just be surprised at how smooth your day goes!

Broken Heart Psalm 51:17

16For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.


Sometimes we get in a mode where we think the things that we give to God and the things that we do for God ought to be enough for Him. Sometimes we get to the point where we are satisfied with all that we are doing and we think that God must be satisfied as well. God is not as interested in most of the things we do as we might think. God is interested in is the condition of our hearts.

It does not matter what we do if the condition of our hearts is not what it should be. What God is looking for is a "broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart." The New Century Bible translates this passage this way, "17 The sacrifice God wants is a broken spirit. God, you will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin."

Here is a contrast in attitudes. On the one hand, we find arrogance and pride in the sacrifices that are offered to God. On the other, there is a heart that is broken because of the sin that has been committed on our part and forgiven on God's part. The heart that is broken is a heart that has been touched by God and is able to be molded and shaped in a way that He is able to use it. God created our hearts so that He could mold and shape them so that our lives would reflect the work of His hands. As the rest of the world looks our lives, they will see what God can do in a life that has a contrite and broken heart. He is then able to do something in their lives as well.

Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees that he greatest commandment was to love God with all your heart, soul and mind. He said the second is like unto it, that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. The reason the second is as important as the first, is God works in us so that He can work through us. As we look up to Him, He is able to look down on us making our lives worth living. As He blesses us, we are to look around so that others will be able to see Jesus in us. God is then able to do something in their hearts and in their lives as well.

What is the attitude of your heart today? Perhaps our prayer ought to be as David's was, "10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. " When God cleanses our heart, it becomes a heart that He can use!

Return to God Psalms 51:13

13 Then I will teach your ways to sinners, and they will return to you.



David says "then I will teach Your ways to sinners and they WILL return to you." Those words jumped out at me and screamed to be heard! David was saying when he allowed God to create in Him a pure heart that would allow God to be God in his life. The focus of his whole life would then change. David knew that this new relationship with God would become the focus of his life and that focus would give him the initiative he needed to make decisions that would honor God and allow God to be God in his life.

As God made a difference in David's life, people would see that difference and they would learn from what they saw in him. When David said, "then I will teach Your ways to sinners," he was not talking about teaching them with words, but rather teaching them as they watched the hand of God at work in his life! As these people saw God's hand at work in David's life, they would return to God!

The message that screams to be heard today is this; the lost are not turning to God because they are not seeing God in us! We have not surrendered ourselves to God to the point that He is able to do all that He so much wants to do in us and with us and through us. As a result, too many of us live defeated lives. We act like the rest of the world. We talk like the rest of the world. We live like the rest of the world and God's power and His provisions are nowhere to be found! Our churches are suffering as result of a lack of personal commitment and relationship to the Lord Jesus.

When God's people allow God to cleanse their hearts and restore the joy of His salvation in us, our walk will change. Our talk will change. Our lives will change. People will see that change. They will return to God and allow Him to make those changes in their lives! When Jesus made the promise that He would build His church and the gates of Hell would not prevail against it, He had in the back of His mind the principles of this prayer that David is praying. As people saw the church and the hand of God at work in the lives of His people, they would respond and they would come to Him as well!

Let's be the church that Jesus said He would build; let's watch the world respond!

Willing to Obey Psalms 51:12

12 Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach your ways to sinners, and they will return to you.


David says something here that is worthy of our understanding. Davis prays that God would me make him "willing to obey God". What is he asking of God? His response of obedience is the result of the joy of God's salvation. David prays, "restore Your joy in me and make me wiling to obey You." When God restores us, it makes a profound difference in our relationship with Him. God's restoration is relationship oriented. His whole desire and purpose is to establish and maintain a relationship with us. This is what David is seeking from God in the restoration of the joy of God's salvation.

Here is what happens when God restores the joy of His salvation in us. We come to know God in a more intimate and personal way and as a result of that relationship that He has initiated, we respond in an obedient spirit to His will and His way for our life. We do not surrender control of our life to Him out of obligation because He is God; we surrender control of our life to Him because He is God and He has given us His mercy and His grace in spite of our many mistakes. We surrender control of our life to Him because we want this relationship with Him to continue. We want God to be able to bless us; we want Him to be pleased with our life. We want Him to be blessed Himself as He is able to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves!

David knows when his relationship is right with God, he will teach others God's ways and they will return to God. Why is this true? When we live our lives in complete surrender to God and in absolute obedience to His instruction and leadership, He is able to bless us and use us in ways that others will see and respond to! We teach others as we live our lives and allow God to order our steps and make a way for us! God's glory shines in us when He is given the opportunity to do for us. Others will see that glory and will want to surrender themselves so that God's glory and His presence and His provisions will be evident in their lives!

Ask God to create in you a clean heart and restore in you the joy of His salvation so that those who are around you everyday will start to see God at work in your life and they will want Him to work in their lives as well! That was David's prayer. It can and should be our prayer as well!

A Clean Heart Psalms 51:10

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don't take your Holy Spirit from me.12 Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach your ways to sinners, and they will return to you.


Here is a prayer that we ought to pray each and every day of our lives. We need a clean heart to be able to make decisions that will allow God to be God in our lives. We need a clean heart and a right spirit in us to Glorify God. What is this "right spirit?" A right spirit is a willingness to surrender full control of our will to God's will.

When we are willing to do that, God is able to give us the joy of "His salvation" not our salvation. As we learn to walk with Him, our joy actually grows in Him! His joy truly gets sweeter as the days go by as we walk with Him with a clean heart and a right spirit! The idea that God wants us to see is this, as He blesses us and meets our needs our joy is made full. As God is able to bless us, He is blessed as well. This causes us to want to be more obedient, which allows Him to do even more for us! God's plan is that this would become an endless cycle of Him blessing us and our being obedient to Him both because He has blessed us already and so that He can continue to bless us even more!

David goes on to say, he will be able to teach God's ways to sinners and they will turn to Him! Are you walking in obedience with a right spirit? Is God blessing your life and making it easier to obey Him because of all that He has already done for you and for all that He wants to do for you? A prayer to Him as simple as "Lord, create in me a clean heart; renew a right spirit in me." This is all it will take to give God the opportunity to be God in your life today!

He will bless you as you become a blessing to Him and He will make you a blessing to others around you. That is why God created you in the first place and has given you life. Let's fulfill our purpose today!

Give Me Joy Again Psalms 51:8

7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again;


Nathan the prophet has just had his visit with King David. He has told him of God's judgment concerning his sin with Bathsheba. Perhaps David thought that he had gotten away with his sin. After all, he was king! David made some crucial mistakes, which cost him dearly. First of all, kings were to go to war with their troops. David was not supposed to have been at his palace when he first saw Bathsheba bathing. When we are not doing what we are supposed to be doing, we run the additional risk of complicating our lives! Such was the case for David. His lust turned to lies. His mischief turned to murder.

God sent Nathan to make David face his sin. The truth is, David already knew what he had done. David's mistake was he thought that he had gotten away with his sin. Listen to his prayer, "give me back my joy again." David had lost the joy that was his because he walked with God. He may have been king but he did not have fellowship with God, which cost him his joy. God sent Nathan to restore that fellowship between Him and David. Not only did David lose his joy, God lost His. When David fell to his knees before God and prayed,"purify me from my sins and wash me" God was ready to cleanse David and make him whiter than snow.

God wanted fellowship with David more than David wanted fellowship with God. God missed His joy more than David missed his! When we sin against God, we rob Him of the opportunity to get the joy He so much wants to experience as He is able to do for us as His children. That is the reason He sends His Spirit to us to convict us of our sin and help us get headed in the right direction! He wants His joy to be full, as our joy is made full!

When your joy needs a boost, know that it is God Himself tugging at your heart strings letting you know that He needs a shot of joy Himself as He is able to bring joy into your heart!

God Is Great Psalm 48:1

1 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.



God is indeed great! He has done so much for us and His plans for us are even greater still. God deserves our praises. He deserves our devotion. He deserves our affection. God deserves our all.

Why is it that God is "greatly to be praised?" He does deserve our praise but that is not the reason He wants our praise. God wants our praise so He can bless us even more. He has done so much for us and because of all that He has done we ought to willingly give Him our praise. However, as we give God our praise, He is able to give more of Himself to us. God desires our praise so He can bless us even more.

When we think about praising God it is so easy to see our praise as something that we do for or give to God as an end in and of itself. That is not the case at all. The devotion and praise that we give to God is not something that He delights in because we have given them to Him; His real delight comes when He is able to do even more for us because of our praise and our devotion to Him. We have to remember that it is for this purpose that God created us in the first place. He loves us so much; He wants to shower us with His blessings and His plans for our lives. He wants our lives to be filled to overflowing and the key that unlocks the windows of heaven is our praise to Him and devotion for Him!

God delights in every opportunity we give Him to be God in our lives. That is why we were created. That is why the earth and the entire universe were created. God wants give us His love as He gives us life. Life is the outpouring of His love that is given to us as we stop to praise Him! When we take time to praise Him for all that He has already done for us, we open our lives to more of His blessings, which makes us want to praise Him even more, which allows Him to bless us even more.

How majestic is Your Name O Lord in all the earth for God is indeed great and greatly to be praised!

Be Still Know I am God Psalm 46:10

10Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. 11The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.



When difficulty comes we want to get up and do something. It is very difficult for most of us to sit down and wait for someone else to do something to make things better. God wants us to learn to depend on Him in all things and at all times. His instruction to David and to us is to "Be still and know that I am God." He did not say, "Be still and do not do anything." However, God wants us to learn to wait upon Him, trusting Him and depending on Him to be God in our lives. God wants us to learn to depend on Him in every situation we will ever face.

When we still ourselves and "know that He is God" what we do is allow our faith to take over in our lives. David could have written, "Be still and know that I am everything that I say that I am and I will do everything that I say I will do." The real key to the meaning of this verse is in knowing God, which is to allow Him to be who He says He is and do what only He can do.

When we allow Him to be God in our lives, He is exalted among the heathen and He is exalted on the earth. People will see His mighty hand in our lives because we have been still and allowed Him to do things in us and with us that only He could do.

We need churches today that are willing to "be still and know that He is God." We need individuals who are willing to be still and know that He is God in their lives. For the Lord of Hosts is with us and the God of Jacob is our refuge. He will do all that He has planned to do for us if we will just allow Him the opportunity to do so. God is looking for men, women, boys and girls who will be still and know that He is God. He is looking for individuals who are willing to stand up and step out allowing Him to direct their lives and make a difference in the lives that they live. Then and only then will He be exalted before the rest of the world.

Will you today "Be still and know that He is God?" He will lift you up and He will bless your life and He will make you a blessing to Him and to those that you love and those who love you. He will be exalted if you will just give Him the opportunity that He so much desires and deserves.

Then I Thought I Samuel 13:12

12 Then I thought, 'The Philistines will come against me at Gilgal, and I haven't asked for the Lord's approval.' So I forced myself to offer the whole burnt offering."



Saul was about to be attacked by the Philistines. The children of Israel were severely out numbered and Saul's men were leaving their ranks. Saul sent for Samuel to offer a sacrifice to God for His protection. Samuel had not yet arrived. Saul the Bible says, decided to offer the sacrifice to God himself. He told Samuel when he arrived, "Then I thought and I forced myself to offer the sacrifice myself."

Samuel gives Saul a word of judgment that we all need to remember. 13 Samuel said, "You acted foolishly! You haven't obeyed the command of the Lord your God. If you had obeyed him, the Lord would have made your kingdom continue in Israel always, 14 but now your kingdom will not continue. The Lord has looked for the kind of man He wants. He has appointed him to rule his people, because you haven't obeyed his command."

You and I need to learn to be obedient to God. Period. When it comes to the Word of God, we do not need to "think for ourselves" or do what we want to do. We simply need to follow the Lord's guidance and be obedient to His leadership. Some might say, well this is different. "Saul was King and God expected more of him than He does from me." God did expect Saul to listen to Him and be obedient to Him as king. He expects the same of you and me as well!

God will bless those who follow Him. He doesn't bless those who do not follow His leadership and direction. God cannot do what He wants to do for an individual who refuses to hear Him and then heed His instruction. God wants to bless you. He can bless you and make you a blessing as you determine to walk with Him.

Let God have His way in your life.

Trust God Psalm 44:6

6For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. 7But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. 8In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.



David knew the rich history of God's hand with the children of Israel. He knew how God delivered them from the hand of Pharaoh, which was no small feat. He knew the stories of how God kept the children of Israel in the wilderness until all but two men who left Egypt had died and then He led them into the Promised Land. He knew the stories of the battles that the children of Israel fought to possess the land and the stories of the battles that they fought to keep the land.

"3For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them."

The Bible is so important because it is His Story and it is a record of who God is and what He has done in the lives of His people. For if God is indeed everything that He says He is and if He will do everything that He says He will do, then it is our responsibility to listen to Him and follow His direction and His leadership so He can do for us all that He so much wants to do in our lives and in the lives of those that we love.

That is why Paul wrote in Hebrews 11:6, "without faith it is impossible to please God." God wants us to know who He is and He wants to know what He wants to do for us. God wants us to walk with Him so He can do everything that He wants to do for us and with us. Life really is that simple. If we will surrender our lives to His will and follow His direction, He will meet our every need and He will take care of our battles and He will supply the desires of our heart and our lives will be filled to overflowing!

David understood that. He knew the rich heritage that the children of Israel had enjoyed. He knew all that things that God had done in the lives of His people. He knew that God wanted to do the same thing in his life as well and so he determined in his heart that he would"8boast all the day long, and praise God's name for ever. Selah."

Let us determine in our hearts to " 8boast all the day long, and praise God's name for ever. Selah." God will do for us as He has done for His own throughout the annuls of history as He continues to write His Story in our lives.

Longing For God Psalms 42:1

1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and stand before him?



David is in one of the dark valleys of his life. His enemies are mocking him. He is running for his life. There is no peace in his life. Yet listen to his prayer, "God as the deer pants for water, so do I long for You! I thirst for You, the Living God in my life!"

When we come to know God as He would have us know Him, something wonderful begins to happen in our lives. We hunger and thirst for more of Him! David is running for his life. King Saul's army is hunting him like a deer in the woods. Their orders are to shoot first and ask questions later. There is a bounty for his head. Yet, David says, "I long for You, God!"

He is not complaining about his circumstances. He is not crying out to God, " I am supposed to be king; You had me anointed to be king; why am I out here on the back side of nowhere, the laughing stock of all Israel. People are thinking, 'he said he was supposed to be king! Look at him now'."

David wanted to be closer to God! He knew the joy of God's presence in his life. He knew the refreshing blessings that God would provide and he wanted to make sure that he was in the place that God wanted him to be in so he could receive all that God had planned for him. More important to David than being king was his personal relationship to The King of Kings and Lord of Lords! As long as that was right, then come what may, everything else would be right!

Do you "pant for God?" Is there a thirst for him in your life? Is there this burning desire in your heart that come what may you want to know Him and the power of his resurrection in your life? If you will let your faith direct your life that thirst will develop. If you will simply start to believe that God is everything that He says He is and he will do everything that He says He will do, you will develop this thirst to know Him that only He can satisfy!

Let's drink freely from the river of life and the waters of the fountain that never run dry! God will satisfy the desires of your heart and make your life worth the living!

Wait on the Lord Psalms 40:1

1 I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.



We all have trials in our lives. David cried out to the Lord, waiting for His help. The desire of God's heart is for us to wait for His help. The primary purpose for our lives is to allow God to help us through life. He wants to help us in every single situation that we will ever face in our lives. There is no situation that God cannot solve. There is no problem that He cannot prevent if we will learn to wait for His help.

David said, "He lifted me up out of the pit of despair and set my feet on the solid rock." God hears our cries and He sees our situations and He knows the solution. God's provisions are sure. His plans are certain. He can place us on the solid rock in a moment's notice if we will just learn to wait on Him.

Faith is believing that God is everything that He says He is and He will do everything that He says He will do. Our faith is often tested by waiting. If I truly believe that God is the answer to whatever is wrong in my life and that His way is the only way, then I will wait on Him to lead me from where I am to where He would have me be! It is virtually impossible for Him to set my feet on the solid rock if I am not stepping in the footsteps that He would have me walk. God does not move the rock in the direction that I want to go; He moves me to where the rock is!

When we wait to walk with the Lord, others will see what the Lord has done and as David says, "they will be astounded. They will put their trust in the Lord." As God is allowed to be God in our lives, our families and our friends will see Jesus at wok in us and they will want to learn to wait on the Lord as well. God so much wants to be God in our lives! Wait on Him and allow him to do all that He so much wants to do in you and with you and through you!

Fools Mock Us Psalms 39:8

8 Rescue me from my rebellion, for even fools mock me when I rebel.


Listen to David's comment "even the fools mock me when I rebel!" What a revelation. How many times have we changed our tune because someone from on the outside came in and we decided that it was not cool to be a Christian? What did we do? We compromised our stand for God to appease someone that we in all likelihood do not even know and for someone who could care less about what we stood for. In a lot of cases people who take no thought for God still respect those who do take a stand for God!

David knew the truth; he knew that even fools, those who say in their hearts that there is no God, even fools mock those who refuse to be steadfast in their faith. Here is a true statement. People may not agree with your Christian commitment, but they will respect you for it and when something happens in their lives and they need someone to lean on, you may well be the first person that they turn to. Even fools know that it is foolish to fail to stand on one's principles, especially when those principles are faith based.

Perhaps one of the reasons God is not able to do more with us as a nation is because we are too careful not to offend someone or make them feel uncomfortable with talk about sin and salvation and heaven and hell and mercy and. We have become so self-conscious that we are no spiritual good. We are so afraid that we are going to say something or do something that will either offend someone else or embarrass us. Either way, we have refused to be the people that God wants us to be in this God forsaken land that we are now living in.

The fools are laughing tonight because they are winning the battle for the minds and lives of our children and our adults who so much want to be politically correct. Because we stand for nothing, we are falling for anything and everything. Because we refuse to stand for some things, we are falling for so much more. We are living in a world that is running out of control and it looks like any hope for much of a future is dim at best. If America continues down this road of moral and spiritual degradation that it is on, and we experience as much change in the next 10 years as we have in the past 10 years, this land will not be fit for man nor beast!

We need to take a stand and stand with God and stand for God and let the fool laugh in his own folly or better yet smile at his discovery that there really is a God who does love Him with an everlasting love!

Righteous Forsaken Psalm 37:25

25I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.




A man who loves the Lord is a man who is a delight to the Lord. A man who loves the Lord is a man who delights in his life and his life is a delight to those around him. Even though we may love the Lord with all our heart, we are still going to fail Him. David knows the agony of failing God and he knows it well. He also knows that God is merciful and forgiving to those who love Him. David is a man who is described as a man after God's own heart. Even though he did things that were contrary to God's will and God's way, God's hand was still upon him and His hand still protected him and provided for him in due time. David is living testimony to the mercy of God to those that love Him.

David goes on to say, "25I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." In all of David's life, he never saw God fail to provide for His own. "God has always been faithful" David would say to us today. "I have seen a lot. I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor His children begging for bread."

26He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his children are blessed. 27Depart from evil, and do good; and live for evermore. Who are the righteous? The righteous are those who depart from evil and do good. They are those whose steps are ordered by God one decision at a time. The righteous are those who are obedient to His will and His instruction and His direction for their lives. The righteous are those who do not choose when to be obedient and when to ignore God's instructions. The righteous are those who do not accept partial obedience as a mark of acceptance where God is concerned.

The righteous are those who are blessed by God and are never forsaken. It is not difficult to be included in that group. All we have to do is determine to walk with God one decision at a time, giving Him His way in our lives without compromise or exception and He will honor that kind of commitment to Him without exception.

Rest in the Lord Psalm 37:7

7Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.



Isn't it easy to get impatient with life? We go along and we want happiness and peace and contentment and we are willing to do almost anything to get it. It is so tempting to watch the people around us as they are following the way of the world and it looks like they are prospering just fine. David watched those kinds of people go through life taking no real regard for God or His ways and their lives seemed to be so good compared to his. He walked with God and he loved God with all his heart and his life was filled with strife and danger and for a long time there was very little peace and contentment in his life at all.

Yet David's advice is, "rest in the Lord and wait patiently on Him." Why should we wait? Why shouldn't we reach out and grab all the gusto that life has to offer just like everybody else does? Does God want us to suffer? Does He not want our lives to be filled with happiness and prosperity and blessings? Yes, God does want our lives to be filled to overflowing. He has a path picked out for us to walk where those blessings and those provisions can be found. The path is accessible through obedience to His instructions. When we circumvent those instructions and those directions that He has given to us for a reason, then we may delay His ability to bless us the way that He wants to bless us.

We can follow the way of the world and indulge in it as it may seem right to do in our own minds, but that way will catch up to us. We may choose to do things our way instead of His way and we may even seem to prosper for a season but the day will come when that season will end and we will find ourselves empty and our lives headed in the wrong direction.

We need to learn to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. We need to determine in our hearts and in our minds that we are going to stand with Him no matter what. It is that kind of determination and commitment that God is looking for and it is that kind of life God will bless exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever ask or hope for!

Desires of Your Heart Psalm 37:4

4Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.


Our scripture passage for today is a promise from the word of God that we can build and base our lives upon. Trust in God brings us the desires of our heart. When we place our trust in Him, He is able to do for us what He wants to do. As He is able to meet our needs and supply our joy, our desires will be met.

The desires of our heart are really joy, peace and contentment. How we achieve those things is a matter of choice that we must make. Our lives are the result of the choices that we make. Trusting God makes life really simple. We trust God and we walk where He tells us to walk and He is able to meet our needs and fight our battles and give us life that is everything that He intended for it to be. When we make the right choices and look to the real source of life, joy, peace and happiness permeate our lives.

When we choose to disobey God and we do things our way instead of His way, He is limited in His ability to do what He really wants to do for us. We end up working so hard trying to have the things that we think will give us this peace, joy and happiness. So often, we find ourselves in this endless cycle trying to work harder to have more to be happy and the more we get the more we want and the cycle never seems to bring us the satisfaction that we so much want.

The reason this is true is simple. God created us with the desire for peace, joy and happiness. He made us that way so He could fill that need. He is the only One who can efficiently and effectively fill that void. When we fail to trust Him, we lose the ability to have those needs met.

Commit your way to the Lord and trust Him and He shall bring this to pass. He is the only one who can bring it to pass. We can try on our own but we will not be able to find the desires of our heart. The world cannot supply it. Many men have tried to find answers to questions of life in the world but the answer always comes back the same conclusion that Solomon made, "All that the world has to offer is vanity or emptiness." The only thing that can satisfy is that which the Lord is able to do in us and for us. What He does is always satisfying for sure!

A Blessed Nation Psalm 33:1

12Blessed is the nation who's God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.


This is one of the most powerful passages of scriptures in the entire Bible. What we have here is a promise to any nation that chooses to follow the instructions of the Lord. God says, "that nation shall be blessed." America is proof that this passage of scripture has validity. America is one of the youngest nations in the world but she is the most blessed nation in the history of the world. It was not by chance that America became the industrial giant that it became. It was not by mere chance that America became the military power that it became in such a short time. It was not mere chance that America became the financial leader in the free world that it has become. America has prospered and she has protected her borders because God said some 2500 years ago, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord."

Was America perfect? No. Did America create a perfect place where religious freedom was practiced and every one got along and this world flourished? "Yes" and "no". America was far from perfect. Religious liberty in the early days was poorly defined partially practiced. The early church in America made some terrible mistakes. Political leaders were corrupt and communities sought every advantage they could get from anyone they thought they could manipulate and conspire with and conspire against.

America was not founded by godly men; America was founded upon Godly principles. America was founded upon the principle, "One Nation Under God". The Constitution of the United States was framed with religious liberty and religious influence in mind. Imperfect as it all has been, it was clear from the very first days of America's existence, that she was destined to greatness. When America was founded upon the principles of the Word of God, and God was given a place of prominence in its foundation, God honored that foundation by keeping His Word found in this passage of scripture.

In all of her mistakes and in all of America's failures to be a Christian nation, she was recognized around the world as such and that is why God has blessed her as He has. God will do the same thing to a church that makes a commitment to walk with the Lord. I believe that He blesses the individual who gives himself totally and completely to the Lord. Commitment begins in an individual. Remember Psalm 1:1, where God's Word says, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord." When we choose to walk with the Lord, God is able to bless that individual, which blesses his community. As God moves in that community, He is able to reach out to others and they will want to organize and promote the things of God to other communities and as they choose to follow, their communities will be blessed. As communities are blessed, so are churches and states and the nation.

"12Blessed is the nation who's God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance." It all has to start somewhere. It might as well be you and me and the time to start is today!

Consider My Troubles Psalm 31:7

7I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;



Have you ever gone to bed wondering how you were going to make it though the next day? Have you ever had pressures coming from everywhere and you felt as if life was closed in on you and there was no where to go? David knew that kind of pressure. Even though he was God's chosen, and God's hand was upon his life, he knew the pressures of life and the difficulties that life can throw at us. David spent a number of years running from men who sought to kill him. He spent several years running from King Saul and his army. There was a bounty on his head. He had trouble sleeping at night. His life was far from a storybook experience.

Listen to David as he cries out for God to help him. "I trust You Lord, never let me be ashamed. Deliver me in Your righteousness. Hear me" David cries out! "Deliver me speedily. Pull me out of the net that they have laid for me." David is experiencing the difficulties of life. He needs help and he needs help now. David does what we need to do. He carries his burdens and his troubles to the Lord, who is his strength and his rock and his fortress. Listen to David, "5Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth." David laid his life into his Father's hands. Jesus did the same thing on the cross at Calvary.

It is in the crucible of difficulty that our true character comes out. When we can reach up and take the Lord by the hand in times of difficulty and walk with Him and trust Him to be our rock and our fortress and allow Him to be our protection and our provider no matter what obstacles we may face, then we will find peace that passes all understanding because God will deliver us just as He delivered David and so many others so many times. God wants us to take Him by the hand and walk through life with our hand firmly locked into His. When we are willing to do that, there is nothing that shall ever be able to snatch our hand out of His! Nothing!

David prayed to God, "Consider my troubles" and God did exactly what David asked Him to do. He will do the same for you and for me if we will just ask Him to do so.

Give Unto the Lord Psalm 29:1

1 Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. 2Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.



How many times do we read words or sing songs without really thinking about what we have just read or sung? Look at the passage above one more time and ask yourself the question, "What does this mean? What does it mean to give glory and strength to the Lord? Who are the 'mighty' that can give strength to the Lord? What does it mean to give God the glory that He is due?"

How did you answer those questions? It is so important that we learn to give God what He wants from us so that He can give us what He wants us to have. God wants our devotion and obedience so that He can bless us and fight our battles and meet our needs and make our lives everything that He so much wants them to be. It is so important for us to understand why this is as important to God as it is.

What does it mean to "give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, glory and strength?" How can we give God strength? How can we give Him glory? We know that He gives us His strength and He gives us His glory and without Him there is neither. How can we give Him these things?

We give God strength and glory as we give Him the opportunity to be those things in our lives. As we are obedient to His directions for our lives, we place ourselves in a position where He can do the things for us that has had planned to do. God has longed for all eternity to have fellowship with us in a way that He could shower us and cover us with His abounding riches and His abundant love.

As we surrender our wills to His will, His strength is made perfect in us. What good is it to be able to do great things for those that we love, if we do not do them? Have you ever asked yourself the question, "Why are the ultra rich so miserable in life?" The answer is really very simple. They have so much to do so much with but because they are not willing to share what they have and willing to do things for others, many times they are absolutely miserable.

In a similar sense, the same could be said of God. We have to understand that the greatest joy that God gets out of our lives, comes when He is able to shower us with His blessings. God is His happiest when He is able to look into our eyes and see into our hearts and know that we are filled to overflowing because of the things that He has been able to do for us. The greatest sorrow that He gets, next to an individual dying without Christ in His heart, is Him watching us pay such a high cost for such low living. It grieves God's heart to watch us labor so hard trying to have the things that we think will bring us happiness when all along all we need to do is look to Jesus!

Give God strength and glory today by allowing His will to be your will and by being obedient to Him with each and every decision that you make and watch and see His strength and His glory permeate your whole being.

Bless Your Inheritance Psalm 28:9

9Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.



David knows that God has heard his cries and has given ear to his requests. He knows that God has not only heard his prayers, but He has responded! Because of all that the Lord has done in his life, David can say, "The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusts Him and I am helped and my heart rejoices and my songs will praise Him." We can say the same thing with David if we will but take a brief inventory of our lives and realize that it is God that has brought us safely to the place where we are in our lives. God has indeed been faithful to us all! He has been merciful to us, undeserving as we all have been.

David's heart is full. David wants the people of Israel to come to know God in all of His majesty and His glory. He wants the people to experience God in all of His splendor and His power. David wants them to know first hand the joy of God's protection and His provisions. He wants their lives to filled with overflowing just as his life has been.

David writes, "Save Your people and bless Your inheritance." What a wonderful thought it is to know that we are God's inheritance. We are His inheritance because of His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We are His inheritance because of Jesus. This is important for us to remember because this was a conscious and calculated choice that God made long before the first star was placed in the sky. Everything that God created He created for our benefit.

The entire universe is created in such a way that life would be possible on earth. We are God's inheritance. He created us to bless us and to lift us up forever and ever. God has and will continue to do His part. All He asks us to do is to walk with Him and be His people so that He can be our God and bless us exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever ask or hope for.

Like David, we are indeed so wonderfully blessed! With our whole heart we all ought to rejoice and sing songs of praise to our God who has loved us with an everlasting love and has done so much for us that we might have life and have it more abundantly! The real blessing is that the more we give ourselves to Him the more that He is able to give of Himself to us!

God bless your inheritance!

The Strength of My Life Psalm 27:1

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?




David had been through the trials of life. He knew the feeling of having his life hunted like an animal. He knew the feeling of lying down at night and not being able to sleep because someone was trying to kill him. However, as bad as things got, David knew that the Lord was with him and that the hand of the Lord was there protecting him all along the way. No matter how strong his enemy seemed to be, God always brought David through the storm.

He knew that God was his light and his salvation. David knew that without the Lord he was nothing. He knew that it was God who had protected him and he knew that God would continue to protect him. The only thing David would say that he had to fear was the Lord Himself. As long as David walked with the Lord and walked in His way, then David knew that his life would be safe and secure and filled with all the fullness of God. What more could he really want out of life?

He had seen enough in his life to know that it was only what God did for him that mattered and everything else was either a distraction or a deterrent to life. David's sole desire was to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life. He owed God his life. Had it not been for God's guiding hand in his life, he would not have made it. David knew that God still had so much more for his life as well. David wanted to be in God's house for His protection and He wanted to stay in God's house for His provisions.

Just as God had provided for him in the past, so would He continue to do in the future and David knew that there was nothing in life more fulfilling than being where God wanted him to be. So, David's prayer was simple; "4One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life."

May this be our prayer as well, that we would dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives as David did. God wants to bless our socks off. He wants our lives to be filled with all the fullness that only He could give. All we have to do is simply walk with God one decision at a time; allowing His truth and His way to be our way. When we do that, He is able to do all that He has planned for us and our lives will be filled with joy and happiness and our cup will indeed run over for days and weeks and even years to come!

God is so good.

Associations Matter Psalm 26:5

5 I have hated the assembly of evildoers, And will not sit with the wicked.


The people we associate with are important. David prays that God would examine him and test him. He wants God to reveal to him any weaknesses that he may have so that he can correct them. He knows that God's goodness has brought him to the place that he is in. He knows that it is God who has blessed him. David says, "Lord, I have walked in Your truth." David has sought to make God's will his will. He has sought to make God's ways his ways. He has learned the value of doing things God's way.

David shares a bit of wisdom in the next few verses. He says, 4" I have not sat with idolatrous mortals, nor will I go in with hypocrites. 5 I have hated the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked." What is David trying to say? He has learned the value of associations. David has learned that the people he associates with, have a lot to do with the life that he lives. The desire of David's heart is to walk upright before the Lord. So, he realizes that walking with people whose desire is less than that is not a benefit to his personal walk.

Notice David's choice of words here. He says that he will not sit with these individuals or go in with them where they live. He hates the assembly of evildoers. Our associations are important. Our lives will reflect the characteristics and habits of those that we hang out with. Someone has very aptly commented that it is impossible to fly with eagles hanging out with turkeys.

Perhaps a part of David's prayer had to do with God evaluating his associations. Examine me Oh God and test me; try my mind and my heart. Look at my associations and let me know if there are people that I am associating with that I should not be. We need to be constantly evaluating our associations to see that they are of God. If we look, we will see! If we look at our associations and we are not sure if they are what they should be, all we have to do is ask a few people that we respect; they will tell us the truth.

We must learn to guard and then value the associations we make. Associations do matter.

Fear the Lord Psalm 25:24

14 The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.



What does it mean to "fear the Lord"? The Hebrew word used here literally means fear or afraid. Should we fear or be afraid of the Lord? Does God want us to fear Him because He is almighty and He is in control of every aspect of our lives? Even though these things are true, God does not want us to respond to Him out of a sense of fear. God wants us to respond to Him because of His love for us. However, we must understand, God's wrath is a reality and it is reserved for those who refuse to walk with Him and follow His lead.

God loves us and He wants us to love Him in return. So, where does fear come in? The meaning here is one that is more of reverence than it is fear. The real meaning could be translated "the secret of the Lord is with those who are faithful, and He will show them His promises." When we are faithful, what we do is we trust God because of all that He is and all that He has promised. The element of fear is still there. There is an element of fearing God when we step out in absolute faith, trusting God for everything in our lives.

This Psalm is about the promises of God. We can trust God. We can place our faith in Him and we can know that He will keep His promises to us. He did not have to give us the promises that He has given to us to provide for us and to protect us and to give us the desires of our hearts. He gave us those promises because He wants to do those things for us! That is why God created us in the first place. He created us to be an outlet for His love. Jesus did not give His life in vain; He gave His life for us! He died in our place. He died to pay the penalty for our sin. Jesus paid a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay.

Fear the Lord. Have faith in Him. Trust Him with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. He will show you His promises. He really will!

Your Path Lord Psalm 25:5

5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.


David's prayer is one that we ought to repeat every morning before we get our day started. God's way and His will for our lives is imperative, not because He is God but because He as God has a perfect plan for our lives and He wants to bless us in tremendous ways. The only way God can do the things that He wants to do for us, is when we walk the paths that He has instructed us to walk. Any other way takes us away from the place where His abundant blessings can be found for our lives.

"Show me Your ways; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me." A way is a road. A path is a narrow walkway that has been tracked down because someone has traveled that way enough to make the ground bare where feet have trampled down the grass and there is nothing but barren ground left. God's path is most often narrow and it may well be that His path is not that well traveled but it is well marked. For this path is found in His truth, which He is more than willing to teach to us.

Our choice is to walk the way of the world or walk God's way. Our decision is to follow the path that He has laid for us as opposed to following the path that the world wants us to follow. Truth has only one source. Truth is not relative. Truth is not one thing today and something else tomorrow. Jesus reminded the Jews "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

We need to pray as David prayed and be determined to walk the walk and allow the Lord of glory to bless our lives as He so much longs to do. When we are willing to give our best to God, God is able to give His best to us; which is the sole reason that He created us in the first place!

Come into His Presence Psalm 24:3

3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?



David asks a question, "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord or stand in His Holy Place?" David is asking, "Who can come into the presence of the Lord?" This question has two aspects. First, perhaps he is asking, "Who can go to heaven" but more appropriately David is talking about coming into His presence in this life. Of coarse, we will not come into His presence in the life to come if we do not come to Him in this life today. As David asked about ascending to the hill of the Lord, he was thinking about Moses going up on Mt. Sinai to meet with the Lord.

Clean hands do not make a clean heart. David gives us a two-part answer to his question. Only God can give us a pure heart. In order to come into His presence, we have to allow Him to cleanse our hearts. Only He can take our hearts and make them pure. "Clean hands" is an effort on our part to do the things that the Lord would have us do as we become the person that the Lord would have us be.

It is impossible for us to come into the Lord's presence without both of these aspects being met. He has to clean us up and give us a new heart and we have to make every effort to walk in His statutes to come into His presence. When we do that we shall receive blessings from the Lord, which is what takes place when we come into the presence of the Lord!

God's purpose for creating this world is to make it a place of blessing for us. His purpose in creating us was so that He could have an outlet for His love, which is expressed in His blessings to us. All God wants is for us to come into His presence so that He can bless us and make us a blessing to Him and to one another!

Let us walk today with clean hands and allow God to have complete control of our lives, one decision at a time. As you and I come into His presence, He will bless us exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever ask or hope for!

It's all His Psalm 24:1

1 The earth is the LORD'S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.



The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof and everything that dwells on the earth belongs to the Lord. He owns all the cattle on the hillside. He owns every dollar that we spend and everything that we buy. He owns every house and every piece of wood that it took to build that house; He owns every stick of wood that was used to make the furniture that we call our own. Every creeping thing and every creepy thing belongs to Him. We were created by Him and for Him. We were created by His purpose and we were created for His purpose.

It can be overwhelming to try to comprehend just all that this verse really says. For some it might even be difficult to reason. Too many people look at life from the perspective, "What about me?" We want to look at life and say, "Look at what I have done; look at what I have worked to have; look at what I have accomplished."

God created everything in the world for our benefit. He tells us that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. He created it all so that we might have life and we might have it more abundantly! He did it all for us. He so much wants to bless us and give us the desires of our hearts but in order for Him to do that we have to give Him our hearts first!

We need to remember that because the earth is the Lord's and everything that is contained in it, He knows more about its purpose than we do. God knows that given the right perspective, all that He has created can be our greatest asset! However, given the wrong perspective, it can be our biggest downfall.

All that God has is really not about Him at all; it is really all about us! Put God to the test and allow him to be God in your life and see just how incredibly blessed He will make your life!