I needed a ‘word from God’ today…
“Give me today my daily bread,” I said.
“I am so dependent upon your ‘intense care’ for me.”
Instead, He spoke to me about His words… in Psalm 12.
Psalm 12:6
For every word God speaks is SURE
And every promise PURE.
His truth is tested,
Found to be flawless,
And ever faithful.
It’s as pure as silver
Refined seven times in a crucible of clay.
[= the earthen vessels of human hearts.]
His words test us and try us,
They refine us and purify us…
Until they are assimilated into our lives
As experiential reality.
The fire of testing purifies us as vessels
To carry the Word within our hearts –
Becoming the very substance of our lives.
Luke 4:4
Man shall not live on bread alone
But on every word that proceeds
Out of the mouth of God.
Acts 17:28
For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.
This journey through breast cancer
Has been a brutal testing
Of my trust in His truth… reality… promises.
Matthew 6 in ‘The Message’
Is a favorite of mine,
And comes to mind often.
This morning, again…
Matthew 6:33
STEEP YOUR LIFE…
In God-reality,
God initiative,
God provisions…
You’ll find all your every day human concerns
Will be MET.
I’m planning on it, God.
Where else is there to go?
You alone have the words of LIFE
That I need.
I read on… to Psalm 13.
I notice how David
STEEPS HIS LIFE
In God-reality…
Over and over
he wrestles to SHIFT
From his own perspective –
To God’s.
This particular journal entry
(the Psalms are David’s journals)
starts with “I”…
And ends with “YOU.”
Psalm 13:1-2
“I’m hurting Lord…will you forget me forever…?
I’ve endured this shaking of my soul…
It’s been long enough!”
to…
Psalm 13:6
“In all of this you have strengthened my soul…
My enemies say that I have no Savior
But I know I have one in YOU.”
God-reality is this:
His every word is SURE.
His every promise – PURE.
He initiates.
He provides.
Every single time.
Back to Matthew 6…
Matthew 6:31
What I’m trying to do here is get you to RELAX…
To not be so preoccupied with getting,
So you can RESPOND to God’s giving…
When I’m preoccupied with getting,
Worried I won’t have what I need,
I’ve bitten the bait
Of the oldest lie in the book.
The crafty serpent in the garden
Cast such doubt
With just three little words:
“DID GOD SAY?”
If we can’t trust what God SAYS
We cannot trust HIM.
This is satan’s venomous lie
And we’ve all tasted it.
That’s why we need some serious steeping
In God-reality:
He will initiate…
(So I can RELAX and RESPOND)
He will provide…
(Everything that I need).
He can be taken at His Word.
Every word God speaks is SURE
And every promise PURE.
His truth is tested,
Found to be flawless,
And ever faithful.
SELAH.
I’m going to go RELAX…
make some tea…
And calmly think about that.
