Gloria in Excelsis deo

Luke 2:8-14 NKJV

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this  will be  the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Communal Peace

http://bible.us/2Tim2.24.NIV84 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. Thank God we’re all different but Lord, we need learn to love another.

Two verses

I’ve been in a serial spiritual funk currently & I say serial because it stems from occurring bouts of mild depression. I am not saying I’m clinically depressed because it is so serious an issue & I don’t want to marginalize it. (Side note: Spiritual Depression by Martyn-Lloyd Jones is a great resource) But I have my dark periods & they’re coated with depressed thinking, despair, frustration, apathy & weariness. I feel this one might be recessing & that brings such joy to me.
But, until its behind me I’ll share my focus verses.
Romans 8:18, 26 NIV84

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us…26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

Cheers to the Saints!

An interesting view on depression (non biblical & fictional) is the book Mr. Chartwell, well worth a read.

No Post to Honor

Today I will not post my normal, but instead post a memory. People who are from outside the states think us ghastly & ghoulish for making such a deal from this but as a sheltered country we still mourn our loss of naive hopes. May we always remember.

Psalm 73:1-17 NIV84

Surely God is good to Israel,

to those who are pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;

I had nearly lost my foothold.

For I envied the arrogant

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

They have no struggles;

their bodies are healthy and strong.

They are free from the burdens common to man;

they are not plagued by human ills.

Therefore pride is their necklace;

they clothe themselves with violence.

From their callous hearts comes iniquity;

the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.

They scoff, and speak with malice;

in their arrogance they threaten oppression.

Their mouths lay claim to heaven,

and their tongues take possession of the earth.

Therefore their people turn to them

and drink up waters in abundance.

They say, “How can God know?

Does the Most High have knowledge?”

This is what the wicked are like—

always carefree, they increase in wealth.

Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;

in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.

All day long I have been plagued;

I have been punished every morning.

If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

I would have betrayed your children.

When I tried to understand all this,

it was oppressive to me

till I entered the sanctuary of God;

then I understood their final destiny.

Surely you place them on slippery ground;

you cast them down to ruin.

How suddenly are they destroyed,

completely swept away by terrors!

As a dream when one awakes,

so when you arise, O Lord,

you will despise them as fantasies.

When my heart was grieved

and my spirit embittered,

I was senseless and ignorant;

I was a brute beast before you.

Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

Those who are far from you will perish;

you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

But as for me, it is good to be near God.

I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;

I will tell of all your deeds.

Alphabetical Song: Meditation

The Longest chapter of the Bible & the lyrical masterpiece that is Psalm 119 has a section for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This quote is the second letter Beth.

Psalm 119:9-16 NIV84

How can a young man keep his way pure?

By living according to your word.

I seek you with all my heart;

do not let me stray from your commands.

I have hidden your word in my heart

that I might not sin against you.

Praise be to you, O Lord;

teach me your decrees.

With my lips I recount

all the laws that come from your mouth.

I rejoice in following your statutes

as one rejoices in great riches.

I meditate on your precepts

and consider your ways.

I delight in your decrees;

I will not neglect your word.

Glory in the Mysteries of God

So, this may not be considered spiritual but some but in this video I see God. There is a purpose for every being, every child, every human. Could you imagine a world where we all treat life as precious, no matterthe difficulty in communication? We are fearfully & wonderfully made, knitted together in our mothers womb. God knows all the hairs n our head & the days of our lives before we’re even conceived. How glorious is the Lord of Hosts?

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/82197504/#hUCQhMSRRJlsxLeI.01

Verses on Why We Suffer

Sometimes we suffer because it is the consequence of our sin. Sometimes because it is necessary. These verses give meat to the latter. Just a quick blurb on how we are to use that pain & suffering…

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

Something to think about…

I Love This Section of Psalm 139

Psalm 139:13-18 NIV84

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand.

When I awake,

I am still with you.

It’s a great section. I feel such a peace within myself & comfort from the Creator.

Idolatry Ruins Marriage

1 Samuel 19:11-17 NIV84

Saul sent men to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be killed.” So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped. Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats’ hair at the head.

When Saul sent the men to capture David, Michal said, “He is ill.”

Then Saul sent the men back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so that I may kill him.” But when the men entered, there was the idol in the bed, and at the head was some goats’ hair.

Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this and send my enemy away so that he escaped?”

Michal told him, “He said to me, ‘Let me get away. Why should I kill you?’ ”

In this clip of David’s life, his wife the future Queen of Israel, is more of her father Saul than she might want. She uses a household idol & lies to protect herself from her father’s wrath & then to manipulate him to her side of the marriage. But you’ll see earlier passages where it stated that she truly loves David.

As a non married woman I may not be the best judge, but when reading the Bible I run across bad wives that have the same problems as all women. So I get to ask the ugly question:

What idol(s) are ruining your relationships with others?

Being Outspoken

I know sometimes being a loud talker, OK always being a loud talker, isn’t a good thing. But there is a time when being outspoken is right & loyalty is put to the test.

1 Samuel 19:1-5

Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan was very fond of David and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”

Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?”

Jonathan did not just warn David in private but stood & spoke against his father the king who erred against God & his Anointed One. This is just how Christ is portrayed in the New Testament. The world has sinned against an innocent man.
Question for you: “Have you taken this view of Christ?”