GOT THIRST?

(WEEK 2 OF 6 WEEK SERIES)

Hey guys! I trust everyone has had a good week and all studied up on Psalm 139. I hope you did your homework and implemented your name into the Psalm as suggested I know it helps me personalize the scripture when I do that for myself, and I truly hope it did the same for you. As children of God, we should be the happiest people on the planet, truly. We serve an awesome God, and we should always remember who we are and whose we are.

I wish I could honestly say that I walk around cheesing all the time and walking on sunshine, but we all have our days and the daily grind of this world weighs heavier than others. However, when I choose to remind myself that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength that my heart is always protected and held safely in the capable hands of my Saviour that alone gets me through.

Recently at church one Sunday morning as we stood for praise and worship, I happened to glance down at the seat in front of me and caught myself observing a gentlemen’s bible.  As I observed the cover looking at the edges and the pages it was a testament of usefulness.  A tool found worthy of use to a man in need.  I recently heard someone say, “The fruit is always a representation of the root.”  How true.  As we come to know and understand our Savior, we can’t help but adopt his characteristics of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and my personal favorite that I struggle with yet still self-control.

I’m so thankful to have my bible and my hope is to take the truths of God and root them deeply into my life.  There are people who literally give their life to acquire a word off a single page and hold it and reverence it as the priceless gift it is. My dear friend, may we choose to have daily encounters with the living, breathing, word of God.  The word that changes lives.

I wanted to share an excerpt from my morning devotional this week with you. July 25th read “IT IS IN THE PRESENT MOMENT that you find Me ever near you. My Presence in the present is an endless source of Joy – a continual feast! I am training you to rejoice in Me always. This is a moment-by-moment choice.”. WOW! that so resonated with me this week especially since we are attempting to improve on that very thing. God’s timing guys, it is always right on time : )

May the spirit of the Living Word of God be acknowledged so that it can awaken our souls breathing in us the spirit of life and reveal to the holy spirit within us.  May we hide the truths so deep in the crevices of our hearts that it can’t help but bubble out onto the people we encounter.

I love reading the Psalms.  David was truly a man after God’s own heart.  He recognizes straight away that God is omnipresent, there is no escaping the spirit of God.  David is in a state of awareness.  He is aware that he is in the presence of the LORD. 

God was there throughout the entire scenario, from beginning to end when sin was born.  Let’s not forget our 3 O’s – Omnipotent (All Powerful), Omniscient (All Knowing), and Omnipresent (Everywhere).  People question all the time why did God allow this?  Why doesn’t God do something about this? Does God not see what’s going on down here? First, we can’t forget about FREE WILL.  God never forces anyone’s hand; he allows man to choose. Second, we are here to serve in HIS name, there are things we can choose to do to impact the world around us. He commanded us as His servants to go forth.

Therefore, we must choose daily to be aware of God’s presence in our life.  There is nothing done that He is not aware of.  He is with us wherever we go.  Making ourselves choose to be spiritually aware allows us to not only feel secure in His love and protection, but to acknowledge our position as servants of the most high as we walk our path of purpose.

In verse 5 David acknowledges God’s protection hedging us before and behind with His hand upon us.  David knows this from experience, as a teenager he defeated a giant named Goliath, before that God prepared him for battle as a shepherd.  Did you know that the shepherd will sit in the doorway to protect his sheep?  This is all par for the course.  The shepherd is to protect the sheep at all costs from predators.  David, spending a lot of time alone in the pastures of Bethlehem grew close with his creator and understanding the role of the Good Shephard in his own life by fulfilling that role himself.  He would search all night if for only one missing sheep.

David takes comfort in knowing the Good Shephard personally.  He recognizes his need of God’s vast knowledge of the future and what it holds for him personally. God knew each of us before we ever existed.  David proclaims in verse 13, “You covered me in my mother’s womb.”.  God personally knows the number of hairs on our head.  How wonderful that makes me feel.  To understand how much, I am truly loved by my creator fills me with such joy.

He goes on in verse 17 to acknowledge that God thinks of him and how precious that is to David.  It literally blows my mind that an ALL-consuming, ALL-Powerful GOD, the creator of the universe thinks about me.  How humbling and precious that is to my heart.  David ends his Psalm with perfect hatred toward the enemies of God and then requests that God search his heart and lead him in the path of everlasting (God’s path).

In summary, God knows everything going on in this world and He knows his own creation inside and out.  The good, bad, and the ugly. He loves us in spite of ourselves.  PTL!  To have full understanding of the importance of being aware of His presence and to understand His Holiness as the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY should fill our hearts with the same admiration and reverence as David’s for his creator.

David acknowledges with a sincere and reverent heart who God is.  Yahweh.  A name too sacred to be uttered from the lips of God’s people.  The one who personally knows David and David’s heart.  A God who is concerned with what is happening in his life.  When our focus is on God and who He is, everything else falls into place.  We see our sin as God sees it.  We hate our sin as God hates it.  We acknowledge God as the judge He is.  We recognize his authority in our own lives.

David was reminding himself of where he had been and where he was.  A shepherd boy who became a King.  A boy prepared for greatness at the hand of his creator.  The creator who takes joy in knowing all about his creation who equipped him for battle in the fields of Bethlehem, provided the stone that dropped a giant to his knees, and guided his steps to where he stands at this very moment in time.  He leaves a reminder not only for himself to acknowledge, but for us to be made aware of the presence of a Holy God in our lives and the importance of reverently acknowledging that daily for ourselves.

We are never too far out of reach.  He is ever ready to light our path.  We must choose for ourselves.  Remember God is a gentleman, he begs not and forces no one.  Every breath is a gift.  May you find your days filled with Joy in your creator and in the value, He has placed upon you as His creation.

I hope everyone is enjoying our dive into growing our relationship in Christ.  Let’s run through our list of priorities so far:

1. Prayer – Daily quiet time is essential.
2. Meditation – Get in that word daily.
3. Be Aware – God is the ultimate authority in our lives. He is ever present.

Moving along. Next week will bring us to be more aware of self and things we can do to improve ourselves and who we are becoming in Christ. The more we know the more we grow. To understand Jesus more is our goal so that we can become more and more like Him. Scriptures to focus on next week listed below:

1. Romans 8:5, 9-10
2. 2 Timothy 1;14
3. 1 Corinthians 3:16
4. Ephesians 4:25-31

God Speed. See you next week.