Lead Me, Lord

Thursday, September 7, 2023

Teach me your decrees, O Lord; I will keep them to the end.  Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart.  Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found.  Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money!  Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.  Reassure me of your promise, made to those who fear you.  Help me abandon my shameful ways; for your regulations are good.  I long to obey your commandments!  Renew my life with your goodness.  Psalm 119:33-40

There are moments that capture a parent’s heart, more than anything the world has to offer.  Fame, wealth, and anything else in life, fades to background emptiness when your child reaches-out pudgy little hands to be loved.  Two of our three children are in their 50’s now (and the last one is knocking on that door), yet I still cannot look at them without remembering such times.  They will always be the precious bundle delivered to our home by a trusting Heavenly Father.

The Psalmist’s prayer is like that of a child, holding out a hand to the parent.  The prayer begins with:  teach me your decrees (commandments, what I should do), and ends with:  renew my life with your goodness.  These are like bookends, the details of what, how, when, and where are in the middle.  It all suggests rather strongly that leaning your life’s energy on a commitment to God’s ways, in the end leads to a life blessed with God’s best.  The prelude is my commitment to God’s way; the postlude, a life showered with the blessing of God’s favor.  It’s a step of faith to place all your eggs in one basket, trusting a God you can’t see.  That is the point.  Just as my children couldn’t possibly know all the love I had in my heart for them, they still reached up their hands to be led, taught, and loved.

It's an easy thing to point to these words of the Psalmist and proclaim – THIS…this is what you need to do with your life.  It’s a lot more difficult to explain that to a person raised in this modern world of cautiousness, suspicion, and doubting.  Our children are taught to not talk with strangers, disbelieve every word that proceeds out of the mouths of politicians, and to read the fine print to discover how they’re being lied-to.  Many people are off-the-deep-end with conspiracy theories.  Truth be told, there are enough valid reasons to be cautious:  Ponzi schemes, serial-killers, clergy sex-traffickers, dirty cops, and presidents on trial.  Overall there is a preponderance of reasons not to trust.  And then someone comes along to say…trust God…he won’t let you down.  And the poor kid whose head is spinning from the behavior he sees in adults says, sure…no thanks!

It is no wonder that in the realm of human beings searching for something or someone trustworthy, so many humans grow up looking for more reasons to debunk God, than trust Him.  Many people consider themselves spiritual, but give a quick thumbs-down on the church.  They’d rather trust in their own idea of human existence, and the impersonality of scientific explanations, than some antiquated religion.  Now, that’s the bad news.  (Really, Russell?  I’m glad that wasn’t the good stuff!)  That makes two of us. 

The Good News is still what that antiquated religion proclaims…God is truth, God is love, God loved all of us in Jesus Christ, and waits in the wings to forgive every mistake, sin, or horrible thing you’ve ever done.  Period!  I cannot give you 100 scientific proofs of it all, and even if I could, there’s always a guy with an angle to cast doubt on it all (just ask Eve).  But I can offer you the personal experience of one who decided to take the leap of faith, trust the Heavenly Father I’ve never seen, and find He’s trustworthy – above all!

For You Today 

Somewhere there’s a kid longing for “real” – don’t disappoint him.  Show him Jesus!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library. 

Title Images:  Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain. Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

The Secret to King David's Greatness - Part 4

[1]

Monday, April 18, 2016

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Teach me your decrees, O Lord; I will keep them to the end.
Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart.
Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found.  Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money!  Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.
Reassure me of your promise, made to those who fear you.  Help me abandon my shameful ways; for your regulations are good.  I long to obey your commandments!  Renew my life with your goodness.          Psalm 119:33-40 ^(NLT)

We have been looking at keys to unlocking the human heart, transforming the evil in our human nature into Godliness – turning the heart towards God’s will.  King David is our example.  We have learned that David was teachable, pro-active in his walk with God, and he had a keen sense of what constitutes real riches.

The final piece of King David’s greatness puzzle:

David trusted God and it created a 

longing for God within

Reassure me of your promise, made to those who fear you.  Help abandon my shameful ways; for your regulations are good.  I long to obey your commandments!  Renew my life with your goodness.

Plugging-into greatness, or anything God wants to bring about in your life always, always, ALWAYS finally rests upon the leap of faith – a surrender to His will over your will.

David’s prayer at this point is asking for reassurance; he asked God to create faith within himself.  He trusted, yet knew he needed help to trust deeper.  David was asking like the centurion in the Gospel account who approached Jesus to heal his daughter.  Jesus told the man it was possible if he believed.  The centurion replied, I believe; help me with my doubts.[2]

This is the kind of thing that reveals the heart’s longing to be better, to love better.  It reveals the desire to be cleansed and pure within, not just the appearance of goodness that others can see.  David said, I long to obey…help me with my wandering will. 

David’s greatness was never a matter of accomplishments or physical strength, or even his popularity among the people of Israel – David’s greatness was a heart that longed to be God’s servant, and a mind that understood he was unequal to even the smallest part of that without God’s grace working on him from the inside-out!

Sometimes I look at my desk while I’m writing (like right now)

and see the incredibly disorganized mess of my workspace, and I think:  how in the world do I ever get anything done?  And then, in my visible shortcoming, what I realize is that the longing to be better, more organized and productive in God’s Kingdom simply highlights for me how unalterable is the reality that I am not only not perfect…I am woefully-inadequate to do anything for God; it is HE who is doing all things through me. 

Now, it’s hard to imagine my desk-mess could inspire confidence – but it’s the very reassurance I need; it brings renewal to my soul to know that God can work even through the disorganized, frenzied soul who is willing to trust him deeper.

For You Today

Like David, you can find the greatness God has in store for your heart and life.  It’s a matter of going a little deeper in the trust department…whatever YOUR desk looks like!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…and have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image:   By Jastrow, via Wikimedia Commons

[2] Mark 9:24^(NLT)

The Secret to King David's Greatness - Part 3

[1]

Friday, April 15, 2016

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Teach me your decrees, O Lord; I will keep them to the end.
Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart.
Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found.  Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money!  Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.
Reassure me of your promise, made to those who fear you.  Help abandon my shameful ways; for your regulations are good.  I long to obey your commandments!  Renew my life with your goodness.  Psalm 119:33-40 ^(NLT)

We are looking at keys to unlocking the human heart, transforming the evil in our human nature into Godliness – turning the heart towards God’s will.  King David is our example.  We have learned so far that he was teachable and pro-active.

Thirdly we discover that:

David understood the difference 

between riches and money

Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money!  Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.

I think it’s actually quite hilarious that we come to this section on April 15^th – tax day!  Trust me, I didn’t plan it; you can’t plan this stuff…really! 

There is such an abundance of teaching about wealth and the use of money throughout Scripture that it’s not easy to make a summary in the five minutes we have for this devotion.  We have, for instance, people like Solomon, (a pretty smart guy) in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes; we also have Job, the guy who learned the hard way.  In the New Testament we have James, and lots of Paul, and, of course we have Jesus.  We even have Paul quoting Jesus.

Here are a few:

Paul:  …for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.  Philippians 4:11b^(NLT)

Paul:   For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.  1 Timothy 6:10a^(NLT)

Jesus:  I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”  Matthew 19:24^(NLT)

Paul quoting Jesus:  For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Romans 14:17^(NLT)

Each of these short statements is packed with the principle of greatness of heart.  When someone has learned to keep money in perspective, whether it is a small amount or a king’s fortune, it is then possible to see life in God’s Kingdom clearly.

In talking about the difficulties that come along with riches, Jesus gave the illustration of a camel trying to go through the eye of a needle.  The humor of that aside, it is a compelling picture of one’s trappings keeping him on the outside.  If that “needle” happened to be a short, narrow passageway into the city, the rich man would have to dismount the camel, strip the saddle off and anything else ol’ dromedary was carrying so the beast could kneel and wiggle through that opening.  If the trappings of life are too meaningful, you spend your life outside the city to which you’re travelling.  You’ve lost your perspective.  And money always clouds perspective; it doesn’t take much to clog the eye of a needle.

Paul told the church at Philippi he could be content whether his pockets were slam-full, or dead-broke; what was important was the peace beyond understanding (which he’d come to understand and cherish much more than wealth, power or position).

The heart often learns best when it sees things as if looking through a mirror.  And, nothing could be more so than with money or possessions. 

The way to genuine financial health (keeping money in its place) is to be found in giving things away. 

Jesus taught:

…anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.   John 12:25b^(MSG)

For You Today

Greatness of heart shows up in some measurable ways.  When’s the last time your bank statement said at the bottom line:  REAL and ETERNAL? 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…and have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image:   By Jastrow, via Wikimedia Commons

The Secret to King David's Greatness - Part 2

[1]

Thursday, April 14, 2016

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Teach me your decrees, O Lord; I will keep them to the end.
Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart.
Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found.  Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money!  Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.
Reassure me of your promise, made to those who fear you.  Help me abandon my shameful ways; for your regulations are good.  I long to obey your commandments!  Renew my life with your goodness.          

Psalm 119:33-40 ^(NLT)

We are looking at a few of the keys found in the heart of King David which transform human nature into Godly nature – turning the heart towards God’s will.  The first noticeable one is that David was teachable; his prayer was:

Teach me your decrees, O Lord; I will keep them to the end.
Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart.

Next we discover that:

David wanted a Pro-active Faith

Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found.

One of the reasons God gave his people the law through Moses was so they could make positive steps towards God.  Unfortunately many people never grow out of the childish notion that the only reason we have God’s law is because the Lord is always angry and wants to find new ways to punish us.  And we, poor frail humans, can’t possibly keep up with all the do’s and don’ts of the Ten Commandments.

But that isn’t the case; God gave the law as a gift, a helpful instructor to show us how impossible life is on our own, and as an invitation to trust his grace.

A passive walk with God, (which is the child’s here I am, feed me, clothe me, soothe me and never let me be unhappy posture) would be a contradiction; passive and active are opposites.  Even though the commandments are written mostly in the negative sense, (don’t steal, lie, kill, etc.), they do not imply simply DOING NOTHING.  To the contrary, the commands, by excluding evil, demand movement towards good…which is movement towards God. 

For instance, in this way:

·       don’t lie means live in truth

·       don’t steal commands, learn to be generous 

·       don’t kill means preserve and promote life.

The movement from negative to positive is seen in David’s life.  When he was being hounded by King Saul, David had the perfect opportunity to take-out his persecutor.  Saul rested in a dark cave during the pursuit; he just didn’t know David was already there, and as David stood over the unprotected king, a simple thrust of the sword could have ended all his problems…at least from a human standpoint…vengeance!  But David moved to the higher ground of a proactive stance of leaving vengeance to God.

Jesus told the story of a woman who swept her house clean and then made the analogy of getting rid of bad stuff (don’t lie, steal, kill).  The problem, Jesus taught, was that as soon as you evict these bad friends, if you don’t fill the space with good, proactive steps, the bad will gather seven-fold their original number and move back into your house.

Just like nature abhors a vacuum, so an empty space in your spiritual walk will be filled with something.   In his life David (mostly) chose proactive steps of moving towards God.  He put into practice the positive side of God’s law, promoting life, truth, honesty and generosity.

For You Today

So…go ahead and explore Exodus 20 today; pick one of those commandments and figure out how to read the negative and receive the positive.  And then, like King David, put it into proactive practice…wholeheartedly!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…and have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image:   By Jastrow, via Wikimedia Commons