God Does Not Give Up On Us

It isn’t very far into 1 Kings 16 that we are reminded that God, in spite of Israel’s evil kings, does not give up on His people. Even though the people of Israel blindly followed the evil practices of their kings, God did not give up on them. And, Israel’s kings were evil.

(By the way, when I use the name “Israel” in reference to this time in history, I’m referring to the 10 northern tribes that broke away from the unified kingdom. Judah remained separate and actually had a few good kings mixed in with some evil ones.)

So, even though God does not give up and He will keep His promises, He will hold each world leader and each individual accountable to adhering to the Scriptures. The people during this time had to rely on their “learned” leaders, those with access to the Holy Scrolls, for their information. They were slowly indoctrinated into the worship of idols. They were told that various practices were in keeping with what God wanted. They had no idea they were worshiping idols. These extra-Biblical practices and rituals led them to believing they were still worshiping Yahweh God. However, they were as I said above,  reliant upon the leaders to tell them what was what. They did not have access to the Holy Scrolls and even if they did, many would not have been able to read them.

There’s a warning to us in this passage. Yes, our governmental leaders and even our church leaders may slowly incorporate non-Biblical concepts, ideas, policies, practices and rituals into our spiritual lives. God will hold them responsible for those sins. However, before we jump too fast into blaming our leaders, let’s look at ourselves. We do not have the excuse of not having the Sacred Scrolls available for us to read and adhere to. We will be held responsible for knowing and following the Scriptures on an individual basis. We will also be held accountable for not objecting to the misuses of power and prestige and the pulpit. We should not be condemning each other since no one is without fault of disobeying some portion of Scripture, but we should hold our leaders and ourselves accountable to the basics – even just to Ten Commandments.

Let’s review the Ten Commandments. My hope is that we will take a serious and thorough inventory of ourselves as we look at these commandments. How are we doing? How are our leaders doing?

1.     You should have no others gods before Me.

2.     You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath. You shall not bow down to them or worship them.

3.     You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.

4.     Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

5.     Honor your father and your mother.

6.     You shall not murder.

7.     You shall not commit adultery.

8.     You shall not steal.

9.     You shall not give false testimony.

10.  You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, wife, servants, or animals.

One last word. You cannot know whether you are following God or human leaders unless you are daily and thoroughly reading and studying His Word. Our leaders, religious or political, can be just as wrong as the evil kings of Israel. (In Acts 17:11 the Bereans were upheld as the example for all of us: “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”)

Intimacy With God: Meeting a Need in My Life

Over the last 12 weeks or so, I’ve been sharing with you about the insights I’ve gotten from doing the Intimacy With God Bible study, by Cynthia Heald. I shared how my intimacy with God has grown and changed during this time (and hope continuing on from here). I can now say that my intellectual attachment to God has grown. That was always my strong suit before, and now it’s stronger. I rarely felt emotionally connected to God, but that has changed. As a result, I’m more able to see God at work in all areas of my life. I encourage everyone to develop both sides of their intimacy with God, and if you need help, invest your time and resources to studying Intimacy With God, by Cynthia Heald.

In writing my blog articles about intimacy with God, I mentioned several times how these concepts were helping me deal with the struggles in my life, as they were happening. What I didn’t tell you was what those struggles were about. I realize I’ve mentioned some of my various struggles in the past: mental illness, alcoholism, insulin-dependent diabetes, general fears, and various anxieties. However, since March, I’ve been dealing with something new: CANCER.

Follicular Lymphoma Grade IIIa, to be exact. I noticed a lump in/on my neck in late February and, after some urging from my therapist, I made an appointment to see my doctor. He thought it was “strange” also and referred me to a Ears, Nose, and Throat (ENT) specialist. After a couple of needle biopsies and a CT Scan (and lots of waiting in between each procedure), it was decided that in order to get an accurate diagnosis, some surgery was needed (on my left neck area where the lump was) to remove as much of the tissue as possible from which more biopsies could be done. That surgery happened on May 31^st. It took almost two weeks to get any results from that, but when all was said and done, it was cancer.

I was referred to Oncology (Cancer Center) and after waiting some more, and seeing a doctor there, more tests were ordered, after which there was more waiting. Those tests revealed that the cancer, as far as they could tell, was not systemic and, therefore, Stage One. The course of action would be radiation treatments. So I was referred to a Radiology Oncologist. After a few more procedures and tests and scans, a protocol was set up for my treatment and I began treatments on July 31^st. I went every weekday through September 6^th for about 10 minutes of treatment. I was able to schedule the treatments for early afternoon each day and kept my usual morning routines as much as possible.

Now that stage of my treatment is over. However, I’m finding I need even more intimacy with God to deal with the “surveillance” stage, where there’s more waiting to see if the cancer is gone, shrunk, whatever. There are more CT Scans in my future, but right now I’m just in a waiting and trusting mode. Trusting God has become easier since I’ve been getting to know Him better through greater intimacy. As I said in my last blog article, I’m continuing to do several important things for depending on God, in all His greatness, as I draw closer to Him.

Maybe that’s why He didn’t urge me to tell more people about this. He wanted me to trust Him and lean on Him. On Him alone. Not on the prayers of others. Not on the sympathy of others. Just on Him alone. I think He led my Bible study partner and me to this study just so I could enhance my walk with Him and grow closer to Him. I’m going to continue looking for examples of Jesus’ intimacy with us and I’m going to continue to work on deepening my intimacy with Him. I’m seeing it everywhere now. Like in Psalm 5:3, I will turn to Him each and every day and order my life around my trust in Him. That verse says (I quoted it last week, too):

In the morning, O Lord,

            Thou wilt hear my voice;

In the morning I will order my prayer to Thee

             and eagerly watch.

Yes! In the morning. But also throughout the day as I review and memorize Scripture, study His Word, and spend time devoted to praising Him. And, sharing as much of Him as is possible with those who need to know Him better.

What can you do to grow more intimate with God? That is my challenge to you today!

A Life of Deepening Intimacy

This week I finished the Bible study book on the topic of intimacy with God. It took all summer (12 weeks) to get to this point. However, I do not want my interest and commitment to intimacy with God to wane. I want to maintain a renewed deeper intimacy with God that this study has given me, and I want to go even deeper in feeling, knowing, and studying God’s presence in my life.

There are a few ways I intend to further enhance my connection to God: digging deeper into His Word, praising Him daily, and keep memorizing Scripture (and keep reviewing the ones I have memorized). In the conclusion of the Bible study one of the questions was, “Take some time now to reflect on your understanding and experience of intimacy as it has developed through this study. How will the insights you have gained in this study help you grow in your intimacy with God?” I thought and prayed about my response, and several things kept coming up. This is what I wrote:

This study has renewed my fervor for God . . . through Scripture memory and renewed commitment to praise. [These two things] keep me focused on God and His awesome, unique impact on this world and in my life. Only He is worthy of my dedication and devotion. Only He is caring for me in ways I cannot even imagine. Only He is worthy of praise. He has drawn me into intimacy with Him in new ways and restored my commitments to study His Word and proclaim Him whenever possible. He is opening my eyes to new (and/or previously existing) opportunities to love on and share with people who do not yet know Him. It flows out of intimacy with Him.

One of the psalms looked at this week was Psalm 5. I really like vs. 3 in the NIV:

In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice;

            in the morning I lay my requests before you

            and wait in expectation.

In the NASB the last line says, “In the morning I will order my prayer to Thee and eagerly watch.” Waiting in expectation and eagerly watching result when we trust totally in God to answer our prayers and bring about in our lives exactly what we need in order to live joyous and free lives. It reminds me of the prophetess and prophet in the temple on the day Jesus was presented there. They were eagerly watching and waiting for the Messiah’s coming. I should also be eagerly and expectantly looking for the return of Christ, however, I should also be eagerly looking and noticing God’s works in my current life. Maintaining intimacy with God motivates me to be looking with expectancy and hope. I’ve been able to see His hand in my life more readily since beginning this study. I want that to continue so I will continue to study His Word, praise Him daily, and memorize (treasure) His Word in my heart by memorization.

Expression of Intimacy: Praise

I love praising God. For a while, in the first 5-6 years of my Christian life, I praised God every day for at least five minutes. This came about because of an application I made from a seminar I went to with the woman who led me to Christ. I don’t remember a whole lot from that seminar (probably in 1979), but I remember the application. The speaker challenged us to pledge specific vows to God, and be amazed at His help at keeping the vows. I vowed to praise God for five minutes every day, early in the day. For many years, day in and day out, the Holy Spirit reminded me of my vow when I (almost) forgot about it on some days. Before I could close my eyes at night, the Holy Spirit would say to me, “Where’s today’s praising?” I would sit up in bed, thank God for His faithfulness in helping me to remember, and complete my five minutes for the day.

It was more than a habit. Some days it was what tied me to reality and truth in my messed up mind. Some days it brought me great joy and assurance. Some days it drew me closer to a fellow Christian as I asked them to praise with me. I truly believe doing it, wholeheartedly, kept me from falling off the deep end of depression or soaring to the psychotic stages of mania. I didn’t know I had a mental illness back then so there were no doctor-prescribed meds to keep me stable. I’m not saying I was “stable” during those years; I’m saying that things could’ve been much, much worse, either lows or highs. It was my source of hope when all else seemed to be hopeless.

I’m not sure why or when I stopped doing it. I do know that if I had kept it up, my journey into insanity might have taken a different route. I wish I had kept it up, but I didn’t. Over the years, I’ve thought about that vow and made attempts to start doing it again, but did not have a lasting practice of doing it. In my Bible study this week on Intimacy with God by Cynthia Heald, the topic was how praise is the expression of the intimacy we have with God. The greater our intimacy the more frequent our praise. I was convicted again about doing the praise daily; however, this time I’m renewing my vow to God and trusting the Holy Spirit to remind me daily to follow through on keeping it. In order to hold myself accountable, I decided I will write the praises out in a journal.

Scripture supports the concept of praising God frequently. Psalm 89:15 in the NIV says, “Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.” I’ve experienced many blessings because I learned and practiced giving God acclaim. Acclaim’s definition is to “praise enthusiastically and publicly.” Synonyms include “praise, applaud, cheer, commend, approve, compliment, celebrate, rave about, exalt, extol, and honor.” If we consider God’s character, it becomes easier and easier to acclaim Him, and that comes about by growing in intimacy with Him.

One of the best ways to begin praising God is to pray back to Him Scripture, especially some of the Psalms. I decided to memorize Psalm 150:1-2 because in those verses I am given plenty for which to praise God:

Praise the Lord!

Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty expanse.

Praise Him for His mighty deeds,

Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.

Ongoing Intimacy With God

As I studied more about intimacy with God, I was directed to several Psalms that showed the psalmists being able to rest and be content in life as a result of their conscious contact with God. There were two passages that I found interesting and brought me some peace as I continue dealing with some issues in my life. I can’t decide which one to memorize. Maybe writing about them here, will help me choose.

Let’s start by looking at Psalm 16:11. I looked at it in several versions: New American Standard Bible, New International Version, Amplified Version, and the Message. Each version put it a little differently (you can look them up for yourself using Bible Gateway (https://www.biblegateway.com). I’m focusing my attention on the NIV version:

You have made known to me the path of life;

            You will fill me with joy in your presence,

            With eternal pleasures at your right hand.

This verse states some truths about God and my life and it promises I will be filled with joy as long as I stay in God’s presence. Keeping in God’s presence is the key. How do we do that as we go through our days on earth? To answer that question I looked again at the NASB’s translation of that verse:

Thou wilt make known to me the path of life;

In Thy presence is fullness of joy;

In Thy right hand there are pleasures forever.

The second line tells us where the joy comes from (as did the NIV in a different way), but to me, the use of “Thy” reminds me whose presence I’m supposed to be in: God’s. The previous parts of this study have been instructing me how to stay in His presence: seeking His face earnestly, recognizing His righteousness, believing He is trustworthy, seeking His protection, knowing and remembering that God is responsive to our prayers, having a healthy reverence for God, being truthful with Him, and loving and studying God’s Word. It sounds like a big order when put all together like this, but I think it can be summed up with a verse from the New Testament:

Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” It also kind of goes along with the middle part of Psalm 63:1: “I shall seek Thee earnestly; my soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee.” Seek God first and foremost in our lives will draw us closer to Him and we will be able to live in contentedness and peace.

That brings me to the other passage I’m considering memorizing. Psalm 131:2 says,

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;

Like a weaned child rests against his mother,

My soul is like a weaned child within me.

David uses a word picture to say he’s able to be content and peaceful after experiencing trouble because of his close relationship with the Lord. In my Ryrie Study Bible, Ryrie wrote the following note: “As a child who has successfully gone through the troublesome process of weaning and found contentment, so David had been delivered from all self-seeking and had found contentment in the Lord.” I want to have that composed and quiet mind and spirit because I’m constantly in the presence of our powerful, loving Father. I too want to feel contentment knowing that God’s got everything under control.

So which verse would you memorize: Psalm 16:11 or Psalm 131:2? I will meditate on both this week and hopefully make a decision soon.

Love God's Word

I don’t often have the emotions of intimacy with God that some people have, although working through this study (Intimacy With God), I feel more of those emotions than I have in a long time. Yet, I do have an intimacy with God through His Word in ways that many other Christians do not. It’s still an intimacy with God, but it’s based on my love for His laws and principles.

Psalm 119 is all about that kind of intimacy. It’s 176 verses about the psalmist’s love for God’s judgments, statutes, ordinances, testimonies, precepts, laws, commandments, words, and the word of truth. In reading and studying it, I have regained a sense of how the Scriptures should be my central focus in my Christian walk. The feelings are great, however, for me, I depend on the Scriptures to tell me why I should feel close to God. There in lies the source of all our love and reasons to love, primarily because of God’s great, enduring, love for us. He gave us His Word so we could know Him. I intend to take full advantage of this amazing source for knowing God better.

I would suggest setting aside 20 minutes, give or take, to read through and think about what Psalm 119 says about the psalmist’s love for God’s instructions. The Word can have the same purposes in our lives as it did for the Israelites (in specific, the psalmist who wrote Psalm 119). There are basically three functions of the Word, and we need all three to be working in our lives to truly be intimate with God. The Word, 1. Keeps us from sin, 2. Guides and directs us, and 3. Gives us hope and comfort. These functions pretty much cover every area of my life.

There were so many choices of verses in Psalm 119 to memorize so they are always with me. I chose one: Psalm 119:18. “Open my eyes that I may behold Wonderful things from Thy law.” That’s my prayer, not just when I’m about to intentionally dive into the Word, but throughout the day. As I go about my life, I want to know the Scriptures well enough that the Holy Spirit can bring it to mind in each moment of need. There’s a verse for every situation in our lives. If only I could memorize verses for every joy, struggle, and question that arises in my life today. I’m working on it, but I have a long way to go.

A verse in Deuteronomy about God’s Word also stood out to me. Deuteronomy 30:14 says, “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe [see and obey] it.” This verse encourages me to keep memorizing; not only does it give me what to say and feel, it draws me closer to God.

My application for the study of Psalm 119 was to write my own stanza in the style of Psalm 119 (the first word in each stanza begins with the same letter as I describe what the Word means to me):

My heart longs for Thy Word;

            Show me the answers to life’s questions

May Thou show me the truths

            Only found in Thy Scriptures.

Maladies and struggles overtake me,

            Yet I hold onto Thy teachings.

Memory fails me,

            Except for Thy Words you bring to my mind.

Musings on my failures and faults,

            Bring me back to Thy Scriptures.

May Thee restore my mind and soul,

            As I search Thy Holy Words.

May Thy principles always be my words,

            That others may come to know Thee.

Mindless rhetoric and the world’s views,

            Are challenged by Thy testimonies.

Can you write a “psalm” that expresses your heart for God’s Word? Give it a try!

God's Righteousness

We all have heard about God’s righteousness, and I don’t know about you, but I often equate that with His judgment. Of course, God knows right from wrong and only participates in what is right. Of course, He judges things when they are wrong, including people who are doing wrong according to His edicts and declarations. However, His righteousness also shows up in His mercy.

I am struck with how His mercy takes into account His laws and how we break them. Yet, He provided for the fact that mankind would break His laws and not follow through, not being able to only do righteous things. As a matter of fact, He’s the only one who can perform righteous deeds all the time. He knew that, and He knew He would have to judge, but He loves us and desires us to be in fellowship with Him (see last week’s blog article), so He provided a way to exercise His great and powerful mercy toward us. His mercy is demonstrated by the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus.

Our faith is what determines our righteousness. Scripture gives us the example of Abraham’s faith: “Then he [Abraham] believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).” Our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way we are made righteous in God’s eyes.

God’s righteousness is part of His character. He’s always been and always will be righteous. He’s the only one who exists with righteousness without the help of another. We need faith in Jesus to make us righteous. For us, we need both God’s judgment and His mercy to be made righteous. Without judgment there would be no need for mercy, and without mercy there could be no way for us to be righteous before God.

Psalm 103 talks about His judgment and His mercy being opposite sides of the same coin as far as our righteousness goes. I memorized verses 6-8, which indicates these things about God’s righteousness:

The Lord performs righteous deeds,

And judgments for all who are oppressed.

He made know His ways to Moses,

His acts to the sons of Israel.

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.

I also liked Psalm 71:2:

In Thy righteousness deliver me, and rescue me;

Incline Thine ear to me, and save me.

May you celebrate your deliverance through the recognition of God’s righteousness. May you see that it’s only by His judgment and mercy that true righteousness can be extended to us. May you draw nearer to God because you understand and appreciate His righteousness.

Longing For Intimacy With God

I’ve started a new Bible study this week. My partner, Kris, and I are looking into what it means to have intimacy with God. Basically I want to not only know God, but also to feel God as I go about my daily life. I think people need to study His Word and get to know Him in order to sense His presence in our daily lives. This is a good study for me, because I often know a lot about God, but it doesn’t translate into my heart and thoughts as I go about my life. I long to know Him on a deeper level.

So this week’s study directed me to look at a few Psalms to study the longing people have for true intimacy with God. Psalm 62, Psalm 63, and Psalm 73 communicate some of the ways David and Asaph viewed God and how that translated into longing for Him. Some of the key points made in these Psalms include waiting for God alone, relying on Him alone as our rock and salvation, that He is our stronghold (NASB)/fortress (NIV), that we will never be shaken, that we should seek Him earnestly with thirst and yearning, and that He alone is our help and we should take comfort in the shadow of His wings  (Psalms 62, 63; Psalms of David). Psalm 73, a Psalm of Asaph, also says that He has taken hold of our right hands, and that besides Thee we should desire nothing on earth. Psalm 73 also says, in verse 28, “As for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, That I may tell of all Thy works.”

I discovered that I want that kind of intimacy with God, an intimacy that confidently rules my heart no matter what trials I may be facing. It’s more than just knowing these things are true. It’s also anticipating God working in my daily life and noticing when He works. David and Asaph were able to do that in the midst of the struggles in their lives. Experiencing God’s presence throughout each day will draw me closer to the God I worship. Another way to look at this intimacy I desire with God is to contemplate how I develop intimacy with other people. Getting to know them – their thoughts, feelings, joys, and sorrows – allows me to feel closer to them. And, my sharing with them those same elements in my life, allows them to draw closer to me. So, getting to know God is the first part of the process. However, I also need to apply Psalm 62:8 and openly share with God what’s going on in my life. “Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us (Emphasis added).” I don’t exercise that much in my life. I feel afraid to let God know everything that’s flooding my thoughts and feelings. How ridiculous is that?! God already knows, but He desires me to share it all with Him instead of keeping it all bottled up and trying to deal with the issues on my own. He desires us to take refuge in Him.

As part of my application for the study of these three Psalms, I decided to memorize Psalm 63:1-3:

O God, Thou art my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly;

My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee,

In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Thus I have beheld Thee in the sanctuary,

To see Thy power and Thy glory.

Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life,

My lips will praise Thee.

I also decided to put a reminder on my phone each and every time something is scheduled where I need to connect with God on an intimate and trusting level. Each time I’m going to see a doctor. Each time I’m going to be involved in a conflict. Each time something is going to be physically hard for me to accomplish. Each time I’m feeling lonely or weary. Each time I have the opportunity to share Christ with someone. Each and every occasion in my life where I want to see God work (which is all the time!)

Where do you need to seek Him earnestly in your life? Do you need to remember, even memorize, a specific passage of Scripture to remind you of intimacy with God? It’s more than head knowledge. It’s more than a feeling or emotion. It involves both of these experiences to develop a truth intimate relationship with God.