Another not-so-famous Bible Verse

   Let’s think about Psalm 5:3.  It’s my favorite verse in the Bible, said no one ever.  Few, if any sermons have been preached on it and most of you have no idea what it says.  Me either, until a few days ago. 

    If you grew up in church,  you will probably attribute this verse to David.  After all,  he wrote most of the Psalms.  Knowing what we know about him,  we can formulate a pretty good idea about it’s subject matter.  It took me years to understand that EVERY SINGLE WORD in the Bible has a message for me!  Even the chronologies, ( a post for another day).   God shows us a little gem,  obscure,  that you’ve skimmed over in your One Year Bible several times.  Psalm 5:3  is one of those!

  Think on it a minute,  Psalm 5:3  (International Standard version)  “Lord, in the morning you will hear my voice,  in the morning I will pray to you and I will watch for your answer.”

    I’m not a morning person so I hate to promise the  Lord will “hear my voice in the morning”  but I can commit to  Lord, “ you will hear my voice”  when I wake up.

However,  the word that jumped  from the page at me was  WATCH.  I read the verse in 21 other translations (thru BibleHub )  and then looked at it in the Greek and finally read 3 commentaries.   “Watch for your answer”     A  few posts ago I talked about Micah 7:7 which also suggested that we “Watch”  for the answers to prayer. 

    Watch   look up,  look out,  look forward!  I’m convicted again about my expectancy of answers to my prayer.  I certainly want God to answer my prayer,  I have no doubt he hears my prayer but how expectant am I?  

  One  of the commentators likens  this expectancy to leaning forward,  looking out into the distance and scanning the horizon for the answer.  Maybe even grabbing the binoculars.     

    No one stands in the doorway, glancing up and down the street randomly wondering or hoping their grand kids will show up.  However,  when they’ve texted that they are right around the corner,   I  get up,  stand in the doorway and eagerly wait for the headlights to pull into the driveway.  Watching the end of the street for the car to make the turn.   What if?   What if I adopted that stance while waiting for the answer to prayer.   

      As I prayed over the needs of me and mine this morning,  I wondered how I would act and speak today if I was expecting the answers.  

Just   THINKIN’  about  that,       How about you?  

If Only, If I'd Known

     In John 4,  we read the story of the Woman at the Well and her encounter with Jesus.  A familiar story to be sure and one that focuses on Jesus as the living water.  This morning I got to THINKIN’ about the first three words of  verse 10  and I looked at them thoughtfully.  “If you knew" .   If you knew.  If only I’d known,  how many times have I said that?   In regards to big and little things,  if only I’d known. .  the road was closed,  I could have gone a different way.   If only I’d known we were on the last drop of ketchup.  If only I had not ignored that hearburn,  If only I'd known he was going to get sick,   If only,  if only.   I often hear people lament,  If I’d known then what I know now.  Be honest,  you’ve said it or felt it. 

    So here we are, at the well,  dry and thirsty and more than a little down and out.  And this man, Jesus,  the Son of God is sitting there patiently waiting for a particular woman to show up. Maybe a woman like us.   And as we trudge up,  carrying the load,  He asks for something. 

     How many times?  How often have I climbed out of bed in the morning like I’m going uphill,  carrying the weight of the day’s tasks, responsibilities and troubles,  stumbled into the kitchen for coffee.  Only to find an email,  text or get a phone call from someone who wants something. These days more likely,  someone with a need that I couldn't begin to fill.  I’m  tired before the day begins,  overwhelmed by the to-do list and the desperate needs of friends and family.  Jesus says,  stop,  acknowledge me,  spend some time with me.  When I don’t,  the day rambles on,  uphill, usually with more and more baggage weighing in on my heart, mind and body.  Until I finally collapse in a chair in frustration.  If I knew,  I wouldn’t start my day this way.  IF I knew,  I would drink at His well of strength, blessing and wisdom.  IF I KNEW, 

    I DO KNOW!    I KNOW I am adopted, loved, blessed, favored, chosen.   I know this Jesus, intimately, not like I want to,  but pretty well.  I do know.  I know that this Jesus is just waiting for me to call upon Him,  just waiting for me to turn to him.  The Word says that He immediately pays attention to the call of His child.  He doesn’t “turn’  to me,  his eyes are already on me,  waiting for me to turn to Him.   "If you knew"  Jesus says to the woman at the well,  to me,  to you.  "If you knew",  I do know and so do you.   

    Thinkin’ about it.  

Wonderful, Counselor, Prince of Peace, Emmanuel

Thinkin' on the names given to Jesus by Isaiah, Luke, the angels, God.  I've always loved the songs that proclaim those names.  However,  back in the 80's,  the kids at our church did a kids Christmas musical called "The Late Great Potentate".  I loved everything about that musical and my kids were too little to be part of it.  Still,  it remains one of my favorites.  The premise was that the Potentate was losing his position to a baby King.  The kids sang about what to name the Baby and Casper,  the Potentate had some ideas.  He was shocked to hear that the name would be Jesus.    A sweet preteen,  now mother of four living in Germany sang a little chorus in the play that went like this:

"  When your heart is full of joy,  you'll call Him 'Wonderful',   When you've almost lost your way, He'll be your Counselor;  In the midst of your confusion, whisper 'Prince of Peace'  and when you're all alone,  He'll be Emmanuel."  

Since that day,  Emmanuel has been my favorite name for Jesus.  My favorite songs embody that name,  "God with us,  revealed in us, ",  "Emmanuel has come"  "God came down to dwell among us"   and on and on.

It happened about two weeks before Christmas.  I was blessed to attend a lovely Christmas brunch with my womens group at church.  The hostess chose the theme "Nativity"  and her beautful home reflected the theme.  For an icebreaker,  we had a word sticker slapped on our back and had to ask questions to discover it.  Sort of an adult headbandz.

Of course,  I don't need an icebreaker to visit with other women so I didn't really play until we sat down to eat.  A precious sister in Christ insisted that I play to discover my word. I'm pretty good at this game,  I'm a linguist and a teacher.  I can find that word in five questions.

"Is it a person, place or thing?"   Person 
  "Male or Female?"   Male.
 "adult or baby?"  Baby. 
"Duh,  Jesus".
Kind of,  but no,  not JESUS.

I took off ,  quoting Isaiah,  Handel's Messiah, Christmas Carols,  all to a chorus of "NO".
Finally,  I sang the above chorus in my head, saying aloud,  "Wonderful, Counselor, Prince of Peace,
Emmanuel."

"That's it,"  my table shouted.

I took a long drink of my coffee.  How could I have not said my favorite name for Jesus first? I went home thinkin' about that.

In the hustle and bustle of the season,  in the rush of December , with Christmas music blaring from every and any speaker including my phone,  God was with me.  And that was possible because of a baby born in Bethlehem.

For God is with us, And we celebrate the glory of His presence,  Christ has come to fill our hearts with love,  He came to SAVE us,  King of Kings and Lord of Lords,  His name is Jesus,  God with us.  Emmanuel has come.   --Don Moen
 
Imagine,  GOD with us,  thinkin' about that today.

Trust & Obey

In my blog post of  July 9, 2019, I wrote about music and how it affected and still affects my daily life,  since childhood.  Morning devotion times always end in a chorus  and usually it's one I haven't thought of in awhile.  Sometimes it's not even a christian song.  This morning it was A Million Dreams from the Greatest Showman  but that's another story.

As I was working on a proposal this morning,  I started singing,  "As we walk with the Lord,  in the light of His word,  what a glory He sheds on our way"   Initially,  I didn't even think what the song was until I got to the chorus,  "Trust and Obey,  for there's no other way"    Weird.  I'm not in a period of disobedience that I know of.  And there's no huge trial going on in my life right now.

But,  whoops,  I do spend a lot of time writing, studying and submitting pieces that go nowhere.   I post this blog for the 3 of you that read it, and I wonder frequently if any of this is worthy of my time and effort.     I do not write for the masses or publish best sellers but I'm being obedient to what he asks of me.  Perhaps my ministry is for  the one or two.  Perhaps it's just for me.  Because certainly I'm changing with every word I type.
(Cue  He's still workin' on me!)

Rachel Hollis says,  "So I have two choices: I can write down words and send them out into the world and hope they find a home. Or I can hide my light under a bushel because I’m too afraid someone won’t like the glare."

My fear isn't you won't like the glare,  I'm more afraid it won't be bright enough to pierce any darkness.  I write in obedience to what he tells me to type.  I post when I'm sure His timing is right and for reasons I cannot explain;   I study, write and submit.  

"For there's no other way,  to be happy in Jesus,  but to trust and obey." 

Sing, Sing a song, make it simple!

While listening to Robert Madu speak about the songs learned as a child in Sunday School
and how they impacted his life and ministry as an adult,   I took a little walk down memory lane.
I saw a vivid picture of my mom standing on the left,  with Sister Herndon in the middle
and Pastor Herndon on the right on the tiny platform of the church I grew up in.  They are
singing “Until then, my heart will go on singing. . . Until the day God calls me home”.
As an adult,  I had no doubt on the day God called Mom and Brother Herndon home.
His widow, Tona, awaits her call to this day.  
Our home was filled with music  enhanced by my mother’s love of southern gospel. 
We were charter subscribers to the Singing News Magazine.   The Cathedrals, Statesmen,
Blackwood Brothers, Dixie Echoes,  I knew their names and bios as if they were family.
My Dad volunteered as an usher at the Municipal Auditorium  (Now the Civic Center Music Hall)
so we could see the Speer Family, the Rambos and the Happy Goodmans in concert numerous
times FREE. We had all their ‘albums”.   Later my parents would purchase all the Bill Gaither
videos and leave them for me.  

I can spell “Bible, Christian, Jesus, Heart”   and many other words without spell check because
I know a song about them.   “ I am a C, I am a Ch, I am a Ch-r-i-s-t-i-a-n . The B-i-b-l-e, yes that’s
the book for me.”   Jesus loves the little Children,   “red and yellow, black and white” My early
experience with missionaries and this song caused me to never question His love for all the children
of the world.  "On Sunday I am happy,  On Monday. . . . and Saturday’s always bright."  He is the
God of everyday, all week not just on Sunday.  I haven’t always acknowledged Him everyday
but I’ve never been a “Sunday”  christian.  The Happy Day Express,   I think that might have
been from a Vacation Bible School theme but I’ve always known my final destination was Heaven.  
Every morning devotional sparks a memory of a hymn or song from my childhood and I usually
end with one I haven't thought of in years. Just after an intense time of prayer for a
prodigal child, I began to sing “I know whom I have believed in and am persuaded, that He is able”.   
Those songs from my childhood then remind me of the people of my childhood and I’m smiling

big right now.  “Lord, I’m thankful for the good folks in my life, ( blogpost of 10/1/18)   
Not everyone grows up in a home filled with southern gospel, but most of us can recall a song,
a hymn, a liturgy from childhood.

Belt out a song from your childhood today and see where the memory lane takes you!

TODAY, and God Said. . .

I propped up the pillows against the headboard and arranged the comforter around me.   My cup of cinnamon dolce fresh from the Keurig sat on the nightstand next to me.  I greeted my God, as always with an honest assessment of how I feel about getting up and facing the day.   I ask Him to open my ears to hear from him and speak to me before I open my devotional and Bible. 

This morning, I prayed a desperate prayer, I’m struggling with some directions in my life, some opportunities that I want to take and could,  but I want His “Best Yes”.  So I whined a bit that I really “need to hear from God”.   I really “want to do your perfect will”,      please, please, “give me some clear direction”,   “I’m listening, I want to do what you want”.

And God said, “No you don’t.”   So I got quiet and a little offended.

And God said, “I’ve given you everything you need for TODAY.  You undoubtedly know what you need to accomplish TODAY.   You have clear direction for the things you need to do for me TODAY.  Your problem is you want to know about next week, next month, and next year.  You want answers for June and August and it’s barely May.  You don’t want to make that financial commitment, even though you could because you’re afraid of October’s rent increase.     You don’t want to do TODAY’S task unless you can see how it’s going to help or hinder tomorrow.  You don’t want to spend time on TODAY’S task if you can’t know how the time and energy spent is going to impact the future.  You don’t want to follow TODAY’S leading if you can’t know where the finish line is.  You don’t want to get up and get busy on what you know you need to do TODAY.   You are too concerned about how it's all going to turn out."  

I was now more than a little offended, but I knew it was truth.  For me, specifically, time spent writing and researching and studying and yes spending for my writing,  seems to lead to nada.  And yet, I still do it.   Then I berate myself for “wasting” my precious resources.    I should be doing something more productive, spending more sacrificially.  

  

 I’m reminded of Paul as he traveled spreading the gospel.  He would plan an evangelistic trip and then a shipwreck, prison, crazy woman or illness would change his plan.  I wonder if he ever woke up and propped himself against the wall and asked "What's the point?"     Did he ever say aloud,  “I should never have bought a ticket to Troas, look what happened there!”   Or “Priscilla & Aquila gave me some cash and I bought a new coat, sorry, that should have been given to the poor”.   “Should I or shouldn’t I go to Rome?” 

TODAY, I know the assignments of TODAY.  He has shown me what is good.    To “do what is right, to love mercy and to walk humbly with (my) God”, (Micah 6:8 NLT).    My heart knows what He has required of me.   Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and now He wants me to seek and point the lost to Him. 

I quit being offended and took a long look at the list.  These days I still make the to-do list but pray over it and prioritize it according to the time constraints and other commitments.   TODAY, the list came together with a few additions and lots of cross outs.   I knew which opportunities to pursue and which ones to lay aside.   More importantly, I knew which ones could wait and which ones couldn’t.

The first one was “post the blog”.   

 TODAY   these were the words He gave me, even as I was in prayer.  So, as I type this sitting on my bed, I will push the “publish” tab and throw another post out into cyberspace.  And while these eyes see no earthly return on the time spent, this is what I must do TODAY. 

Just thinkin’ on it. 

Micah. Again.

Micah came back around after about a year of absence.  Micah.   The “minor prophet”  Micah.  The guy who is so “minor”  no one ever preaches from his writings,  never been a Bible Study about Micah and few sermons feature him as the main character.

  

In college,  I took a class called “The Minor Prophets”  ( I had to have 16 hours of Bible,  the professor was rumored to be entertaining).   We read a book  called Prophets on Main Street  by J. Elliot Corbett.  It seemed very relevant in 1973,  and surprisingly more so today.

  Micah showed back up today and I had to reflect on why Micah keeps showing up in my life about once a year.   I wrote from him in one of my first blog posts back in July.  I zeroed in on chapter 7,  the last part of verse 7.  Interestingly,  today,  the first part of the verse spoke to me.   “. . .watch in hope for the Lord”.    

 As I read through the commentaries on the verse and the different translations, a picture formed in my mind.  In Colorado,  up in the high country,  there are tall towers with enclosed platforms where park rangers spend their days and nights, binoculars slung around their neck, high powered telescope readily accessible,  watching the mountains for any sign of fire or avalanche.  I could suddenly imagine,  my dear friends battling cancer,  the mothers praying for their prodigals,  the missionary in captivity and/or battling demonic powers far from home.  I saw them,  standing in a tower,  binoculars around their neck,  scanning the countryside for their Lord.  For the healer to come around the bend.  For the deliverer to come into view over the hill.  To catch a glimpse of the Savior coming down the road toward them.  I imagined that they glanced out the window frequently  and checked the doorstep first thing every morning.  

   That verse ends with “God WILL answer my prayer.”  Coincidentally,  ( I think not),  that was the part of the verse I blogged about in July. 

 Sometimes, oftentimes I get so focused on the circumstance and so desperate in prayer  that I forget to  watch, to look,  to expect the answer.

 Today,  I’m THINK’IN about sitting by the window and watching for my Lord to work wonders in me, my friends and family.