Saturday, February 23, 2008
PSALM Familiar Reminder...PSALM 'Good Thing' To Do...
Psalm 53 is a unique psalm because it is actually identical to psalm 14 in terms of meaning. Since psalm 53 was a replica of psalm 14, I decided to read up psalm14 again. Other than a few different usages of words, I derive that the meaning of both psalms were the same.
In my mind, I thought ‘Psalm 53 wasn’t there by mistake; God arranged it to be there for a reason.’ So what was the message that I got out of psalm 53 then? A consistent and familiar reminder: The need for us to have total reliance on God. The message was brought out clear in both psalm 14 and 53 that God has not found any man who does good, any who understand, any who truly seek Him.
Now why did I say it was a reminder for all of us to fully rely on God then? Know that by our nature, we can never be the person that God wants us to be. We can be seeking God, doing our quiet time today and even be holy for that day yet we can also become a different person another day, doing sinful things and just as the bible says, doing nothing good.
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. We can only be the person that God desires us to be through Jesus. I feel that salvation doesn’t end at the point where you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. In fact, I feel that it is the beginning of a journey, of following what Jesus would do and indeed by doing so, we are not only saved, but we also save others in the process. I sense that this is the good thing that God is referring to me in psalm 53 today.
It all leads back to the Father’s heart…that none should perish. Indeed I pray that we will do the ‘good thing’ God wants us to do and that everyday, God’s people would say ‘salvation is here!’
BLESSED AT,
9:32 AM
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
The Lord Is Looking For PSALM Who Honor Him...
Psalm 50 is a psalm that shows us that God does not need our gifts. Some people think that by doing more good deeds, they can bargain with God what they want and what they want God to do. Well, God wants to let His people know today that He is not a manipulative God.
Ultimately, when the people of the past sacrifice thank offerings to God, it is really a way of showing that they honor the Lord. The Lord really has no need of any sacrifices or burnt offerings. For the Lord is rich beyond our imagination as seen from His response in v9-13. The world and all that is in it is His…
There really isn’t anything much that we can bring before the Lord except our thanksgivings, worship and praises. It’s all about honoring Him. What matters most to Him is the attitude that we take towards Him. God does not see the physical self but rather the heart of a worshipper. As said in 1 Samuel16:7b, 'The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.'
Indeed God will judge and see the intentions of our hearts. Let he who bring God a sacrifice of praise prepare the way of the Lord so that He may show him the salvation of God.
BLESSED AT,
1:50 AM
Sunday, February 17, 2008
PSALMthing The Father Desires...
I went to the last cluster prayer meeting today and felt that it has indeed been a fruitful time of spending time with not only my spiritual family, but more importantly spending time worshipping our Father and singing to Him praises. So what does the prayer meeting have to do with psalm 47 then?
Well, I was reading psalm 47 this morning and I thought that it was a pretty normal psalm. It mentions a lot about praising God by singing or by shouts of joy, something we do often. However, by the end of today’s prayer meeting, psalm 47 spoke out to me in a new way. At a deeper level, it actually talks about God’s people gathering together to praise Him.
Now what about God’s people then? Know that the Israelites often thought of themselves as exclusively God’s people, however in this psalm it mentions that the nations will gather not only as an assembly to praise God but as the people of the God of Abraham. This means that each and every one of us are actually insiders included in God’s covenant with the Israelites.
I was reminded of the heart of the Father in today’s cluster meeting. Know that the God’s desire is that he doesn’t want anyone to perish. Do we have the same desire as God’s heart? If we do, we ought to follow what Jesus is doing now at the right hand of God. Just as He is interceding for us all, we should be praying for our friends who have not been saved. No matter what they have done to you, whether good or bad, know that God loves them and He wants them to be save. God loves the sinners but hates the sin.
Pastor Jo also mention that if should we have an enemy, that would be the devil. The devil will indeed be prowling like a lion in the shadows, stopping us from doing what God intended us to do. No matter what the devil does, he is never bigger and more powerful than God. Know that when we submit ourselves to God, the devil will flee.
The devil may deceive you, saying that you are not worthy to come before God to worship Him because you are sinner. However, I was reminded of Jude 24-25 which says ‘Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.’ It is not the devil who would decide whether you are able to come before God but God Himself and Jesus says come as you are.
God’s heart indeed goes out to His people. He does not want anyone to perish and He wants His people to gather as one assembly to worship Him, to sing praises to Him. Will you align the desires of His heart with yours today? Will you live a life of surrender to Him today? If you do, know that you will indeed be greatly bless by Him.
BLESSED AT,
2:05 AM
