Front of Mind (Psalm 34:1)

Today's scripture: Psalm 34:1

I pray you enjoyed a blessed Christmas. Now, let’s get back to the psalms.

I want to focus on a theme in today's verse: constancy. The psalmist praise the Lord "at all times" and "continually." I have to admit, I don't praise Him this way. I do start my day with him (with few exceptions) because I've found if I don't, it's just too easy to neglect Him. I start with reading a few devotionals I've found that bless and encourage and (often) convict. Then I work on whatever my Bible study group is doing. I often have a secondary study going too. Finally, I spend time in prayer.

I'm not telling you this to brag; it's just that I've found I need to spend more time with the Lord ... I'm too easily distracted, and I know I personally need this time to focus on Him.

After all my morning time with Him, you'd think the idea of constancy would be easy ... not so much. I still find myself going through the day, doing my thing, and rarely do I continually praise Him. Oh, I often end my day in prayer and praise, but that's several hours after my morning with Him.

I would love to be able to practice constancy with God. Blessing Him at all times. Praising Him continually. I can only pray that He draws me closer and closer, and that I will slowly but surely learn to keep Him front of mind at all times.

Because I know I'm front of His mind ... at all times.

Perfect Peace (Isaiah 26:3)

Today’s scripture: Isaiah 26:3

Did you notice as you read this verse that the order is reversed?

If we turn it around, this verse gives us instruction on how we too can have God’s perfect peace.

First, our minds must be “stayed” on God.

Stayed on God? What do these old-fashioned words mean? A synonym for “stay” is “reside,” meaning inhabit, dwell, live in.

To have our minds stayed on God, we must reside in Him. And to reside in Him, we must know Him intimately. And to know Him intimately, we must spend time in His Word, learning about Him. We must spend time in prayer, listening to His voice.

Second, we must trust Him.

Whom do we trust? We trust those who have proved to be trustworthy, those who have earned our trust. We can trust God because He has proven Himself worthy of our trust as He has provided for us, as He has protected us, as He has answered our

prayers.

Third, God will keep us in perfect peace. This doesn’t mean we’ll never experience difficulty or suffering. It does mean that we will be able to feel His supernatural peace in the midst of the storm.

Is your mind “stayed” on God? If you don’t reside in Him, ask Him to help you do that. Do you trust Him with everything and everyone? If you find it hard to trust anyone, even God, share your heart with Him now. Ask Him to show you how worthy of your trust He is.

Dead ... and Alive (Colossians 3:5-11)

Today's scripture: Colossians 3:5-11

When we accept the gift of salvation through belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we truly become brand new. Whatever sin we committed prior to becoming followers of Christ is forgiven, totally wiped off the map. In gratitude for what Christ did for us, we should strive to live to please Him in all we do. We cannot—we must not—continue to live in sin. If we do, we're saying that what Jesus did for us doesn't mean anything. We've received our "get out of hell free" card, and now we're just going to live how we choose.

As Paul often wrote, "May it never be!"

We should consider our former fleshly selves as dead. Dead to immorality. Dead to impurity. Dead to anything that takes our focus off of our Lord.

Instead, we should be alive to the joy and peace that God showers upon us. We should love Him and others. We should serve Him using the gifts He's given us. We should spread His light and share His truth.

Dead to sin. Alive to Christ.

Amen.

Treasures in Heaven (Colossians 3:1-4)

Today's scripture: Colossians 3:1-4

We so often spend much of our time seeking things on earth. We seek the best house, the best car, the best job. We want the best marriage, the best children, the best friends. And none of this is bad unto itself. However, it becomes a problem when our total focus is on those things instead of things above.

As followers of Christ, we should be focused on Him and those things above. We should seek out those things that will build God's kingdom, that will have eternal value.

Instead of buying bigger and better, perhaps we should downsize and donate extra funds to missions organizations. Instead of hoarding all our "stuff," perhaps we should give it to someone less fortunate. Instead of spending the weekend watching movies with our kids, perhaps we should volunteer at a homeless shelter with them.

One day, each of us will stand before the throne of God. We will see our Savior face-to-face in all of His glory. As we stand before Him, what will we offer Him to show how we served Him? Those things we left behind that have no value whatsoever? Or will we show Him how we served Him by serving others? How we "sacrificed" on earth to help others see God's grace?

I don't know about you, but I pray I will truly listen to the words of Jesus: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal ..." (Matthew 6:19-20).

Profitable to My Soul? (Colossians 2:20-23)

Today's scripture: Colossians 2:20-23

Sometimes, I have to go to the experts to help me understand scripture ... This is one of those times. While I understand verse 20—since I have died with Christ, I don't need to be submitting to the world's "decrees"—the other verses require a bit of clarification. And so I'm looking to one of my favorite commentaries:

These are not matters of eternal moment; the different kinds of meats were made for the body, and go with it into corruption: in like manner, all the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish religion now perish, having accomplished the end of their institution; namely, to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. All these prescriptions and rites have indeed the appearance of wisdom, and are recommended by plausible reasons; but they form a worship which God has not commanded, and enjoin macerations of the body, accompanied with a humiliation of spirit, that are neither profitable to the soul, nor of any advantage to the body; so that the whole of their religion is nothing worth. (Adam Clarke Commentary)

In other words, only those things that keep my mind focused on God's word, only those things that help me grow in faith, and only those things that glorify God are worthy of my time and effort.

Is what am I doing, saying, thinking, reading, or watching "profitable to the soul"? If it's not, then perhaps I shouldn't be doing, saying, thinking, reading, or watching ...

Flee from Idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14-22)

Today's scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:14-22

It’s so easy to get caught up with the things of this world … too easy. We’re inundated with images of wealth, beauty, sex. The biggest, fastest car. The grandest house. The designer clothes. The gorgeous celebrities. It’s all so enticing.

It’s easy to make things and people our idols. We focus on them instead of God. We “sacrifice” to them instead of to the One who created us and then made a way for salvation.

It’s true. We may not literally sacrifice on an altar, but we do sacrifice every day. We sacrifice our time, our money, our God-given skills and talents.

Instead of spending time in prayer, we watch television. Instead of focusing on God’s word, we focus on the latest gossip or bestselling novel. Instead of giving to our church, we take the vacation of a lifetime.

I’m not saying these things are bad in themselves. I watch television. I read novels. I love to travel. But I try very hard to make these things significantly lower on the priority scale than my time with God.

We can’t sacrifice to the world and equally sacrifice to God. One or the other will come out on top.

The question is: Which is more important? Where are we investing the majority of our time, treasures, and talents?

Serving Whole-heartedly (1 Corinthians 7:32-38)

Today's scripture: 1 Corinthians 7:32-38

Paul’s concern is that married people cannot “secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.” And in many ways, he’s right. I need to make certain I’m devoting time to my husband and to our marriage to make certain that most important relationship stays strong and healthy. Yes, if I weren’t married, I could devote that time to God.

Further, for those of you who have children, your time is divided even more. So yes, the unmarried might indeed have more time and energy to serving God.

But that’s not to say we who are married—and even we who have children—cannot serve God whole-heartedly. In fact, serving and caring for our families is, in many ways, serving God. Those of you who are raising children are called to a purpose with eternal ramifications: You are raising your children to know and love God. I’m sure even Paul would agree how greatly important that calling is.

Just because we may not have the same amount of time to spend in Bible study and prayer doesn’t mean that we’re not able to serve God well. In fact, if we’re called to marriage, to remain single would be a sin.

So, going back to previous verses, do as God has called you and remain in that matter. If God has called you to marriage—and perhaps parenthood—then embrace it, stay faithful to your spouse, and serve God with all your heart. And if God has called you to singleness, then embrace that. And take all the extra time and energy with which He’s blessed you—and serve God with all your heart.

Thoughts for today ...

I had some technical difficulties this morning, so I'm temporarily veering off course ...

Over the last few days, I've been engaged in the "five days of thankfulness" challenge on Facebook. I've expressed gratitude for grace and mercy, for my husband, for my friends. For my dogs, for a comfortable home, for a flexible work schedule.

It's a good practice to remember how very, very blessed I am.

I haven't posted today's three things on Facebook, but this is one of the things about which I'm going to write:

I'm thankful for my ill-health. 

I know that may sound strange, but I am. When I wake up each morning, I have to rely on the strength of the Lord. I don't have any choice. My pain requires focus on the only One who can get me through each day. 

I know myself well ... If I were whole and healthy, I would take control of each day and think I had it all together. And I don't. I can be pretty independent, and my health issues keep me dependent on God.

And that's what I really want. To be focused and dependent on my God who has offered me grace and mercy.

Praise Him All Day Long (Psalm 71:7-8)

Today's scripture: Psalm 71:7-8

What do you do all day? Work? Go to school? Take care of your children? Play?

We all have things we have to do throughout each day. I know I do.

Then I read verses like one of today's. Verse eight asks the Lord:

Let my mouth be filled with Your praise
And with Your glory all the day.

All the day ...

Praising God ... all the day.

Being filled with God's glory ... all the day.

The Contemporary English Version says, "I will praise and honor you all day long."

All day long ...

If you're like me, you have your time of Bible study and prayer sometime in the day (I tend to have my quiet time in the morning). How often, however, do we relegate that time to a certain hour of the day? Do we really focus on God the rest of the time? Do we really "praise and honor [Him] all day long"?

Today, I'm going to try to keep my Lord front of mind. I'm going to try to remember to "Let my mouth be filled with [His] praises."

All the day ...

Cease Striving (Psalm 46:10-11)

Today's scripture: Psalm 46:10-11

The psalmist nicely wraps up with today’s verses. He starts with a very important command: “Cease striving and know that I am God.” Other translations say, “Be still …” Or as the Contemporary English Version says, “Calm down, and learn that I am God!”

I often speak on God’s plans for our lives, and I always spend some time on how we hear God’s voice. I use this verse as an important guideline. We must be still. We must cease striving to do things on our own. That’s how we begin to hear the voice of our Lord.

Being still is hard for some of us, myself included. But I can tell you from experience, when I sit silently before God’s throne and pray for all distractions to leave my heart and mind, it’s then when I feel God’s presence intimately. It’s then when I hear His voice speaking softly to my heart.

It’s hard to cease striving or be still or calm down in our crazy, hectic world. But may I encourage you? Take a moment today to just be still in the presence of your Father. It’ll change your life. I guarantee it!

Combating Enemies (Psalm 57:5-6)

Today's scripture: Psalm 57:5-6

Yesterday, I wrote about how we face an enemy who wants to take our focus from God. Today, as we continue meditating on Psalm 57, I find great instruction from the psalmist. We read in verse four of the lions he faced, and today, in verse five we read words of praise. Then in verse six, we read yet again of his human enemies.

So, what do we learn? No matter our situation, even if we are surrounded by enemies on all sides, we can praise the Lord. We can echo the psalmist's words of exaltation and glory in the midst of suffering, in the midst of uncertainty, in the midst of whatever we may be facing.

We who follow Christ know we live in a sinful, fallen world. We live among those who don't understand our faith and who would like—at best—to undermine our faith. They prepare figurative nets that they hope will take us down.

So what do we do to combat those who belittle our faith? We praise God. We so align ourselves with Him and His purpose that the words of our enemies have no effect. We do, as we talked about yesterday, all we can do to stay focused on our Lord.

And we remember that Jesus Himself has already won the war (John 16:33).

Fighting the Enemy (Psalm 57:4)

Today's scripture: Psalm 57:4

I have been very blessed in so many ways. One way is that I've never really had any enemies. Oh, certainly, I have had people around me who haven't liked me much, but—at least to my knowledge—no one has ever come after me with sharp-sword tongues or teeth of spears and arrows.

However, there is one enemy who would love nothing more than to steal my joy and shake my faith. The "prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2) is intent on keeping God's children from fulfilling their God-given purpose. He knows he's lost the war with us, but he still wants to win as many battles as possible. He often works through the enticements of this world to take our focus off of God.

He's the "father of lies" (John 8:44), and we must "be alert" because he's wandering about like a "roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). One of the biggest lies he's telling now is that lust is good. So many people who follow Christ don't see anything wrong with pre-marital (or even extra-marital) sex. And when the enemy undermines God's commandments in one area, it makes it somehow easier for us to ignore God's other commandments.

We may not be surrounded by human enemies, but we are definitely surrounded by supernatural ones. We need to be God-focused. We need to know His word and surround ourselves with godly people. We need to seek God's will and His kingdom (Matthew 6:33). We need to dwell on those good and right things (Philippians 4:8).

Only then can we combat the lies of the enemy.