The Word Of Their Testimony....

Scripture:

Psalm 145

1 I will exalt you, my God the King;
       I will praise your name for ever and ever.

 2 Every day I will praise you
       and extol your name for ever and ever.

 3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
       his greatness no one can fathom.

 4 One generation will commend your works to another;
       they will tell of your mighty acts.

 5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
       and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

 6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
       and I will proclaim your great deeds.

 7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness
       and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

 8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
       slow to anger and rich in love.

 9 The LORD is good to all;
       he has compassion on all he has made.

 10 All you have made will praise you, O LORD;
       your saints will extol you.

 11 They will tell of the glory of your kingdom
       and speak of your might,

 12 so that all men may know of your mighty acts
       and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
       and your dominion endures through all generations.
       The LORD is faithful to all his promises
       and loving toward all he has made.

 14 The LORD upholds all those who fall
       and lifts up all who are bowed down.

 15 The eyes of all look to you,
       and you give them their food at the proper time.

 16 You open your hand
       and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

 17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways
       and loving toward all he has made.

 18 The LORD is near to all who call on him,
       to all who call on him in truth.

 19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
       he hears their cry and saves them.

 20 The LORD watches over all who love him,
       but all the wicked he will destroy.

 21 My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD.
       Let every creature praise his holy name
       for ever and ever.

Observation: These verses all have a lot to do with public proclamation of the Lord's goodness, compassion, mercy, love, and provision. He is near unto all who call on Him. He does watch over all who love Him. He does have compassion on all He has made. This is a great Psalm. In the New Testament it says they will overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. In this Psalm, there seems to be a lot of "word of their testimony" type things. We need to remember who we are in Christ, and take the wonderful words of this Psalm to heart. God truly does care for us and looks after each and every one of us.

Application: I need to be more aware of what God has done and what He is doing in my life. I need to rememer where I have been and were I am going. I also think I need to focus more on Him, spend more time with Him, and I need to be more willing to publically declare what He has done and is doing. I need to be less afraid of what others might think, and I need to be bold and willing to share with others. After all, how can i overcome if i don't share the word of my testimony?....

Prayer: Lord, please help me to have more of a desire to follow and serve You. Also, please give me more boldness to stand up for what I need to stand up for, and help me to be more bold so that I can share You with more people, and so that I can share what You've done for me, and in me, and in my life, with those around me. Give me the rist words to say, Lord God, to plant the right seeds, and to water the right seeds, in the hearts and lives of those around me. Thank You for never giving up on me, and for loving me and being there for me no matter what. You truly are near to those who call upon You. I ask Lord that You would help me to remember that, and help me to grow closer to You. In Jesus name...Amen.

yesterday's readings were 2 samuel 18, psalm 56, and matthew 27...

today's were 2 samuel 19 & 20, psalm 55, and matthew 28...

i had a rather long day yesterday - my mom had three appointments in berlin (one for the tires, one for her glasses, and one for a haircut) i also wanted a haircut, so i had to go along with her on the other two...

we also stopped into gill's flower shop and i bought a green floral clay heart...i also bought a whole bunch of artifical flowers and when i got home i arranged them on the heart and placed that out on bailey's grave...she would have been two yesterday...

..after that, it was time to head back into town for youth group.. and by the time i got home from that, and doing a few other things in town, i was so tired and spent, i pretty much just went straight to bed when i got home...

...

anyhow, here's the one verse that REALLY spoke to me..

psalm 55:22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall. (NIV)

observation: whatever problems i'm dealing with or facing, if i take them to the Lord, He CAN and WILL handle it!!...(sometimes not always in the way i expect Him to...)

application: what am i dealing with in my life right now that i'm not casting upon the Lord?....

prayer: Lord, help me to trust You with my cares and anxieties more...Help me to remember that You will take care of me, You will sustain me, and You will carry me through it all...in Jesus name, amen... 

yesterday's selected readings were 2 samuel 15 and 16...psalm 32, and matthew 25...

today's readings were 2 samuel 17, psalm 71, and matthew 26...

yesterday i nad a REALLY long day...church, of course...then i went down to my sister's for the afternoon and evening...i didn't get home until around 9:00 last night...i was soo tired and really not feeling that well when i got in so i didn't really feel up to doing my LJ last night....

so, i'm catching up today...

it was all good reading, as usual...there didn't seem to be a lot that really "hit home" ... although, the humanity of Jesus definately showed up some in matthew 26...he gets a little upset at his buddies for falling alseep while He was praying...and also, when He was praying, He asked God THREE TIMES to let the cup pass from Him...but, each time, He ended with "not my will, but Yours be done." ...

OBSERVATION: so, yeah, Jesus was very human...which is what makes Him so like-able and love-able...and what makes it so easy to relate to Him at times...yet, He also wanted nothing more than to serve His father, and to follow His will...

APPLICATION: what are some of the "cups" in my life that I need to drink, -- even though i might not want to -- that would help accomplish the will of God in my life?...am i fully submitted to taking those cups?...what is my attitude like when it comes to this?...

PRAYER: Lord, help me to be more submitted to You...help me to drink the cups willingly, and help me to be more willing to do what You would ask of me...in Jesus name...amen...

today's readings were 2 samuel 13 & 14 and matthew 22...

i have to be honest, northing particularly "grabbed me" in any of these chapters...no certain scripture really resonated with me...

however, in 2 samuel 13, there is this story of amnon - the son of david...he was madly in love with tamar, who was the sister of absalom - who was also a son of david...

in this chapter, amnon tricks tamar into coming into his bedroom and he ends up raping her, and then he ends up hating hre more than he had loved her, and he has her thrown out of his bedroom...

yikes!!..i thought *my* family had some issues...

well, absalom ends up getting really mad at amnon, and two years later he has amnon killed...

and then absalom flees, and is away from the land for three years...

...

it's a really odd story...

but, here's what i got from it...

OBSERVATION: if God can still love and show favor to a family as messed up as david's, then He can certainly still love me and show favor to me...

APPLICATION: why do i bet myself up for the things i do, and why do i flee like absalom?...when the best thing for me to do when i mess up is run TO God instead of away from Him?...

...many times in our lives we run to the darkness instead of to the Light...and we really should run to the Light -- until all the darkness falls away... 

PRAYER: Lord, forgive me for the times in my life when i have fled and ran away from You when i should have been running towards You...please keep me running towards You always...in Jesus name, amen...

today's readings were 2 samuel 11 & 12, psalm 51, and matthew 23...

in 2 samuel 11, david sleeps with uriah's wife and she ends up getting pregnant and then david ends up having uriah killed by placing him on the frontlines in a battle, and then he takes uriah's widow for his wife, and the Lord is displeased with david...

in 2 samuel 12, the Lord speaks to david through nathan, and david shows some remorse and the Lord decides to have mercy and spare david's life, but thake that of the son he had with uriah's wife....then later on she and david have another child together, solomon, who nathan told david to name jedidiah, which means loved by the Lord...

i liked psalm 51...it was good...but then, the psalms usually are!!

¹ Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.

² Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.

⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

⁹ Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

¹⁶ You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

i also liked this from Matthew 23 ... ¹¹The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹²For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

OBSERVATION: What God desires most is a heart that is broken and softened towards Him, and a spirit that is humbled...More than burnt offerings and sacrifices, He just wants us to come before Him humbly...

APPLICATION: what does my spirit look like to God?...is my heart fully His?...

PRAYER: Lord, please help me to be fully submitted to Your wills and Your ways...Help me to be more of  servant to those around me...and forgive me for the times in the past when i've been boastful or selfish...please forgive me for the times when i've done my own thing and didn't care about You...thank You for Your mercies which are new every morning...plese help me to remain strong in You...in Jesus name, amen...