| Good Morning Everyone, Our theme for this month: “You are loved” Our Bible verse for today: “But as for me, God’s presence is my good. I have made the Lord God my refuge, so I can tell about all you do.” Psalm 73:28 (CSB) Our thought for today: “He has proven Himself to you.” This morning I want to continue our thought from yesterday about “being” instead of always “doing” – or at least being first and doing second. My point was that our love relationship with God is based first on simply being with Him, and then doing things for Him second. We need to be patient and wait on the Lord as He speaks to us, settles us down, gives us peace of mind and clarity of thought, and then we will be ready to go deal with whatever our situation is. That lesson was from Psalm 37 and it came to us out of the personal experience of King David. Psalm 73 was written by a man named Asaph and again, it seems to be based on his personal experience of what he discovered God to be like, how much He loves us, and how much we can trust Him. In this case, the main point of the Psalm is that God has proven Himself through His past actions. Because of His faithfulness in the past, we know we can trust Him in the present and in the future. As treacherous and confusing as life was for him at times, Asaph could look back and see the hand of God all throughout, caring for him, protecting him, and guiding him. That’s why he ended the Psalm with the confident declaration that God is his refuge and that he will eagerly tell of all the great things God has done for Him. Early in my life as a Christian I was blessed to discover the Bible study “Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God” by Henry Blackaby. That study was transformative for me and brought me to an entirely new and better understanding of my relationship with God. One of the most helpful exercises in that study was to construct what Henry calls “a spiritual map” of my life. To do this, you go back as early in life as you can remember and you list chronologically every major event, every turning point and crossroads, every transformative moment that you can remember. Then, as you review it, see how God has been at work in your life over the years guiding, leading, and transforming you as He slowly and patiently worked out His plan for you. That spiritual map helps you to see how you arrived at the point you’re at in life, and it also serves to point you forward. God is amazingly consistent in our lives. One thing is usually a stepping stone leading us to the next thing. So, look to see where you’ve been, consider where you are now, and look forward to get a glimpse of where He is leading you to. When we do that, we discover that God has always been present in our lives; He has always been active and working and we can trust Him fully; He is indeed our refuge and our strength; He is our comforter and our guide; He is our loving heavenly Father, guiding us through this journey on earth, and progressively leading us closer and closer to our real home in heaven. God has proven Himself to you in the past. That means you can trust Him in the present and you can trust Him for the future. I encourage you to spend some time just being with Him and considering how faithful He has been to you, and how much He must love you. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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