Monday, December 22, 2014, 5:40 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Full Release.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Psalm 34:1-18 (NIV84).
His Praise
How many of us can honestly say this is true of our lives? I don’t mean that we have to go around saying “Praise Jesus” all day long, but that our speech should consistently glorify God and should be that which would be for his praise, honor and glory. He should be uppermost in our minds and hearts, and we should have a continual attitude of praise and rejoicing for all that he is and for all that he has done for us. I still need to grow in this area.
As well, he should be foremost in what we regularly give praise to and in what we rejoice over. How many times are we guilty of giving praise to other people or to things or situations in our lives which bring us comfort and pleasure, but we are lacking in praise and adoration of our Lord except for maybe on Sunday mornings during a worship service where we sing praise and worship songs? And, then we could just be mouthing words.
Every day we should be praising our Lord, not just in private, but when we are with our friends, family members, neighbors and/or coworkers. We should talk about him and what he means to us, and/or share what he is teaching us each day, and/or else we should give a word of comfort, encouragement, hope or counsel to a brother or sister in the Lord. Yet, all of our words should be that which would bring honor to our Lord, and not what would bring dishonor to him. This definitely gives cause for reflection.
My Deliverance
I can remember a time in my life when this passage here was most meaningful to me. I had grown up under the authority of an abusive father, so I also grew up feeling afraid most all the time, too. I hugged myself and cried myself to sleep much when I still lived at home with my parents. I built emotional walls around myself to protect myself from further hurt, too. So, I came across to some people as one who appeared to have it all together. They misjudged me, which then only added more pain and suffering into my life. But, then one day, at God’s prompting, I was trying to get to the bottom of all this when my friend felt God told her what it was. She said it was a “spirit of fear.” So, we prayed for deliverance, and God delivered me. I was free! I truly was now radiant!
Then, memories of past hurts began to flood my mind and I relived those memories as though I was currently going through them. I soon learned that I just needed to cry them out to God and give them over to him, and allow him to heal me, but the healing was a process over time, but it did come as I cried out to my Lord, and I let go of the hurt, and I trusted him more and more with my life. The main thing I had to learn was to trust in the absolute sovereignty of God over my life, to believe that he had my best in mind, and that he would work all things out for good in my life, which I believe he did. I am still tempted to be afraid sometimes, but I just have to submit to God, trust him, and believe that he is in control, and that he will accomplish his purposes in and through it all for his glory.
Fear the Lord
There is a bad kind of fear, and there is a good kind of fear. The bad kind is what I described above. It cripples us and it keeps us from moving forward in faith and in trust with our Lord. It is the opposite of faith, and it binds us instead of releases us.
The good kind of fear, though, works in the opposite way. It is a kind of fear which is healthy and which exercises wisdom, knowledge, understanding, discernment and respect. For instance, I have a healthy respect of fire and of cars driving down the street. I am not going to play with fire, and I will not walk out in the street in front of a moving vehicle. This kind of fear is wise. It does not paralyze but it energizes.
And, this is the kind of fear that believers in Jesus Christ should have toward God. We should not take him and his word lightly or casually. We should show him great honor, respect and value by listening to what he tells us and then by doing what his word teaches us. It is not the kind of fear I grew up under where I felt there was a hammer hanging over my head all the time waiting to bop me in the head when I didn’t get something right. It is a healthy fear which respects reasonable boundaries and which does not test the limits to see how much we can get away with. This fear of the Lord comes from a heart which also loves the Lord and which desires to please him.
This fear of the Lord is not being taught much at all in today’s modern church here in America, and as a result so many who call themselves Christians treat sin so casually and treat God with much disregard and disrespect. If we truly fear the Lord, we should turn from our sin to the light of God’s Word, and from the power of Satan to God, and we should submit ourselves to the cross of Christ, and in all humility, love, serve, honor and obey our Lord in the power and strength of his Spirit within us. We should walk daily in fellowship with him, his praise should be on our lips, and our desire should be for him above all else.
The Brokenhearted
As we go through this life, there will be situations in our lives and people in our lives who will break our hearts in one way or another. We are all human. Not one of us is perfect. We are bound to hurt or to disappoint someone at some time or another. Yet, it is in these times when we should call upon our Lord to heal our hurts and to give us the grace we need to forgive those who have injured us. We need to allow God to make us better, and for us not to become bitter. We must forgive as God forgave us. And, we must release the pain to our Lord and trust him to work all things out for our good.
Our Lord may or may not deliver us out of suffering and pain, as his word says that suffering and pain are what we must go through in this life, and that, as the Lord’s servants, we should expect to be hated and persecuted. So, these kinds of situations should not take us by surprise when they happen to us, and we should not allow them to unsettle us, either, or to make us afraid again. God will deliver us spiritually and emotionally from the effects of the affliction on our minds and on our hearts, so we give it all to him, we submit to his Lordship, we trust in his grace, and we believe in his promises, and we are healed!
Full Release / An Original Work / April 15, 2012
Walking daily with my Savior
brings me joy.
Loving Father; precious Jesus;
He’s my Savior and my Lord.
Gently leads me; follow Him.
I’ve invited Him within.
Now abiding in His presence,
oh, what peace.
From my self-life
He has brought me,
By His mercy, full release.
Hope and comfort,
peace and safety Jesus brings
When I daily bow before Him;
Obey freely; do His will.
Follow Him where’er He leads.
Listen to Him; His words heed.
Now obeying his words fully,
oh, what love
That He gives me
through salvation,
By His Spirit, from above.
Loving Father; precious Jesus,
He’s my friend.
With my Savior, by His Spirit,
I will endure to the end.
Share the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness daily; His will do.
Tell the world of how their Savior
bled and died.
On a cruel cross He suffered
So that we might be alive.
http://originalworks.info/full-release/
His Praise
I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
My soul will boast in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
his praise will always be on my lips.
My soul will boast in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
How many of us can honestly say this is true of our lives? I don’t mean that we have to go around saying “Praise Jesus” all day long, but that our speech should consistently glorify God and should be that which would be for his praise, honor and glory. He should be uppermost in our minds and hearts, and we should have a continual attitude of praise and rejoicing for all that he is and for all that he has done for us. I still need to grow in this area.
As well, he should be foremost in what we regularly give praise to and in what we rejoice over. How many times are we guilty of giving praise to other people or to things or situations in our lives which bring us comfort and pleasure, but we are lacking in praise and adoration of our Lord except for maybe on Sunday mornings during a worship service where we sing praise and worship songs? And, then we could just be mouthing words.
Every day we should be praising our Lord, not just in private, but when we are with our friends, family members, neighbors and/or coworkers. We should talk about him and what he means to us, and/or share what he is teaching us each day, and/or else we should give a word of comfort, encouragement, hope or counsel to a brother or sister in the Lord. Yet, all of our words should be that which would bring honor to our Lord, and not what would bring dishonor to him. This definitely gives cause for reflection.
My Deliverance
I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
I can remember a time in my life when this passage here was most meaningful to me. I had grown up under the authority of an abusive father, so I also grew up feeling afraid most all the time, too. I hugged myself and cried myself to sleep much when I still lived at home with my parents. I built emotional walls around myself to protect myself from further hurt, too. So, I came across to some people as one who appeared to have it all together. They misjudged me, which then only added more pain and suffering into my life. But, then one day, at God’s prompting, I was trying to get to the bottom of all this when my friend felt God told her what it was. She said it was a “spirit of fear.” So, we prayed for deliverance, and God delivered me. I was free! I truly was now radiant!
Then, memories of past hurts began to flood my mind and I relived those memories as though I was currently going through them. I soon learned that I just needed to cry them out to God and give them over to him, and allow him to heal me, but the healing was a process over time, but it did come as I cried out to my Lord, and I let go of the hurt, and I trusted him more and more with my life. The main thing I had to learn was to trust in the absolute sovereignty of God over my life, to believe that he had my best in mind, and that he would work all things out for good in my life, which I believe he did. I am still tempted to be afraid sometimes, but I just have to submit to God, trust him, and believe that he is in control, and that he will accomplish his purposes in and through it all for his glory.
Fear the Lord
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
There is a bad kind of fear, and there is a good kind of fear. The bad kind is what I described above. It cripples us and it keeps us from moving forward in faith and in trust with our Lord. It is the opposite of faith, and it binds us instead of releases us.
The good kind of fear, though, works in the opposite way. It is a kind of fear which is healthy and which exercises wisdom, knowledge, understanding, discernment and respect. For instance, I have a healthy respect of fire and of cars driving down the street. I am not going to play with fire, and I will not walk out in the street in front of a moving vehicle. This kind of fear is wise. It does not paralyze but it energizes.
And, this is the kind of fear that believers in Jesus Christ should have toward God. We should not take him and his word lightly or casually. We should show him great honor, respect and value by listening to what he tells us and then by doing what his word teaches us. It is not the kind of fear I grew up under where I felt there was a hammer hanging over my head all the time waiting to bop me in the head when I didn’t get something right. It is a healthy fear which respects reasonable boundaries and which does not test the limits to see how much we can get away with. This fear of the Lord comes from a heart which also loves the Lord and which desires to please him.
This fear of the Lord is not being taught much at all in today’s modern church here in America, and as a result so many who call themselves Christians treat sin so casually and treat God with much disregard and disrespect. If we truly fear the Lord, we should turn from our sin to the light of God’s Word, and from the power of Satan to God, and we should submit ourselves to the cross of Christ, and in all humility, love, serve, honor and obey our Lord in the power and strength of his Spirit within us. We should walk daily in fellowship with him, his praise should be on our lips, and our desire should be for him above all else.
The Brokenhearted
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
As we go through this life, there will be situations in our lives and people in our lives who will break our hearts in one way or another. We are all human. Not one of us is perfect. We are bound to hurt or to disappoint someone at some time or another. Yet, it is in these times when we should call upon our Lord to heal our hurts and to give us the grace we need to forgive those who have injured us. We need to allow God to make us better, and for us not to become bitter. We must forgive as God forgave us. And, we must release the pain to our Lord and trust him to work all things out for our good.
Our Lord may or may not deliver us out of suffering and pain, as his word says that suffering and pain are what we must go through in this life, and that, as the Lord’s servants, we should expect to be hated and persecuted. So, these kinds of situations should not take us by surprise when they happen to us, and we should not allow them to unsettle us, either, or to make us afraid again. God will deliver us spiritually and emotionally from the effects of the affliction on our minds and on our hearts, so we give it all to him, we submit to his Lordship, we trust in his grace, and we believe in his promises, and we are healed!
Full Release / An Original Work / April 15, 2012
Walking daily with my Savior
brings me joy.
Loving Father; precious Jesus;
He’s my Savior and my Lord.
Gently leads me; follow Him.
I’ve invited Him within.
Now abiding in His presence,
oh, what peace.
From my self-life
He has brought me,
By His mercy, full release.
Hope and comfort,
peace and safety Jesus brings
When I daily bow before Him;
Obey freely; do His will.
Follow Him where’er He leads.
Listen to Him; His words heed.
Now obeying his words fully,
oh, what love
That He gives me
through salvation,
By His Spirit, from above.
Loving Father; precious Jesus,
He’s my friend.
With my Savior, by His Spirit,
I will endure to the end.
Share the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness daily; His will do.
Tell the world of how their Savior
bled and died.
On a cruel cross He suffered
So that we might be alive.
http://originalworks.info/full-release/