The 23rd Psalm-An Exercise PAGE 67

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters,

He restores my soul.

He guides me in the paths of righteousness

for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk

Through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

For you are with me;

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

PSALM 23

A while back a friend shared this amazing spiritual exercise wherein you use the scripture above as well as the cadence and meaning of the words, which are a prayer, and then re-phrase each line using your own words so that it now expresses your most deep-seated understanding of God as the Shepherd and the protector of YOUR life.  In doing so you find an honest and deep perspective of your own heart! 

Here is my personal 23^rd Psalm:

“The Lord is my rescuer; I no longer feel alone;

He provides a place of security for me….

He tells me I am in safety.

He eliminates my fears.

He shields me from what isn’t right or just

Because he knows I need that protection.

Even though I live

In a world where people neither realize nor can meet my needs

I will be comforted and cared for!

For you, LORD, will never dishonor me!

Your protective instincts rise up to speak for me; you are my voice.

You tell me, and others, that I am valuable;

You mean every word. You shine worth

and lavish true friendship upon me;
My broken-heart overflows.

Surely the goodness of the Lord will protect me all the days of my life

And I will serve the Lord, my God-from now until forever”

This is the most honest you will ever find me and…. if you do the exercise it will probably be the most honest you will ever be with yourself as well.  In order to find the complete blessing of this exercise you must dig down to the deepest place of truth about yourself, and then pour it out in a prayer to our gracious Lord!

In that light, I must say: 

To those who know me and are surprised at the above writing-forgive me where I have hidden my weaknesses to you.

To those who knew me in college and never knew that I was a child of
Christ-forgive me for where I misled you.

To my childhood friends with whom I grew up with and those I now call close; some whom I may have hurt or disappointed…and some who have wounded me- forgive me where I failed you.

To my siblings-who I count as my closest friends; whom I look up to more than you will ever know; to whom I want to give the loyalty of my love-forgive me for the distance I’ve kept and the times I may have disappointed you!

To my parents-who are loving, faithful and true; gracious and blessed, amazingly perseverant and tenacious, strong and steadfast in all you do-including the extent you have shown me genuine parental love-forgive me for expecting more than your human heart could give and where I have disappointed you.

To my children who are gifts beyond measure and blessings I do not deserve; to those 3 humans whom I want to love and mother with  “perfection” but have fallen short - except by telling you about Christ-forgive me where I have failed you.

To my husband-of whom, I confess, I never give enough credit; who has a heart larger and more full of grace than I could ever possess; who is a wonderful provider, father, example, friend!  To a man through which God refined and redeemed my life in ways that are truly unexplainable on earth; to a person that is the most generous and simultaneously the most guarded person I know: who has taught me deep lessons and bruised my heart more than I thought I could take and yet filled it with more than I could have ever asked-and definitely more than I deserve-forgive me for where I have failed you!

To the Lord, MY God, my creator, mentor, confidant, and friend; On the day you open the Book of Life and seek the goodness of my heart that was never there; as you seek to find any redeemable qualities in me that I hid or abused-and though your holy eyes should find me totally unworthy thank you for the promise that you won’t! You have already looked at my human form, created in your image, and chose to mark me with a family seal that says I am accepted as your child!  Thank you for blessing me with an inheritance and a lineage that bestows value and worth.  No words of sorrow can change my earthly past but, with a heart that is in desperate need of eternal mercy, I ask that you forgive me for where I have failed you!”  Because of your grace, Abba, I know that all is well with my soul.

To the blog reader:  May the God of Grace and of the human race; of heaven and earth know you inside and out as well.  May He be THE steadfast hope to which you cling wherein you KNOW that He will GIVE YOU everything you need!  May you know His peace, which is beyond understanding, and may you know the grace of “this” type of parental nurturing; may your human heart, in every way possible, overflow with the grace, power and the love of our heavenly Father, God! 

RvH

To know the depth of the Lord’s love one must know scripture!  It is that simple! Here are a few passages that apply to this writing: 

“And you also were included in Christ

when you heard the word of truth,

the gospel of your salvation. Having believed,

you were marked in him with a seal,

the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit

guaranteeing our inheritance

until the redemption of those who are God’s possession-

to the praise of His glory.”

Ephesians 1: 13

“Because he loves me” says the lord, “I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call upon me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 

With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Psalm 91: 14-15

“The Lord is gracious and righteous;

Our God is full of compassion.

The Lord protects the simple-hearted;

when I was in great need, he saved me.

Be at rest once more, O my soul,

For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death,

My eyes from tears,

My feet from stumbling,

That I may walk before the Lord

In the land of the living.”

Psalm 116: 5-9

Song Recommendation:

Gracious Tempest

By:  Hillsong Young & Free

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah0uydqMYhE

The Lord Renames Us Page 66

The Lord Renames Us:

God calls attention to certain details to tell us something.  This is a  specific way I receive His revelations but it has taken a great amount of time in the Lord’s presence, and many long roads full of struggle, to learn to heighten my senses to this amazing channel of communication with our invisible God.  Sometimes the workings of the Holy Spirit are a mystery but at other times it is as if He magnifies something in my mind that is unbeknownst to me, until it isn’t! 

A few weeks ago the name Ezra began showing up in my  daily life-out of the blue, it seemed.  Please allow me to share with you the step-by-step events that brought me to a jaw-dropping moment in time where God’s unspoken voice blasted the eardrums of my spiritual heart:

One evening I was watching a talent show on TV and a young boy stepped onto the stage to perform.  He was introduced as Ezra.  For some reason my interest was heightened, I immediately make note of his name and spoke out loud how much I like it.  I knew the name was from the Bible but these days there aren’t many people named Ezra.  I smiled - appreciating that his parents blessed him with a biblical name.  (BTW- he can sing really well too).

That Sunday I attended church.  There were several people that were being baptized.  As I sat in the darkened sanctuary reverently watching the service, a young boy stepped into the waters ready to demonstrate that he was a follower of Christ.  He was introduced as Ezra!  I sat up a little straighter in my seat and smiled, this time in amazement!  From past experience, I instantly knew the Lord wanted my attention and,  boy, He had it!  I’ve also learned, through trial and error, that the Lord will sneak up on you with a revelation but we must simply wait.  So I did!

That Monday and Tuesday I did my daily Bible study! One morning, I flipped back a few pages in my devotional, My Utmost For His Highest, to the page dated June 12^th, That particular page was about the fact that God renames us for spiritual reasons and for His good purpose!  Scripture reveals that God renamed many people in the Bible including Abram who became Abraham, Jacob who was renamed Israel, and, of course, Saul who became The Apostle Paul- just to name a few!  My spiritual question became obvious, “Lord, are you renaming me Ezra?”

I instinctively made a phone call to a trusted friend so that I would have a witness to the workings of the Lord as well as get some deep, spiritual advice from my Elder and trusted Christ-follower- who is also my mother!  She suggested we study the Book of Ezra, which is in the Old Testament.  So, I did.  From my small spiritual bank of knowledge I knew a few things: 

·      God was speaking to me

·      God was being specific

·      God had a purpose

Now, it was my honor and my obligation, through obedience, to listen up, find the meaning of this blessed lesson and apply it!  The flabbergasting point of this is that I was being “God-taught”.  I was in the study hall of the Creator of Heaven and Earth!  That in it self was  flooring and He was NOT done just yet!  I quickly learned that Ezra simply means Help!  So, I then I began to ask myself “Am I a Help to God or others?”  I am a mother of three teenagers and I doubt they would call me helpful, but I digress!  With great curiosity, I peered deep into the spiritual meaning of this lesson and this name  -  wanting to  truthfully understand how it applied to me.

Anyways, If  you’ve been around many Baptists, you know that we have Wednesday night activities on our church campus!  So, that Wednesday, I had driven up to the church to pick up my daughter from youth night. I sat in my car with the windows down watching the kids finish up on the sand volleyball courts.  A man walked up between his car and mine and it seemed he wanted to speak.  I said hello and shared that I was waiting for my daughter.  He said he was waiting for his son!  I simply followed that by asking "What's your son's name?".  Drum roll please….. He nicely states that his son’s name is EZRA!  This is where my jaw literally dropped!  I jumped out of the car!  I rushed over to the man! I tried to explain what God had  just done!  I called my mother! I made him tell her what his son’s name was all the while being floored and I mean floored at how God works inside the material realm as we are, for the time being, land-locked; earth-bound!!!

 I firmly believe that God loves to work inside irony and THIS was beyond ironic! I was absolutely shocked because I didn’t expect God to keep pounding the name, Ezra, into my consciousness!  God is so gracious and kind; truly, He is the God of the unexpected.  Scripture also says that calls things that aren’t as though they are!

The lesson in the devotional I mentioned earlier stated that “God writes our new name only on those places in our lives where He has erased our pride, self-sufficiency, and self-interest. Some of us have our new name written only in certain spots, like spiritual measles.  And in those areas of our lives we look all right….. A true disciple is one who has his new name written all over him-- self-interest, pride and self-sufficiency have been completely erased.”

That was my lesson and God’s point.  The name Ezra must be written all over me, not just in certain places in my life.  If I want to be a true follower of Christ I must get rid of my self-interest, self-pride and self-sufficiency.  In other words, I must find the antidote to Spiritual Measles.  That’s no easy feat but God has placed this calling on my life and I must step up and step out!  This now is my Spiritual Quest!  As usual the inaudible Word of God always provides directives, graciously gives us antidotes and sometimes even renames us!

The introduction to the Book of Ezra says this about the man Ezra:

·      He carefully studied God’s Word

·      He intended to apply and obey the commands of God’s Word

·      He committed to teach others both God’s Word and its application to life!

·      To this day He is a great model for anyone who wants to live for God

My prayer is  “Lord, heal me and make it so!”

Ezra/RvH

Song Recommendation:

You Are For Me

By:  Kari Jobe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbSMfL5LuSo

Laugh As We Surrender Page 65

When we dig deep, spiritually to a place of even the slightest understanding of the colossal depth of the Lord’s invisible workings in our lives- how he loves us as we sin, how he cares for us in our defiance, how he is understanding of our flaws, hang-ups and mess ups; how He cries with us beyond our sorrow in a way that mourns with a godly compassion; how He loves us with a pure kindness so much so that His grace seeps into our being- deeper than we will ever know; THEN we may have a shallow understanding of God’s loving kindness and mercy!

No matter how desperately we seek the Lord and how badly we want to know him well- we will continue to strain our spiritual eyes to see and fluster our minds because our thoughts won’t expand enough to contain all of Him.  To me, this is a joyous thing and one of the blessings of being earth-bound in that we get to enjoy the mystery of our Creator!

Our God is vast and amazing and sometimes the wise thing would be to simply laugh as we surrender and admit our minds aren’t up to the task.  THAT is when God will do the amazing; He will gift and stretch us beyond human understanding- giving us a revelation that yields knowledge, pure joy…and a slight glimpse of HIMSELF! 

Yes, we are constrained by our human minds but we are still called to seek Him out.  We are beckoned by The Word to search all of nature to understand His nature.  We are challenged by ancient documents to a Calling-of-the-Ages to recognize God as God!  With our hearts committed to Jesus all of heaven becomes our inheritance and God’s presence, His expansive power and eternal love is within our reach.  With heaven as our vantage point our Godly perspective allows us to see that “the impossible looks logical” because we have stepped into the atmosphere of our supernatural God.

Relevant Scripture of our calling to Seek out God:

“You will seek me and find me
when you seek me with all your heart.”

Jer. 29:13

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
 neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
 As the heavens are higher than the earth,
 so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

 Isaiah 55:8-9

“And even if our gospel is veiled,

 it is veiled to those who are perishing.

  The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers,

so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,

 who is the image of God.

  For we do not preach ourselves,

 but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.

 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,

 made his light shine in our hearts,

 to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
 in the face of Christ.”

2 Corinthians 4: 1-6

 “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable his judgments,

And his paths beyond tracing out!

Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor?”

Who has ever given to God,

that God should repay him?”

For from him and through him and to him are all things

To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Romans 11: 33-36

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy

 of the calling you have received.

  Be completely humble and gentle;

 be patient bearing with one another in love.

 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit

 through the bond of peace.

 There is one body and one Spirit—

just as you were called to one hope when you were called—

one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

one God and Father of all, who is over all

and through all and in all. “

 Ephesians 4: 1-6

Our Prayer: 

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more
than all we could ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us
 to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen

Ephesians 3:20-21

Song Recommendation: 

I Surrender

By:  Hillsong United 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcnfT4arZtI&list=PLrNnEvIvbWOcgSptISY9mH4sloXFa4USM