On My Lips He Put a New Song

Readings:
Psalm 40
Philippians 1:1-26

Focus:
Psalm 40:3a: "On my lips he put a new song, a song of praise to our God."

It's easy to get into bad habits. We sometimes complain a lot, or talk about other people, or criticize too much, or say irritable or unkind things.

But it's actually possible to change these habits. God can help us with this if we ask him. The thing to do after asking him for help is to remember to focus on him. When we do this, he can really change our ways of talking into kinder, less selfish ways.

Of course it doesn't happen all at once, and we often have a step back after a couple of steps forward. But gradually, God can put a new song on our lips, a new way of talking, including a song of praise to him!

Constantly Ask God's Help in Prayer

Readings:
Psalm 39
Ephesians 6:18-24

Focus:
Ephesians 6:18a: "Constantly ask God's help in prayer, and pray always in the power of the Spirit."

It is good to have a time every day to spend in prayer with God. But besides that, we can send little prayers to God throughout the day. This accomplishes many purposes.

When we do this, if we are in a difficult situation, we ask God for help right at the moment we need it. So often, when I have been in a puzzle, I have quickly just prayed, "Help me, God," and then I have found that the right words have come, or I have arrived at the right decision.

Praying constantly also accustoms us to being in God's presence. It gets us used to the idea that God is there, waiting to be in relationship with us.

And, best of all, continual little prayers throughout the day build our relationship with God. A friendship would never grow if we hardly ever communicated with the friend. It is the same with a relationship with God. Prayer is communicating with God. We must do it often in order to have a relationship with him.

That is why it is so good to constantly ask God's help in prayer.

The Armor of God

Readings:
Psalm 38
Ephesians 6:10-17

Focus:
Ephesians 6:14: "Stand fast, I say. Fasten on the belt of truth; for a breastplate put on integrity."

In one of his most famous images, Paul here exhorts us to put on the armor of God. With truth, integrity, peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God, we will be well protected against all that evil can try to do against us.

Truth is a crucial quality for us to possess. If we want to show others the love of God, it is imporant for us to be trustworthy. Telling the truth even in small matters is essential to establishing trust. When we put on the armor of God, truthfulness and integrity are part of that.

Telling the truth avoids hurting others as well. Carelessness about what we say can cause pain to others that we might not have foreseen.

Let us fasten on the belt of truth!

How God Reminded Me He Would Be with Me

In the summer of 2005 I happened to mention to my daughter that my inner elbows ached whenever I exercised or took my migraine prescription, and she urged me to tell my doctor. This led to an EKG, which looked pretty good, but still my doctor wanted me to see a cardiologist. Meanwhile, I was called back from my routine yearly mammogram because they had spotted something suspicious.

So, I went through two series of escalating tests: stress EKG and electron beam tomography; and second mammogram and ultrasound. Finally a weekend came in September 2005 where, on the Friday, I had a needle biopsy on the lump that had been found. Then, on the Monday, I was scheduled for an angiogram (cardiac catheterization) for my heart.

The cardiologist had told me that there was a slight risk of death associated with the angiogram. Normally I have no fear of death, ever since, at the age of 20, I first read The Last Battle in the Narnia series. What could be better than to go on to a place more beautiful than the most beautiful place on earth, and be with God? But the upcoming angiogram spooked me for some reason. Perhaps it was because our first grandchild was due to be born in November, and I didn't want to miss knowing her. At any rate, I was nervous. The night before, we went over to Seattle (we live in a suburb across Lake Washington). As we crossed the floating bridge, I remember looking at one of my favorite sights, the lights on the other floating bridge, strung across the lake like a mile-long strand of jewels, and thinking that I might never see them again.

The next morning the angiogram went smoothly, and the cardiologist found that my heart was perfectly healthy (so my arm aches are just a mystery). Afterwards as I was recovering from the sedatives they had given me, I discovered that the two nurses who were caring for me were Christians, and that each of them sang in their church choirs, just like I do. I thought that this was an amazing coincidence, because there are not many Christians in the Seattle area. It then hit me that God was telling me something. He was actually saying to me, "You were scared of this angiogram, but you had forgotten how in control I am. I am so in control that I can arrange, in an area and in a time when there are very few Christians, that not just one but both of your nurses will be choir-singing Christians."

Then I went home to recover further from the angiogram, and about two hours later, my doctor called to tell me that I had breast cancer.

Although at first I was a bit overwhelmed by the news, it was not long before I remembered the message God had given me that morning. The striking thing about it was God's timing. He had let me know that he cared about me and was in control BEFORE I got my cancer diagnosis. I still didn't know if everything would be fine or not; I still knew that I could die of this cancer. But I did know the most important thing of all, and that was that God was with me in the midst of it. That set the tone for how I experienced the whole following 8 months of cancer treatments.

As it turned out, the surgery that I had removed all the cancer I had at the time, and with chemo, radiation, and hormonal therapy, I have an 85-90% chance of being cancer-free in 10 years. So I have been blessed in the outcome. But even had it not been so, if I had only a slim chance of survival, I would still be able to go forward confidently, because God has assured me that he is with me and loves me. And I really didn't need a special message from God to tell me that. He has told us that throughout the Bible. He has told us that in the person of his son Jesus. I just hadn't remembered that very well before my angiogram. Since God was kind enough to give me a little extra help to keep it in mind, I want to share it with everyone else. There's nothing so bad or scary that God can't be with us in it and bring joy to us in the midst of fear and pain. That was certainly my experience with God in the midst of cancer.

We May Fall, but We Will Not Go Headlong

Readings:
Psalm 37
Ephesians 6:1-9

Focus:
Psalm 37:24: "Though he may fall, he will not go headlong, for the Lord grasps him by the hand."

Christians are not promised a trouble-free life. We may indeed have difficult periods in our life. Sicknesses may come. We may lose our jobs or our loved ones. Unfair things may happen to us. We may fall.

But we will not go headlong, for the Lord grasps us by the hand. In the midst of any troubles that come to us, God is there with us. I learned that very well when I had cancer. God even let me know just before I got my diagnosis that he was going to care for me specially (see this post), and then he stayed with me throughout my illness in an amazing way.

I have seen this happen for many other people struck with incredible suffering, yet buoyed with the love of Christ. And the same can be true for anyone going through a hard time. God will not abandon those who love him. We may fall, but we will not go headlong.

By Your Light We Are Enlightened

Readings:
Psalm 36
Ephesians 5:21-33

Focus:
Psalm 36:9b: "By your light we are enlightened."

In our Western culture today many sources of enlightenment have been proposed. The wisdom of undeveloped cultures is highly sought after, and folk knowledge possessed by other peoples is valued. The sacred books of non-Christian religions are held in esteem by many. Less valued is the traditional wisdom built up through the ages in Western culture, and even less valued is insight that can be gained from the Bible. Most of all we are advised to look within ourselves for wisdom.

Though all these sources of wisdom have ideas of value in them, it is from the Bible, and from a relationship with God, that true wisdom can chiefly be gained. God is the real source of all wisdom. We cannot find any wisdom in ourselves that he did not create and inspire. And we are so prone to error that we cannot trust our own wisdom. It is only what we learn from God that we can utterly trust. It is only by his light that we are truly enlightened.

Sing and Make Music to the Lord

Readings:
Psalm 35
Ephesians 5:1-20

Focus:
Ephesians 5:19b: "Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord."

As an amateur musician I love this instruction in the Bible; it is an easy one for me! I am glad that it is one of the things that God wants us to do. I love to sing.

It is a great mystery to me that God wants us to sing to him. I don't know why it is so, yet I know that when I am singing his praises, I feel a connection to him that is not there in other ways of worshipping him.

It is good that God has given us this command. He asks us to do things that please him and that make us happy. Let us sing and make music to him.

Forgive One Another

Readings:
Psalm 34
Ephesians 4:25-32

Focus:
Ephesians 4:32: "Be generous to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you."

One of the hardest lessons I've learned, but one of the most liberating, is about forgiving others. I started thinking about this a number of years ago. I realized that in the Lord's Prayer, we pray, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." In other words, we are asking for the same level of forgiveness that we offer. That's a bit daunting!

So I started working on being more forgiving, since, after all, I wanted God to forgive me. And I realized that I needed to forgive people who had wronged me, whether or not they were sorry. In fact, I needed to forgive them whether or not they even believed they had done anything wrong.

In a couple of difficult cases, I promised God that, even though I would probably not forget what happened, nevertheless, I would forgive the person, and I would never again think of those situations with anger or bitterness. And immediately I felt an influx of God's love and warmth. And in the ensuing days, weeks, months, and years, my relationship with that person was vastly improved, even though the person never knew what had happened.

I found that obeying God was, as I knew all along, the right thing to do. It was good to forgive as God in Christ had forgiven me.

Lay Aside the Old Human Nature

Readings:
Psalm 33
Ephesians 4:17-24

Focus:
Ephesians 4:22a: "Renouncing your former way of life, you must lay aside the old human nature."

In order to truly please God, and to live life the way he wants us to live it, we must turn away from our old ways. We can't just keep doing things the way we've always done them, and say, "That's just the way I am." We need to set our natural selves aside and take on a spiritual self.

When we please God and live life the way he wants us to live it, not only do we serve God and serve others, making others happier and better off, but we also make ourslves happier as well. All will be much better with us when we are living the way we are designed to live.

God will help us with this if we ask him. He never asks us to do anything that is too hard for us to do. He will help us lay aside the old nature and move into living with a new nature, a better nature.

I Shall Confess My Offense

Readings:
Psalm 32
Ephesians 4:7-16

Focus:
Psalm 32:3-5: "While I refused to speak, my body wasted away with day-long moaning. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; the sap in me dried up as in summer drought. When I acknowledged my sin to you, when I no longer concealed my guilt, but said, 'I shall confess my offense to the Lord,' then you for your part remitted the penalty of my sin."

So often pride keeps us from admitting it when we have done wrong. Not only do we not want to acknowledge what we have done to others; we don't even want to acknowledge it to ourselves.

Yet when we do wrong things, it eats away at us. God has made us such that we are only constituted for doing what is right. When we do wrong, it as if we were ill; we don't work correctly. There is a malaise within us. Years of habituating ourselves to cultural approval of what is wrong may bury this deep. But it is there.

It is only when we acknowledge our wrongdoing (whether it is small or not so small) to ourselves, to those we have wronged, and, most importantly of all, to God, that we can rid ourselves of this malaise and truly be free. God remits the penalty of our sin. We are whole again.

Put Up with One Another's Failings

Readings:
Psalm 31
Ephesians 4:1-6

Focus:
Ephesians 4:2: "Be humble always and gentle, and patient, too, putting up with one another's failings in the spirit of love."

Sometimes we hear about how we can do great things for God, and help bring about his kingdom, by going on short-term mission trips to other countries where there is terrible poverty, and spending a couple of weeks working on projects there. Or we can give up some of our time volunteering for a local project, helping the homeless or people with other needs.

These things are important to do, and they are indeed part of what God wants us to do.

But we must not forget that another part of bringing God's kingdom about here on earth involves behaving with kindness and forbearance to other people in our daily lives. When other people irritate us, responding with patience and not with anger is hard to do, but it is one of the ways we obey God and show love. Maybe anger is what people deserve, but love is what God wants.

I try to remember this question: "Will my action make God's kingdom come closer, or will it push it further away?" I forget to ask myself this a lot, but it's a good question to remember.

The Breadth and Length and Height and Depth of Christ's Love

Readings:
Psalm 30
Ephesians 3:14-21

Focus:
Ephesians 3:18-19a: "May you, in company with all God's people, be strong to grasp what is the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's love, and to know it, though it is beyond knowledge."

It is incredible to me that people can talk of Christ so disrespectfully, or use his name in such terrible ways. It is because they do not know him. If only they did, they would never say such things about someone who loved them so much.

Knowing Christ, being a recipient of his love, gives me the most tender feelings for him, as well as feelings of respect and awe.

There is nothing to compare with such love as Christ gives us. It makes life more than good. It makes life indescribably worthwhile. It is what I want for everyone else. It is, indeed, why I write this blog--so that all who read it may be able to know this love.

In His Temple All Cry, "Glory!"

Readings:
Psalm 29
Ephesians 3:1-13

Focus:
Psalm 29:3,9b: "The voice of the Lord echoes over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord thunders over the mighty waters...and in his temple all cry, 'Glory!'"

Sometimes it is good to remember the greatness of God. He is not only our tender companion. He is not merely our comforter. His role is not only to sustain us.

God is also the one who created the universe. His power is beyond our comprehension. In fact, it is amazing that he wants us to talk with him in prayer. He is the one who created volcanoes to erupt, who created storms that form into blizzards. He is the one who created stars that flare into supernovas. He is the one who created comets and black holes. If we were to see one of the angels crying "Glory!" around him, we would fall down in utter fear.

We must not disobey such a God! But this is a God whose ability to deliver us we can trust. He is utterly able to do what he promises. We too can cry, "Glory!"

God's Spiritual Dwelling Place

Readings:
Psalm 28
Ephesians 2:11-22

Focus:
Ephesians 2:20-22: "You are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building is bonded together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built with all the others into a spiritual dwelling for God."

We cannot be solitary Christians. God has made us to be in relationship with him, but he has also made us to be in relationship with other Christians.

Not only that, but he has made us such that we and other believers form the body of Christ on earth. We make up a figurative dwelling place for God. We cannot do that if we stay on our own, separated from other Christians. We must seek them out and meet with them regularly.

Our relationship with God is not merely for our own edification and enrichment, but also, in some mysterious way, it is for building up others. God wishes us to be part of his spiritual dwelling place. That is actually a very great honor.

The Lord Is Our Light; Whom Should We Fear?

Readings:
Psalm 27
Ephesians 2:1-10

Focus:
Psalm 27:1: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom then should I go in dread?"
Psalm 27:13: "Well I know that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."

It is incredibly freeing to know God. We do not have to be afraid of anything! God is greater than anyone or anything imaginable, and when he is on our side, there is nothing that can ultimately overcome us.

I have been through cancer and open heart surgery. I am currently unemployed, having been laid off a few months ago. Yet I do not despair or feel abandoned, nor did I feel that way in the midst of my illnesses. For both now and then, God has been with me, and I know that he has a purpose for my life. I know he can guide me through troubled waters. And I know that whatever the outcome, he is there at the end.

How can I be afraid of troubles in this life when God is my light and my salvation?

How Vast Are the Resources of God's Power!

Readings:
Psalm 26
Ephesians 1:11-23

Focus:
Ephesians 1:19-20a: "How vast are the resources of his power open to us who have faith. His mighty strength was seen at work when he raised Christ from the dead...."

There is nothing too hard for God. We may think that our problems are so difficult that there is no way that we can get through them. But if we turn them over to God, we will indeed get through them.

Perhaps the problems won't be solved in the way that we envision. But God will give us the ability to get through them with inner joy. And he will work things out for ultimate good, even if we can't see it at the time. I have been in situations where I thought things were all wrong, only to find later that God had actually made things happen that led to good.

The resources of God's power are so vast, we can't even imagine it. We can rely on his mighty strength with utmost confidence.

God Alone Can Free Us

Readings:
Psalm 25
Ephesians 1:1-10

Focus:
Psalm 25:15: "My eyes are ever on the Lord, who alone can free my feet from the net."

Sometimes we are just in a real tangle. Everything seems to be going wrong. We need help.

We cannot get out of such circumstances without God. Our best efforts, and the best efforts of other people, will never give lasting relief. Perhaps the situation will improve; perhaps it will even seem like everything is fine. But our inner emotional well-being will not be entirely fine.

It is only when we turn our lives over to God and ask for his help that we can truly be free from the deepest troubles and sorrows. Outer things may not always be better, but inwardly, we will be free and happy.

It is God alone who can free our feet from the net.

God Forbid That I Should Boast

Readings:
Psalm 24
Galatians 6:11-18

Focus:
Galatians 6:14: "God forbid that I should boast of anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world is crucified to me and I to the world!"

I regularly find myself proud of my accomplishments. I find myself wanting to talk about them to people. I'm sure the temptation occurs to many of us.

The conversations don't always go the way I envision, though. People aren't nearly as interested as I think they ought to be. Actually, they're much more lively when I ask them about their accomplishments.

This is a reminder to me that it is not a good thing for me to boast. And in fact, there is only true value in what God has done for me. That is what is worth boasting about. Anything I have done fades away in the face of God's magnificent gift of redemption and salvation; my achievements are, as Paul says, garbage in comparison.

God forbid that I should boast of anything else!

For His Name's Sake He Guides Us

Readings:
Psalm 23
Galatians 6:1-10

Focus:
Psalm 23:3b: "For his name's sake he guides me in the right paths."

Sometimes we might wonder if God will lead us. Perhaps things are particularly in a shambles in our lives. Maybe things just aren't going right. Or maybe we've been messing up pretty badly and we're not sure whether or not God can straighten us out. We might wonder whether or not God cares enough about us to do that.

But not only does God care enough about us to do that--he also does it for his own sake. And since he is perfect, there is no reason that he would want to let himself down. So it is guaranteed that he will want to guide us! We can depend on him to help us for his sake, even if we aren't sure of ourselves.

For his name's sake, he will guide us in the right paths.

The Fruit of the Spirit

Readings:
Psalm 22
Galatians 5:13-26

Focus:
Galatians 5:22-23a: "But the harvest of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fidelity, gentleness, and self-control."

When we go through life just letting ourselves live without paying attention to what God might want, we end up making a lot of mistakes and living pretty selfishly. We get irritable, we do things that benefit ourselves instead of benefitting other people, we are thoughtless, and so on.

But when we ask God to direct our days, the Holy Spirit guides what we say and do. And that is when the qualities listed above start to show up in our lives.

I know that I am not very good at many of those things on my own. I am glad that I can have the fruit of the Holy Spirit in my life because of God, since I can't do it myself!

We Ask of Him Life, and He Gives It to Us

Readings:
Psalm 21
Galatians 5:1-12

Focus:
Psalm 21:4: "He asked of you life, and you gave it to him, length of days for ever and ever."

When we turn to God and ask him to take control of our lives, he never refuses. All we have to do is say that we're sorry for what we've done wrong, that we accept Jesus Christ's sacrifice on our behalf, and that we want God to be in charge from now on. God never fails to forgive and he never fails to give us, in exchange for this acknowledgement, eternal life.

As this psalm says, God bestows everlasting blessings on us and makes us glad with the joy of his presence. He welcomes us with blessings and prosperity (if nothing else, at the very least spiritual prosperity) and he places a crown of finest gold on our head. That crown is the knowledge that we belong to him and can never be lost from him. It's the very best crown a person could ever hope to wear.