1 Kings 1; 1 Chronicles 26-28; 2 Corinthians 10; Psalm 91

I am reminded that life does not just happen. There is spiritual warfare in my world.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ – 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NASB

My new reality today comes from a prayer meeting where Haiti was the focus of prayer. Here, Christians have resorted to picking up stones and machetes to fight against gangs moving into their community. They were killing them – kill or be killed. Taking the life of another became the solution to the problem. I get it – the problem was real, affecting their lives in the immediate. How do they take the thought of killing another captive to the obedience of Christ?

What did I offer to the people of Haiti when it came to my turn to pray? I offered Psalm 91. I am so glad my wife loves Psalm 91 as much, maybe even more, than I do, and it has been the go to Psalm for our family today.

One who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will lodge in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”. – Psalm 91:1-2 NASB

I prayed they would find a place and time to be alone with God. God whispers truth there. Rest, peace and calm rise up strong, right in the struggling mess of life, and I am assured, He is in control. The hard times will be there, and He will be there with me – it might be in rescuing, it might be in protection or it might be in Him taking me home to be with Him.

For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
The Most High, your dwelling place.
No evil will happen to you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent. – Psalm 91:9-10 NASB

I cannot tell of all the stories where I have walked without fear because God is my refuge and dwelling place. I have seen plagues not come near my home or touched the lives of my family. Not because I am special in any way, but because I have bought into spiritual warfare and have made my point clear to the enemy that I will be in a place with God that the enemy will need His permission to mess with me.

Because he has loved Me, I will save him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. – Psalm 91:14 NASB

What a promise when I love Him. I make the decision to love God by choice. I spend time with Him.

Father, Your promises are true. Keep my heart and mind on You and may these thoughts keep me walking in truth to myself, my family and my world. Thank You!

Erwin (evanlaar1922)

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1 Chronicles 14-16; 1 Corinthians 16; Psalm 132, 106

I love the focus of our bookends today – celebration, thankfulness and praise. I remember a number of books written about praise when I was a teenager and those truths have remained with me till today.

He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel. – 1 Chronicles 16:4 NASB

Simply remembering is important and yet neglected. Spurgeon noted a number of ways that I can remember the great things God has done. One of them was to spend time alone so that I can meditate on those great things.

For I do not want to see you now just in passing; for I hope to remain with you for some time, if the Lord permits. – 1 Corinthians 16:7 NASB

It is when I spend time alone with God – meditating, remembering, celebrating, being thankful and praising Him – then I have something to give away to those I meet during the day. What else do I have to give to someone – some talk, or some truths from a book I just read? I would rather give Jesus.

Behold, we heard about it in Ephrathah,
We found it in the field of Jaar. – Psalm 132:6 NASB

There are some who desperately are seeking Jesus. David here is looking for the ark. He found it. It reminds me of the challenge laid before me when it comes to the things of God – ask, seek and knock, keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. When my heart is set on finding the place where God wants to meet me, cheering happens in that heart of mine and praise is a natural outpouring. That is why I think God instructed the people of Israel to build a temple that would travel with them – so His presence would always be with them.

Praise the Lord!
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His mercy is everlasting. – Psalm 106:1 NASB

It is amazing how stress and anxiety and the troubles of my world do not seem so bad when I am in praise. The anger I was feeling is no longer important. The temptation I was experiencing has somehow dissipated. What a miracle drug, if you will, to sing and thank God.

Father, I am in Your presence and there You are allowing me into Your safe place. I want to start crying because I have never felt love like that in any other place. I want to release myself completely to You and I know You will take me and heal me. I seek You and when I do not, send the Holy Spirit to come and get me. You are what I have been looking for my whole life.

Erwin (evanlaar1922)

1 Samuel 27; 1 Chronicles 9; 1 Corinthians 10; Psalm 141

A strength of mine, when it comes to my walk with God, is worship. I had forgotten part of the employment of Levites were singers. I am not saying I can sing, but rather that I like singing as part of my worship to God.

 Now these are the singers, heads of fathers’ households of the Levites, who lived in the chambers of the temple free of other duties; for they were engaged in their work day and night. – 1 Chronicles 9:33 NASB

I see worship as a way to take my mind off of my troubles and issues that rob me of my joy. I also turn to worship as a way of avoiding temptation. I learned not to fear temptation as long as I did not embrace it. Worship allowed me to face it and overcome it.

No temptation has overtaken you except something common to mankind; and God is faithful, so He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. – 1 Corinthians 10:13 NASB

As a guy, there is the enduring temptation in the area of sexuality. I remembered a sermon when I was sixteen on how to worship God for the amazing creation He created. That worship would not allow the temptation to go any further. I was thinking about King David going to the roof – was he going there to have some time alone with God? The idea of being alone with God was quickly changed with a moment of temptation. If David was going to write a new song or to pen a new poem to God, look how easily it was thwarted. I do not take lightly the gift of worship in my spiritual walk.

My alone time with God and the victory obtained there with worship bring me the strength I need during times of temptation.

Lord, I call upon You; hurry to me!
Listen to my voice when I call to You! – Psalm 141:1 NASB

Worship is not only singing, it is also prayer. “Hurry to me” expresses the immediacy of my temptations and needs. Help cannot come too late.

May my prayer be counted as incense before You;
The raising of my hands as the evening offering. – Psalm 141:2 NASB

With a combination of singing, prayer and a posture of raising my hands to give and receive, I express my earnest and expectant thoughts in worship.

For my eyes are toward You, God, the Lord;
In You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless. – Psalm 141 :8 NASB

My eyes are focused only on God, in Him I find my expressions of worship and He does not fail me.

 “In all times, in all places, on all occasions, I will cleave unto the Lord, and put my whole confidence in him.” – Clarke

Father, I love spending time in worship. Thank you for this wonderful gift that connects me with the Holy Spirit.

Erwin (evanlaar1922)

Judges 7-8; Mark 12; Psalms 52, 42

Depression can really wreck havoc in my life if I give it more reign than it deserves. It happens to the best of preachers who preach every Sunday and then have to face a depressed filled Monday.

My soul is in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. – Psalm 42:6 NASB

What makes me a bit unique is that I have become comfortable coming to God and giving Him my despair. It is like I am looking at my depression outside my body and reporting it and giving it to God. While most will turn and run away from God, hence the 60% of ministers who commit adultery, why hide the problem from Him? I love how the psalmist points the way to healthy boundaries and relationships. Of course, there are the days where even when I run to God, somehow I do not sense He is there.

I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” – Psalm 42:9 NASB

Notice how I still call God my rock – my place of security, stability and strength? At the same time I am honestly bringing my feelings to God even though it looks like He might have forgotten me.

Yet Gideon said to them, “I would request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his plunder.” (For they had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) – Judges 8:24 NASB

I know that I want the Holy Spirit to directly speak to me – not through emotion-filled revivals – just to know that He is there. When I do not wait for Him, I will begin to neglect the simple things He has asked me to do, like worship. Other things begin to fall by the wayside too, like prayer and church fellowship. Reading the Scriptures might seem boring and humdrum some days but it is better than creating something more flashy and exciting, like an ephod. I have to be in a place where I trust that God knows what He is doing.

Gideon made it into an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah; but all Israel committed infidelity with it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household. – Judges 8:27 NASB

When my life get this bad, when idolatry has messed with my heart, how many people do I take down with me? I think that my relationship with God is like a marriage. Why is my relationship with God so important, why does it demand all of my life? If my walk with God is truly marital in nature, what sort of husband would brush it off if his wife kept multiple lovers? I cannot sluff off my covenant relationship with God – it is a marriage. It is up to me to decide how holy and pure it will be.

Father, Thank You for taking all of my despair into Your hands. If I keep it, I will be destroyed.

Erwin (evanlaar1922)

Deuteronomy 27-31; Mark 2

Our church family is loud and each Sunday one never expects what could happen that will generate a lot of noise. My wife comes from a Catholic background, and as we grow older she misses the quite, the reverence and she is beginning to use the word, holiness, in describing what it means to be in the presence of God.

Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, “Be silent and listen, Israel! This day you have become a people for the Lord your God. – Deuteronomy 27:9 NASB

I find that my own experience in church is starting to shape the same way as my wife’s. I find that when I am worshipping, I am reminded of God’s love and mercy, and my first reaction is not to be loud, but to be silent and to reflect on those memories and then give thanks, reverence and love to Him.

Silence was a way that God taught His people to be calm before His presence and here was a great example during the first worship and consecration service in Israel. I believe it helped them focus their hearts and minds on the magnitude of their vow renewal before God.

It was a reminder that God chose them.

When I look at my own prayer time, I know fasting will have to part of my experience when I meet with God alone.

But the days will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast, on that day. – Mark 2:20 NASB

It has not happened yet, but I know that it will have it’s place and time in my life. Most of the time I think I have no time or no place for fasting. When I think like that I find that I am out of balance. I am going to try fasting somewhere in the next two weeks and put into practice a key ingredient in my alone time with God.

I know that Jesus wants to know me and to interact with me. Spending time with Him will make that happen. Who would not want to spend time with those we are intimately connected to? If heaven is my reality, the thought of heaven raises my head above my circumstances to see Jesus – He is the one who loves me and promises me eternal life. One day I will be with Him forever, close and intimate, being with Him in love.

Father, as I take advantage of my quiet time with You, I pray that our time will be filled with many memories of Your love and mercy in my life. I pray that You will fill my time with Your presence, Your holiness and I pray that my response will be fasting and yielding more of my life to You. I look forward to the day that this will not have to be something I plan to do, but one that I will be doing everyday when I am with You forever.

Erwin (evanlaar1922)