Leviticus 11-12; Psalm 13-14; Proverbs 26; 1 Thessalonians 5

In summarizing the reading from Leviticus 11, I came away realizing I may not be as diligent in my walk with God when it comes to defiling my character. There is a lesson in mortality as the penalty of sin that is illustrated here. The law demanded constant watchfulness. In the same spirit I believe I need to watch and pray.

I would also like to give you my general thoughts on Psalm 13.  I have had times when God seemed distant. Not really sure why even though I could come up with a few thoughts that we may all agree on. There are other times when everything is right and yet God is far away, does not speak, I seek Him but He seems to be hiding.

This is David in Psalm 13. Out of the depths of his heart he repeats five times the haunting cry, “How long?” and “How much longer?” Psalm 13 tells me what to do when God seems distant.

Enough with the summaries, here are three short and to the point orders.

Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 GNT

I spent some time with the second point – “pray at all times.” This is about maintaining an attitude of prayer, being aware of God’s presence and staying in constant communion and close relationship with the giver of joy.

It is my posture of unceasing dependence on God. I am abiding in, trusting in, depending on and acknowledging His presence in my life at all times.

 Father, You are my joy. When I spend time with You my life is filled with joy. “I rely on your constant love; I will be glad, because you will rescue me. I will sing to you, O Lord, because you have been good to me.” How many times has something not supposed to go right and yet You stepped in and made sure I was safe, cared for and protected. For all those times I missed You doing what You do best, I thank you. You are the difference in my life and You matter most. I love You.

Erwin (evanlaar1922)

 

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Job 3-5; John 21; Psalm 108

 

There are times in my life when I either act like Jesus is not around or actually do not feel His presence. When I act like He is not around, I am usually doing something that I want to do and do not wish to discuss with Him His thoughts on the matter. When I sense His presence not near me, I look for Him. It is a weird feeling sometimes when He does not engage.

I wonder how the disciples felt when Jesus rose from the dead and they had a bit of a distant relationship with Him. There was this real thing about Him having to ascend first before He engaged with them too much – He shared this thought with Mary. He did not see them that often or that regularly.

 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. – John 21:14 ESV

In this space of some awkwardness, the promise of the Holy Spirit who would always be with them, mattered most. Of course, we have that same promise.

In my imagination I cannot but help feel how alone Job must have felt. This is what he says —

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. – Job 3:1 ESV

I do not talk about suicide a lot because I do not know the pain, but it sounds awful when you look at your life and decide that you no longer matter. That is why I like the Christmas movie, It’s a Wonderful Life.” We see both sides of the coin and I am glad that we have the Holy Spirit as part of our life these days.

David found the cure for His loneliness with God – worship. I sense many of us do, including myself.

My heart is steadfast, O God!
    I will sing and make melody with all my being. – Psalm 108:1 ESV

In fact, after a time of meditation, repentance and worship, I find that whatever I was going through, having placed that into God’s hand, I sense my relationship with Him back on track.

Father, thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to reside in me and  who calls me to walk with You. I am pretty sure that in my moments when I think I am alone, those times could make me express my life like Job. However, because of You, I can express my life more like David – I am so thankful for that. Jesus, I know that I spend too much time away from You. May may heart be more sensitive to Your calling and may I let my heart seek You always.  Thank you for caring and loving me so much. Amen

Erwin (evanlaar1922)