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I’m sharing this here with you from my time of personal devotions with my Lord Jesus Christ, for your encouragement. Sue Love
Psalms 139:17-18 ESV
This is the kind of relationship that all believers in Jesus Christ should have with him. All his thoughts should be precious to us. What he loves, we should love, and what he hates, we should hate, and his thoughts should now be our thoughts, and his desires should now be our desires. For if we are in Christ, by genuine faith in Christ, we have the mind of Christ.
And our Lord’s thoughts are written down for us in the books of the Bible (Genesis to Revelation). So, we can know what he thinks, and what he feels, and what he promises, and the conditions for those promises to be fulfilled, too. We can know his view of sin and of us if we continue living in deliberate and habitual sin and his view of those who walk in his righteousness.
We don’t have to guess if God would approve or disapprove of something we are doing if it is something that is made clear for us in the Scriptures. We don’t have to wonder what pleases him and what displeases him. We are told in his word. We don’t have to go through life wondering what his will and purpose is for our lives. It is all written down for us in the Scriptures.
We can know outright that his will and purpose for our lives is that we die with him to sin and that we live to him and to his righteousness. For he died that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him. And he shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so we would now honor God with our lives (1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15,21; 1 Co 6:19-20).
Psalms 139:19-22 ESV
I admit that this is not one of my favorite passages of Scripture and it is one that I normally like to skip over. For it seems to me to be contrary to what the New Testament teaches regarding how we are to view and to treat our enemies. Yet, I understand that in the Old Testament times that they did away with their enemies by killing them so they would not harm them.
But Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, and that we are to do good to them, and to pray for them, and to say of them and to them what will be beneficial for them, for their welfare. And we are to consider ourselves blessed when our enemies revile us and do evil against us and when they hate us and speak against us with malicious intent.
But should we hate? We should not hate people, especially we should not hate fellow followers of Jesus. We should hate sin and wickedness, though, and we should hate what hateful people do to others. So, we should hate evil deeds. And we should hate how those evil deeds hurt others. And we should hate hypocrisy and lies and adultery and betrayal, too.
And what should we be praying for our enemies? We should be praying to God for their salvation, and for the Lord to get a hold of their hearts, and that they will turn from their wicked ways, and that they will cease to do evil and that now they will learn to do good, and that they will follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands the rest of their days.
Psalms 139:23-24 ESV
I have prayed this prayer often when examining my own heart before the Lord. And I think it is important that we stop and take time to examine our own hearts and our relationships with the Lord in a time of solemn prayer and time spent in the Word of God to hear from the Lord. For sometimes we do get off target or out of step with God and we need realignment.
Sometimes we get distracted by other things and by the things of this world and we need the Lord to remind us of why we are here and in order to refocus our attention on to him and on to the purpose for which he created us and for which he put us on this earth. Sometimes we need a gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit to get us back on track and to refocus our thinking.
And it isn’t as though the Lord has to search us to know our hearts. He made us, so he knows us inside and out. But this is for our benefit that we engage with him in his searching of our hearts for then he can show us what is in our hearts and what is good and what is bad and what needs to remain and what needs to be gotten rid of so we can conform to his will for us.
We need him to direct our paths and to guide us in what we are to do and to say and in what we are to not do and to not say, too. We need him to show us what is wrong so that we can make it right, and then we need his counsel and his strength and power to walk in the way of righteousness, which is him leading us in the way everlasting, for it results in eternal life with God.
Seek the Lord
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Based off Isaiah 55
“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.
“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”
Psalms 139:17-18 ESV
“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.”
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.”
This is the kind of relationship that all believers in Jesus Christ should have with him. All his thoughts should be precious to us. What he loves, we should love, and what he hates, we should hate, and his thoughts should now be our thoughts, and his desires should now be our desires. For if we are in Christ, by genuine faith in Christ, we have the mind of Christ.
And our Lord’s thoughts are written down for us in the books of the Bible (Genesis to Revelation). So, we can know what he thinks, and what he feels, and what he promises, and the conditions for those promises to be fulfilled, too. We can know his view of sin and of us if we continue living in deliberate and habitual sin and his view of those who walk in his righteousness.
We don’t have to guess if God would approve or disapprove of something we are doing if it is something that is made clear for us in the Scriptures. We don’t have to wonder what pleases him and what displeases him. We are told in his word. We don’t have to go through life wondering what his will and purpose is for our lives. It is all written down for us in the Scriptures.
We can know outright that his will and purpose for our lives is that we die with him to sin and that we live to him and to his righteousness. For he died that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him. And he shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so we would now honor God with our lives (1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15,21; 1 Co 6:19-20).
Psalms 139:19-22 ESV
“Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain.
Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.”
O men of blood, depart from me!
They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain.
Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.”
I admit that this is not one of my favorite passages of Scripture and it is one that I normally like to skip over. For it seems to me to be contrary to what the New Testament teaches regarding how we are to view and to treat our enemies. Yet, I understand that in the Old Testament times that they did away with their enemies by killing them so they would not harm them.
But Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, and that we are to do good to them, and to pray for them, and to say of them and to them what will be beneficial for them, for their welfare. And we are to consider ourselves blessed when our enemies revile us and do evil against us and when they hate us and speak against us with malicious intent.
But should we hate? We should not hate people, especially we should not hate fellow followers of Jesus. We should hate sin and wickedness, though, and we should hate what hateful people do to others. So, we should hate evil deeds. And we should hate how those evil deeds hurt others. And we should hate hypocrisy and lies and adultery and betrayal, too.
And what should we be praying for our enemies? We should be praying to God for their salvation, and for the Lord to get a hold of their hearts, and that they will turn from their wicked ways, and that they will cease to do evil and that now they will learn to do good, and that they will follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands the rest of their days.
Psalms 139:23-24 ESV
“Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!”
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!”
I have prayed this prayer often when examining my own heart before the Lord. And I think it is important that we stop and take time to examine our own hearts and our relationships with the Lord in a time of solemn prayer and time spent in the Word of God to hear from the Lord. For sometimes we do get off target or out of step with God and we need realignment.
Sometimes we get distracted by other things and by the things of this world and we need the Lord to remind us of why we are here and in order to refocus our attention on to him and on to the purpose for which he created us and for which he put us on this earth. Sometimes we need a gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit to get us back on track and to refocus our thinking.
And it isn’t as though the Lord has to search us to know our hearts. He made us, so he knows us inside and out. But this is for our benefit that we engage with him in his searching of our hearts for then he can show us what is in our hearts and what is good and what is bad and what needs to remain and what needs to be gotten rid of so we can conform to his will for us.
We need him to direct our paths and to guide us in what we are to do and to say and in what we are to not do and to not say, too. We need him to show us what is wrong so that we can make it right, and then we need his counsel and his strength and power to walk in the way of righteousness, which is him leading us in the way everlasting, for it results in eternal life with God.
Seek the Lord
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Based off Isaiah 55
“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.
“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”
