Psalm 104
Scripture Psalm 104:31-33
Let the glory of the Lord endure forever; Let the Lord be glad in His works; He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. Observation-What does it say? This psalm is a hymn to the creator. The author uses the story of creation to demonstrate the glory of God, using the earth as a vision of God’s glory. “The poem contains a complete cosmos sea and land, cloud and sunlight, plant and animal, light and darkness, life and death, are all proved to be expressive of the presence of the Lord”(Spurgeon). Using the imagery of earth, we get an understanding of God as the sustainer of life. All of His creation depend on His unfailing goodness and provision for life itself. Contemplating on His creation helps us to gain perspective on His glory, so we can praise him properly. Understanding-What does it mean? As a kid, my favorite part of the year was summer. Though it had little to do with being out of school. Well, maybe that was some of it. But, my love of summer really revolved around summer camp. I started going to our church’s summer camp pretty young, I think my first time to summer camp was when I was seven, just after finishing the first grade. It was the first time I can remember seeing the forest, or having a bonfire. But what was most important and impactful on my life was the ability to connect with God, which is what drew me back every year. And that was the whole idea of summer camp, getting out of our normal routine, into a beautiful setting, with the intention of worshiping Jesus. As I got into high school, winter camp became an option as well. MIND BLOWN!!! I was like, “You mean I get to go to the mountains, in the snow, and worship God in the winter?” I didn’t know what part of the year was my favorite anymore. While times have changed, and camps are a fading trend, I still find I have a need to get out into the wilderness to reorient my perspective. I love to hike and mountain bike. These moments in the woods and desert, having the time to look at God’s creation, helps me to remember how powerful He is and of the beauty of his wisdom. We live in a culture that doesn’t encourage rest. Phrases like “time is money” and “you can sleep when you’re dead” encourage us to be working continually. Which draws us to focus on problems. When we take time away to gain perspective, we can focus on the bigger picture and the solution. Jesus being the ultimate solution to life. Jesus himself retreated for times of prayer. In Matthew 14, Mark 6 and Luke 6, we see an example of Jesus drawing away to gain perspective and, most importantly, meet with the Father.
Life Application
Holy Spirit, help me to have an attitude like Jesus (Philippians 2:5-11). Help me to gain perspective when I can. Most of all, help me to worship God because he is the creator and sustainer of my life. It is only from this perspective that all the hard things in life can have meaning.
-Tyler Galloway
Psalm__103
Scripture - What stood out?Psalm 1038 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Observation - What does it say?Another beautiful psalm of David. This psalm reveals the counterpart to God’s Wrath - His Compassion. I have read the old testament many times now and here is a verse that has always stuck to me, Deuteronomy 5:9 “You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,”But in psalm 103 we find the counter measure to that in verse 17 “But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children-” Understanding - What does it mean?Author Lois Tverberg, in her book Reading The Bible With Rabbi Jesus writes: Our English word fear narrowly focuses on being afraid. To us, fear is the opposite of trust and is synonymous with worry, dread, or fright. But yirah encompasses a much wider range of meanings from negative (dread, terror) to positive (worship, reverence) and from mild (respect) to strong (awe). Whenever you read “revere” or “reverence” in your bible, the word yirah is most likely behind it. What a wonderful explanation for the word fear in psalm 103:11, and 17. My whole life I have interpreted the english bible’s interpretation of the fear of the Lord one and only one way, and that was the “tremble in dread and terror” definition. But here we read that the same root word for fear in hebrew was also used to mean reverence and awe. Doesn’t that open up a totally different perspective? The picture of God I have in these verses is no longer the angry, terrifying destroyer of men, who instills fear but instead it is that of a Holy and Just God who is capable of applying both justice and mercy who instills reverence and awe. And what does God do to those who revere him with awe - he loves them...with a love so great says David. He does not treat us as our sins, as our bad decisions, as our bad desires deserve. Instead he removes our transgressions. He removes our trespasses from His ledgers, from the column that reads “must pay in full for the wrongs you committed this time and that time and that time”. Life Application - How can I apply this to my life today?I would like to be somebody who reveres you with awe Father God. Teach me how to do that appropriately given my own limitations Father God. Show me what it is to have a healthy fear of You. Perhaps it is similar to the fear a man has of his 64 year old, 115 lb, immigrant mother that he outweighs by over 150 lbs. Perhaps not. Show me how to properly revere You, Lord, so that my children’s children would be faithful recipients of Your Love and Your Righteousness.What can I do to increase or to work on my healthy fear of the Lord today? Father I will try my best not to use Your name in vain today. That is one small way I can begin to improve on developing a reverence for You! Love You Lord. -kenneth lee
2 John__1
Scripture
2 John 1:5-6
“I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.”
Observation-What does it say?
In this second epistle, John is writing to the church, reminding them to be mindful in three things:
Discernment: The church needed the ability to separate the truth and error when it came to false teachings.
Love: According to John no one can claim to love Christ or His church and then not walk faithfully in the truth. Love and truth distinguish God’s people from those who do not belong to Him.
Hospitality: The apostles Peter and John both agreed that hospitality is the Christian’s duty and joy, as well as an act of love (1 Peter 4:8-9). But John in this chapter reminds the church that hospitality does have boundaries. God’s people must not welcome, accept, associate with, or support anything or anyone who undermines the truth of the gospel (2 John 1:9-11).
Understanding-What does it mean?
The power of love.
No!..I’m not talking about the song by Huey Luis and the News from the 80’s movie, Back to the Future.😆 I am talking about God’s love. Let’s put it this way, Jesus simplified following the entire Ten Commandments by doing these two things that involve love.
“Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.””-(Matthew 22:37-40)
So as you can see, love is the foundation of what we are to do as Christ Followers: My love for God, and my love for my fellow man. It really sounds quite simple. But keep in mind, Jesus calls us to love the unlovable and even calls us to love our enemies. So it can be quite challenging at times. But it’s through our love for one another, that people, especially non believers, can experience God and His love first hand.
Life Application
God is love.
Because God is love and we are His children, we are an extension of His love when we go out into the world and love one another. So let’s go out into this dark world right now and share God’s love. Buy someone in need a gift card, send someone an encouraging text, give someone a helping hand, or let someone know that they are loved. Let people see the light and hope in His people, so that they too, can yearn for that love and experience in their lives as well.😊
“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”-John 13:35
-Moses Gaddi