Writing Through the Bible in a Year

Psalm 119:1-112

“Your testimonies are my meditation. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:99&105

Satan used Jealousy and Pride to rattle the Pharisees and Scribes against Jesus. He had even managed to convince Judas (with 30 pieces of silver) to betray Jesus and turn Him over to the high priest for questioning. And now there’s Jesus, beaten beyond any recognition. He’s being spit on and taunted by on lookers as He hangs naked on a cross. He dies and is buried in a tomb and according to all signs it really looks like Satan has won the war. Talk about dark and hopeless places! The grave is pretty dark and hopeless wouldn’t you say?

BUT GOD HAD A PLAN!

His plan didn’t end on the cross, it started there! While Satan’s scheme had been to eliminate the threat and kill Jesus, Satan’s plan was as flawed as flawed could be! Did he not know what was really going on? Did he not understand the reality of the situation and what Jesus was doing? He must not have because Satan fell right into his own trap! Satan set a trap for Jesus that would spill His blood and kill Him. What Satan didn’t plan on was the VERY thing God DID plan on, because being God, He knew! Satan never thought of Jesus being the true atoning sacrifice for Passover. He couldn’t have thought of that, because if he had, he never would’ve had Jesus crucified.

Satan, while a powerful pain in our patoots, is NO MATCH for our God! Period! He simply can not compete in this match we call life. In the game of wits against God Almighty he doesn’t even hold a candle to the light of the Son!

Sure, Satan schemes against God by firing arrows in our direction. But the blood of Jesus is our shield that extinguishes all those fiery arrows. And what’s more is that not only is Satan no match for our God, he’s no match for us either!

We have been made more than conquerors through Jesus who LOVES US! (Romans 8:37) And the One who started a good work in you WILL be faithful to finish it. Right now you may feel like you’re in a pit or that your only hope is dead in a tomb, but the reality of the situation is that you’re in the cleft of a rock (Exodus 33), protected on three sides by God’s rock solid love and covered by His faithful hand as He walks before you pronouncing His name. And eventually He will remove His hand from over your eyes and you will look and you will find the footprints of His provision and protection in the sand at your feet.

Yes, Satan may have schemes, but God has plans. He has plans for your good and not your harm. He has plans for your future and your hope. And no matter what lies Satan tries to feed you, there is NOTHING that can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus and His faithfulness to His plans for you. You may be pressed but you’re NOT crushed. You may be persecuted but you’re NOT abandoned. You may have been struck down but you are NOT destroyed! In Jesus’ name, GET UP!

Psalm 110:1-118:29

“Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol Him, all peoples! For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!” Psalm 117

Reading this Psalm I was intrigued by these two qualities of God being smooshed together. His steadfast love and His faithfulness, what could one attribute have with the other? It sparked something in me that I wanted to investigate further. His love and His faithfulness connect. How? At what point? And to what end?

From day one I have been head-over-heels in love with my husband. The sun rose in his hair and the stars shone in his eyes. His arms have always been protective bands of iron wrapped around me and keeping me from all harm. He has always been my everything. My love for him kept me faithful to my promises to him and to God, because there were times when I wanted to bail on them, for sure. But I couldn’t do it because no matter how hurt or angry or betrayed I felt, it never changed the Truth. God put us together. We were made for each other. Knit together in mother’s wombs, formed to be united for eternity and no scheme of the Enemy could succeed against the plans God has for us. (Genesis 50:20)

God’s love for you keeps Him faithful to you. He has said, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

For we know according to Romans 8:28 that for those who love God and are called according to His purpose (or plan), all things will work together for their good.

God’s plans are perfect. How do I know this? Ummm… because he’s GOD. He knows EVERYTHING, past, present and future. If you knew everything there was to know in the universe don’t you think you’re plans would be pretty successful? If you created humanity to be weak and in need of a savior, wouldn’t you make sure to take those weaknesses into account when you made your plans for them? If you were omnipotent and able to know your enemy’s moves before he made them, don’t you think your plans would be pretty fail proof?

Right now you may feel like your situation is hopeless. You may feel like you’re in a very dark place with no future, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Take a look at the story of Joseph. His brothers threw him in a dark pit, hopeless and alone. They pulled him out only to sell him as a slave in Egypt – any hope of a prosperous future had been whipped out of him by the time he got there. The wife of his master lied about him and he got thrown into prison – back in the dark with even less hope of a future. You can see how at this point those plans God had for Joseph, you know the dreams about everyone in his family bowing to him, yeah, those plans looked deader than a doornail at this point. His family was nowhere near him how could those dreams ever come true?

But no scheme of hell is able to prevail over the plans of God and His steadfast love spurring on His faithfulness. The next part of Joseph’s journey was nothing short of an amazing miracle. Pharaoh had a dream, Joseph was the only one to interpret it and bodabing bodaboom Joseph is not only released from prison he’s promoted to the highest position in all of Egypt, save that of Pharaoh.

Not proof enough for you that Satan doesn’t get to win? Then how about I share another example with you, like a second witness in a trial against Satan’s schemes.

-Tomorrow. 😉

Psalm 106:1-109:31

“For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.” Psalm 107:9

Oh Lord, how my soul longs!

It longs for peace in my world. It longs for the fulfillment of things promised. But most of all it longs for this right here; time in Your presence, time spent with You, time focusing on Your word and the beauty of it all. I sit in amazement at the complexity in the simplicity of Your Word.

Lord, I love how simple it all truly is. We love to dig deep and relish in the details, but so often we can lose the forest in all the trees. The simple truth is, You’re in love with us. I’ve spent the last four years studying and praying, fasting and searching for answers in Your word while they were there the whole time staring me in the face. On every page, in every line, in every word, they all boil down to one simple Truth. You love me.

You love me enough to die for me. But even more than that, You love me enough to LIVE for me! You live to intercede for me. You live to pray for me and the things I’m going through that no one else even knows about, even me. You love me enough to tell me, “No” when I want things that aren’t good for me. And You love me enough to tell me, “Yes” even when I forget to ask for the things I need. You love me enough to keep a close eye on me and keep me from all harm… even if that means I’m inconvenienced and complain about it later because I don’t realize what You’ve saved me from.

Papa, I’m sorry I complain so much. I really am a spoiled brat sometimes. I truly have NOTHING to complain about. I have a safe, warm and loving home; a LOT of people around here don’t have that. We always have food on the table, it’s not gourmet and it may not always be exactly what I’m in the mood for, but it’s a lot more than those starving kids down the street have.

My car may not be the latest greatest model but it runs, and stops and gets me to where I need to go. Only 2% of the people in the WORLD have even one car, and we have TWO! (Not to mention the derby cars!)

My clothes may not be the height of fashion, but they’re clean and comfortable, they fit and cover me… that’s more than some people in Africa can say.

Lord, I thank You for meeting my needs in such a tremendous and abundant way. Lord, I thank You that Your provision is so consistently abundant that I have become accustomed to these finer things in life. I’m sorry that I’ve complained when things haven’t always gone my way. You are always looking out for my BEST interest. I forget that way too often.

You are SO GOOD to me! Thank You for being the One who is able (and willing) to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or imagine. Thank You that not only are You able and willing to provide for my physical needs, but my spiritual and emotional needs too. You are Always here for me and I can’t explain how awesome that is. To know that You are there, holding my hand when it’s hard; squeezing it for reassurance when I doubt, You are SO GOOD!

Lord, thank You for being faithful to Your promises! Even when I’m not. There is such comfort in knowing it’s not about me.

Psalm 102:1-105:45

Psalm 103:10-12 says, “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.”

It is “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.” (Ephesians 3:14-21)

Life is rough, BUT Romans 8:28 tells us that “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” And that, “In all these [rough] things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)

You see, God doesn’t see things the way we see them, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) “And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.” (Acts 15:8-9) “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:1-11)

How great is His Steadfast Love toward you? As far as the east is from the west, from one nail-pierced hand to the other. From the point where the base of the cross meets the crown of the ground, to the point where the universe ends; that’s how great His love towards YOU is.

Psalm 93:1-101:8

“When I thought, ‘My foot slips,’ Your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul.” Psalm 94:18-19

Is there ever a time in life when there aren’t any cares, no worries that weigh down our hearts?

What weighs down your heart today my friend? What sits like a stone in your soul and keeps it from soaring? What lurks in the corners of your mind and grows in the shadows gaining strength?

Today let’s take the time to give those cares to Him because He cares for us. Let’s write them out, if you can, here in the comments even, if you want to. Then as you place the final period say, “I give this to God. Period.”

The weight of our world on our shoulders (or in our hearts) can cause our feet to slip. But God, with His steadfast love, can and will hold us up. He is more than able and more than willing to carry our burdens for us if only we share them with Him.

Let’s do that today. Shall we?

“Lord, please protect me from these flaming arrows. Be my shield and my fortress my ever present help in times of trouble. Papa I need You to guard me as you would Your eyes. Help me to navigate the minefield of my life to keep from stepping on these bombs. I love you. Please help me to remember the shelter of Your steadfast love and to take refuge there at ALL times. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Psalm 88:1-92:15

“Let my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry.” Psalm 88:2

Yesterday was the last official day of my phone fast and I had an interesting thing happen. A revelation that I would be amiss not to share it with you.

We’ve been refreshing our living room this month; a fresh coat of paint, and this weekend, a new floor. (A floor I’ve been dreaming of for YEARS.) Well, our house is tiny and we’ve got waaaay more stuff that we should, so with an entire room torn to bits and its contents relocated to wherever we could manage to fit them it hasn’t been a matter of one room being a mess and hard to use, it’s been the entire house.

As many of you other neat-freak moms out there have noticed, if the house is in chaos the family tends to get a little on the chaotic side as well. When there’s no room for people to walk past each other collisions and accidents and messes happen… a lot. And tempers begin to flare. By the end of day 2 of total house upheaval we had all reached a breaking point. We were tired, we were grumpy and we were squished together like sardines in a can, not pretty. Like poison this dreadfully negative attitude had spread through our happy home and Mommy, the peacemaker, had had it. I was so frustrated because I didn’t know what to do to fix it and make them all happy again. I didn’t know how to make this oppressive darkness that was pressing in on my family go away. And in my usual manner I reached for my phone to text my friends and ask for prayer. With thumbs poised and ready to tap out my S.O.S. it hit me, I didn’t need them to pray for me… I needed to pray!

I was the one in need of a moment of solitary stillness. I was the one who needed to be in His presence. I was the one who needed reassurance and a word of encouragement. Why tell my friends to pray for me when I was the one who needed the benefit of prayer the most!?! Me asking them to pray for me is like asking someone to go to the bathroom for you, it just doesn’t work that way! Now, don’t misunderstand me here, there is TREMENDOUS power in reaching out to others and praying together. However, if your plan A is to ask for prayers on your behalf without ever praying yourself, well, that’s just insanity. Prayer in itself is an answer to stressful situations.

When you’re up against a wall and you’re the one in need of prayer then your knees better be the ones on the ground first because sister because that’s where the help comes from; not the hills, not your friends, not even your church. Your help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.”

For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place – the Most High, who is my refuge, no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.

For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him I will protect him, because he knows My name. When he calls to Me, I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation. (Psalm 91)

Lord, humbly I come to Your throne. Not because someone else needs You, but because I need You. Please help me through this time of Fear and Doubt. Please help me to choose to path of Faith and Belief in Your word. Please hold my hand and help me to make the best choices and to do and say the best things. Lord, please help me to be a vessel of Your peace in this world of chaos and fear. LORD, please fill me up with the peace that comes from being in Your presence and KNOWING that I am dearly loved and divinely treasured by the creator of the universe. You are my King!

“I love YOU!”

Psalm 76:1-79:13

“But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
    will give thanks to you forever;
    from generation to generation we will recount your praise.” Psalm 79:13

So, for the most part the phone fast really hasn’t changed a whole lot around here. I haven’t truly “fasted” from it but rather I’ve made the decision not to cling to it so heartily. I’ve gone from carrying it around the house with me, to leaving it in one room… and keeping it there. I’ve gone from checking for that little blinking message light every five minutes to today.

Today I’m actually writing on my Sabbath. Mostly because I’ve just got to write this down, I don’t want to forget the bliss of this feeling. I’m making a commitment and I want to get it in writing so that I’m more likely to stick to it.

I was just snuggled up with the sweetest little hot dog on the couch and Karen Kingsbury’s, Like Dandelion Dust. I flipped the pages closed on my thumb and had the book on the top of my head (of all places) when I had a moment of realization, “they can’t reach me”. In this moment, no matter what the news, good, bad or indifferent, it can’t reach me. In this moment with me on the couch and my phone on my dresser in the bedroom, untouched since I cleared out the daily morning weather text, I’m in here and whatever the world has to say to me is in there. And its arms can’t reach me. In this moment, in this place, it’s just me, Skippy and God. And I like it.

No one can call and ruin my day, no one can text and give me bad news, no one can email me and tell me that I won a million dollars or that book deal I’ve been dreaming of for the last four years. No body can reach me right now. Only GOD.

Only God can speak to me right now in this worldly silence. Only God is allowed past these walls I’m behind today. Only God is allowed to tell me how my day is going. Only God is allowed to speak into my life right now and He is love. He is the one who calls me by name and tells me He loves me. No matter how poorly or childishly I act towards Him; He never takes that love away from me. No matter how badly I behave He’s still waiting here in this room of silence from the world, arms open and waiting for me to come in and be still in His presence. He calls me here. Only the voice of Love Himself can reach me here.

HIS arms are long enough, they’re not too short to save me wherever I am and through whatever I’m going through. His arms are long enough to catch me from wherever I’m falling. His hands, His voice, His presence can reach me no matter what. In this day of silence after a week that was so filled with painful pruning and HUGE Spring Cleaning changes, it’s His arms that I need. It’s His arms that I need to hold me and tell me that no matter what waits for me inside that phone’s message memory, He’s holding me. And will continue to hold me, good, bad or indifferent. He will be with me, guiding me and helping me deal with each bit of news as it comes through the screen. He is with me, no matter what comes my way.

I didn’t realize how attached I was to that little screen until last night. My husband’s phone beeped and my heart simply raced with adrenaline and anxiety. It wasn’t even my phone but I was having a physical response to its cry for attention. As a mother I know that body response, it’s the same response I would have when my babies would cry and needed my attention. Except that phone is NOT my baby, my children are. And although they no longer cry like that, they DO still need my attention far more than that piece of plastic and the people behind it.

My friend Brenda owns and operates a Christian bookstore, Living Truth in Noblesville Indiana. It often happens that I’ll be on the phone with her and a customer will walk in the door and she will greet them and ask if she can help them. They will often respond, “Oh, I can wait, you’re on the phone.” And she will ALWAYS tell them, “But I’m here for YOU.” And then she will tell me that she will call me later.

Oh, how many of us could learn from that little lesson right there?!? She is standing in that store at this very moment, not because of the person that’s on the phone, but because of the person that’s standing right in front of her! The same is true right here in my house. While I dearly love the majority of the people whose voices call to me through that phone, if they are not the people standing right in front of me, then they do not deserve my undivided attention. Sorry. It doesn’t mean I love you any less, it just means that you’re not WITH me at the moment, and my kids are.

My children have never known a day when I didn’t have a cell phone with me at all times. They don’t know what it’s like not to watch TV without a cell phone in my hands, texting with someone at the same time. They don’t know what it’s like to be doing math homework with them and not have mommy texting someone, until this week. This week we made eye contact. This week I have been fully present with them and I have been fully engaged in what THEY have been doing. THEY are the sweet little people that God planted in this house, right in front of me. And I’m supposed to be here for them, not the people on the phone. And the people on the phone will get their turn with me, but it will be when I choose to turn and take care of their cry, not when the phone rings in desperation. They are adults, not infants; infants don’t know how to make phone calls or to text. Adults have the mental capacity to WAIT.

So, if you’re one of those people I love that is an adult that calls, texts or emails me, I’m sorry. Just as I suspected it would, this “fast” is going to be permanent. My phone will most likely always be on “silent” now. I will answer your messages as they come in, but in MY time. While you are VERY important to me, if you’re not in the same room with me, you don’t get first priority. It doesn’t mean I love you any less, it just means that you’re not WITH me and you’re going to have to wait your turn just like everyone else. 😉 However, it also means that when you ARE with me, you will be getting my undivided attention at all times, and won’t that be better anyway?

So friends, who wants to “do lunch”?

Psalm 70:1-75:10

“My heart and flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26

Lord, please be the strength in my heart today. In Jesus name, Amen.