Oh I Want to See Him!

Yesterday we talked about David's craving and how we too should have a craving for the Lord. Today I want to go a little deeper and discuss how we should better identify the craving. In Psalms 63:2, David tells us more about his craving when he says, "to see your glory and your power, as I have seen you in the sanctuary." David at this time in his life is living in the wilderness. He does not have the opportunity to run to church everytime the doors are open because he is running from Saul and it could be dangerous for his life. David is looking back on the times church where the presence of God showed up and moved in a noticable way. David is longing to be in God's presence. David is wanting what he experienced in church to be experienced in his personal life as well. Too many of us only know God's presence in the church house setting. Too many of us engage in worship only when we are in church. However, one of the greatest aspects of the cross is that we can now experience God everyday in our personal settings. If we will venture out in prayer, praise, and worship, His presence will fill the environment around us. We do not have to wait for Sunday, or a revival, or even a Campmeeting! We can now, through faith in Christ, experience what David longed for. There is an old hymn entitled, "Oh I Want to See Him." This is one of my favorite old hymns. The third verse of the song says, "When in valleys low I look t'ward the mountain height, and behold my Savior there, leading in the fight, with a tender hand outstretched t'ward the valley low, guiding me, I can see, as I onward go." I can not help but believe that this is how David felt. He is in the valley of life, but as he looks toward the mountain he can see in his faith God standing there leading him in his fight. I want to see God and His glory in my personal life as well. May we as believers long for His presence everyday. God bless.

Cravings

Have you ever had a "mad" craving? What I mean by that is, have you ever wanted something so bad that you could taste it? Right now in the upstate of South Carolina where I live, strawberries are getting ripe. For me, that means homemade cobblers and cakes are around the corner, or at least I hope so. I can almost smell them cooking!!! I have a dear friend who "craves" coffee to the point that he plans his trips around Starbucks! In Psalms 63:1, David tells us of his craving. He says, "My soul thirts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water." Wow! Now that is a craving. As I read that this morning, I realize that I am lacking something in my own craving for God. You see, I desperately want it to be just like how David describes it. I want the longing and the passion. There is a sense of desperation in David's voice. He says to God, "I long for You." How long has it been since we "longed" for God. As I said, I have a friend that plans trip routes around Starbucks because he knows that every so often he can get his "fix." Shouldn't we plan our day around our times with God? Shouldn't we perhaps plan our times with God more intentionally instead of just whatever whenever? I pray that each of us get this kind of "craving" for God. The kind that causes to pursue Him with a wreckless abandon. God bless.

I Will Seek You Early

This morning we will continue to look at Psalms 63:1. In the next part of this verse, David says "early will I seek You." David is letting God know and reminded himself that God is his priority. By making it a point to go first to God, he is putting his life in the proper alignment. Too many of us today simply make God a part of our lives, but He is not a part He is the whole. If God is not our "life", then we are missing the point. When we put God in some area of our daily routine we will develope the habit of going to Him only when we have a need that can't be met by our own efforts. However, if we begin seeking Him early, as our priority, then we will trust Him with everything. The point of this Christian walk is to die to ourselves and live unto God. Paul tells us in Galatians chapter 2 that we are to be "crucified with Christ." That means that as we come to Him, we are to die so that He can live through us. If we have not "died" then we should. That's the only way this will work. David tells God that He will be the best part of His life and will get the very first part of his days. What are we giving God today? God bless

Oh God, Thou Art My God - Pt. 2

In my last post, I looked at the first part of the statement above. How that David is crying out to God as Elohim, the plural God. Meaning that David was relying upon Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Today, I want to look at the last part of the statement where David calls Him his God. First I want to ask you, is He your God? Have you made Him Lord of your life and ruler of your heart? If so, how does your life prove that? You see, David is not writing this when things are going well in his life, but he is writing while out in the wilderness running for his life. He is letting God know that his trust is still in Him. Second, the term used for God here is different from the one used in the first part. Here David calls Him "El." El in the Hebrew means "God of my strength." David is calling out to God as his strenght and hope. He desperatley needed God and knew that the only way he would survive what he was going through was by the strenght of God. Paul would write many years later to the church in Corinth and say that, "I am what I am by the grace of God." David and Paul both knew one thing, if it is not God who is keeping me, then no one is. Only God's strenght is able to keep us in this life and lead us to the next. Maybe you find yourself in a place where you need the strenght of God today. Don't give up. Cry out as David did and put your trust in Him. God bless.

Oh God, thou art my God

Psalms 63:1 starts out with the above phrase. Just looking at it as it is in english is powerful enough. David is declaring to God that he has given himself to God. He is professing God as his one and only. However, if we take a deeper look at this statment it becomes even more powerful and challenging. First he says, "Oh God." The name for God here is Elohim. Elohim is a Hebrew expression for God that is plural. It is the same name used for God as in Genesis 1:1. It gives reference to the Godhead. The Bible teaches us that there are three that bear record in heaven, Father, Son, Holy Ghost and that these three are one. When we make a confession of God, we can not just take part of God, we must profess and recieve all of Him. We need Him as our Father. Jesus teaches us to pray, "Our Father which is in heaven." He becomes the caring parent that watches over us. We need the Son. What would we be without the saving grace of the Son? Had Jesus not died for our sins, what a miserable state we would be in. We need the Holy Spirit. Jesus told us He would not leave us comfortless. He sent us the Holy Spirit as a Comforter to go with us and to lead us in this life. He empowers us to serve and do the Lord's work. You see, we need Elohim. We need everything that He is and all that He promises. Tomorrow we will look at the rest of this phrase. God bless and have a great day.

21 Days Complete

Well, our 21 days of fasting and prayer have come to and end. Over the last three weeks we have seen God do some powerful things in our church and in the lives of the people. Each week we have seen lives being changed in the altar as they came forward to make a decision for Christ. We have had several to be healed in their bodies. One of our ladies was put in the hospital with the doctors telling her that she was in need of a stint in her heart. When the docters went to prepare her the next morning for the procedure, the blockages were not there! One gentleman in our church had been told that he had bladder cancer. When they went in several weeks ago, he was told that they could not get it all and that they would need to schedule another surgery. He went back to the docter to schedule the surgery only to be told the cancer they saw before was no longer found in his body! Truely our God is a Savior and Healer! Over the last 21 days I have been reading over Psalms 63. This Psalms has become my prayer and starting tomorrow I will be blogging a series from this portion of scripture. As I bring this post to a close, I ask you to join me in prayer for little Eli Ayers. My cousin Ken and his wife Heather have been trying for years to have a baby. Just a few weeks ago their dreams came true, however the baby has been in the hospital and is very sick. Please pray that God will heal his lungs and make him whole. I know that He can. God bless