Delivered

Psalm 34: 17-18

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Some days life crowds in so much we want to cry out, Lord deliver me. Just exactly what do we need to be delivered from? So many things. We get into a jam with relationships, or finances or we get discouraged by looking at past mistakes. Troubles with our health or identity theft or you name it; the world is full of troubles.

Jesus said, "In this world you will have troubles but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

No positive thinking, or meditation or drugs or addictions or people or religion can change or lighten troubles in our lives. He said come onto me you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest. He is the answer. He is the only deliverer.

What does all this mean? Well first of all, it means that He will deliver us, as it says above, out of all our troubles. It means, as it says, that He will be close to the broken hearted. Believe it or not, all our troubles and challenges are rooted in our decisions. Decisions based on lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life. We just need to let Him handle all our troubles. We do this when we trust Him with our lives and allow Him access to our heart and soul so He can make us 'whiter than snow' (Isaiah) and guide us through life. I mean, lets think about this a minute. If we are in a lot of trouble, and we are lost in what ever situation is upon us, who would we want to guide us out? RIGHT! The one who knows the road map. The one who wrote the manual on life. Our saviour, our Creator, our God, Our King, our Deliverer.

We need to come to Him and repent. We need to allow Him to heal. We need to surrender and give our lives away to Him, the only one who can deliver.

Do Good

Psalm 34:14

Turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.

Turn from evil. Evil? As a Christian I assumed an evil heart, a heart of iniquity no longer existed in me because I am now a new creation. I assumed right. God did deliver me and every one who who repents and receives Christ as Savior and Lord. He at that time removes iniquity from our hearts and we become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus because of His death and cleansing blood.

So what is the problem? We do not always choose to do good. Even though a change of heart has taken place we can still revert back to those old ways, those old habits and coping devices that use to work for us, even though they no longer work for us or satisfy us as they did in the past. So why do we choose to do evil actions instead of good. Why do we think, talk or even act outside our new nature. The words of our mouth are often faithless and filled with worry. Thoughts filled with the same. We slip into unprofitable worldly thinking often. Why?

We are at times blinded to the truth of who we are in Christ. We are new creations. We have the mind and heart of Christ. Let us choose to discipline the thoughts in our mind and cause the impressions in our heart to be conformed to His. Let us decide to act like children of the King, to do good, seek peace and pursue it.

White as Snow

Do you remember the hour you first believed? That moment when Christ entered your life? I often think of it because life changed that day. How about you? I know many of you probably received the truth, Christ, when you were children. In fact they tell us unless someone receives Christ during childhood the chances of them hearing and believing gets less and less. But I have never liked statistics or pigeon holes. God can do what He wants when He wants and will.

I was one of those who received the truth, Christ, as an adult. So I remember the change and the moment well. The verses I bring to you are those that came to me on that day as I am sure they have come to you.
Isaiah 1:18 Come now let us reason together, says the Lord, Though your sins are like scarlet they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool

Psalm 23: 5- You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and Love will follow me all the days of my life.

God's Image

We are created in His image and He will restore that image through our relationship with Christ.

Phil 4:8 He is true (faithful, loyal, factual, reliable

He is Reverent (Shows respect, to regard, awe)

He is Honorable (Integrity, principles, chastity)

He is Seemly ( suitable, proper, good taste, decent)

He is Just (fair, legal accurate, right, true.)

Psalms 34: 11-14

The Word of God never fails. It has been written down in scripture for more years that any of us are old and still holds up as truth. So I simply bring to you the WORD. The only truth that has the power to change lives.

Come, my children listen to me;I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

We are created in His Image. It is Gods desire to conform us to His Image. That is His will for our lives.

HIS IMAGE

1 Cor 13 Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control.

God is in Control

Many times we get into fear and worry. The world is filled with trials and unprincipled men, who exercise power over other people. These will always exist. However, we have a God who promises to care for us. Who tells us to rejoice, believe, trust and to cast our cares on Him. He is the creator of the Universe, surly He has a plan for each of us.

Let us place our mind on the one Who has us in the palm of His hand. The one who has our best interest in mind because we belong to Christ. Take time to read Psalms 23;34 and Phil 4:4-8. For in this world we will always have trials, troubles and unprincipled men. But we can be of good cheer for Christ has over come the world and He has plans for our welfare and a future.

Even though it may seem otherwise, He is in control and we are called to rejoice in Him and believe the best from Him.


HIS IMAGE

PHIL 3: 9-10 He is dead to the flesh. He is righteous. He is faith. He is the resurection. He is patient
1 Sam. 5:1-6 He is above evils power
Prov 15:3 He knows good from evil.

Psalms 34:7-10

I wanted to put more of the word out there for those of us who hunger and thirst to hear His voice. Seems once we decide to read the Word on a regular basis, we hunger for it even more. This is another entry on Psalms 34, one of the more comforting verses in my life.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you His saints for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

His Image

Philippians 4:8 He is true, reverent, honorable, seemly, just, pure, lovely, gracious, virtuous,

excellent, praiseworthy.

Check these words out in Websters. It is always more exciting to see the full meaning of things. Remember, this is the image God wants for us. This is His will, that we be conformed to His image. Even if we do not see it in us continually as we journey to our Home with Him, this is what we will be like.

Never Crushed

Psalms 34:18

I have so enjoyed dwelling on this Psalm a while. It is rich in peace and comfort.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Crushed. So many times we feel crushed. The only true benefit from crushed is when the Lord convicts us of sin and that awareness causes us to come to Him for that drink of life eternal, that supernatural change, that work of His He plans to complete while we live out our lives. That crushed moment brings us into eternity with Him for ever and is needed.

Other crushed moments also come to mind. A broken heart from failure, a lost dream or the death of something or someone. This loss of self as we become aware of our shortcomings. Either way, it is a loss that breaks the heart and helps us to see how frail we are and how much we desperately need the power of Almighty God, our Lord, Savior, Father.

The reason I say 'Never Crushed' is because that crisis point leads us home. We become conformed to His image and we see Him. It takes a crushed moment to give it all up and say, "Here I am Lord. I am yours and you are mine."

Psalms 34:6-10

This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; He saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Fear the Lord you His saints for those who fear Him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

His Image

Deut 7:9 His is faithful

2Pet.3:9 He keeps his covenant

1John4:8 He is loving and kind

Psalms 115:3 He is loyal to those who love Him even through all generations