Here is the next entry in the series of quiet times from the Birmingham, England, church.THE LORD SUSTAINS THE HUMBLE
PSALM 147; PSALM 149:6
- Search this psalm for practical direction about how to spend quality time with God. Write down anything you find, especially noting anything that applies personally and uniquely to you1
- 147:2: “…he gathers the exiles of Israel.” Is there any way in which I’m feeling cast out of God’s presence, like the ancient Israelites whom God sent into captivity after years of trying to get them to trust him ? Write some thoughts down.2
- 147:3 “He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.” Am I feeling broken-hearted about anything? Or wounded? Describe what I’m thinking in words, written, then spoken out loud to God.
- Renew my commitment to grow in my appreciation for and knowledge of God’s word: 147:19-20 indicates that God’s nation is the one who knows His word. May I not be found wanting in this! Make a promise to God that my knowledge of his word will grow this week in some measurable way.
1 It is good, fitting, right, to praise God. I need to take time to praise God, it is good for me. It’s a spiritual need for me. I need it. (I keep repeating this because I need more conviction about this. I need to meditate on this. Father: help me change my heart about this and feel great about devoting more time to praising you! It’s a command, to sing to God with thanksgiving, to make music to God on the harp (I can feel good about taking time to play my 12-string, working out music that helps me praise God, it’s a God-approved activity!) When I spend time with you, God, I show you that I fear you. It’s then I put my hope in Your Unfailing Love, and not whatever I can quickly manage to do in my own strength before I settle down to read and pray. I should praise you enthusiastically (extol)! Though you determine the number of stars and call them each by name (!!!), I can claim you as MY God. You send your word to the earth, and it has come to me. Your word runs swiftly – I need to know it and send it out. Your word melts the frozen, cold things (even when you’re the one who froze them in the first place). When I accept your word, learn it, practise it, I show myself to be one of your people, in your chosen nation. (1 Peter 2:9-10)
2 If I were God, I would have cast me out of his presence for good, a long time ago. Though I know better, I continually invest more energy in my own efforts to be successful than in prayer to God, for him to work on my behalf, and to bring honour and glory to himself. My pride exhausts me. I know in my head that prayer is much more important than whatever I can do, and yet I persist in going more in my own strength than in God’s. I feel guilty when I realise this (usually when I figure out that I’m exhausted and frustrated and overwhelmed and not enjoying my life, it dawns on me that I could have prayed so much more about whatever it is at the moment I’m working on – an event, for example. Please, God, teach me to be humble so I come to you more quickly and do not rely on my own strength. Teach me to rely on you before I bring disaster down on myself!
YOU KNOW BETTER THAN I 3
- If you have access to the internet, take a moment to watch this music video from the animated film, Joseph, King of Dreams: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oL6HlzQZLo. I was moved to tears thinking about how, if I allow God to reach me, he will faithfully and lovingly teach me, personally. I’m thanking God for his amazing lovingkindness toward me, his powerful protection, his holy goodness!
GENESIS 37:12-28; EXODUS 2:11-25; MARK 1:9-13
- Take some time to think about how you would have felt in the place of Joseph, Moses, and Jesus, each of whom began one particular day surrounded by good things, and how each ended that day in the desert. Each went from a “safe place” to having to endure an extended time of great testing. List a few of the losses each of these heroes of faith experienced as they faced their time in the desert. What might they have felt? What was the desert like for each of them?
- Think about a similar “Me and God Moment” in my life – am I feeling like I’m in one now? What can I learn from these great men that will help me grow in my trust in God’s goodness toward me?
- Pray deeply about having the character of Joseph, Moses, and Jesus, asking God to change my heart so I can trust him through my own times in the desert.
3 Thanks to Sylvia Donovan for sharing these thoughts with me.
HE DROVE OUT THE SPIRITS WITH A WORD
MATTHEW CHAPTER 8
So far in the book of Matthew we meet Satan himself in chapter 4, and then encounter mentions of demon-possessed people in 4:24; 7:22; and 8:16, 28-34.
- What characteristics, so far, seem to go along with the presence of demons or demon-possession in people? 4
- Do any questions arise from thinking about demons in this chapter? Write them down and pray for God to answer them. (Here are mine: what exactly is demon-possession, anyway? Does it exist today in the same way? What happened to the demons after the pigs died? Did the demons cause the pigs to drown themselves or were the demons surprised by that? What exactly do you want me to learn and apply to myself and others from all the accounts of demon-possession in the Bible? )
- What is going on in my heart that is stubborn, and needs to be driven out with the word of God? Make a plan to address this need with scripture every morning until there is progress! 5
4 Characteristics of demon-possessed people: We don’t seem to encounter one case by itself; they seem to like to stick together. It seems to have been a common problem among God’s people. The demon-possessed person isn’t able to get rid of the demon by himself; the demons always have to be driven out, they are stubborn. The word of God is what drives them out. Some demons, at least, can speak. The demons who spoke to God shouted. There seems to be an appointed time when the demons expected to meet Jesus. They don’t trust God. They expect torture from God. Demons can be violent: so violent that they stop people from getting past them. They seem to need a host – if not humans, then animals will do. When demons are allowed to do what they want to do, (at least in this case) the result is that people don’t want to be around Jesus. Demon-possession changed the personality of the host person.
5 I need to pray more specifically about the events and needs around me. I stubbornly hold onto too many “should do’s” and “should have done’s” and don’t give them to God or to other appropriate people at the right time. I feel like I don’t have enough time to do what I’m supposed to do and that makes me unhappy – in my head I know there’s a solution that I’m missing but I keep missing it.