Celebrating Time

There are always good reasons to celebrate.

We celebrate our festive seasons. We welcomed the New Year 2012. We are in the midst of the Chinese Lunar New Year 2012 celebration. Festive seasons are always happy occasions to celebrate. We have our family reunions. We have our sweet times together with our relatives, neighbors and friends. It is always fun time, and we used to wish one another luck and the very best for the future.

We celebrate during our times of wealth, prosperity, and prestige. We celebrate during our times of peace, stability, and security. We celebrate when we enjoy longevity, good health and youthfulness. They are always great times to celebrate, since everything is going well, and everyone is at their best.

We also celebrate when someone(s) among us come to their senses after an extramarital affair or after making some grave mistakes. It is time to reconcile, to forgive and to forget. It may not be easy. It may pierce the heart and prick it. But who doesn't err? Let those who have not erred cast the first stone.

Then we celebrate the success of others dear to us. We celebrate when everything runs smoothly in our lives and there are always some pleasant surprises along the way.

There are always good reasons to celebrate.

Are you celebrating now?

I am, eating some sweet and juicy mandarin oranges.

Spiritual Contentment

Psalm 32:1-11

Psalm 32 was written by David after he committed adultery with Bathsheba, and had her husband, Uriah, put to death.

David committed these sins and tried, unsuccessfully, to cover them up.

He was confronted by Nathan the prophet and made a full confession.

During this time, David also wrote Psalm 51. There, David made a full confession of his sins and requested forgiveness. He also promised that he would teach other sinners the ways of the Lord.

Psalm 32 seemed to be David’s fulfillment of that promise.

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David reminded us that spiritual contentment is possible (1-2).

Spiritual contentment needs a heart that is clean, forgiven and honest before the Lord.

True contentment is found when we know that our sins, and all their defilement and the judgment associated with them, are gone forever!

True contentment comes when we are right with the Lord!

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Spiritual contentment involves chastisement (3-4).

When David sinned with Bathsheba, he tried to cover up that sin.

He succeeded for about a year.

While David lived with unconfessed sin, his world was turned upside down as God brought chastisement into his life to confront his sin.

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Spiritual contentment involves confession (5).

When David was confronted with his sin, he came totally clean with the Lord.

He dealt with his sin, his iniquity and his transgressions.

He opened his heart to the Lord in transparent honesty and held nothing back!

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Spiritual contentment gives us divine protection (6-7a).

When we walk closely with the Lord and turn to Him in times of trouble and temptation, we find that He has all the resources we need to escape the danger at hand.

God is a place of refuge and safety.

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Spiritual contentment gives us divine preservation (7b).

When we walk closely with the Lord, we are preserved through troubles and trials.

We are not exempted from troubles and trials, but we are kept in them and strengthened by them.

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Spiritual contentment gives us divine proximity (8-9).

God promised to give David guidance and direction in his life.

God also warned David of stubbornness and disobedience.

He told David that He will guide him with loving eyes.

With His eyes, God could give David a warning look, a warming look or a welcoming look.

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Spiritual contentment gives us divine peace (10).

Those who submit to God and walk with Him shall have joy, peace and blessing.

Those who refuse to walk in the ways of the Lord will have sorrows.

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Spiritual contentment gives us divine praise (7c, 11).

We walk with the Lord.

We are saved and secure in our relationship with Him.

We are sanctified and clean.

We have hope for the future.

We have every reason to lift our voices and shout for joy.

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Some thoughts:

• We must be saved before we can experience true contentment and peace!
• We must get before the Lord, confess our sins and forsake it, before God restore our contentment and joy.
  

Let us go for spiritual contentment.

 

Let Us Not Be Ashamed

Psalm 31:1-24

Let us not be ashamed to possess Him.

He is our God.

It is not a sign of weakness to express a need for God.

God is our source of strength, comfort, security, and refuge.

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Let us not be ashamed to profess Him.

If we possess Him, we need to profess Him.

We must not be ashamed of people knowing that we are Christians.

We must hold our head high and proudly tell the world that the Lord Jesus Christ is ours.

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Let us not be ashamed to pray to Him.

Praying is not a sign of weakness.

Prayer is a demonstration of power!

The real weakling is a person who thinks he can handle everything himself.

Prayer is the Christian's greatest resource.

It opens the bank of Heaven and unlocks the power of God in our lives.

Let us use it liberally!

There are 2 areas of life where we need to be avowed liberals.

One is in the area of giving.

The other in the area of prayer!

The Lord Jesus Christ promised to hear us and help us.

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Let us not be ashamed to praise Him.

We have much to praise Him!

We are commanded to praise Him.

It is our duty to praise Him.

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Let us not be ashamed to present ourselves to Him.

We are not worthy to enter His presence as we are, but through the blood of Jesus we are declared worthy!

We are to present ourselves now in service.

We are to present ourselves in Heaven unashamed, because of what the Lord Jesus Christ did.

Through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ we will be able to present ourselves before Him in Heaven.

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Let us not be ashamed to prescribe Him.

He is the cure for the disease of sin.

The Gospel is healing medicine for every sick soul.

We must tell others about Him.

We must never be ashamed to witness.

We must be proud of who we are, whose we are, and tell others how they can become that also!

We must tell the lost about the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Some thoughts.

• We must never be ashamed of anything to do with the Lord God!
• The Lord God is never ashamed of us.

Let us never be ashamed of God!

Hope In The Midst Of Battle

Psalm 27: 1-6

Confidence in the Lord provides hope (1-3).

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David had confidence in the Person of the Lord.

He called the Lord his light, his salvation and his strength.

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As light, God delivered him from darkness.

As light, God guided his steps.

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As salvation, God delivered him from damnation.

As salvation, God secured his soul.

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As strength, God delivered him from defeat.

As strength, God guaranteed his success.

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David had confidence in the performance of the Lord.

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David declared that his present hope in the Lord rested upon that which the Lord had done for him in the past.

God did not fail him then, and He would not fail him now.

The God he served was unchangeable.

He is the same God with the same power that He has always been.

He has never, and He will never change.

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Commitment to the Lord provides hope (4).

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David was committed to lingering near the Lord.

David wanted to spend his entire life in the house of the Lord.

He wanted to be in that place where the Lord dwells and where the Lord’s presence is real.

David wanted to be where the Lord is honored and where He is worshiped.

He desired that place of closeness and intimacy with the Lord.

He wanted to linger in God’s presence all the days of his life.

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David was committed to loving the Lord.

David wanted to behold the beauty of the Lord.

He wanted to seek His face.

He was committed to worship the Lord.

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David was committed to leaning on the Lord.

David expressed his desire to call upon the Lord, to commune with Him, and to make requests of Him.

David declared his utter dependence upon the Lord for the necessities of life.

David looked beyond his own abilities and saw the limitless provisions of the Lord.

Therefore he wanted nothing more than to be able to call upon the Lord

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Comfort in the Lord provides hope (5-6).

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God has a sheltered place for us.

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David said the Lord would hide him in His pavilion.

It was a tent erected in the middle of the army’s encampment.

It was surrounded by an army of brave soldiers.

It was the safest place on the battlefield.

It was a place protected by the soldiers and entertained by the king during the battle.

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God has a secret place for us.

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It is the place of worship.

It is a place where the very presence of God dwells and the glory of God can be seen.

It was there that God took David during the battles of his life.

It was there that David found himself shut up with God and shut off from the world around him.

It was a place that gave him quiet, peace and the profound presence of God.

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God has a secure place for us.

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The Lord would set David on a rock, a place that is unchangeable, powerful and immovable.

This Rock was none other than the Lord Himself (Psalm 40:1-2).

David was promised a place of refuge that would lift him far above the stormy seas that would threaten to drown him.

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God has a special place for us.

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David said he would worship the Lord.

He would praise the Lord because of the things the Lord had done for him.

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Some thoughts.

• In the midst of battles, we must have hope.
  
• We must have the deep, settled confidence that everything is going to be alright.
  
• We must praise the Lord.
• God has brought us to that special place of blessing from which we can offer praise to His name.

Praise the Lord!

Assurance In The Secret Place

Psalm 27:1-5

God will personally guide His people.

He will actively guide them.

He is intimately involved in the details of everything in their lives.

He is working in their lives day by day, guiding them step by step.

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God will powerfully guard His people.

He will hide them in His pavilion. A pavilion is erected in the middle of the army's encampment. It is surrounded by an army of brave soldiers. It is the safest place on the battlefield.

They will be protected from their enemies.

They will have the joy of the Lord God always.

They will face the storms of life with confidence and victory.

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God will show them His profound glory.

He will hide them in the secret place of His tabernacle.

They will be in the place of worship.

They will be in a place where the very presence of God dwells and the glory of God can be seen.

It is a place where the enemy dares not follow.

It is a place where God meets with His people alone.

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God will give them His precious grace.

God will set them high upon a rock, a place that is unchangeable, powerful and immovable.

They are promised a place of refuge that will lift them far above the battles.

God’s grace will carry them far above the attacks of all their enemies.

God’s grace will be with them to weather the storms.

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Some applications.

• Let us abide in the secret place of God.
• Let us seek His protection and provisions.
• Let us enter the place of safety.
• Let us see God and experience His grace and glory.