Fantastic Friday #229-Together

Together

¹ I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
² My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
³ Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.
⁴ I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:1-4

Did you spend time this week alone? Or did you spend this week together with someone else? My guess is that you thought when you were spending time alone, you were actually together with Him. Now whether you acknowledged Him or not might be a different story. I spent a lot of time together with my family this week, with what time I had available, and it was really some good quality time. The time I did have alone I have to admit I rarely was able to focus on the One thing I needed to. I was easily distracted by the radio and sports which made me think about other things in the future yet to come. I also had a few dates at work weighing heavily on my mind, and since I didn't spend much time together with Him, I didn't rely on Him to lift me with His strength. I learned a good lesson this week, with over 6 months of planning for this event I had, I still didn't allow Him to deliver me from my fears until it was here. Maybe if I would spend more time together with Him, my faith would be stronger and those six months of planning would have been easier on my mind.

Fantastic Friday #228- Escape

Escape

¹² The wicked desire the plunder of evil men,
but the root of the righteous flourishes.

¹³ An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk,
but a righteous man escapes trouble.

¹⁴ From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things
as surely as the work of his hands rewards him. Proverbs 12:12-14

What do you think of when you see the word Escape? I find it interesting when the Israelites escaped from Egypt, interesting when many of God's people escaped the hands of the enemy over and over again, and interesting how Job escaped his suffering. What do you do to escape? Typically people dive into a book, watch a TV show or movie, listen to a concert or music, enjoy a sporting event, or just sit in silence away from the world. Why do we escape from this world? Does this world not offer us everything we need? Some of it is good and some of it can be bad, but if we are careful to live in our reality with God and escape the trouble, our life might be more fulfilling. Those things I first mentioned had God's people escaping from difficult situations, only with God's help and reliance on Him. How about looking to God and escaping the bad things of this world and escape into the reality of living life with our family. Enjoy and love those around you and remember to love God, it could be a better place to escape.

Have a great weekend.

Fantastic Friday #227-Complain

Complain

¹ I cry aloud to the LORD;
I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.

² I pour out my complaint before him;
before him I tell my trouble.

³ When my spirit grows faint within me,
it is you who know my way.
In the path where I walk
men have hidden a snare for me.

⁴ Look to my right and see;
no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life.

⁵ I cry to you, O LORD;
I say, "You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living." Psalm 142:1-5

Wow did I hear some people complain this week. I heard it all and if you are like me, you just wanted to run and hide. One thing that happens when people complain is that it can kind of rub off on you, and sometimes you can slip into the complaining attitude that some people have. Yes, I know you are probably thinking the first scripture to come to mind is Phillipians 2:14 and why didn't I choose that simple scripture for this week, something easy to remember and take with us. Well, that is because the above Psalm has something in it that the other doesn't, it has a true picture of what we experience daily. Where do you take your complaint, to someone you know, or Someone you know. Do you let yourself slip into the snare, or do you take refuge in the Lord. Do you turn to someone for a portion, or do you turn to Him for your fill. Just remember, when you have someone who complains to you, don't slip into the snare but give the Lord a chance to provide you that refuge.

Have a great weekend.

Fantastic Friday #226- Concern

Concern

⁴ Look to my right and see;
no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life. Psalm 142:4

²³ But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence. 2 Kings 13:23


²⁵so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.1 Corinthians 12:25

A friend told me this week that they were concerned about me, so it kind of got me thinking. What were they concerned about? My welfare, my sanity, my health, or were they just being a tad sarcastic with me on one of my opinions. Well then it got me thinking about how concerned I was about other people, and am I as concerned with other people as God is about me? If you look at the above scriptures, they kind of paint a picture that we all go through in life. All of us at one time or another have asked God if He is concerned about us, and I think we can all say that the Lord has been gracious to us on more than one occasion in our life. What about your concern for others who are believers, and better yet, those who are not believers. If you show the same concern for those people who are a part of our lives that God shows to us regularly, think what kind of difference you can make. Show concern this week to someone and see what happens.

Have a great weekend.