For God Alone

David wrote Psalm 62 during the events described
in a previous blog. Horrible, mind numbing events!
I quoted the first two verses but in verses five and
six David says the same thing, only this time he speaks
to his soul. David's heart is toward God and is rock
solid, but his emotions and his behavior are all over
the map. God looks at David's heart, not his outward
behavior.

"My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
(Psalm 62:5,6 ASV)

I took these two verses apart and looked up the
definitions of the words in bold, and then turned
them into a declaration of hope:

"Soul, wait for your deliverance on God who
is your only hope. You cannot trust man or 
circumstances. Be intertwined with Him. He only 
is your refuge at the edge of this precipice. He is 
your only deliverer, your Savior. He is like a lofty 
inaccessible place of safety to you, your refuge." 
"I will not be shaken.
I will not be cast headlong down this precipice."
(paraphrase of Psalm 62:5,6) 

A mousetrap--see previous blogs--that is focused
on God instead of man, is an unset mousetrap. It
will not fly apart when the ball drops! But, if it
does, there is always God....

Be sure to check out the new story:
Beautiful Brokenness--with a video:

 http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Scooter

Last month I heard a speaker tell some wonderful
stories and asked this author if she would mind
writing a story for my website. Within a very short
period of time I received the story of Scooter entitled
"Beautiful Brokenness." The video at the end of the
story was put together by Katy and Scooter.  It is well
worth your while. Enjoy!

Stories: http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

A Fallen Father

David is King.
David is a leader.
David is a father.
Things are not going his way.

1. David has a son whose name is Absalom.
2. Absalom has a sister named Tamar, a half brother
     named Annon.
3. Annon is crazy in love with Tamar; he violates her.
4. Absalom murders Annon
5. Absalom flees from his father
6. "David's heart goes out to his son," but the father 
     does not call Abosalom back. Three years pass.
7. Finally, the son comes home, but, the father does not
      call for Absalom for two more years.
8. Absalom draws the people to himself; away from
     the king. He makes a move for the throne.
9. When David hears the message of the betrayal,
     he flees from Jerusalem, the city of peace,--weeping.
10 Absalom, the son, is stabbed and dies as he hangs
      from a branch by his hair.
11 David--
"O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would
that I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son,
my son."  (2 Samuel 13-18)

David chooses to ignore his son. He refuses to be
reconciled. The years of anger and guilt lead to
bitterness and betrayal, and, finally to death. David
is king; he is also a father. His choice of not letting
his son speak to him is like that of a ping pong ball
in a room full of mousetraps. If you read the whole
story you will find that so many people are affected.

The good news is that God calls David "a man
after my own heart." He does not withdraw this
term of endearment when David blows it. But,
oh, how David and others suffer because he did
not choose life!

Leadership Failure

"How the mighty have fallen." 2 Samuel 1:19
Fallen: dropped, descended, degraded, ruined

There he sits on the top of the pile and it is a long way down.
He hits bottom and it is like a ping pong ball hitting set
mousetraps in a closed room. They go off, set each other off,
and keep the ball bouncing. Gradually the room goes quiet
and the ball settles.

"How could this happen?"
"Pastor So and So is well nigh perfect."
"What is going to happen now?"
"If this has happened to him what hope is there for me?"
"What is going to happen to our wonderful church?"

Questions, so many questions, but there is only one
answer, only one, and it begins with a question:

To whom or to what do I look to for life?

Do I expect my pastor to be my source? That will
certainly suck him dry in a hurry. Is it my spouse
or my kids who are responsible for my happiness?
Circumstances then? Ouch! People and circumstances
change in a moment, and then what?

The misplaced focus is like the set mousetrap that goes
off when change hits. What if the mousetrap was not
set? What if the mousetrap was resting in God's love
and looking to God for provision. Such a mousetrap
would not be shaken when the ball drops.

"My soul waits in silence for God only;
From Him is my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken."
Ps 62:1,2

Hey, mousetrap, don't reset on the wrong thing!

Stories: http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

A Triumphant Life

Samuel Lamb: 1925-2013

Who is Samuel Lamb some of you may ask? He
was a Chinese Pastor who kept a suitcase packed
during the early years of his ministry for the day
he would be picked up by the Chinese authorities
for his Christian activity. He was arrested in 1958
and subjected to hard labor for the next 20 years.
He had refused to register his church with the government
before his arrest and did not change his mind when he
was released from prison. Today 4,000 people attend
four services at the church.

Pastor Lamb was quoted as saying: "My dear wife died
while I was in prison. I was not allowed to attend her
funeral. It was like an arrow of the Almighty until I
understood that God allows the pain, the loss, the torture,
but we must grow through it."

When asked for a summary of his life and ministry in
one principle he said: "more persecution, more growth."

I am even now looking down at the joy filled face of
an old man, a man who understood what it means to be
intertwined with God and His purposes. You can google
his name and scroll down to pictures.

"Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!

Stories:

http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Wait

I don't like this word!

(You) "Wait for the Lord.
Be strong, and let your heart take 
courage. Wait for the Lord." 
(Psalm 27:14)

To whom is David speaking? He might
be speaking to his own soul.

"Soul, wait, be strong, take courage,
wait. (This could take awhile.)"

Wait in Strongs 6960
"To expect, patiently tarry, wait for."
But the primary meaning is "to bind
together by twisting."

Does the twisting, the binding together with God
occur over years of waiting for God? Does
expectation grow or diminish with time? Is David
waiting for God or is he waiting on a change in
circumstances?

I have to confess that more often than not, I am
waiting, not for a greater revelation of God,
but for the circumstances to change. Time
does not necessarily increase my faith, and, I
am not aware that God and I are becoming
twisted together as one. There is a situation that
has plodded along for twenty years! David's
life did not shift for many years and even after
becoming king, he went from one crises to
another. I think he gave his soul the very best
advice that day: "Be strong, take courage, wait."

One of my favorite books is Waiting On God
by Andrew Murray. Maybe it is time for me to
open the book again....

A new story is up:

 http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

The Declaration

Yesterday we glimpsed the tumult of David's
heart. Today I read:

"I believe that I shall look upon the goodness
of the Lord in the land of the living!"
(Psalm 27:13)

Surely David declares this with a shout! His
words resound into heaven and heaven cheers!
David speaks truth in the midst of darkness.

"I believe...goodness...the land of the living.

Is there something wrong with tears, anger,
frustration one moment and triumphant faith
the next? NO! I call it the normal Christian walk.
I call it becoming real. My tendency is to bury pain
so deep that I can't feel it. When I do this, I die a
little. God wants me to be fully alive!

A New Story is up!

 http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

"I'm Here, O Lord"

David is all over the map in Psalm 27. He is
confident, he is seeking God, but in verse seven,
the tone changes. Up until this point David is
talking about his journey, but now a cry erupts
from his heart.

"I'm doing what you have asked, Lord.
I am seeking You.
Where are You?
Have You cast me off for some reason?
Have You forsaken me?"
(Paraphrase of Ps 27:8,9)

Here are the words of a desperate man, in a
desperate place, who feels alone--cast off--
separated--, just when he needs God. How
easy it is to base my relationship with God
on my surrounding circumstances. I tank.

"Does God seem far away?
Well, who do you think moved?"

A NEW STORY!

 http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

New Story is UP!

check it out!

http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

A Personal Cry

Read Ps 27:7-9 and see what David said, because I am
going to give you my interpretation of David's prayer:

"Hear me, God, as I cry out to You.
Answer me in a way that I can hear You.
I'm doing what You told me to do.
I am seeking You!
Where are You?
Are You angry with me?
Have You cast me away for some reason?"

David has gone from the impersonal third person to
the first person and his words are the words of a
desperate man, who is in a desperate place where
he feels alone and abandoned. I have read this psalm
many times but this is the fist time I have noticed that
the man is having a hard time and expressing it.
David has gone from a place of worship, a declaration
of who God is, to crying out as if he has no hope--
all in the space of a few verses!

Dear reader, do David's words mirror your heart cry
today? This is the normal Christian walk. You are in
good company.

Stories: http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Suddenly!

Last week contained a series of unwelcome sudden events.
The beginning of the drama occurred on Monday evening
as Glen was walking Jake around the lake. They stopped to
hang out a bit with a couple of small dogs and then continued
on their way. By now it was dusk. Suddenly a dog that was
off leash discovered Jake and made a bee line over the 40 or
so yards that separated them. She was a dog with a mission as
she crashed into Jake, got her teeth into his skin about mid-thigh
and then pulled ripping the skin off of the leg down past the
knee and around the leg-- almost 360 degrees. Glen went ballistic
as the dog circled around for another try. Somehow he got them
separated and we got Jake in the car and headed for the ER.
Our plans for the evening were suddenly re-arranged. Jake
was sedated and then operated on the following day. It took two
hours to clean and sew his skin back on. He is pretty much crated
for the next three weeks and we had a few rough days after we
got him home. The skin is tight where it has been re-attached.
Jake is sneaky about wanting to run upstairs and crawl under the
bed but even so the areas sowed together are beginning to heal.

The episode reminded me of just how quickly our lives can change.
Paul speaks of this in 1Thessalonians 5:2-3:

"For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord
will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying
'peace and safety,' then sudden destruction will come upon
them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they
will not escape."

"Peace and Safety" seem to be much in the news these days. Can it
be that we are nearing the end of all things? Can it be that the rapture
is just around the corner. The persecuted Thessalonian church was
so concerned about these things that Paul wrote two letters to them
which are centered around the Day of the Lord and the return of our
Lord. It will happen suddenly.
Reader, are you ready to meet Jesus face to face?

His Martha

Luke 10:38-40 is a familiar passage. Jesus and his
disciples have been on the road and they stop at
Martha's house where the conversation and food
is always good. Martha welcomes Jesus, then she
goes into the kitchen to make a favorite meal while
Mary stays behind to listen. Martha is a marvelous
hostess! Nothing wrong there until her expectations
kick in and her anger rises. She blurts out:

"I am drowning in all this work and Mary is loitering.
Tell her to come help me!" (My paraphrase)

Jesus tells His Martha--he loves her so much--
that only one thing is really necessary in life. Mary
expresses the heart of David as she sits at the feet of
Jesus and gazes into his face.
Mary is hungry.

I want to be like Mary and David, but I have to confess
that often Martha takes center stage. It is hard for me to
be at rest when so much needs to be done, and then
there are the weeks, like the past seven days, when all
sorts of things pop up, consuming both time and energy.
Even in the times of seeming failure, I am still His
dearest and He is still my Life!

Stories: http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Loitering

...to behold or gaze upon the beauty of the Lord,
and to meditate in his temple. (Psalm 27:4)

God wants me to loiter which means, "slow in
moving, to delay, to be dilatory, to spend time idly."
God wants me to be lazy? Hardly. He wants me to
give Him time. He wants me to gaze upon his beauty.
(gaze: to look steadily, earnestly, eagerly on the
beloved.) In Psalm 27, David begs God to give him
the ability to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.
Seeing is not a cut and dried thing. We cannot see
Him with physical eyes. So, how do I see Him?
I meditate in the living Word and as I ponder the
words or word I am reading, Jesus begins to come
into focus. I begin this process in a quiet place, but
the Lord continues to give light on the scriptures as
I go about my day. I am the temple of the living God
and it from there that God speaks, God reveals.

Dear reader, have you heard his voice? Has He
come into focus?

Dwelling

"...that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all
the days of my life..." Psalm 27:4

Over the past several days I have meditated on
the word "dwell." (dwell means to linger, loiter,
abide, remain.) In this case I  speak of dwelling
intimately with our God. We as Believers are
in Christ. Now that it intimacy! As we linger in
this truth, we can actually access intimacy and it
becomes life to us. In John 15 Jesus says this:
"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch 
cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in 
the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in 
me." (John 15:4)

Look at Psalm 91:1: "He who dwells in the 
shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow
of the Almighty." 
What we have in Christ is even better.

Dear reader, the dwelling, abiding begins in the
quiet place, but does not end there. Our dear Papa
wants us to abide in Him all day, everyday. Jesus
would not have given his disciples an impossible
command! It is possible to rest even in the midst
of stressful situations--simple but not easy.
Do you know Him?

Stories: http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Seeking

Here I am wanting to quickly jump to the next
psalm, or even another verse. There is a check
in my spirit and then the soft words of the One
whose voice I know:

"What is your rush, Jane? Linger awhile with Me
in this verse."

So, I write: "One thing have I asked of the Lord
and that will I seek after..." To seek is to endeavor
to pursue that which has great value.

Papa, only one thing is worth pursuing? But there are
so many good things crying out for my attention. I
don't know how to focus. How do I do this? But,
this is my desire; this is my quest. Please help me.