Decisions, Wisdom, Understanding, and seeing in the Fog

Question:

How do you make a decision when everything around you seems to be in a fog? Are you even supposed to make a decision? Are you being led by God into a fog for discipline and training or did you stray into yourself - or both? Which way do I go; which way do I turn? Do I stay here until the fog lifts or do I try to walk in a certain direction? Do I ask the typical question, "What is the will of God" or do I accept the fact that He is in control and this fog is part of His will? ( by the way... I'm not asking if we should consider if He is in control. He is...) The ultimate question is if I know He is in control why do I so often act like He's not! 

I have noticed that foggy days can be nice...

The air smells cleaner...

Things seem to slow down a bit...

My focus becomes more narrow ( this is a good thing if you tend to work too much like me)

My coffee tastes better...

I take smaller steps...

I ask more questions and stop assuming and taking things for granted... ( I don't want to step in anything )

I'm afraid of moving to fast and hitting something or someone and hurting them and myself...

I get very concerned about every move I make... I don't want to make the wrong one.

I pray more...

I read more scripture...

I look harder...

I meditate more...

I listen more... ( hopefully speak less )

I stop reacting quickly to things... I tend to analyze everything and every detail...

...and in a crazy way things become more clear.

uh... Thank You Lord for foggy days!

Read:

Psalm 119:97-104; 105-112

James 3:13-18

-scott

Where are you at?

Well, it's been a while since I have posted anything. I have been reading a lot; just to busy to actually post anything. 

In spite of all the economic and political issues we seem to be hearing daily, things are good... God is still Sovereign, and nothing has slipped by Him. We just have our priorities out of order as a people. Seems like we are back to the tower of Babel all over again trying to build our little thing to reach the sky. As Jeremiah said, ( and I paraphrase) "You cut down a tree... burn part of it and warm yourself... make the other half into an idol and bow down to it!??!" Man continually worships and serves the creation rather than the Creator... Man continually professes to be wise and shows himself the fool. And God continually gives man over to a depraved mind... Just listen to the nightly news and you will hear it daily... man showing just how ignorant he can become when he refuses to acknowledge God. God sits on his thrown and scoffs... and so He should. 

Where does wisdom come from? Where is understanding? Where is "True Knowledge" found?

Where can we get trustworthy council? Where can we lean and hope? Where is security? Where is comfort? Where can we just escape? ( yes you can put down the remote and the video game controller) - SCRIPTURE! 

Read Psalm 119:97-104, 105 ( I won't comment yet, but would love to hear yours )

I've also started reading through Kings and Chronicles... along with finishing up teaching in the Book of John. 

Where are you at? 

How Much do We take God for Granted?

I'll be honest; the past few months have been a struggle. I guess it really started around the holidays, and continued through the first of the year. Nothing but business and a crazy schedule...mixed with free time and a lack of discipline on my part. A week of missing solid times in the Word easily turned into a month and so on. With my travel schedule the way it was I missed the solid accountability of my brothers at church and became more influenced by work. My mind has been pulled away from meditating on Gods Word and my discipline to stay in it has been replaced with a discipline to work. Not saying that my work is wrong... Just saying my priorities are out of whack... and I have found myself truly missing the Lord. It is amazing how faithful He has remained to me when I haven't been very faithful to Him. It's also amazing how empty you can become without spending valuable time with Him... A confirming affirmation to me that I am truly born again is the simple fact that I used to not feel this way when I went a short time without reading the scriptures. I used to not long for Christian brothers to just be around... It used to not feel like the world had actually been lifted from my shoulders when I walked through the church doors. I used to not feel like I had abandoned my best friend when I left my Bible on the shelf. Now I do.

All that brings me to Psalm 119:97-104. Interesting timing... I won't type it all, but read it.

I'll comment on 97... ( I will later go back to 89-96)

"O how I Love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day." - 119:97

All I have to do is give you the lexicon definition for "love" with it sitting in the verse it is in, in context with the month I have had... and you should see where the conviction hits the hardest.

Love - ( as used in verse 97 ) An ardent vehement inclination of the mind and a tenderness of affection at the same time. Used to describe the close attachment between parents and children... the close ties of friendship. Jesus instructed us to "Love" (using this word) God more than anything else or anyone else, which Jesus indicated was one of the two main pillars upon which the entire O.T. rested.

Do you love the word of God like this? Or like me... have you taken it (and Him) for granted lately? When will my stinkin' flesh come to the reality that it isn't just putting a book on the shelf but actually God Himself... - Oh God forgive me.

-scott

Psalm 119:73 "Give me Understanding"

Psalm 119:73 - Thy hands made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding that I may learn Thy commandments.

We can be quick to acknowledge God as our creator and "tip our hat to Him"; to claim to "believe" in Him and so on... but are we really interested in Him? Do we actually seek to know Him and His purpose for "making and fashioning" each one of us? Are we tangled in the world and can't see the forest for the trees?
Do we step back each day and ask "Lord, Give me understanding"? Do we actually think we know it all... are we that ignorant of ourselves. ( The answer is YES!) The first thing we need to understand and not be blind to is our own sin and self. Ignorance does not equal innocence.

Ask yourself a few questions:

1. What do I think about; what consumes my thoughts?
2. What do I focus my attention on?
3. What do I design my life around; how do I prioritize my schedule?
4. What do I love; what do I sacrifice myself for?
5. What do I fear the most; what am I afraid of losing?
6. What brings me the greatest joy?
7. What brings me the most sorrow?
8. What stirs anger in me?

Read these verses and comment/question:

Isaiah 44:9-20
Hosea 7:2-11
John 9:39-41
Ephesians 4:17-19
Psalm 119:80

...to be continued.

Psalm 119:65-72 - JUNKFOOD

The main verse that hit me was 119:70a - "Their heart is covered with fat".

Being in Mexico for the majority of October gave me a different perspective on everything; especially with the outcome of our Presidential election and the outcry for the government to give more handouts. The other thing I saw was American's attitudes toward material restraint, or lack of, during economic hardship. We are facing an economic downturn that none of us have really had to face and yet people are still standing in line to buy the new Blackberry that was just released. This shows a serious heart problem not an economic problem. Our country is where it is because our hearts are where they are...

Images that came to mind ( I'm an artist/illustrator... I can't help it) are of Las Vegas, Shopping malls, large city's, sports arenas, buffet tables, Walmart, expensive cars, more and more gadgets like Iphones, Ipods, and never ending computer upgrades, $4.00 coffee, and so on...

I had a conversation with a guy I work with in Mexico and the overall observation of America is that we are selfish... just about sums it up! We only think of ourself and what new toy we can add to our pampered life, and if anything threatens that we'll sacrifice everything including our morals to prevent our pampered lives from being messed with; not to mention the debt we'll pile up to sustain an image/lifestyle that we think we have to have.

Satan has done his job very well. He doesn't need to attack us like something out of a movie to get us away from God. He only has to entertain us to death... Man is already by nature "all about self" so all Satan has to do is feed that by throwing everything we want at us. Like a little kid that can't take his eyes off the banana split and won't eat dinner. We are filling ourselves with everything that will make us sick and later kill us. We are left with no appetite for what God really wants us to have and that is Him.

Listen to Davids words in contrast to the "heart covered in fat":
vs. 65 = Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant...
vs. 66 = Teach me discernment and knowledge
vs 66 = I believe in Thy commandments...
vs. 67 = Before I was afflicted (disciplined by God through circumstances) I went astray. But know I keep Thy word
vs. 68 = Thou art good and doest good... Teach me Thy statutes
vs. 69b = With all my heart I will observe Thy precepts
vs. 70 = I delight in Thy law
vs. 71 = It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Thy statutes
vs. 72 = The law of Thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

We need to stop living on the junk food that the world is feeding us everyday. Youth are educating themselves on how to maintain life according to the world's system and twisting their faith to fit what they want while at the same time silencing God. In John 8:12 Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." The question we need to ask ourselves everyday is "what/who am I following" and "what is shaping my appetite"... is it the junk food the world offers or the solid meat of the word of God?

-scott