Psalm 35

 Attack the attackers, God.

Suit us with Hate-Proof Armour,

wielding Your Word Baton.

Holy Spirit, be our Secret Service;

blow away life-draining demons.

Some try lacing truth with nonsense:

catch them with their own catch phrases;

shock them by their own short circuits.

I shout from my truest self:

“God, You are the Greatest!—

Champion of the helpless poor.”

Fast talkers fire questions,

hurl barbs into peace talks.

Those we have cared for like family

smile at our misery.

God, why the centuries long delay?

Come, rescue us from fear’s clutches;

we long to praise You in great crowds.

God, stop blind, proud haters; stop those

mockers of humble Earth-Tenders;

shame those who kick people around.

Let justice-doers’ joy erupt in song,

honoring You Who enjoy

filling Your servants’ lives with joy.

God, may all our voices laud You always.

Psalm 34

 Twenty-four seven we yearn to praise,

whisper “Yes, Love” with each waking breath,

yearn to show hurting people God is Good,

yearn to come together singing hoorays.

I looked for someone when I was scared stiff;

an angel banished my paralysis,

carried me beyond every trouble

to where light surrounds God-worshippers.

Savour Divine Love, everyone;

revere God in holy simplicity.

Hunger weakens strong young hunters

but God-searchers are fully satisfied.

Love living? Yearn for a long, good life?

Watch your words, nothing foul or false;

avoid violence; follow Peace Path blazes.

God’s Kind Eyes and Ears hold humble humans

but brutes will be deleted from all screens.

God responds to honest soul cries,

comes close when hearts fracture,

restores life to knocked out spirits.

We all make or step in messes

but God brings us out in one piece.

Culprits’ own sick lifestyles kill them;

Divine Counsellor’s rehab frees us.

Psalm 33

Sing for joy to God, straight-talkers;

praise is natural for life-lovers.

Strum jazz guitars, ripple keyboards;

write great hymns, create new music

for the Voice of Sacred Scripture’s

Master Author ever rings true.

God Who prizes Truth and Justice

fills the world with nature’s Love Notes.

By Divine Wisdom’s ordering

stars emerged, galaxies were born,

lands arose from wild waters.

Attention! Stand in awe of God

Whose Voice creates and activates.

God confounds warlords’ strategies;

Divine Peace Plans cannot be foiled.

God-loving groups thrive in Glad Lands.

God our Maker sees our actions.

Mega-armies can’t keep us safe;

brute force, breakneck speed lead nowhere.

Spirit shines through Love-Way pilgrims,

takes us through drought and death to Life.

We wait, relying on our Guide,

full of Joy. God, keep us near You.

Psalm 32

 God, Your forgiven ones are merry,

honest, guilt-free in Your Wide Mercy.

Trying to hide or deny sins,

my energy died beneath Your frown

but when I faced up, came clean,

what relief You gave! Forgave all.

Let every wannabe do-gooder

pray to You, Loving Listening One.

You will wall off inundating floods.

Holy Presence, secret protection,

Your Embrace deflects raucous chaos,

fills our minds with rescue music.

“I’ll be your Teacher” You tell us.

“I’ll watch and guide you with Tender Care;

don’t react with knee-jerk rebellion.”

Devilish players pile up sorrows

but True Love signs multiply

all around Your trusting followers.

People with God-honoring desires,

sing out wild grateful joy!

The Message Of Grace

 The Message of Grace

I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

ACTS 20.32

When leaving the city of Ephesus, the apostle Paul spoke one final word to the friends he loved and had led in that church. He told them that he commended them to God and to the message of His grace. The apostle Paul had spent three years teaching them the good news of grace and now, as he was leaving, he reassured them. It was through that message that God would build them up and cause them to experience the inheritance that was their spiritual birthright.

There are many trendy topics in the church world today, but never lose sight of the fact that it is the message of God’s grace that will cause you to grow spiritually and to live the life He intends for you to experience. Grace isn’t just another subject in the Bible. It is the subject, because grace is the fountainhead from which everything that can be known about our God springs.

Examine every biblical topic through the lens of the Father’s grace expressed in Jesus Christ through the Spirit. Any other approach will leave you with nothing but dead doctrine. It is the message of Living Grace that will build you up and equip you in life.

Biblical Verification

 Biblical Verification

These were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

ACTS 17.11

The Berean Christians were commended by Paul for not only enthusiastically receiving the word, but also for examining the Scripture for themselves to see whether or not his message was true. Their example still stands as a pattern for “noble-minded” people.

There are two extremes in the modern church. There are those who believe everything they hear. And there are those who don’t believe anything they hear unless they already have heard and come to believe it. Both extremes are a mistake.

When you hear a teaching that is unfamiliar to you and you aren’t sure what to think, don’t immediately accept or reject it based on your present understanding. Go to the Scriptures for yourself and study to see whether the things you have heard are so.

The Spirit of Christ lives in you and will guide you into the truth if your heart and mind are open to Him. Believe what the Holy Spirit shows you, and the truth becomes yours. Otherwise the most you can do is to parrot what somebody else has said. As one in whom Truth lives, you are capable of much more than that.

Made Holy

 Made Holy

A voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”

ACTS 10.15

In Acts 10, Peter had a vision about animals descending from heaven on a sheet. There were all kinds of animals, both clean and unclean according to the Law. When God told him to eat, he resisted by reminding Him that no good Jew would eat an unclean animal. It was at that point that God spoke these words to him: “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”

The lesson Peter needed to learn wasn’t one primarily about animals, but about people. God was about to send him to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile who Peter would have considered unholy up till then.

Are you holy? How you answer that question says much about your own perspective on this matter. By His blood, Jesus has cleansed you. By His grace, He has made you holy. To grow in your grace walk, it is important to affirm that fact. Don’t deny or even diminish the reality that you are holy. You didn’t do anything to make it happen. He did, so simply thank and praise Him for it. And, as God taught Peter, it would be wise to see other believers in that light too.