Strengthen my Gates!

Psalm 147

King James Version (KJV)

 ¹²Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.
 ¹³For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee.
 ¹⁴He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.
 ¹⁵He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.

I think this is kind of an interesting verse. God wants to protect us from this world. He knows the evil that lurks outside our gates. Knowing that he wants to protect his own, then why does he count on our "Man-made Gates" to protect us. The verse says he strengthens the bars of our gates (to protect us.) He doesn't need our gates to protect us. He certainly has the power to thwart any attack. Yet, he still uses our gates.

God wants us to do everything we can to protect ourselves. We need to build the gates. He will take what we build and make it better. But, he wants us to build the gates. People who choose to do nothing because they depend on the Lord, are wrong.  God wants us to be active in our own lives. The Lord will take whatever we do and make it better. If we do everything to be the best teacher we can be, he will take that effort and make us better. If we guard our hearts from the dangers of porn, drugs, and alcohol, he will be faithful and give us the BETTER tools to do that. If we work hard to remain faithful to our spouses, he will reward that work with a stronger relationship. If we work hard at our jobs, he will bless us with the ability and opportunity to succeed. God never wants us to sit idly and wait for his action. He wants us to act and then he joins our action.

God will never abandon us. He will never give us more than we can handle. He knows the gates I build are good but not good enough. He knows in order to get the protection I need, he needs to intervene. God rewards us for our efforts to do his will. We are sinful people. The harder we fight sin, the more strength he gives us to win the battle. He takes what we do for his kingdom and magnifies it for his purpose. God is with us. He will strengthen our gates.

Trust

Psalm 146

 ¹ Praise the LORD.^[a]

   Praise the LORD, my soul.

 ² I will praise the LORD all my life;
   I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
³ Do not put your trust in princes,
   in human beings, who cannot save. 
⁴ When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
   on that very day their plans come to nothing.
⁵ Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
   whose hope is in the LORD their God.

Who do you trust? It wasn't too long ago we, (not me!), were glued to the TV for the Royal Wedding. I am proud to say the only part I saw was highlights on the news. Would you put all your trust in Prince William? A lot of people would. How many people do you know that you would "blindly trust"? 

Put your trust in God. He is the only one we can truly trust. God is not going to depart. He will not die and return to the ground. He will not let us down. His plans will happen. He is your help. He is your hope. TRUST GOD!

Too Tired!

Psalm 145

Psalm 145^[a]

    A psalm of praise. Of David.

 ¹ I will exalt you, my God the King;
   I will praise your name for ever and ever.
² Every day I will praise you
   and extol your name for ever and ever.

 ³ Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
   his greatness no one can fathom.
⁴ One generation commends your works to another;
   they tell of your mighty acts.
⁵ They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
   and I will meditate on your wonderful works.^[b]
6 They tell of the power of your awesome works—
   and I will proclaim your great deeds.
⁷ They celebrate your abundant goodness
   and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

 ⁸ The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
   slow to anger and rich in love.

Too, tired to make any comments. The words always speak for themselves anyway. 

Power vs Powerless

Psalm 144

Of David.

 ¹ Praise be to the LORD my Rock,
   who trains my hands for war,
   my fingers for battle.
² He is my loving God and my fortress,
   my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
   who subdues peoples^[a] under me.

 ³ LORD, what are human beings that you care for them,
   mere mortals that you think of them?
⁴ They are like a breath;
   their days are like a fleeting shadow.

Back in the day, war was fought by hand. Hand to Hand Combat was the largest part of a mans weaponry. It could have been a sling with a stone thrown by hand. War could have been fighting with a sword. It could have been fighting with a spear. War was ugly and physical. Nowadays war is antiseptic. It is long range and is done with electronic weapons and bombs from miles away. So these verses don't have as much meaning as they used to. We don't know much about shields.

I'm not a fighter. I remember getting in one fight at school when I was in early middle school,  it was hand to hand.  Now most of my fights are with words. There is the same power struggle with words as you have with fists. You don't have muscles to flex, you have position and power. The only way for someone to WIN a war of words is if one person gives in. In our society that usually happens by the person with the least amount of power. The lowest man on the totem pole very rarely wins. That doesn't mean the person with the power is right, but POWER beats the POWERLESS. The one exception is when God is on your side. 

God is the great equalizer for the lowly vs the powerful. A person of low standing who believes in the Lord has all the power they really need. They don't need spears, swords, slings, guns, bombs or any other weapon of war. The greatest weapon you could ever have is God himself. "If God is for us, who can stand against us." There are many times in my life I feel powerless. It is easy to get depressed losing battle after battle to the powerful. But, take heart. I know who wins in the end. Praise God he is victorious.

Who's the enemy?

Psalm 143

A psalm of David.

 ¹ LORD, hear my prayer,
   listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
   come to my relief.
² Do not bring your servant into judgment,
   for no one living is righteous before you.
³ The enemy pursues me,
   he crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in the darkness
   like those long dead. 
⁴ So my spirit grows faint within me;
   my heart within me is dismayed. 

Who is the enemy? Do you have enemies? I certainly have people I disagree with. There might even be some people out there that want to see me fail, who take joy in my toils, problems, and hardship. But they are not the enemy. 

Today I had the privilege of listening to someone who has met the enemy. Today, I spent all day at Life Bridge Church. They hosted the event called Cross n' Dagger. This is a motorcycle / bike show outreach. It is a wonderful event. The church hires a secular band and runs the event like all SECULAR Bike Events. It just happens to be held at a Church on Sunday. They still hold services (4 of them today) but no real pressure is added to attend these services. Today Brian "Head" Welch, former lead guitarist with KORN was the speaker. Brian knows all about the enemy. He has seen the enemy and confronted this elusive enemy head on. Our number one enemy is OURSELVES! It's not other people, it lies within is us.....Our Sinful nature. 

Brian gave a powerful testimony today. He spoke how he had everything, million dollar recording deals, grammy's, fame, girls, everything. Yet, he was miserable. He fought drugs, an abusive marriage, and a life that was keeping him from being the father he wanted to be. He couldn't take who he was becoming and what he was doing to his daughter. He then came to know Jesus. He didn't change and then find Jesus. He found Jesus and then was changed by the grace of God! His powerful testimony and the power of the Holy Spirit changed peoples lives today. One of those people gave up his drugs on the spot. He will forever be changed. Many accepted Jesus! What an awesome day.

If you are interested in hearing more about Brian "Head" Welch, he has a book, "Save Me from Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, and Lived to Tell My Story". I bought the book today and will read it soon. Regardless what you think about his music, his outlandish tatoos.(all of which were added after he accepted Christ and have Christian themes.),  he is being used by God to save people from their worst enemy...............themselves.