Psalm 62:5-6.

‘For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.’ (Psalm 62:5-6. NRSV)

These verses are almost the same as the first two verses, they are nearly the same but not quite!  It is like a refrain, a chorus in the psalm.

Three-quarters are the same and are well worth repeating, the quarter that is different is why the psalmist waits silently for God, ‘for my hope is from him’.

The psalmist is not hoping for God to do something, but is saying that his hope is from God.  There is quite a difference between the two, both are quite valid, but we shall concentrate on the second as in this psalm.

To say that our hope is from God is a statement of your faith in God regardless of circumstances or feelings and is also a statement of trust in who God is.

Hope as a statement of faith says, ‘I know that God has things in hand, and that he has a hope and a future for me’.

Hope as a statement of trust says, ‘I believe that you are who you say you are, therefore your plans for me are good’.

If you feel hopeless then you will not keep going when things are tough.  If you have hope, on the other hand, you will keep plodding on no matter what comes your way.

Father God, thank you that Jesus came to give hope to the hopeless.  Thank you God that I can hope in you because of who you are. In Jesus’ name. Amen

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1 Corinthians 1:26-31 – Ordinary People, Extraordinary God!

‘Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in this world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’ ‘  (1 Corinthians 1:26-31. NRSV)

Here’s to everyone who feels ordinary, foolish, weak and low and despised!  Why?  Because you are the people God calls, chooses and uses.

What if you are wise, powerful or high-born?  Well don’t worry because God can use you too!

We have to see God as he is, so that we can see ourselves as we are.  We are ordinary, but God is extraordinary.  We have nothing to boast in save in the Lord himself.

Jesus was active in creation so our physical life originates in him, and he is the source of our spiritual life through the foolishness and weakness of the cross.

We can boast in nothing of ourselves, because there is nothing in us worth boasting about!  But we can boast in everything of Him as he is our ‘righteousness and sanctification and redemption’.

Let’s get our perspective right! ALL OF HIM!

Heavenly Father, help me to see myself as I am, an ordinary created human being, but to see you as you really are, an extraordinary Creator God.  Thank you that everything I need is in you, and help me only ever to boast about you and all that you have done in my life and will do through me.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Psalm 62:3-4

‘How long will you assail a person, will you batter your victim, all of you, as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?  Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence.  They take pleasure in falsehood; they bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse.’ (Psalm 62:3-4. NRSV)

These two verses give quite a picture of how the enemy uses people to try to bring down those in leadership.

Firstly, he uses the tactics of demolition, keep pounding long enough and it will fall down!  Satan’s ‘only plan is to bring down a person of prominence’ and he will use whoever he can, both inside and outside churches and organisations to do it.

Secondly, he is the father of lies and will do all he can to make you a hypocrite, a slanderer, or a back biter.  If he can’t use a person openly, he will try to use them covertly.

How do we as Christians stop ourselves from being used by the enemy to pull down those in leadership?

Firstly, in the New Testament we are frequently told to build each other up. If we are active about being edifiers then the enemy won’t be able to use us as demolishers.

Secondly, Jesus hates hypocrisy in all its forms, we need to ask him to help us to as well.  We must be accountable to each other and to tell each other off if we fall into complaining or worse.

If we do these two things then we will see a drop in those who leave their God-given roles due to stress and other factors.

Lord Jesus, help us to build up those in leadership and authority in the church, ans we pray that you will protect them from the overt and covert attacks of the enemy. In your name.  Amen.

Psalm 62:2

‘He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall never be shaken.’ (Psalm 61:2 NRSV)

David thinks of God alone as his rock, salvation and fortress. We need to be like David and look only to God for our salvation and safety.

We can only look to God for our salvation, because as Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ (John 6:68 NRSV).  The bedrock of faith is that Jesus is the Messiah, God’s anointed eternal King (see Matthew 16:16).

God is also our fortress – we live in a secure place if we live in him.  If we know these three truths then we ‘shall never be shaken’.  God calls us to be unshakeable in our faith in him.  Not because of who we are, but because of who he is and what he has done for us.

In hard times we only need to hold onto one thing that is true about God, and God will hold onto us.  During drought trees and plants may not have leaves, but their roots will be going down ever deeper in search of ground water.  Likewise, when out of season we may bear no visible fruit or even feel we are growing, but will be growing in depth as we put our roots down into him.

Lord Jesus, help me to trust only you for my security and for my salvation, knowing that in you I cannot be shaken.  In your name.  Amen.

Psalm 62:1

‘For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.’ (Psalm 62:1 NRSV)

Let us be like the psalmist and still our souls before God, to wait for him alone!

In the Bible waiting is not passive, but we can still be silent in that waiting, not filling it with ourselves, or with the other junk that is life!  If we wait for God alone, he will respond to us, and if we are silent then it will be easier for us to hear him and his still small voice!

Our salvation comes from God!  He alone can save us from our sins!  Jesus alone was good enough to pay the price for our sins.  He alone was sinless, so he alone could pay the price for sinful men and women.

He is ‘the author and finisher of our faith’ (Hebrews 12:2 KJV) so let us look to him alone.

Father God, I thank you for paying the price for my sins, and ask that you will help me not to run away from silence, because there I can hear your still small voice.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Hello world!

I have just changed my blog as I was getting frustrated with the old one, and having started using wordpress for other things I find I get on with it better than the interface on the old one I had.

I am also making this more wide-ranging in what I blog, a bit of ‘Life, the Universe and Everything’ but not quite Douglas Adams!

Here’s to the adventure!!!