Kath's Korner

13 Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.

14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.  Matthew 19:13-15

People were bringing children to Jesus to have Him touch them.

To have Jesus touch them

To have Jesus touch them

To have Jesus touch them

And His followers, Jesus’ followers,

the very men who would spread the gospel

said, “No”.

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”      Psalm 92:12-15

Oh Beloved, what a rich time with our Father this morning! As i was looking up cross references for the word flourish, i came upon this passage from Psalm 92. Curious about palm and cedar trees, i grabbed my trusty Bible dictionary and found both. Palm trees can reach a height of 100 feet. The one that was pictured in the dictionary is also called the date palm and can live 100 to 200 years. Cedar tees of Lebanon reach a height of 100 feet and a trunk circumference of 40 to 50 feet. Studying the pictures, i was struck by the cedar trees’ magnificence and power.

Back to the passage, then, we see the psalmist comparing followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ, with both palms and cedars. We will flourish like a palm tree of 100 years or so and grow like a cedar! We will bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit right through our old age and stay fresh and vibrant! Oh, thank-you Jesus! For You alone give us life. You alone make us flourish!

My soul has been greatly stressed as of recent. Difficult decisions need to be made – at least i thought they were difficult decisions. So i cried out to God this morning earnestly seeking His presence, His wisdom and His answers.

He directed me into studying Psalm 72:2, specifically the word, justice. Looking up the word in a Bible dictionary, i found a short teaching that focuses on maintaining justice (doing what is right) in both the law and personal relationships. As i studied each passage it referred to i came upon Psalm 146.

Beloved, when we earnestly seek God, He is faithful to show Himself! He knows our hearts and the struggles we have being human. He knows our personalities and passions. He also knows when it’s time to reveal the stuff in our hearts that are not of Him.

What a glorious morning – He has once again opened my eyes to an area i thought was godly, but it was all about me again and how i thought i could help Him. And so, the decision i thought was so difficult was actually very easy once He showed me!

I would like to share Psalm 146 with you now. Enjoy His presence in the midst of it!

Psalm 146 (TNIV)

¹ Praise the LORD.

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.

⁶ He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—
he remains faithful forever.
⁷ He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free,
⁸ the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,
the LORD loves the righteous.
⁹ The LORD watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

¹⁰ The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the LORD.

And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastics 4:4

What is this thing that I do

I write

I study

I search

Is it from You Lord

Is it from me

You alone know my heart

You alone know my endless thoughts

Are they from You Lord

Are they from me

Will they matter in the end

Will they matter now

What is this thing I do

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:

Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. Ecclesiastics 12:13,14

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, Isaiah 61:1b

Lord, bring Your Spirit down to this place – this weary, high tech worn out place. Release us from the warp speed lives we live that we could see You.  Renew in us a right spirit of Your character, Your desires, Your plans.

Father, we’ve been so long in this dry and weary land where there is no fresh water or fresh manna. We despair of our selfish visions and strategies. Save us, Heavenly Father, from this self focus.

Brief glimpses outward reveal brokenness in our neighbors and communities. We remember in Your Word that You want to use us to reach out to them. Give us Your heart, Father that we would see what You see and hear what You hear. Pour compassion into us that we would love like You love.

Teach us Your Word putting it into our hearts that we would not sin against You. Change our minds that they would be like Yours. Unite us that we would work together. Then put us into the places that we would be most useful to You, so that the world will know that You sent You Son and that You’ve loved them even as You love Him!

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:8-10

Beloved, in these last couple of days of 2011 the Lord has been reminding me of His precious salvation He has given through His unique Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus died for us while we were still sinning so that through repentance and turning to Him and receiving His gift of grace and confessing Him as Lord, we can truly began to know Him and Father God!

And then, looking at the above verse, living in the Gift He has given us, we can do the good works He planned ahead of time for us to do. See, we became His so that we could do His stuff! We became His to be actively seeking Him for what that stuff is.

Today, if you are feeling lonely or worthless, seek the One that gave you His free gift of salvation to see what He has for you to do!

Beloved,

Just wanted to drop a brief note and speak God’s blessings to you all this holiday season!

Our heavenly Father is faithful! He has healed my sorrowing heart and brought me out of the darkness of depression.

Will write more posts after the holidays.

Depression

Deep darkness of the heart

Sadness engulfing the mind

Wave upon wave of loss and loneliness

When does it end

At death of life

At death of self

At the throne of God

Where did it start

Death of loved one

Death of dream

Loss of lifestyle

Change of environment

Breakup of family

When does it end

At death of life

At death of self

At the throne of God

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you. Psalm 139:11-12

Let us sow in tears and sorrow,

Let us live a life of pain,

Let us bring the broken to Him

Let us die that they may live.

It’s in dying seed takes root,

Pruning, fruit may grow.

Continued brokenness,

Continued pain,

Continued growing,

Continued dying.

Life springs forth!

Fruit pours out!

Seed is sown!

Seed takes root!

-written after studying Psalm 126

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 5:8,9

A few weeks ago while spending time in the Word, I found myself becoming very distracted. My mind was everywhere but on the passages I was reading. I was struggling with thoughts concerning relationships I have and not knowing how to love these people.  I stopped and asked the Holy Spirit to help me focus on the passages and reveal God’s heart in them so that I could see what He sees.

As I prayed my eye was drawn to a stone nestled among the many stones outside the window where I sat.  The Lord spoke to my spirit and asked, “What do you see?”

I answered, “A stone that looks much like a bagel or puffed up cheerio. What do You see, Lord?”

He answered, “I see the elements that created it, the time it took to create it, its purpose, its worth, its place in eternity.”

“Now what do you see?” He asked.

I replied, “I see that I see very little, and that I desperately need You, God.”

I’ve given thought to this much these past weeks – even sharing this experience with others. This morning as I studied His Word, I happened upon this passage in Isaiah and wanted to share it with you, beloved.

¹⁶ I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.  Isaiah 42:16

Our God truly is faithful to show us our hearts, our thoughts, out motives. He will guide us into all truth and change our hearts and thoughts so that we can see what He sees and love the way that He loves! Oh praise You, Lord, for opening our eyes and helping us to see!