YOU CALL, GOD ANSWERS

"Save me, O God, by your name;
     vindicate me by your might.
 Hear my prayer, O God;
     listen to the words of my mouth." 
 Psalm 54:1-2

Jesus died to save us from our sins. He sits at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf and defending us from the accusations of the accuser of the brethren.  

Wonderfully, God is also concerned about are day to day lives. David wasn't praying about salvation from sin when he wrote this Psalm. He was calling out to the God about when Saul was chasing him (to kill him) and people were trying to give him over to Saul. 

What is it that you need salvation from at this moment? How do you need to be vindicated at this present time? Ask him to save you! Call upon him to vindicate you! Call on his name and rely on his might. I don't know how and I don't know when, but, I know God is faithful to complete his work in our lives!

Lord, we call on your name and we rely on your might! Thank you that you hear our prayers! Praise be to you in us today!

GOD TO YOU: WHERE ARE YOU?

"Have mercy on me, O God,
     according to your unfailing love;
 according to your great compassion
     blot out my transgressions.
 Wash away all my iniquity
     and cleanse me from my sin."
 Psalm 51:1-2

Have you ever had someone tell you they were sorry for something and you said, "That's all right, forget about it"? We've all done that and probably had someone say that to us. The deal is that sometimes issues need to be dealt with and simply saying "That's all right, forget about it" can lead someone to believe that they can repeat the behavior. 

God is holy and he is perfectly just. Sin, my sin, your sin is not just swept under a rug, so to speak. In Christ Jesus our sins were not pushed out of view, the punishment was served by Christ. God, in his great  compassion knew that we could never right the wrong of our sins and so he sent his one and only Son to die in our place. Now we have eternal access to the Father through the Son. 

Way back in the garden of Eden the LORD God called out, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9). He stills calls out to us in Christ, "Where are you?" God, the Creator of the Universe, sent his Son so that we can have a relationship with him. 

Father, thank you for your compassion. Thank you that Jesus died in my place that I can call you Father. Praise be to you in us today!

GOD THE BUILDER

"For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything." Hebrews 3:4

Before I began my career as an educator, one of the first jobs I had was in construction. So, when I enter a house I notice things like how the molding was finished in the corners or if the walls are plumb. I can't help it. My dad was a general contractor and he had some brothers who did his framing for a while. They were very good. Once when I came home from college my parents had moved into a new home built by his framers. I looked at the fireplace and asked him why it was off-center. Dad told my mom, "I told you he would notice!"  Normally a house built by that crew was pretty good. You could tell that a house built by them in comparison to someone whose motto was "close enough".

God is the builder of our lives. He knows how to put things together and how to fix things that are not right. Philippians 1:6 reminds us that, "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Sometimes we forget that God is eternal and his plan for us is from eternity. Before we were born, before the world was created God knew what he would do with us. He knew he would send Jesus to die for our sins. 

The truth is that God is building my life and your life with expert craftsmanship, making us into the image of Christ Jesus. He is faithful, he will do it. 

Thank you Father, for building my life. Help me to abide in you as you abide in me, building my life. Praise be to you in us today!

NO LONGER IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES

"For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people." Hebrews 2:17 

The reason Christ came was to make atonement for our sins. For my sins. For your sins. For everyone's sins. Some versions translate the word reconciliation. Just take a moment and remember what that means.

If someone needs to be reconciled to someone else it is because there was something done, in our case sin, that separates two people. A wrong was done that requires a serious work of reconciliation to bring the two people back together. In divorces people will say there are irreconcilable differences. Christ's death on the cross was the atoning act that reconciles us with God and others. Without Christ's death, we would be eternally separated form God. 

In Christ we have the atonement, forgiveness and reconciliation that allows us to be God's children. Healing and wholeness can begins. In Christ, the otherwise irreconcilable differences are atoned for. 

Thank you. Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for being our high priest and making atonement for our sins and reconciling us back to the Father! Praise be to you in us today!

BEING THANKFUL: Psalm 50:14-15

"Sacrifice thank offerings to God, 
     fulfill your vows to the Most High,
 and call upon me in the day of trouble;
     I will deliver you, and you will honor me."
 Psalm 50:14-15

I thank God that he got me and my family through this last week! 
I thank God that he made me his child, his son, and I that I can call upon his Name!
I thank God for my salvation!
I thank God that I can call upon him in times of trouble! 
I thank God for my wife and children!
I thank God for the group of men I meet with and who prayed for me this last Wednesday!
Thank You, Lord, for all you do for me! 

Praise be to you in us today! Show us yourself!

SET ME IN A FAMILY/ Psalm 68:4-6

"Sing to God, sing praise to his name,
     extol him who rides on the clouds - 
 his name is the LORD -
     and rejoice before him.
 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
     is God in his holy dwelling.
 God sets the lonely in families,
     he lead forth the prisoners with singing;
 but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land."
 Psalm 68:4-6

I am been blessed with a wonderful godly wife and four children who all know God's Name. 

When I first became a Christian I knew I was not called to be single. I thought God would provide a wife pretty quickly because it just wouldn't be good to be single (for me). Well, God had other plans and I ended up not getting married until I was thirty six. Yes, that was a long time. I didn't like being single and when I did meet my wife, everyone wanted to know what kind of women could deal with me. 

One of the things that I found attractive about her was that her two boys were good boys. So, at thirtysix, I married into a family. The boys were and are to this day great young men. I sort of felt like Rip Van Winkle and I had somehow slept through this huge portion of my life. I woke up, was married and had two sons! 

The point here on Father's Day is that I thank God for setting me in a family. Thank you, Lord.

Thank you for being my Father and giving me such a great wife and children. Praise be to you, my Father. Praise be to you in us today!

WHAT GIFT(S) HAS GOD GIVEN YOU? / Matthew 7:9-10

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:9-10

The best gifts God has given me, besides my salvation, which is a gimme, are my wife and my children. 

What is/are the best gift(s) God has given you? Leave us a note in the comment section.

Thank you, Father in heaven, for the wonderful gifts you have given me in my wife and children. Thank you for my salvation by which I can call out to you, "Abba, Father!" Praise be to you in us today!