Psalm 139:1

"To the Choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O Lord, you have searched me and know me!" Psalm 139:1

I am on a verse by verse journey through Psalm 139. It is a chapter so full of gems that I feel it needs to be done this way.

This verse says He has searched us. It would seem that the all knowing God wouldn't need to do any searching, but He does anyway. The word search here means so much more than He just looked at us. It actually means that He digs as for treasure. Wow! Do you know what that means? It means that He has placed in each of us treasure. That is an awesome enough though in itself, but it's not just that we have treasure in us. He searches for it. He digs it out.

Of course, if He has to dig it out it's probably deep down there. We probably have no idea what the treasure is in us. And with digging comes show shifting of dirt. It is great to know there is treasure within us, but it is humbling to know He has to do some work in us to get it out in the open.

Then there is that little phrase "know me". You may be thinking, like I did, of course He does. But it is more than just He knows us, but that He understands us. Each of us is complicated by the personalities we have, the pains we have felt, the wounds we have, the joys we have experienced, and those treasures in us, to just name a few aspects that complicate us. However, He understands all of what makes us, us. He isn't scared off by any part of us. Instead of being scared off He actually digs deeper into us for the treasure.

He longs for us to truly know Him. He longs for us to truly know us for the wonderful creations He has made. How do we know? Well the Bible is full of verses that tell us so, and He even had an entire chapter of Psalms written to tell us how much He wants us to know that.

Mind Renovation is a New Show on HGTV

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

Yesterday I posted abut the first section of Romans 12:2 and today I'm focusing on the second part: "but be transformed by the renewal of your mind" This part is all about change. Yup, change.

Transformed means a change of moral character for the better. Renewal means a renovation, complete change for the better. Mind means comprising alike the faculties of perceiving and understanding and those of feeling, judging, determining.

So based on these definitions my perceptions and understandings will change for the better. I like the word renovation. I like HGTV and watching the shows where they do renovations. They take some ugly room or home and change it for the better. Sometimes I don't care for the changes, but I can't deny it is better than it was.

God performed the ultimate renovation on my heart when He choose me to be His. He still is at work at it, but if our heart change was an HGTV series people wouldn't be able to deny the change He has made in our hearts. It is a work in progress. But He doesn't just change our hearts and leaving us with what Joyce Meyers calls "our stinkin' thinkin'". He gives opportunities for our minds to be renovated too.

I also really like that it is about our perceptions and understandings. Perception means the ability to see, hear, and become aware of something through the senses. Understanding means to comprehend. The two can go hand in hand but they are not the same thing. He makes it possible for my morals to change for the better. He makes it possible for my perception to change for the better. He makes it possible for my understanding to change for the better. As those things change my feelings, my judgments, and my determinations change as well. That's really good since my feelings can be off if my perceptions are off, and sometimes they are way off. My judgments can change when I understand more. I might be really determined one way or the other and it is nice to know that as I grow they can change. I can think of instances in my life, some of them quite recent instances, where He has changed my perception and my understanding.

Yes, the verse is about me not being conformed; me renewing my mind; and me being able to determine what the will of God is, but He does it. I have to give permission for God to do the work in me. Sometimes I wish that I would have just shut my mouth and not agreed to Him working, but deep down I'm glad that I did agree. I want to be more like Christ. I want to know His will. I want to know Him.

I hope my renovation HGTV show is a success, because it means that He has changed me for the better.

Do Not Conform

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

Okay, it's been over 2 months since I have written a devotion. I can say that I have been spending  lot of time in the Word so not really sure why not. However, I have been examining verses and studying the meaning of the words in the Hebrew or Greek depending on what Testament they are in. The above verse is the one that I looked at today, well part of it.

"Do not be conformed to this world..." is the part I found something interesting. Armed with the website Blue Letter Bible, which has Thayer's Greek Lexicon for definitions with the Greek meanings, which goes into detail on how the word is used in various verses, I examined this short portion. I looked up the words "conformed" and "world". Conformed, in this verse, means to conform one's self to another's pattern. World, in this verse, means men controlled by the thoughts and pursuits of this present time.

I know most who read or quote this verse focus on the world part, and rightly so. Many people, Christians included, are not as careful about what influences they allow in their lives as they should. Movies, TV shows, books, activities, well almost all areas of life have worldly influences that we buy into too easily. I know there have been things I have had to give up because I felt that I was allowing influences in that were worldly.

I was struck more by the word conform and its definition. I know the focus is about not conforming to the world, but I took the meaning to an even more personal level. There are things I don't like about myself, pretty much like everyone else, and I tend to focus on them. I see others who don't have the same flaws, or at least don't seem to, and I want to be like them. I start to think more like them, act more like them, and become less me.

This verse reminds me that I am suppose to be careful to be me. God created me to be me, the me He created. I might have many flaws, but I also have many positives. He has given me talents and a personality that make me special. He has given me gifts and a purpose that I need to walk out to help others and bring Him glory. Conforming me to be like someone else or the world makes me someone else, and I need to be His girl, flaws and fabulousness. (That's my word!)

Foot Washers Needed

"Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During the supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand." Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash. except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you." For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "Not all of you are clean."
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you." John 13:1-15

Most Christians know this story. Some have participated in feet washing activities, and realize how humbling it is to have your feet washed. They also realize how powerful it to wash someone else's feet. I have participated myself and know both experiences.

A little history lesson, the custom of the day was to wash the feet of guests. People wore sandals and it was a dusty place. People's feet would be covered in dust, be hot, and tired. The washing of the feet would remove the dirt, cool the feet, and make tired feet feel better. The host of the house would have servants or slaves wash the feet of the guests. Just from a customs' standpoint, Jesus was not the host of the house where they were having supper. Therefore it was not His job to see that the feet were washed, let alone wash the feet Himself. Yet He washed their feet.

Jesus still does this very thing in our lives today.

Our parents may range from wonderful to bad to people who should have never had children. Regardless, of where they fall on the continuum there are things that they should have done for us that they didn't, couldn't, or just wouldn't. We are left with hurts and gaps in our lives. Jesus knows what should have been done for us, and He comes into our lives and does for us what we didn't get.

This can be true in any number of relationships: spouses, siblings, friends, teachers, bosses, co-workers, almost anyone who has even a little significance in our lives. There are many ways that these hurts, holes, and hot spots may have gotten into our hearts and minds. But Jesus can step into anyone of these areas and does the work to wash away the hurt, fills the holes, and soothes the heat out.

Some of us are like many of the disciples who allowed Him to wash their feet. We let Him in and let Him heal and fill the holes in our lives. Some of us are like Peter, and we think we are doing Him a favor by not allowing Him access. It takes Jesus telling us that if we don't let Him then we have no part of Him for us to allow Him to wash us, heal us, and save us.

But it doesn't end there. Verse 15 tells us that He was an example for us and that we need to follow His example. If He is a part of us, like He said to Peter, then we must allow Him to use us. He gives us opportunities to wash the feet of others by being for them what they need. He tells us to give them something, serve them, pray with them, feed them, etc. no matter how dirty, smelly, or even demeaning the job may be. When we have the opportunity, we must be like Jesus. We need to do the job that may not have been ours to do, but He has given us the opportunity to do. We need to be willing to be feet washers.

Butterfly Transformation

"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6

When you become a follower of Christ you start a process that, hopefully, will continue throughout your life. It is a process of transformation. The process of being transformed from our old, sinful life to becoming more like Christ. The end result of this process is indeed good, but the process certainly doesn't feel good most of the time.

It is very much like becoming a butterfly. We start off the process as a worm looking, caterpillar. Caterpillars are ugly. They crawl around eating leaves. Their movement is slow. There are few people who get excited about seeming a caterpillar, but I believe God loves seeing us in the caterpillar stage. He knows that we don't stay caterpillars.

The next stage of our transformation is in the form of a chrysalis, many call if a cocoon but it is a chrysalis. While in the chrysalis the caterpillar's tissue is broken down and the butterfly body forms. It doesn't seem like much is happening at this stage but big change is actually happening. During this time the caterpillar/butterfly is fragile. It has no way to see danger coming and can't protect itself. The chrysalis is so important to keep the it safe from the elements and from attack. The breaking down process that we go through is hard, painful and we often do not understand it. Thankfully we do not go through this part without protection either. God wraps Himself around us and will not allow us to be destroyed by the anything.

As hard as that stage is the next one is the hardest. This is the stage when the butterfly has to struggle to break free of the chrysalis. It still seems as if nothing is happening and then the chrysalis starts to shake. It is shaking because the butterfly inside is about to emerge. The butterfly struggles to break free and gains strength in the struggle. As a matter of fact, if you try to help the butterfly emerge you will actually kill it because it never gain the strength to use its wings. This is the hardest stage for us as well. We seem to be going along turning from a yucky caterpillar to a butterfly when it becomes time to break free of the protective chrysalis that God has put around us. It's not that He removes his protection from us, but He does want us to break free of the old us. He allows a time of struggle to help us break free of what we used to be to become who He has planned us to be. This struggle helps build strength in us, His strength.

Then it is a butterfly. Its wings need to dry from the fluid from the chrysalis. It only takes about an hour and then the butterfly is able to fly. We have a time after we break out of our chrysalis that we need to wait to fly, but when it's time to fly we take off like the butterfly. God has such a good plan for each of us and He wants us to fly into it.

This transformation has recently taken place in my life and just today the Lord told me that my wings are dry and it's time to fly! I have no idea, really, of where the flight will take me, but I am looking forward to the journey! I know that there will be more caterpillar to butterfly transformation times in my life, but it's okay because I also know "that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

God Is the Shield About Me and the Lifter of My Head

"But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head."
Psalm 3:3

Have you ever seen a shield? Well, if not in real life, have you at least seen a picture of one? There have been round shields, long oblong shields, wooden shields, metal shields, and SWAT team shields. Shields were flat until someone figured out to make them curved. Even the best shield available doesn't do what the shield mentioned here does.

You see we fight against an enemy who will attack us from every area. He stabs us in the back through relationships. He attacks our thought life. He pokes at the soft spots in our hearts. He has no problem going for the Achilles heal or the jugular. A typical shield just can't protect us from all of the ways he can attack. Instead the Lord is this shield that goes about us. He is able to wrap all the way around us, covering us from any possible attack.

What an amazing, comforting assurance! Too bad there are times that we don't stay within the shield. I understand stepping out of the protective surround and opening myself up to satan's attacks. I have just spent some time, much too much time, letting him smack me around, letting him attack my mind and my heart. I didn't even realize that was what I was allowing. All I knew was that I was sinking into a endless pit of crazed thoughts and flailing emotions.

The other day, I came to realize that the problems I was facing were not just a "me" issue. I realized it as I was getting ready for the day and I couldn't even lift my head to look at myself in the mirror. The other part of this verse came to my mind, "and the lifter of my head", and I knew that something was very wrong. So, I did the only smart thing possible I went running to God and asked Him to protect me. He showed me the spiritual attacks that I was being assaulted with and I took authority over them in His Name.

Two things quickly became true: I felt my very being surrounded by the protection of the Lord and I was able to lift my head. I went back to the mirror in my bathroom and looked myself full in the face. I was able to smile and know that God's shield was wrapped all around me.

This verse comes from Psalms and specifically one that David wrote when running for his life from his own son. David's life shows us that satan will attack and that he is trying to kill and destroy us. He tries to destroy a man after God's own heart, and he will try to destroy each of us. The other key word from the this verse is the first one "But". Satan will chase us down and try to kill us, But God is our shield. Satan will try to shame us to the point that we can't even lift up our head, But God is the lifter of our heads. Remember that no matter what attack satan throws your way, But God and trust in Him to be the protector you need and the lifter of your head.

The Difference the Trial Phase Makes

"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." James 1:12

This was the verse that came up today on the app on my phone. It seems to be following a trend of verses that God has exposed me to in the last few days. It's one of those, "I know that you are going through something, but I am taking you through. Don't give up!" You know those kind of verses?

When I am going through rough times, whether they are challenges that others can understand or ones that no one seems to comprehend, I need these verses. The ones that remind me that there is an end and there is a promise. Most importantly it's a verse that lets me know He is with me.

I can admit that there are times when verses like this make me angry. Deep in the midst of the trial, when the challenges seem to be killing me, this kind of verse frustrates me. I wish that it didn't, but I have to be honest that it does. God know exactly what I need to hear and when, and He knows how I will react when I see it.

A few days ago, when a similar verse popped up on my phone app, I was angry. I didn't want to hear it. When I read the verse today my reaction was quite different. Today I saw it for the promise that it is, the promise of an end, a reward, and His presence. What's the difference?

The difference is where I am in the trial. When I am in the right place of the trial, the healing, then I can accept a verse like this. God doesn't stop making the promise just because of where I am though. He is ever present. His promises are always true and they do not waiver. I waiver. I am changing. I sometimes live in the past or the future, and ignore the present. Thankfully, God knows all of that and His Word is always true.

Know that He knows where you are in the trial. He knows how you will react to His Word. He knows when it is too hard to believe and when it is easy to believe. Keep reading His Word and know that He will always be with you!