DRAW NEAR TO GOD
Suggested Reading: Psalm 73
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, about 80 km southwest from Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks. In Greek mythology Olympus was the home of the twelve Olympian gods of the ancient Greek world.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: Psalm 73:24-25
You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
Psalm 73 was composed by Asaph, one of David’s choir leaders. It appears that doubt had crept into Asaph’s mind about his own relationship with God. Was it worthwhile? Did it make any difference? While he had these questions, he knew that his responsibility to his generation as a leader must take first priority. We may want to read a second time Psalm 73:15-17. He refused to be “untrue to the generation of Your children.” His thinking turned around when “he went into the sanctuary of God.” Faithfully attending the House of God, worshipping God in His sanctuary, and hearing the preaching of the Word of God will adjust our thinking in a most positive direction. Asaph concludes, in the final statement of the Psalm, that “It is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works!”
This Hymn continued to be sung for hundreds of years (read 2 Chronicles 29:27-31).
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, my desire is to draw closer to You every day without missing even one day. I thank You for giving me grace to be faithful in praising You for Who You are and for giving me discipline in my daily reading of Your Word! May I learn from Asaph how vitally important it is that I represent You to others, particularly the children, in a consistent and true way. I pray this in the Name of the One who is always faithful, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I’ve struggled with the same concerns that Asaph puts into words. Asaph writes, “But as for me, my feet almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped” (73:2). But as with Asaph, I did not stumble or slip. The grace of God was given to me, and I determined to concentrate on the Scriptures, on prayer, and on the Person and work of Jesus Christ! The second to last book of the Bible, Jude, has serious warnings about those who may have served God faithfully at one time, but at some point in their lives they stumbled and fell away from living like Jesus lived. Some in ministry have brought shame upon the reputation of the Lord, the Pastor/Teacher and the Evangelist. In Jude I find words such as “licentiousness” and “sexual immorality.” They “reject authority” and practice “greed.” Jude, the brother of James, is hard on those who claim to be teachers and who live, “according to their own lusts, mouth great swelling words, and gain advantage by flattering people.” Jude says that there are those who are “sensual persons, who cause divisions.” I’ve just read the entire one-chapter book of Jude (click here to read it). I’m thrilled to read the concluding words of Jude, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Saviour, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen!”
Yours as a sinner saved by grace alone,
David
Isn’t this the great blight of humanity? The desire to be as a god? To want it all, power, wealth, youth, recognition and beauty? For example, it seems that current pop sensation Miley Cirus wants attention, wants recognition and to put her stamp of her own individual style of “entertainment” upon pop culture, pop culture eats this sort of thing right up, at least until the next new sensation … but, is it God honouring? At the end of the day, did goodness and righteousness prevail? I think not.
God looks upon the heart, the brokenness, the repentant, the servant. Jesus says in Matthew 25:40 that one day it will be said “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (In context read Matthew 25:31-40, the story of the separation of the goats from the sheep). None of us, not one is beyond redemption. Christlikeness is the attainment of the Christian, an all-consuming goal, to be like Him and to be with Him forevermore. But in the process, let’s not forget to pray for the lost in our midst, for those who have lost their way and need to find their way home.
Amen Scott .
God bless you for all your counsel , awareness and guidance each morning on the daily blog .
Those are the same chapter and verses I read last night and shared this morning:) The Lord is good
Amen, Scott.
When Jude speaks of hypocracy and manipulation, of behaviours which contradict the values proclaimed in christian teaching, many failures can be recalled over the last three decades. Media has only served to magnify and arouse anger and disappointment. What bothers me is the barrier which exists by those who generalize christianity by these failures. When all is said and done, Jude makes the exhortation, “to God our Saviour, who ALONE is wise, be glory and majesty …” It boils down to “God First” every time, and the importance of remaining objective always so we may see clearly and be less vulnerable to deception. The bible points the way and must be our final referrence. Praise be to God our Saviour! Spectacular picture today of the rays of light and distant Mount Olympus! Have a great day!
Dear Lord I desire to be like Jesus , Holy Spirit lead and guide me in the way I should go and be bold in my speach , only what the Father says , I dedicate my life to you today to use me for your praise honour and glory ,
We only read the bible to help us grow not to make God happy with us , we pray to get answers to others needs and move the mighty hand of God its not to make God happy with us , these are only to benifit us to make us more like Jesus .
God isnt mad at us , He loves us and cant love us anymore than He does right now , Lord make us more like Jesus to see a person in need and do something about it , not just pray but meet that need and if we can t met that need on our own resources get our friends and neighbours to help us .If a dingle mom needs a car we should be meeting that need , or if a vhild has no mattresss to sleep on ee can do it ourselves to get a mattress if we have the resources do something about besides prayer put feet to your prayers dont leave it for somebody else to do when you know you can this is faith showing Jesus
Ee can do it with our resources dont turn your back on a need you know you can help .Use us Lord and make us a blessing Amen
Amen to that Brenda!!!
And Amen to your prayer today Pastor David. My husband and I have experienced the faithfulness of God recently as we prayed fervently for one of our family who had stumbled badly but Praise THe Most High God, this family member after much repentance has returned like the prodigal son and is walking in the faith through mercy and grace of Our Loving Heavenly Father. Don’t ever give up on your lost loved ones. It may take a lot of tears but God is never late and the jewel He is making shines brightly for HIM when he has restored that dear one. HALLELUJAH!!!
Blessings to all today as we walk in The Light.
Praise God 😉
Amen!!!!!!!
Amen Brenda.
I agree with you 100% Brenda… May God give us the willingness and selflessness to meet other peoples need if and when we can without any hesitations … Amen
Until that last breath, a person can come to the Lord, even after years of not acknowledging Him and Jesus will be there with open arms. Right now I’m in between a rock and a hard place. I have to make a decision to have a “risky” surgery or not have it resulting in pain medication for the rest of my life. (and I don’t like THAT – drowsiness and other difficulties). How should I pray? I will call to Him and He has promised TO ANSWER and show me great and unsearchable things that I do not know. Jeremiah 33: 3
It is not my practise to pray for other’s hearing but I feel a need to tell you that I sympathize with you in such a dilemna and I will pray that God will do better for you than what the doctors told you to expect.
Pray with faith, for He said, ” if your faith is as small as a mustard seed, you shall move mountains” so pray with faith and it shall be well with your soul 🙂 amen!
Hi Doreen. Just to let you know that I am praying for you – that God would touch your body with His healing love- loving you, strengthening you, guiding you – as you are led forth in peace (Phil.4:4-8 esp, “with thanksgiving”.. “and the peace of God shall keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus – knowing you can trust God regardless of the risks – knowing that God can choose one of his ‘many’ ways of providing the healing solutions you need. See I Cor. 12:9. Most of gifts listed are in single tense, but when it comes to healing, it says “giftS of healing”. God can accomplish his plan in the way he chooses as you continue to yield your life and future to him. I think of the little chorus, “He is able, more than able..to accomplish what concerns me today. He is able, more than able to handle anything that comes my way…more than I could ever dream..to make me what He wants me to be.” Heb.11:1 LB. Samuel
Knowing this [the warning and the promise] beware that you do not forsake your own steadfastness but be faithful to God and Jesus (2 Peter 3:17).
Dear Pastor David and all bloggers,
Thank God for all your faithfulness in the Lord.
Due to health and various reasons, I wasnt able to join the blog and had been on and off trying to catch up with the scripture readings.
Ps 73:22-26 captured my heart and spirit particularly. Vs 22 says, “I was foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.”
Throughout this year of cancer trial, God also revealed the cancer in my spiritual life. He had graciously brought me face to face with the “beast” inside me. When I surrendered myself to Him, and obeyed to His discipline and reformation, He faithfully tamed and humbled my internal “beast”. I believed this is part of His miraculous healing. Though the latest scan still reflected presence of cancer in me, I felt a huge load off my soul and body, and my spirit can be at ease in praising Him despite the thrills in my health. Praise the Lord for His love and mercy!
Janet
God bless you Janet for your touching , enlighting personal testimoney
You are truly a servent of Christ so Jesus thank you so much for sustaining our sister in Christ Janet , being able to put on the full armour of God , covered by Your Blood and empowered by the Holy Spirit in the name above every name JESUS Amen Amen.
Carole .
Thanks so much for praying for me, Carole!
Oh Janet, how lovely to hear from you. You have been much in my prayers and I praise God for sustaining you and showing you what He wants you to learn, as we all need to.
Great to have you back and I will continue to pray for your healing each day and for all others having to go through health problems.
Our God will protect and be your ever loving presence and joy, knowing He has all of us in the palm of His hands. Enjoy the day He has given us. Peace be with you.
Thanks Catherine for your fervent prayers!
Amen !! It shall be well with your soul by His grace
I thank you Catherine for the testimony of your family member returning to Christ. Hallelujah, God’s word does not return back to Him void, but accomplishes that for which it was sent.My husband and I pray continually for our son to return to The Lord. He did serve him for a short time but because his foundation was weak, he fell and no longer serves him faithfully. When we visited him he did attend church with us two times. We pray that God’s word will penetrate his heart and give him food for thought.
Would you agree in prayer with us that “He who began a good work in him will complete it until Jesus returns”. Thank you and may everyone be blessed with all the goodness of God this day.
I will gladly pray for your son, as I prayed for ours. I did not mention it was our son, but it is truly amazing to see what the Lord has done in his life, and what he is learning day by day.
He struggles with a mental illness and has tried to take his life but God in His mercy brought him back and he has been stable for over a year now and is working. I ordered Dr. Grant Mullen (?)book for him through the estore and he says it is the best book to address his mental illness….this man gets it, he said!
In agreement with you Cherlene… It shall be well…. He is the Beginning and the End…
Heavenly Father thank you so much for letting me be able to celeberate my 37 th wedding anniversary with a husband that through the years has been such a gift , a treasure . His humor his patience his commitment to our home and family show such caring and love. And I finally understand that Jesus has been there from the first day we kissed till this very moment so Lord thankyou for keeping us under your precious wings and let me be able to witness YOUR PERFECT LOVE until my last breath in Jesus name Amen .
Blessed day everyone.
xxxx Carole.
Bless you and your dear husband Carole and may you be granted many more years together.
Amen and may your union continue to be like a bed of roses till the very end… In Jesus name!! Amen… Happy Anniversary and God bless you both
I missed your comment. Hope you had a wonderful 37th Anniversary! Your love and comittment for one another is truly a blessing!