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Ready for the trip home.
My Girls.
There is nothing like being around a new born child during the first hours of her life. It makes you realize how wonderful life can be. Everything continues on yet it seems to stop for you. I am amazed!
>A few favorites
>New Member of the Stevens’ Family
>Karin went into labor about noon. Taitum Serenity Stevens was born at 4:11 (PST). Thanks for you prayers! Mom and baby are doing great. More to come later….
>Pretty busy waiting for baby #2
>I have not been as regular with my writing here recently because it has gotten really busy just before baby #2. Some of it is preparing, some of it is trying to get a lot in before it comes. This morning I am heading off to the dentist to have some work done. Not fun.
Anyway I was comforted last night after my Community Group by Steve Brown’s words, “The church is like a bunch of porcupines trying to hug in a wind storm.” That about sums it up.
>Psalm 118:14-29
>14 The Lord is my strength and my song;he has become my salvation.
15 Glad songs of salvationare in the tents of the righteous:“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,
16 the right hand of the Lord exalts,the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”
17 I shall not die, but I shall live,and recount the deeds of the Lord.
18 The Lord has disciplined me severely,but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,that I may enter through themand give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered meand have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejectedhas become the cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord’s doing;it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made;let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save us, we pray, O Lord!O Lord, we pray, give us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God,and he has made his light to shine upon us.Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,up to the horns of the altar!
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;you are my God; I will extol you.
29 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;for his steadfast love endures forever!
Strength and song are a beautiful picture. Reminds me much of the personality of King David, the warrior artist. Both are rare, God is both for us. He is so good to us it leads us to sing. Remember “party over here…party over there.” His right hand is strong, it lifts us up, it does what is brave and good.
He will spare my life, so that I can sing this song he has given me. There is discipline, I screw up and know it, but that is far different then the suffering of death.
The kingdom of God that we enter is a great one. Gates of righteousness. Special stone that was unable to be used for any other purpose. Builders thought it was worthless but it is that stone in which the entire kingdom rests. I cannot help but here the Bob Marley song on the stone that the builder refused here. God has made it all and it is a sight to behold.
Take this song, take the name of the Lord with you and you shall be blessed. Light will shine on your path, and there will be food for the sacrifice. It is good to be on of the Lord’s.
>Psalm 118:1-13
>118:1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let Israel say,“His steadfast love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say,“His steadfast love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,“His steadfast love endures forever.”
5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord;the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.What can man do to me?
7 The Lord is on my side as my helper;I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lordthan to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.
10 All nations surrounded me;in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;in the name of the Lord I cut them off!12 They surrounded me like bees;they went out like a fire among thorns;in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
13 I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,but the Lord helped me.
This Psalm is the party over here…party over there psalm. God’s steadfast love endures forever, let’s hear it from the ladies…how about the ol’ folks, you house of Aaron, all of Israel. You can almost picture a MC with his microphone pumping up the crowd to this one. You say hey I say ha…HEY..ha…HEY…ha. Can you picture it? Yeah alittle silly I know but sure helps me get is more.
Then comes the verse. In distress call on the Lord, he answered and set me free. Sounds like a good song. When he is with me I’m not afraid for no one can mess with me. All the haters get what’s coming to them, because God has my back.
The “it is better’s” are almost a bridge to the song. Better than trusting in man, and better than trusting in princes. Men will let you down, and princes will be overthrown. God is steadfast and his love endures forever.
The “they surrounded me’s” come at it again, talking about those times of trouble. All around they had me, and yet in God’s name they are cut off. They plan to trap me fell through and I made it out. They are like bees, not a pretty picture, yet they still got cut off. In my own strength I couldn’t get out of the situation but rather had God there to help me. On my own all I did was fall, but God helped.
>Psalm 117
>117:1 Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!
2 For great is his steadfast love toward us,and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.Praise the Lord!
Great encouragement for me this morning. One of those days that the bed feels really good and it is easy to image staying in it all day. God faithfulness and love reminds me there is a reason to get up in the morning.
>Psalm 116:12-19
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12 What shall I render to the Lord
for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his saints.
16 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
One of the best new catholic hymns, and one of the only ones I know is from this Psalm. The cup of salvation is a beautiful picture for us. Jesus on the night he was betrayed prayed that God would take this cup from him, the cup he is referring to there is the cup of judgment. Jesus would have to go through hell in order to deliver unto us the cup of salvation. Thank God he did.
This Psalm really is pointing to Christ. God doesn’t find pleasure in the death of his saints, but rather in the one death that defeats death. You have faithfulness and thanksgiving being offered in this Psalm as only Christ can do. Following through with all of his vows perfectly.
>Getting the kids to church
>Not very genuine if you ask me, though if I were in a youth group I’d be excited about it.
This one regarding gaming is even better. Did I mention I saw the first movie of the series opening day in the theater? A buddy and I were the only two, other than an old couple in the theater. Great time for feeding cynicism.
http://gamepolitics.com/2007/10/05/left-behind-games-gets-apocalyptic-with-bloggers/
>Psalm 116:1-11
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116:1 I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserves the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest;
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
9 I will walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
10 I believed, even when I spoke,
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my alarm,
“All mankind are liars.”
Learning to be selfless is part of growth in spirituality, but there are some (many) personal benefits to being a Christian. Such as the guarantee that God will hear you. Now what kind of person would worship a God that doesn’t hear them? Sadly I see it around me all the time. People may not call it worship, or the thing they have based their life around a god, but that is what they do and that is what the house of cards their life is based on is functioning as. He hears me and rescues me from death.
I have never been the smartest guy in the room. Often times I have to work a little harder just to understand what for some people is very simple. Thankfully God takes care of the simple. He shows mercy to them. My goal is to do what wants me to do, to please him, and be found righteous.
This life can be very hard at times. In sales we say, “Buyers are liars.” That means don’t take people’s word for it, sometimes they don’t even know what they want. Here the scripture says “All mankind are liars.” That sounds harsh but that can be the reality in which we live. It hurts and it hurts deeply.
>Psalm 115:12-18
>12 The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron;
13 he will bless those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great.
14 May the Lord give you increase, you and your children!
15 May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth!
16 The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.
17 The dead do not praise the Lord,nor do any who go down into silence.
18 But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.Praise the Lord!
Even God’s blessing to us is bigger than ourselves as we normally think abou it. It is for our children as well. Now this would have been on the greatest concerns in the Ancient Near East. The concern would be that you would make it each day, and that your name would be carried on throughout the generations. Both equally important.
Why can God do this? Because he is the one who made the heaven and earth. He has the power, and it is in his advantage to take care of you so that you praise and honor him. Only alive people can do that. What a great way to start your day by remembering God’s desire to bless you before heading off.
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