Psalm 103:11-14
11 – For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 – as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.
13 – As a father shows compassion to his children, so does the Lord show compassion to those who fear him.
14 – For he knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
These verses really fuel my heart to worship God. I have known these truths for a long time. Yet they still amaze me. I have not yet stopped wondering at the greatness of his love and mercy toward me.
Two desires are stirred within me as a result of these verses. One is to live as one who fears God. Vs. 11 – “…so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him.” I want to do my part, so to speak. Though I know that I can never deserve his love, mercy or compassion apart from Christ’s work on the cross, I still want to get to Heaven and hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I want to know that I have done my best as far as my ability will allow.
The second desire I have as a result of meditating on these verses is to love others with the same steadfast love and compassion with which God loves me. I know I cannot love as perfectly as God does. But, because of Christ, the one and only Mediator who tore down the veil in the temple, I can ask God for his help to do so. And He has given me (because I am His child) the Holy Spirit who will help me in my journey of sanctification every day.
So, I am a mess and I mess up every day. But, there is hope.
Thank you, Father!
*the Fighter Verses for this week are Psalm 103:15-16
Pictures: February 19-25
Psalm 103:8-10
8 – The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 – He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 – He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
I remember discovering these verses a few years ago. They seemed to sum up my thoughts about God so well at the time. After the phrase “He does not deal with us according to our sins,” I wrote the following words into my Bible: “as we deserve”. No matter what my spiritual “temperature” at the time is, these verses always strike a chord of amazement for me. Thinking about how incredibly merciful God is to me while I deserve nothing better than Hell brings me to my knees.
I’ve been thinking about prayer, lately. Probably in part due to the fact that my church is doing a five sermon series on prayer. But I think also due to the fact that God is just laying these thoughts on my heart. I have had a growing desire to find a careful balance in my prayers.
On one hand I want to avoid too much of an attitude that uses prayer as a means of telling God what I do or do not want. Yes, I realize that we are commanded to bring our requests to him (Ask, seek, knock – Luke 11:9, for example) and I don’t want to downplay that. But on the other hand, I long for my prayers to be a means of blessing God. Praising His many wonderful attributes. Thanking Him for mercy, grace, love, forgiveness, etc. Exalting Him above all other gods. And I do not want to leave out the importance of listening for His voice (maybe not literally).
I’ve often thought of prayer as if I’m conversing with God. But if I am doing all the talking and not much listening then it’s more like a monologue than a conversation. And if I am just coming to Him with my list of prayer requests and then walking away, it seems that I’m treating him more like Santa Claus.
Therefore, the verses for this week mean so much to me because they lead me to worship God. When I read them I feel like the praise and adoration that I have for God just flow right out.
Hmmm, more verses that would be good for me to have visibly displayed in my home, perhaps?
*the Fighter Verses for this week are Psalm 103:11-14
Pictures: February 12-18
Happy Valentine’s Day!
One day this week I decided that we should go on a little adventure. I was feeling the need to get out of the house and find some fun places for Joy.
Last summer we went to a place called Choo Choo Bob’s Train Store for a 2 year old boy’s birthday party. At the time, Joy was about 8 months and not all that interested in actually playing with the wooden train sets.
But lately I have been wondering if I should take her back now. I wasn’t sure if she would play with them all that much or just put them in her mouth. And I wondered if she would be the only little girl in the whole shop, though that wouldn’t have kept me away. To my delight, she wasn’t the only girl and she loved playing with the trains! In the front of the store they have electric trains running and she was initially a bit afraid of those.
But once we moved to the back of the store and she got busy playing with the wooden train sets, she then became so excited that she ran to the front of store and pointed at the electric trains, yelling excitedly at them!
Our next stop was a library that I hadn’t been to in a long time. I was curious to see what their children’s section was like. We walked in at 10:30 and found no children in sight! I guess they had just opened at 10:00 and no one had come, yet. So everything was set up perfectly in this bright, sunny corner of the building which had window seats all around. I instantly fell in love. It just had the perfect blend of quiet, peaceful library mixed with the fun, happy child-friendly toys and books atmosphere.
Joy would pick out a board book, bring it me and drop in on the floor in front of me and then go back for another one until she had about 3-4 of them piled up. Then she would settle into my lap and we would read/look through them. She has really shown interest in child-sized chair/table sets, lately so it was fun for her to sit up at the table and read.
She has also been playing more with stuffed animals and dolls, so she enjoyed the dolls they had there.
The other thing they had, which I thought was super cute, was a table for coloring. They provided blank pieces of paper as well as coloring pages, markers and crayons. Joy hasn’t gotten into drawing or coloring yet, but it was still fun to see her try it out a little bit. And of course, she enjoyed sitting in a chair at a table just her size.
We’ve already been going to a storytime at the library here in Roseville (which is less than a 5 minute drive away) but I’m now interested to see what the storytime at this library is like. Since they are on different days, maybe we’ll even try going to both. Something free to help the time pass in these winter months!
Crazy hair – if a nap doesn’t do it, her hat will.
Sweet face.
Today is brought to you by the color purple.
Reading with her Papa. “Oh, this part is good. You’ll like it!”
FaceTime with Nana.
And that was our week in pictures!
Psalm 103:5-7
5 – who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 – The Lord works righteousness and justice for those who are oppressed.
7 – He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
One thing that stuck out to me in verse 5 is “who satisfies you with good.” It doesn’t say that God satisfies up with all that we ask for or want. It doesn’t say that God satisfies us with all of the pleasures available to us. It doesn’t even say that He satisfies us with good things. He satisfies us with good.
Now, His idea of “good” and my idea of “good” don’t always line up, exactly. If I am in my right mind and able to think objectively then I can see how everything He does is good. But it doesn’t always feel so simple, clear or comfortable.
Enter verse 7, “He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.” Why do you think that is? How good is it for me, in those moments when I don’t feel like God’s work is “good,” to be able to look at the ultimate record of God’s work throughout history, the Bible? Not only does this remind me that there is a bigger picture to be seen than my little comfort bubble in my little life, but also, there are greater things at stake. God’s glory, for one!
Not only does God look out for my best by satisfying me with good, He also promises to “work righteousness and justice for those who are oppressed” and has left stories to remind us of how He can be nothing but true to His word.
*this week’s Fighter Verses are Psalm 103:8-10
