Psalm 27

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. 

6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.

7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

8 When thou saidst,  Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.

11 Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. 

13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

Chiasmus

Creation

                   Fall

                               Patriarchs

                                                    Zion  

                                                                 Abrahamic
                                                                  Covenant

                                                                                        Prophets

                                                                                                           Kings

                                                                                                                        Apostasy

                                                                                                                                          ATONEMENT

                                                                                                                       Apostasy

                                                                                                           Kings

                                                                                       Prophets

                                                                Abrahamic
                                                                 Covenant

                                                   Zion

                               Patriarchs

               Redemption

Millenium

Spiritually Oblivious

As a mother of 15 children, it never ceases to amaze me how oblivious children can be to things and situations around them. Children can be very aware of the world, but, generally speaking, only when they perceive that the things around them apply to them or when they have some interest held in what is going on around them. Even when I teach my kids about the things that they should take care of and show them how it affects them (negatively and positively), it seems that it just doesn’t really sink in until they reach a point where they actually desire to affect outcomes themselves. My desire for them to affect outcomes isn’t enough. They have to be willing-no, wanting-to seek those outcomes on their own. It is only then that they start to notice things. They start to notice things that they have to change about themselves. They start to notice the obstacles in their lives that are holding them back from what they really want to accomplish. They start to notice the tools that they are missing in their lives that would help them accomplish things more effectively. They start to develop systems that streamline their efforts. When they reach that point, while I am happy to help them and guide them along, I no longer need to try to motivate them. Their motivation comes from within and they rarely need me to point out the things to which they were oblivious before.

These things are greatly magnified when my children develop the ability to see beyond themselves and realize that they can positively influence the outcomes of the lives of those around them, too. The highest and noblest form of this comes when we realize that God is more interested in these outcomes than we can even begin to imagine and that being in His service is the means by which we can affect the greatest outcomes.

In prayer this morning, I expressed my desire to the Lord to be more involved in His work. He told me that the things that I needed to do would be all around me, but that I would be oblivious to them if my desire to learn about and to do His work does not take the highest priority in my life. Moreover, being in His service requires a stronger connection to Him than what I have now.  The better the connection, the better and more acceptable my service will be. It is good to be doing all that I can at the level to which I have progressed, but it is better to always be seeking a higher level of truth so that I can be a more profitable servant. I need to continue to search out His mysteries and works and receive them at His hand if I am to better understand and participate in them.

From John 15:

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.


See that in verse 5?  “...without me ye can do nothing.”  That doesn’t mean that we literally aren’t able to do anything. It means that our efforts are wasted on things that are not efficacious. Dead branches on trees are cut off and burned because they are of no worth to the tree. We are dead when we don’t abide in Him and when his words don’t abide in us. But when we do abide in Him and His words abide in us, His will becomes ours and when we ask for things we receive them. This is how the Father is glorified-in the fruit that we bear-and we are counted as the Lord’s disciples.

May all the servants of God seek to be less spiritually oblivious. May they desire to be more aware of how to be effective in His kingdom in these last days. May they gain a greater understanding of His purposes and works. May they gain strength and glory in His service.

Another Bug Dream

I must have an intense aversion to bugs. They communicate a lot to me.

I dreamt that one of my children opened up a box of cereal. It was the kind of cereal that has flakes made from a particular grain along with dehydrated strawberries.  As I poured the cereal into a bowl, I noticed a bug in the cereal. I almost missed it because it closely resembled one of the strawberries. I picked it out and continued preparing the cereal for consumption. My finding the bug, however, was not to be an isolated incident. I quickly spotted a couple more.

Not. Ok.

I stopped preparing the cereal and took a much slower and methodical approach to its examination. As I looked closer, there were maggots in the cereal and smaller adult bugs. They were almost completely camouflaged and their movement was virtually imperceptible. Although I didn’t see it, I was made aware of the insects’ excrement throughout the box. There was no way of salvaging any portion of the cereal and I immediately threw all of it into the trash.

The Name of the Blog

If you had asked me a few years ago if I believed I would ever start a blog, I would have said, "No way!", "Not in a gazillion years!", "Absolutely not!", or some other expression to convey the message that, while it defies logic, the probability of such an endeavor could be measured in negative numbers.  I am, at heart, an introvert. While I love learning, I prefer sitting at the back of a class immersed in my own thoughts as opposed to sitting on the front row with an answer ready for every question.  I have never really enjoyed sharing my most profound thoughts. They have always been "mine".

Recently, that has changed.

More and more, I have been acquiring new insights about the scriptures that I read. It is difficult, no impossible, to express how precious these insights are to me, but the Lord has told me that I needed to make some of these things public and that the way to do this was to start a blog.

Coming up with a name for the blog wasn’t easy for me. It had to “fit”-the teachings, my feelings, my intent. I had some ideas, but every idea that I had just wasn’t “the one”. In every case, I felt there was always a way in which someone might interpret the blog’s title as proof that I am somehow setting myself up as a spokesperson for the Lord. That isn’t my intent. At. All. My intent is to share concepts and principles that have helped me on my journey to know the Lord better. I am sure that these are flawed in some way, especially in my weak attempts to convey them in writing. Be that as it may, I have been asked to share them and it is my prayer that they will touch the heart of the reader in a way that will stoke their desire to know the Lord better themselves.

After many attempts to think of a name for the blog, I finally went to the Lord in prayer and told Him that, if He really wanted me to start a blog, He would need to give me a name by which it was to be called because I didn’t feel comfortable with any of the names that I had thought of. Immediately, “The Word of the Lord Unto Me” came to my mind. It was crystal clear and it instantly appeased me of my concerns. The things that I post on this blog are the things that the Lord has given TO ME.  If they can be applied to others in such a way that they draw others closer to Him, that is between them and the Lord, and it doesn’t change the fact that I have received these things for myself and know them to be good in that they brought me from a point at which I was to the point I am now in my relationship with the Lord. 

To the reader: Please don’t be offended by anything that I have written here.  I don’t want this blog to come across as proud or condescending. When the scriptures talk about the “depths of humility”, they aren’t kidding. An understanding of those depths comes from God, himself. A realization of who He is, what He is like, and our standing in relationship to Him takes us to those depths. I consider myself to be less than the dust and I spend a fair amount of time marveling at the Lord’s love for me and His love for everyone.

That being said, I implore the reader to not take these things lightly, either. Our salvation, in large measure, hinges on what we accept and on what we reject. It is important to not only not take new concepts so seriously that we become incensed and offended, but to also not consider them so unimportant as to reject them without some ponderous thought and deliberation.