Ps. 37 - A window of hope!!

Im just so grateful to God for speaking to me from this Psalm. One thing that really destroys our peace is fretting. Fretting is that constant nagging feeling at the back of your mind about a particular concern or an unresolved situation. Fretting is akin to a parasitic growth in two ways, in the sense that, firstly it depends on you - you are the one who frets and initiates the growth - and secondly it eats you up.

Well, to begin with, I like what verse 3 says, "Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness". You can hear God say, do not fear and run away or back off! Dont leave the battlefield that has been set. Dont run away from your situation which is actually the land that will bring you your inheritance. Your problem is the place where God is! IT is the place where you will experience His presence. So stay and feed on his faithfulness. Some versions say fix your mind on the truth. What is this truth? It is Jesus Himself! It is His word which we are to mediate on and think about.

Verse 4 says, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart."
Now what this verse says at first glance is to experience delight in the Lord and to find pleasure in Him. But again what the Hindi bible says is mind blowing!! It says, know the LORD (Jehovah) as your source of delight. WOW!!! Know God as my source of delight! The source of my pleasure, my joy, my happiness, my everything. Why...I can even know the Lord as the source of my intoxication and stimulation. After all Song of Solomon 1:2 says that His love is more intoxicating than wine and Eph 5:18 says to be stimulated by the Holy Spirit! No more cheap worldy pleasures, God Himself is my pleasure and the source of it all! He created these feelings, these emotions for us to experience from Him and not from other distortions.

Verse 5 says, "Commit your way to the Lord...."
I just wanted to bring in the insight that the Hindi bible gives again. It says...leave the worry of your ways to the LORD. Thats interesting again.

And finally verses 7 & 8, that talk about resting in the Lord, waiting patiently and more importantly - not fretting! Im sharing this because this is something I have personally gained victory over. In fact verse 8 so emphatically says, "...Do not fret - it only causes harm." Fretting becomes a habit with us. I have personally found it very beneficial to command yourself not to fret everytime you catch yourself fretting. And it works!! By the grace of God it works! Thank God for that.

Enjoy your victory over fretting...

Cheers,
Joeljc

A few verses and an evening to remember!

Now I know this blog is titled 'A few verses and....', but I'll start with the evening first!

Saturday evening saw me become an emcee or a host / compere for the first time in my life. The occasion was the graduation ceremony of my seniors and included the handing out of their Bachelor Degrees to them and Associate Degrees to a few others. This was a very important evening then with guests like the Consul General and the vice-consul of the U.S. in attendance along with other dignitaries from the parent campus. Compering the event was a big step-up for me as I have very rarely participated in college activites in this manner.

The evening, however, was one to remember and I had the time of my life! The normal back-stage messups notwithstanding, the event went off very well. Some of my teachers who knew this was a first time said, it did not seem like one at all. They said I was not nervous at all! After the end of the show, even a parent came up to appreciate the job done apart from my student colleagues.

But this brings me to the second part of my post! As always, I had to draw confidence from scripture, and here are a few verses, that I depended a lot on in the few days preceding the event:-

1) Isaiah 42:4,5 => "Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you....Fear not, for I am with you..."

2) Isaiah 41:15 => "Behold, I have made you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth..."

3) Psalm 18:1,2 => "I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." and finally....

4) Psalm 18:31, 32, 34

Those are verses I drew my strength and confidence from and I hope they bless you too!

Ciao,
Joeljc

Back home

Hello everyone,

I was away a long time from the overall blogging scene everywhere, because I was wondering what I should do. Here I am back again. I hope to use this blog in a variety of ways; chiefly to share what I meditate on. Let's see how it goes! Anyways, here's something I found I had written down a while ago in my study book as I was spending some time in worship with God while going through Isaiah -

God's love and his need for holiness is great. His intolerance of evil is fierce and ferocious. His engagement with holiness is absolute and consuming. That is why, He is a consuming fire. It is His holiness that makes Him consuming. As we draw into His presence, that is the first thing that we become aware of - His Holiness - and consequently - our own unrighteousness, uncleanness and unworthiness.

See you folks soon,
Joeljc