Something to think about as you start a new week

Monday Meditations are quick posts designed to get you thinking about God. They provide a fresh perspective as you jump into your routine.

Worship Him: Your Shield

By Paula Wiseman

But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. Psalm 3:3

We think of a shield as something you hold.
Something you carry and you have to position to defend yourself.
While it’s good to have, a lot of its protection and effectiveness
Rests with the one carrying it.

You, O LORD, are a shield about me.
That means permanently.
On every side.
Above, behind, to the sides, and in front of.

The shield about me
Does not depend on my effectiveness,
My timeliness in calling on Him
Or even my knowledge of the enemy.

It depends on one thing.
The LORD.
All caps means it is the Hebrew word, Yahweh.
It depends on the relationship.

The LORD defends His own.
But beyond that He honors us.
He brings joy
Even in the midst of an attack.

That is the LORD.
Worship Him
He is your SHIELD.

Launching Out

By Paula

When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Luke 5:4

Jesus’s words were authoritative, enlightening and transformative.

They challenged the status quo in society as well as in the hearts of the individuals listening.
They were equal parts compassionate and convicting.

However, it does us no good if they are just words.
It does us no good to read, to study, to teach and be taught if that’s where it ends.
At the end of the words, there must be action.

Launch.

Go.

Do.

Jesus said to launch out into the deep.
Where commitment was necessary.
Where effort was required.
And Simon Peter did.

The people on the shore heard great words that day, no question.
But Simon Peter had a great catch.

Jesus ended His earthly ministry, stopped speaking long ago…
Are we content with listening to a discourse or are we launching into the deep?

Acceptable

By Paula

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14

I have always viewed this verse as a prayer, something I wanted God to do for me.
Transform my words, and the thoughts that gave rise to them, so that they are acceptable to You.

It’s an honorable, worthy prayer, born of a desire to please God.

It’s not exactly worded like a prayer though.
These are the words that accompany an offering left on an altar.

See, that changes things.
My words are not held up as something for God to fix.
They are an act of worship.
My thoughts are not something I want Him to sanctify.
They are offered to Him as a sacrifice.

Would the last ten conversations I had make much of an offering?
Even if I only counted the substantive ones?
Would the things my mind and emotions landed on yesterday bring delight to the one I claim as LORD?
Were they His kind of thoughts?

May these gifts I give You be acceptable.
May the things I say,
May the things that linger in my heart and mind,
Be gifts worth giving You,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

People Are Not the Enemies

By Paula

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

The New Living Translation reads, “we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies.”
This is easy to forget.

People are not the enemies.
Regardless of politics,
lifestyle,
reputation
or belief.

Oh, they may consider us enemies.
They may defame us, defraud or disparage us.

They are in the very same place we were.
This is also easy to forget.

We are all people.
Made in the image of God.
Loved by the Father.

We are all sinful.
We are all hopeless without Christ.
We have too much in common to be enemies.

Seven Woes: Blood of the prophets

By Paula Wiseman

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Matthew 23:29-30

What were the Pharisees doing?
Prophets are God’s messengers.
The monuments to martyred prophets were rightly revered.
The Pharisees were especially mindful to honor those prophets.

But they claimed superiority over their forefathers.
THEY would not have martyred God’s spokesmen.
They would have honored those prophets and their word.

Jesus knew their hearts.
He knew they were plotting His death.
He was not merely a prophet speaking FOR God.
He was Emmanuel, speaking AS God.

Every single thing the Pharisees did was for show.
They were self-serving, self-aggrandizing, and self-righteous.
They were deceived. Deluded. Blind.

Do we read Scripture and make the same mistake as the Pharisees?
Are we self-righteous when we consider others?
Do we call out a sin in others when we were committing the same sin or worse?
Do we ever tear down a messenger from God?

Jesus consistently reserved His harshest words for those who were most religious.
Here He unequivocally disabused them of the notion
That they would not have shed the blood of the prophets.

The woes are a caution to us.
Let us be authentic, humble, teachable.
Let us love God with our whole beings.
Let us devote ourselves to His word.
Let us love and serve one another.
Let us be children of God.

In the Garden

By Paula Wiseman

I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing;
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing. [Chorus]

I’d stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling;
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe,
His voice to me is calling. [Chorus]

Chorus:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known.

C. Austin Mile, 1913
Read Psalm 71:1-8

This hymn of quiet communion with Christ is well beloved. We seem to identify with that moment where all the cares and pressures of the world fade away and we simply enjoy being Christ. The fact is, that is available to us now, if we would take advantage of it. Get away with Jesus. Spend some quiet moments alone with Him, whether it’s the garden, the woods, the back porch, the basement, or wherever works for you. May we long for the day when we will live in His presence in His kingdom.

Worship Him: Your Shield

Launching Out

Acceptable

People Are Not the Enemies

Seven Woes: Blood of the prophets

In the Garden

Encounters Series

Covenant of Trust Series

Foundations Series