Vibing off of Iranian/Persian ‘Jazz’ right now: https://youtu.be/Sf36e7w70pg?si=6R_9aTL5yEQnmeCH
In a season where the real war is for our focus and attention, we continue to take in the Word, we continue to allow the Word to flow out of us.
The word of Christ is Spirit, and it is Life. In conflict; In death and in darkness, we take in the Word of Life. In confusion; with all the distractions, with all the chaos, we continue to flow in the Spirit…
…and, all along, we are being held together, as we encourage the rest of the body of Christ to stick together and to thrive in harmony;
All along, as amazing things happen in the midst of the grief and fear, we groove in the Life, we flow with the Love, we move with the Light.
Thank You, Father, for the reading of Your Word.
Thank You, Father. You are true to Your Word.
Psalm 34
(Verses 1-3)
We will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in our mouths.
(if we were to boast, then) Our soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
(To the congregations, and to the rest of the world, we proclaim:) Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.
Indeed, we boast in Christ, we boast in His finished work; We encourage each other in the body, and call on the rest of the world who would call Him, Lord: Let us magnify and exalt His name together!
Let us come together, and praise Him as one, because
(Verses 4-7)
We sought the LORD, and He heard us, And delivered us from all our fears.
We looked to Him and we were radiant, And our faces were not ashamed.
Indeed, He hears us, He listens to us – which is why we are not ashamed. How wonderful to put those two together. How wonderful, to take in for ourselves: That we shall not be ashamed; We shall NOT be put to shame, for when we seek the LORD, He hears us, and He rescues us. When we look to the LORD, we shall be radiant; That is, we shall shine in awe of His goodness and greatness.
We were as poor men who cried out, and the LORD heard us, And saved us out of all our troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.
It’s so nice to go through this Word, and to claim it for ourselves, simply because we are encouraged in real-time, we are reminded – if we haven’t been saved yet, if we haven’t been delivered yet, count on our God, count on His angels to come and minister to us.
We shall not be left alone, we shall not be abandoned, we shall never be put to shame.
We are not only saved from shame, but brought to radiance – all because we trusted in the LORD. All because we seek Him, and He hears us. We look to Him, and He saves us; He delivers us.
Keeping this in mind, we continue to exhort:
(Verses 8-10)
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.
The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.
And in our taking in the Word, in our meditating on the Word… in our abiding with Christ, and in our dwelling in His safety, we are able to speak to entire nations and generations, exhorting, speaking out of love:
Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit.
Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.
We take in the Word, and we overflow in it; It is another demonstration of God’s love towards us, and our sharing of the Word to others is an overflow of this love.
It includes teaching, it includes rebuke; As we were taught and rebuked in love, so we are able to equip others, especially the next generations, in true love.
Though we, ourselves, need this reminder constantly. Let us continue to abide in Christ. Let us stay focused on Christ, who is the Life – the Life who adds to our days, and the Life who adds life and goodness to our days…
…that we ourselves would be filled in our hearts with life, that all that comes out of our mouths is life and truth;
…that we would prioritize peace beyond all understanding, above and beyond all that the world calls ‘good’.
We glory in the Lord, and we are thankful to Him, for who He is, and what He does. We trust in Him, and we are thankful because:
(Verses 15-22)
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous; (Through Christ, we have been made righteous. Therefore, His eyes are on us,) And His ears are open to our cry.
(We speak for the well-being and salvation of the entire world, for)The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
(We testify of Christ, because we who have been declared)The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers us out of all our troubles.
Indeed, in every state, and in every status, we who are in the body of Christ are surely blessed, because
The LORD is near to those (of us) who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
In all that we count as disgrace and misfortune, we continue to praise and glorify our God all the more, because we know:
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.
Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.
We’re in a season of meditation: Documentation for clarity, consolidation for a better perspective of our common ground, dwelling on the Word from the viewpoint of our salvation (through Christ and His finished work), and declaring the Word from our position of authority (by God’s grace, and by the power of the Holy Spirit).
It’s no accident that we are really going to see great grace out of great faith authored into us.
It’s no accident that this year, we will see, experience, and celebrate much more.
No accident that we proclaimed that this year, we would be bearing more fruit – because, clearly, we are meditating on His Word.
As such, we shall be as trees planted by the river, bearing fruit in season.
And, oh, what a season we’re in.
To God be all the glory and praise, now and forever.
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