Thursday, October 2, 2008

Psalm Eleven...

In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
“Flee like a bird to your mountain,
for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
they have fitted their arrow to the string
to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
if the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”

The Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord's throne is in heaven;
his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
The Lord tests the righteous,
but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
Let him rain coals on the wicked;
fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
the upright shall behold his face.

word: “righteous”
phrase: “The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven.”
call: “The Lord tests the righteous.” Living the Christian life won’t always be easy. You can’t and won’t feel close to God at all times. The Lord tests us and our faith. As it says in James 1:2-3, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” To be steadfast is to be firmly established and unwavering. We need our faith to be tested by the Lord. Granted, those times aren’t always exactly enjoyable and fun, but through them our faith gains strength in the only true source of power and more firmly establishes what/who we stand for—God.

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