Voting Psalms 2 and An Ended Week

"Why are the nations in an uproar

and the peoples devising a vain thing?

The kings of the earth take their stand

and the rulers take counsel together...

He who sits in the heavens laughs,

The Lord scoffs at them.

Then He will speak to them in His anger

And terrify them in His fury, saying,

But as for Me, I have installed My King

Upon Zion, My holy mountain...

Ask of me and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,

And the very ends of the earth as Your possession...

Now therefor, O kings, show discernment;

Take warning, O judges of the earth.

Worship the Lord with reverence

and rejoice with trembling.

Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry,

and you perish in the way,

For His wrath may soon be kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in Him."

Thank you all who prayed for the time of worship and teaching on Sunday. Sometimes I can only express my feelings in ways that I have sung them before: "I need Thee, O I need Thee, every hour I need Thee. O bless me, Thou my Savior, I come to Thee." My hour of need was as brilliantly obvious as a harvest moon on a cloudless night. It is as though everyone could have pointed it out at once, completing my exposure, much like in the case of the emperors new clothes. As I expressed it to a friend, it is rare that I stand before a group of people and do not find myself to be the most needy for a message. I am often scared of trying to win men with words and then scared of my articulation being too bland. Then Jesus arises in my hearts, just as he towered from his wee boat over the tempting Galilean waves, and speaks clearly to me, "Be still." It is Him that it is all about. Both eloquence or elocution bow meaninglessly low in His presence. "Freedom is not for us and what we want. Freedom is to be a slave to to the Son." It was the message. A message that is freedom in believing. Freedom isn't preaching a good sermon, or voting for the right presidential candidate, or finally kickin' the habit; no, freedom is found in Jesus. You see Jesus isn't found in quitting your addictions or being enlightened from your present slumber. Jesus CANNOT be compared even to these important experience. His words only call out the love of those who cherish eternity in their hearts and will subject themselves no longer to the fantasies and temperaments of passing pleasures. Has it ever really dawned on you that God made you and knows what you really need. He does not want you to just keep walking and at some point He will come along and join you in-stride; no, Jesus wants you to be born again. "He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf" (2 Corinthians 5:15).

Friday Night:

Sometimes you know why a person did what they did (to put it plainly). It was his birthday and nobody knew. Well, that is not completely true. I think it would be true to say that nobody knew what was in his heart--just how much he wanted to be loved on that day. He had told a few people and his family knew; but, his family did not want to pick him up and the others forgot or had other things to do. So he came down early to the coffee shop, dressed in a dark brown-styled UPS uniform for Halloween. There are only a few people to mingle with, most are busy, too busy to stop or remember. It's not worth it. So he asks a girl if she has any she could sell. She tells. He lies. He hears himself over and over again...lying. "I am a waste." Broken he returns home. The birthday was a waste, I am a waste. Unable to obtain green chemical comfort, he takes too many sleeping pills and passes out on the couch. By the middle of teen night the pieces had puzzled themselves together and I was walking up to pull him off the couch and tell him how much he was loved--how happy I was that he was born and that it was his birthday. We read through John and I told him about new birth. He was fascinated that when people practice truth they want their deeds to be made known before men and God (paraphrase of John 3:21). Please pray for this young man. I don't know if he remembers that night.