Waist Deep 2018 - May 30


Psalm 139: 23, 24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (NIV)


It is only by invitation that he comes in and cleanses us.*


Psalm 139 began with David proclaiming that God has searched him and knows him; so now why is he asking God to search him? Perhaps the previous search was for the sake of God’s information; now David wants to know for himself what God has found. David is fully aware that he can’t fool God and so he is willing to surrender his disguises and let God reveal his hidden sins to himself. But knowing isn’t enough. Once his offensive ways have been exposed, he pleads for God’s direction.

When my first marriage was crumbling, I talked my husband into going with me to a Christian counselor. To friends and family, I had confided some of what we were going through but I feared they weren’t being objective – of course they would take my side! I believed that a counselor would be fair and unbiased. I wanted him to search me; to tell me what I was doing wrong in my marriage, and to tell me what I needed to do to fix it. I was willing to do whatever he recommended that I do.

Can we allow God to show us our offensive ways? He wouldn’t have to search long or hard as our sins are surely not few or small or unobtrusive. And those anxious thoughts – is it possible that he wants us to let go of them as well?  


Until we know how sinful we are in God’s eyes, we will never be able to be as good as God wants us to be.*


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Waist Deep 2018 - August 27

Image
Matthew 28: 19, 20 “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (NIV)    Never allow the thought – “I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly can be of no use where you are not.* In an offering meditation during Missions Emphasis month I began by asking everyone in the audience to stand. I told everyone who had been born right there in our county to sit down. More than 90% remained standing. Then, everyone who was born elsewhere in our state was told to take their seat. A few more sat. Next, if they were born in any other state in the US they could sit. In our multi-cultural community, that left a lot of people still on their feet. My point? We don’t have to go far to reach the world because the world has come to us.  It seems that we may have been slightly off the mark in how we have been interpreting Jesu...
Read more

Waist Deep 2018 - November 25

Image
I Thessalonians 5: 25 Brothers, pray for us. (NIV) We can do a great deal for people after we pray for them but little of lasting value until we pray for them.* I am guilty of thinking – and even saying – that prayer is the least I can do. Really? Is there something else I can do that is more powerful than praying? Paul doesn’t seem to think so – he ends his letter to the Thessalonians with this request for prayer and nothing more. There are reasons why we get a little judgmental when someone says, “I’ll pray for you.” One reason is we don’t believe he will actually do it. Sometimes it’s just something to say because we are socially awkward and don’t know what else to say. Often, offering to pray for someone is a way to avoid offering to do something for him. When my dad was dying, I had many friends who were praying for me. There was nothing that they could do . I don’t know what their exact requests were. Perhaps some prayed for my dad to get well (he w...
Read more

Waist Deep 2018 - January 25

Image
Exodus 34: 6, 7 “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.” (NIV) Numbers 14: 18 The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. (NIV) Psalm 86: 15 But you, O lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. (NIV) Psalm 103: 8, 10 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. . . . [H]e does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. (NIV) God does not tell you what He is going to do; He reveals to you Who He is.* Interviewing for a job challenges our ability to balance just the right amount of modesty with a healthy dose of self-confidence. We can be proud of our accomplishments but we don’t want t...
Read more