Psalm 77 - Reflection before Drama

Psalm 74 - Let Your Requests be Heard!

Psalm 54 - God is our help!

Resolutions

Did you make any new year resolutions?  How is that going?

I typically don't make new year resolutions because I am usually resolving every day to try to be better... resolving to be a more loving wife, resolving to be a more patient mother, resolving to be more organized, resolving to be a more caring friend, etc., etc.... Just making that short list makes me feel totally inadequate, and since I struggle with that, I figure I won't add any extra pressure on myself ;)

As 2014 was unfolding, I found myself thinking this was not going to be a very good year.  Three out of five of my immediate family were stricken with the flu on New Year's Eve, including myself.  My dad was hospitalized with pneumonia, my mom had to travel quite a distance as they do not live close to town, and where they live was in the grips of the now infamous polar vortex.  On top of that, their furnace started acting up.  All of this was completely out of my control and I realized that the one thing I could do was the MOST important thing I could do, pray!  Praying gave me a sanctuary of peace, that peace that passes all understanding.  We live in a sinful world and ALL of creation is affected by sin.  I was reminded that we are to keep our minds on good things.  Colossians 3:1-2 says ....set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set our minds on things above, not on earthly things. 

This will be my daily, life-long resolution:  To work on trusting God no matter how I feel, no matter what I see, no matter what!  I will pray daily that if doubt and fear creep in, God will remind me He is in control.  This is a resolution that won't leave me feeling inadequate.  This resolution will keep me firmly in relationship with our Heavenly Father, and I can't think of any better place I'd rather be.

Psalm 42 and 43 - Longing for the Creator

Song straight from Psalm 42 and 43

Psalm 30 - Prayer and Praise

Share your story of how God answered your prayer for mercy and changed them into prayers of thanksgiving forever.  

Please comment below for everyone to see, 

or email me:  steve@stpaulboca.com

Psalm 25 - A Covenant of Trust

Psalm 13 - Direct your prayers TO the LORD

Psalm 13:4 - "my enemy will say, "I have overcome him."  
This is certainly not true for Christ has overcome the enemy!  
Listen to this song that speaks TO the Savior about overcoming.

Psalm 4 - Honor, Joy, and Security from God

Apologize for no video, found out after recording that the video source I used can not be displayed in this blog and meanwhile I am in Lakeland, FL for our school's soccer and volleyball state tournaments, so I am not able to look to another video source to blog today.
However I do find myself sitting in a corner of our hotel room in the pitch dark because our two sons are trying to fall asleep, which in turns allows me to sit and write out what I spoke about in Psalm 4, so open your bibles and read a blog for 5 minutes as I can type with you step by step through this magnificent Psalm!
Psalm 4 is once again a prayer uttered by a writer, most likely David, in the midst of distress.  The distress is the writer being called out on the honor that he is trying to attribute to God and the ones surrounding him are taking this glory and shaming it.  This can rock some people's worlds when you are trying to do the right thing and by doing the right thing, it ends in distress.  However there is a beautiful way of handling this and the Psalmist does just that.  He stands firm in his honor because he knows what he is honoring and where his glory comes from - a Righteous GOD.  God hears the prayers of the faithful and it is like music, stringed instruments to His ears.
Later on down in the Psalm, there is something sweet to our ears here in America.  The ending of this Psalm speaks our culture through and through and how we should stand in the midst of it!  In verse 6 we have the words that come right out of scripture from the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible).  In verse 6, we have Numbers 6:25, where it says "Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord!"  This being an ancient prayer, it fits well here as the Psalmist is speaking to those around him who  are hoping for an increase in their grains and wine because that is where they find their joy and security.  But the one who prays has been given more joy by the sign of God's acceptance than would be gained from an abudance of food and drink!  The gift of trusting God transcends the value of any material good (this is where it can humble us in our american lifestyle).  That gift brings with it complete peace, a sense of completeness in relation to God, self, and others.  No sleepless anxiety erodes the night.  The Psalmist is content to find his joy and security in God and Him alone.
Let Psalm 4 rest in you this night and know that trusting in God and Him alone can bring us, honor, glory, and peace that transcends all understading and keeps our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus now and forevermore.  Have a peaceful night!  See you Monday morning for Psalm 5!

More Than Good Enough

Righteous.... upright or moral, acting in an upright way.

Many years ago my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer. His initial reaction was not one of strength or fortitude, therefore, neither was mine, my moms, or my sisters.  I remember falling to my knees with a feeling of hopelessness. Did I believe God was there? Absolutely!  My family decided to begin a daily prayer time, we would all pray the same prayer, based on one of God's promises, at the same time each day.  The first promise that we chose was James 5: 15-16  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.  If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. This is where my ideas about prayer came crashing down around me.  I found myself asking "What is prayer?"  I found myself questioning my role in prayer; Isn't God all knowing, all powerful, all loving?  Why do I need to pray and what difference is it really going to make?  Ultimately I did not feel righteous enough to pray for healing.  Righteous enough....  I know what you are thinking, but honestly I did not feel upright or moral enough to expect God to cure my dad from cancer just because I asked. I scoured the Family Christian Book Store for books on prayer and read them all.  Maybe if I found the perfect prayer, with the most perfect wording, and I kneeled just so in the perfect location, then God would hear and answer my prayer.  Finally, I think God had enough of watching me blow aimlessly in the breeze and I recall clearly the day Focus on the Family's monthly magazine arrived in the mail.  James Dobson, Ph.D. and then Chairman of Focus, in his opening thoughts, wrote "God wants us to come before Him in prayer".   In his article he quoted C.S. Lewis.....
Can we believe that God ever really modifies His action in response to the suggestions of men? For infinite wisdom does not need telling what is best, and infinite goodness needs no urging to do it.
But neither does God need any of those things that are done by finite agents, whether living or inanimate.  He could, if He chose, repair our bodies miraculously without food; or give us food without the aid of farmers, bakers and butchers; or knowledge without the aid of learned men; or convert the heathen without missionaries.
Instead, He allows soils and weather and animals and the muscles, minds and wills of men to cooperate with the execution of His will . . . It is not really stranger, nor less strange, that my prayers should affect the course of events than my other actions should do so. They have not advised or changed God's mind --- that is, His overall purpose.  But that purpose will be realized in different ways according to the actions, including the prayers, of His creatures.

For me, this clearly answered my questions regarding praying to our omniscient God, but what about my feelings of unworthiness?  A dear friend pointed out the following verse.
Philippians 1:11  ... filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ -- to the glory and praise of God.
This friend gently asked me "Do you mean to say that Jesus gave His life as atonement for our sins but it wasn't enough for your sin?"  I truly could not understand how I did not see it before.  I guess I wasn't looking until I had a crisis of faith.  I am so thankful that God loves us so much that He will not leave us in our doubt for long.  In His timing, for His purpose!

It has been a long road for my family, and not always an easy one, but He has allowed us more time with our dad and for that I am eternally grateful.  Prayer has become more than common table and bedtime prayers. God has used this trial to draw us closer to Him, and although I would not wish this on anyone, I would not want to trade the relationship gained.