selected verses, for me, & maybe for you

1 I love you, LORD;

  you are my strength.

2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;

  my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.

He is my shield, the power that saves me,

  and my place of safety.

3 I called on the LORD, who is worthy of praise,

  and he saved me from my enemies.

16 He reached down from heaven and rescued me;

  he drew me out of deep waters.

17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies,

  from those who hated me and were too strong for me.

19 He led me to a place of safety;

  he rescued me because he delights in me.

20 The LORD rewarded me for doing right;

  he restored me because of my innocence.

24 The LORD rewarded me for doing right.

27 You rescue the humble,

  but you humiliate the proud.

28 You light a lamp for me.

  The LORD, my God, lights up my darkness.

29 In your strength I can crush an army;

  with my God I can scale any wall.

30 God's way is perfect.

  All the LORD's promises prove true.

  He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.

31 For who is God except the LORD?

  Who but our God is a solid rock?

32 God arms me with strength,

  and he makes my way perfect.

33 He makes me as surefooted as a deer,

  enabling me to stand on mountain heights.

34 He trains my hands for battle;

  he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.

35 You have given me your shield of victory.

  Your right hand supports me;

  your help has made me great.

36 You have made a wide path for my feet

  to keep them from slipping.

46 The LORD lives! Praise to my Rock!

  May the God of my salvation be exalted!

48b You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies;

 

49 For this, O LORD, I will praise you among the nations;

  I will sing praises to your name.

Jesus' death

I'm reading through the gospels right now. (I'm also reading a Psalm each day (# 17 today), & in the Old Testament, too (Numbers 28 - whew! lots of tedious stuff!)

Today was Mark 15. It tells about Jesus' trial, flogging, humiliation, & crucifixion.

He went through all that for me...

and you...

being kept

Psalm 16 (selected verses)

1 Keep me safe, O God,

  for I have come to You for refuge.

2 I said to the LORD, "You are my Master!

  Every good thing I have comes from You."

4 Troubles multiply for those who chase after other gods.

(dan note: people worship other things these days besides a diety - it can be most anything)

  I will not take part in their sacrifices of blood

  or even speak the names of their gods.

(dan note: iow, I worship anything nor give my heart & allegiance to anything but God)

5 LORD, You alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.

  You guard all that is mine.

6 The land you have given me is a pleasant land.

  What a wonderful inheritance!

7 I will bless the LORD who guides me;

  even at night my heart instructs me.

8 I know the LORD is always with me.

  I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me.

9 No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.

  My body rests in safety.

11 You will show me the way of life,

  granting me the joy of Your presence

  and the pleasures of living with You forever.

Don't know who this is for, besides me. Hope it helps.

no slackin' off

Mark 13:34 "The coming of the Son of Man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. When he left home, he gave each of his slaves instructions about the work they were to do, and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return. 35 You, too, must keep watch! For you don't know when the master of the household will return—in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak. 36 Don't let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning. 37 I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch for him!"


I'm not much into end times stuff.

Why?

I guess there's just so many people who are going to hell all around me, or who are struggling to simply function, that I don't have time to think about it that much.

And I know it's gonna happen, probably NOT in any of the ways a gajillion people have told us it will.

That being said, for some reason, I have this funny feeling that His return is a LOT closer than we think.

So?

There are thousands of people all around us all the time who are simply gonna miss out if we don't tell them about Jesus.

You & I are Christ followers because someone(s) took the time to tell us about Him.

Where would you & I be if that person or persons decided they weren't gonna share Him with us?

Yep... facing an eternity that's pretty grim.

You & I are that person for countless people all around us.

We can't afford to be slack.

here it is, all boiled down...

Mark 12:28 One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

  29 Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this: 'Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. 30 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' 31 The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'* No other commandment is greater than these."

  32 The teacher of religious law replied, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. 33 And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law."

  34 Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Love God, love others.

I have a really cool new friend who has those words tattooed on his arms.

I believe his inner right forearm (yes, from his wrist to his elbow) says in beautiful script "Love God".

On the opposite inner left forearm, it says "Love Others". I have serious tat envy.

But that's it folks - of all the things God wants us to be & do, Jesus Himself said it - Love God, love others.

So, let's get to it.

unfailing

Psalm 13:5 But I trust in Your unfailing love.

  I will rejoice because You have rescued me.

6 I will sing to the LORD

  because He is good to me.

unfailing (from dictionary.com)

1. without error or fault

2. reliable or constant

promises

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie.
   He is not a human, that He should change His mind.
Has He ever spoken & failed to act?
   Has He ever promised & not carried through?

Psalm 12:8 The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in the furnace, purified seven times over.


Whenever I'm reading in the mornings & I see similarities in what I'm reading, I listen up. I read something in the Old Testament, Psalms (me & Billy Graham), & the New Testament. I don't try to coordinate them. I read sequentially in the OT & Psalms - as in book to book, psalm to psalm. In the New Testament, I ask where I'm supposed to go next when I finish a book. Right now I'm reading sequentially through the Gospels

So, when I saw "promises" twice, I pricked up my ears to see what promise(s) I'm supposed to count on from God.

It seems these are the promises. The first one came from this morning's reading in the gospel of Mark. The other is one of the 5 passages He gave me in 2010 to hold on to through this season of change & relocation.


Mark 10:29 "Yes," Jesus replied, "and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News,30 will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life.31 But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.*"

Isaiah 41:9b For I have chosen you & will not throw you away.
10 Don't be afraid, for I am with you.
   Don't be dismayed, for I am your God.
   I will strengthen you.
   I will help you.
   I will uphold you with My victorious right hand.


You may say that this is all a coincidence.

Possibly.

But in the 8 years I've been getting up early & reading the Bible & listening, the coincidences happen more & more frequently, at the right times.

I don't know if this is for someone out there, or what. I just wanted to record what's going on with me. If that helps you - great!