June 27, 2011

"Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth— he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,  to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in you."      Psalm 33

Summer in the Psalms is into week five already! As I prepare for a message appropriate for the Fourth of July week-end I will be dissecting Psalms 33 beginning this morning. So, far this is how I have outlined it and I believe I see a pattern consistent with what motivated the Founding Fathers to develop the greatest nation to grace the face of the earth.

I understand that the immediate context of these verses applies to the nation of Israel but I can see the "big idea" that looks like what America became. See what you think.

The Purpose of Our Nation, Vv. 1-3

God raised up the nation of Israel to be a people who would worship Him! He raised up a nation of people through whom He could demonstrate His great power and grace. He formed a nation out of whom a Savior could be born.

While I will be developing this thought throughout the week, I believe the freedom to worship God without pressure or interference from the government was a driving force toward the founding of this nation.

The Principles of Our Nation, Vv. 4-11

Two of the foundational prinicples upon which our great nation was established are mentioned here: rightousness and justice. Righteousness essentially means that we look to God to determine what is right and wrong and justice is the implemetation of right and wrong. A sincere wholesale return to righteousness and justice would sure help restore our nation today!

The Protection of Our Nation, Vv. 12-19

Where should we look for national security in a post-911 world of terrorists who are developing nuclear weapons? Ours is a world governed by the aggressive use of force, is it realistic to think that trusting God can keep us safe?

God did a good job of protecting His nation, Israel when they trusted Him. But Israel maintained an army, too. But I think the big point here is that security comes from the inside out. Like everything else in our world, it is fundamentally a spiritual issue.

The Promise of Our Nation, Vv. 20-22

Is fundamental change really the hope of our future? Doesn't it make more sense to understand what has worked for us in the past and project that forward? Should we not rediscover the roots of our greatness and replant the seeds of our success?

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD" ..........

June 26, 2011

"I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted. I remembered you, God, and I groaned; I meditated, and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak.I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; I remembered my songs in the night. My heart meditated and my spirit asked: “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time. Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”  Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.  The waters saw you, God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed. The clouds poured down water, the heavens resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth. Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked. Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron."   Psalm 77

It seems that a young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what do you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they got soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked. "What’s the point, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity--boiling water--but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water. "Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"

One reason I have chosen to spend this Summer in the Psalms is because the Psalms deal with the gamut of emotions that you and I face in everyday life! This Psalm, for instance tackles discouragement in a very true and transparent manner.

In the dangerous and difficult world where we live, you can easily become discouraged. You may be discouraged by someone else, you may be discouraged by yourself or you could be discouraged by God - or even all three!

So, how can you deal with discouragement in a way that changes the water?

I have given you five ways of dealing with discouragement when it shows up uninvited at your door. Let me remind you of those:

1) Devotion Not Emotion, vv, 1-7

2) Perspective Not Panic, vv. 7-13

3) Certainty Not Speculation, vv. 13-14

4) Recommit Don't Quit, vv. 11-12

5) Declare Don't Despair, 14-20

Discouragement is a big tool in the enemy's arsenal and he will attack you with it early and often. He intends to use it to cause you to feel like giving up. If you don't handle it it can lead to depression. But, if you learned to handle discouragement and learn to use it to draw closer to God, the enemy will be less likely use it against you! So, if he tries to use that one weapon against you I have given you five to defend yourself with!

June 25, 2011

Concept #5 - DECLARE DON’T DESPAIR

“You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. The waters saw you, God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed. The clouds poured down water, the heavens resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth. Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked. Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”  Psalms 77:14-20

The world says, “Seeing is believing!” Christians say, “Believing is seeing!”

Faith is seeing before you see! Hebrews 11:1-2 says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen."

If you are looking at something and talking about it that is not faith! That is a description because you are telling what you see! If you are talking about something that has already happened that is not faith! That is a report because you are sharing what you have seen. But if you are declaring it and it hasn't happened yet - that is faith because your are verbalizing what you believe you will see!

There is tremendous power in  your words! Positive words have power for good and negative words can destroy.

I have an idea that if you go back and trace how you became discouraged it had something to do with a negative declaration or two that came from your lips to your ears to your mind and into your spirit. Perhaps it was negative hurtful words spoken to you by someone else that caused you to become discouraged.

God spoke the world into existence by His words! He declared it and it happened! I am not saying that we are God, but I am saying that we can declare His Word and when we do there is power! That is exactly what Aseph the worship leader was doing right here in these verses. And guess what! It worked!

President John F. Kennedy made this challenge just five months after being inaugurated as President, "First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."

At the time he issued this bold declaration the technology did not exist to make this a reality. But because he spoke it and because Americans heard it and embraced it and believed it and just eight years and two months later Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar landscape! As amazing as it was it would not have happened if JFK wouldn't have declared it!

If you struggle with discouragement or even despression, be careful what you declare with your lips and what you hear with your ears. Make faith declarations. Read the word and read it aloud so you can hear it. Make sure you get to worship service where you can hear God's truth read, and sang and preached.

Don't be discouraged! Declare don't despair!

June 24, 2011

^"I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.  I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”   Psalms 77:11-12

This week I have been studying the 77th Psalm which deals with the very practical issue of discouragement and how to deal with it.

So far I have shared three of five concepts I find in this Psalm to help overcome or prevent discouragement. For sake of review those concepts are:

Concept One - Devotion Not Emotion

Concept Two - Perspective Not Panic

Concept Three - Certainty Not Speculation

This morning I will share the fourth concept for your consideration:

Concept #4 - RECOMMIT DON’T QUIT

Aseph was faced with the very same decision as you and I face when we are discouraged, “Why not just give up?”

Discouragement can cause you to lose hope and when you lose hope you can begin to wonder, "It this worth it? Why should I keep trying? Why not just quit?"

Quitting smoking is good! Quitting drugs is good! Giving up any harmful practice, attitude, habit or relationship is good. Quitting on God is never good. If you quit on faith what are you going to believe that is better? Oprah? Dr. Phil? And if you quit on God, where can you go?

"A majority of the great historic accomplishments of the past have been the final result of a persistent struggle against discouragement and failure. A man is never beaten until he thinks he is. Without perseverance, the chances of his succeeding are small indeed."

Harold Sherman, wrote a book “How to Turn Failure Into Success”. In it he gives a “Code of Persistence”

a. I will never give up so long as I know I am right.

b. I will believe that all things will work out for me if I hang on until the end.

c. I will be courageous and undismayed in the face of odds.

d. I will not permit anyone to intimidate me or deter me from my goals.

e. I will fight to overcome all physical handicaps and setbacks

f. I will try again and again and yet again to accomplish what I desire.

g. I will take new faith and resolution from the knowledge that all successful men and women have had to fight defeat and adversity.


h. I will never surrender to discouragement or despair no matter what seeming obstacles may confront me.

Winners never quit and quitters never win! Aseph was a winner. It was his job to lead God's people, including King David, in worship. He served at the pleasure of the King, it wasn't his to decide to quit. He had made a commitment to the King and to the Lord. A commitment means he had promised not to quit. That is the nature of commitment, it eliminates every other option including the option to quit. Commitment demands that when you feel like it is time to quit you recommit!

Perhaps you have been battling discouragement and you have come to the point of wondering if it is worth it to keep trying. Maybe you are about to quit on your faith or your marriage or your job. Let me encourage you that if you have made a commitment and sealed it with a promise, you don't need to quit you need to recommit!

June 23, 2011

Concept #3 - CERTAINTY NOT SPECULATION

“Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.” Psalm 77:13-14

Like Aseph, when I am struggling with bouts of discouragement it is very easy and, maybe even natural, to project the current troubles forward. Pain and problems have a way of eroding my attitude and causing me to think negatively. And the longer the trouble lasts the easier it is to begin assuming that it will continue. That feeds the discouragement.

I don’t know that the trouble will continue. There really is no way to know. But the pain and the panic and the problems can cause me to feel like they will never end or even get worse. That  negative speculation regarding the future serves to deepen the anxiety and prompts negative or even fatalistic thoughts about tomorrow. Losing hope about tomorrow makes me more susceptible to adding to my discouragement.

So what do I do when I am already discouraged and my prognosis looks bleak? How should I respond when God seems deaf to my pleas for some relief and the heavens seem like brass?

I can continue to speculate about how bad it could be going forward OR I could go back and begin remembering the good things God has done for me in the past. That is what Aseph did. He did not give in to speculation but remembered that God is good even when times are bad and life is painful. I like that idea! That seems like a very good plan for battling discouragement.

So, I won’t speculate, rather retreat mentally to some of your favorite times with God when His goodness was obvious and His power was on display. When I don’t understand what God is up to I choose to focus on what I DO know about Him and what He has done and what He is still able to do! I choose certainty over speculation.

Will you?

I am certain that God is holy and that He is love and that He is powerful and He is righteous and He is good. I am certain that He loves me and has good plans for my future. I am certain that He is able to make all things work together for my good – even the painful things.

To work your way through a bout of discouragement, don’t speculate about what MIGHT happen. Rather choose to meditate on what you know for sure about God! When you are not sure what might happen focus on what you know - HE is in control.

CERTAINTY NOT SPECULATION!

June 22, 2011

Concept # 2 - PERSPECTIVE NOT PANIC

“Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God?"   Psalm 77:7-13

One of the signs of discouragement is a loss of perspective. Things in your headlights look bigger than they actually are and objects in your rearview mirror look better than they were. Perception often does become your reality and when you are seeing life as overwhelming it becomes overwhelming. As life overwhelms you it crushes the hope out of you giving rise to discouragement.

Another sign of discouragement is the use of exaggerations - “Will the Lord reject FOREVER?” – In your calmer moments you know better than that. But pain or problems can cause you to panic and lose your perspective. “Will he NEVER show his favor again?” Seriously, you know better. “Has his unfailing love vanished FOREVER?” Really? Uh, no! I think you get my point.

When you hear yourself or someone else using exaggerations like this, especially in regard to God, you should recognize that as a sign of panic. It is evidence of discouragement and a loss of perspective. If you don’t make an intentional effort to address the panic and regain perspective it will become a downward spiral feeding on itself. Unless it is confronted and dealt with it will descend into depression.

Should you recognize this panic and loss of perspective and you realize you are discouraged but can’t shake it by yourself, call a friend or your pastor. Like Aseph in this Psalm, the best way out of panic is to get perspective back. See how he gets a hold on his distorted view of reality and focuses on God – "Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God?"

Big problems are put back into perspective when you regain your focus on a BIGGER GOD! His power and His presence will help you get back your perspective. Once you have your perspective back your panic will ceases and you hope will begin to return.

I have had this happen to me. I know about panic – even panic attacks. Losing perspective and plunging into discouragement in no fun. Thankfully, each time I have been able to regain my perspective, remember the goodness of my God and reconnect with Him?

Maybe you have to. Maybe you have lost your perspective and are overcome with panic. Perhaps you are there now. If so, this message is for you. Let me remind you to stop focusing on your big problems and start remembering you have a bigger God!

June 21, 2011

This morning I want to begin an investigation into the causes and the cures of discouragement that are mentioned or implied here in Psalm 77.  I don't think you have to read this Psalm very far to conclude this guy is discouraged and maybe even depressed. Discouragement certainly can lead to depression if it is  not effectively dealt with.

Beginning with this post I will share six things that can lead to discouragement and six things that lead you out of it. To help you grasp these concepts I have put them into short and rhythmic statements.

Here is the first one and it is based on verses 1-7 - “I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted. I remembered you, God, and I groaned; I meditated, and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak. I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; I remembered my songs in the night. My heart meditated and my spirit asked: “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again?"  Psalm 77:1-7

CONCEPT # 1 - DEVOTION NOT EMOTION

Emotions are a very important part of our relationship with God. It feels good to feel good about God. It feel good to feel that God feels good about you! It feels good to connect with God on a spiritual and emotional level.

Emotions are God-given and God ordained. He wired you emotionally so you are able to develop relationships with Him and with other people. Since He wants you to love Him He had to make you able to do that and emotions are how that happens.

But, for all that is good about emotions, they tend to be fragile and fickle easily affected by circumstances or surroundings. So, if you allow your emotions to lead your commitment to Christ, you will be subject to changes when your circumstances suddenly change. It follows then if you are led by emotions you will be more susceptible to discouragement.

That could well be what happened in this Psalm.

To avoid discouragement or to help you get beyond being discouraged, base your relationship to Christ on facts not on feelings - or, devotion over emotion. I am not saying that feelings are not important or powerful, I am just saying they are not a reliable foundation for faith.

In fact, you will find that when you build your faith upon your devotion to God and stand on the facts of God's Word, you will experience better emotions because feelings always follow faith! Make your decision to follow Christ regardless of how you feel and then be true to that decision no matter what your emotional state. That is what I mean by devotion over emotion.

Believe in this concept and live by it and I am sure you will be less prone to discouragement.