DAWG, part 2
Highlights from Psalm 146, my comments in italicized parentheses
3You can’t depend on anyone, not even a great leader. 4Once they die and are buried, that will be the end of all their plans.
(The nation cried out for hope and change, putting their hopes in a new leader. He may have greater days still ahead. I hope he does, for the sake of the nation. Yet my true hope, my lasting hope, is in you alone. No person in history, save for Jesus, has changed the world. He alone overcame death, and his impact is everlasting.)
God always keeps his word. 7He gives justice to the poor and food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free 8and heals blind eyes.
(You are the only hope for justice in this world. You alone are not compromised by sin or by self. Your holiness transcends everything. It defines your actions, explains your motives, embellishes all your characteristics. You have set me free from the prisons of my life. You have given me sight of eternity. You allow me to see the invisible with eyes of faith.)
My Day Alone With God…Part 1
I’m taking a day alone with God today as part of my personal preparation for our church’s upcoming GROW weekend. I’m taking a bit of a mid-day break…not from God, but from the “experiential” part of it so I can record some of my thoughts, and refer back to them.
The day really started last night as I went to bed. As I tried to relax to fall asleep, I found my thoughts keep wandering back to what I would experience. In a lot of ways, I spend most my days with God, in the sense that I recognize that everything I do is because of his power, his strength, his guidance. However, there are certainly plenty of times that I walk in to a situation “on my own.” So as I was thinking about my DAWG (I’m not in love with this acronym, but it’s quicker for the typing), I was really looking forward to it with a sense of expectancy, but also fearful/humbled about the prospect of discovering what God would have in store for me.
So morning came after a good, dreamless night of sleep (as far as I can remember). I determined to see the family off before I started my DAWG. I didn’t “pray God in” as a welcome, because I believe that he’s here with me, all the time. He’s not in my presence, I’m in his presence. So I determined that I just needed to clear away my distractions and focus on him.
I began by opening my Bible and reading some Psalms. There’s no rationale for where I began. I believe I can open my Bible to any page and find God there. So I began reading in Psalm 145. Here is some of what stood out to me (my comments/reactions in italicized parentheses):
