- araratchurch
- May 3, 2022
- 3 min read
“When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take care of me.” Psalms 27:10 NKJV
You’re already aware of my many animal references; yes, I love animals. One of the types of animal stories that interests me most is when an animal of one species “fosters” an abandoned or orphaned baby of another species. We’ve got a sheep that helped raise a baby elephant, an old giant turtle that befriended a baby hippo, gorillas that take care of kittens, a monkey that protects a chicken, a cat that nurses a squirrel, and so on, and so on. It’s heartwarming to see familial love extended to those who are in need.
But then my mind turns to all of the human beings, who-for reasons of abandonment, death, abuse, and so on—no longer have someone to take care of them, someone who is a dependable refuge. I was shocked to find out that over 7,000 children are abandoned per year in the United States. Additionally, there are countries where—for myriad reasons—child abandonment is routine. I need not address children who are subjected to abuse and even murder. It’s really unthinkable when the closest relationship on this earth is missing and/or terribly weaponized.
If you’ve read the Bible to any extent, you know that God does discipline His people. And, there were many times when the Lord was disciplining His children, that they thought they had been abandoned by God. This was the Lord‘s response to them:
“But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, And my Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.” Isaiah 49:14-16 NKJV
God is a wonderful Father; indeed, He is a Father to the fatherless. Consider this: the Lord came to reveal the Paternal attachment that the Lord has toward us. Look how He instructed us to begin our prayers:
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” Matthew 6:9 NKJV
With that, Jesus also acknowledged that His very existence would be a dividing factor between earthly family members:
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’” Matthew 10:34-36 NKJV
The good news is that the Lord Himself will be our Father; He will care for us.
In our portion from Psalms today we see David acknowledging the fact that God sticks with us even when our family doesn’t. An examination of David‘s life will indicate how he, all too well, knew the pain of being betrayed or abused by your family. Even as a youth he knew what it was like for his own brothers to treat him with contempt. When he approached the armies of Israel to ask about what would be given to the person who would defeat Goliath, his own brother tried to “shoot him down:”
“But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. “What are you doing around here anyway?” he demanded. “What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit. You just want to see the battle!” “What have I done now?” David replied. “I was only asking a question!”” 1 Samuel 17:28-29 NLT
We also see in David’s life how the Lord—time and time again—helped him and rescued him when there was no other help for him.
No matter where you find yourself today. No matter if you feel isolated and alone; you wonder if anybody really cares for you. Please remember that the Lord does care for you, even if your earthly family forsakes you; because, He is your Father!
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
The Lord is family. #100dayswithdavid
- araratchurch
- May 2, 2022
- 3 min read
“When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.””
Psalms 27:8 NKJV
I had an uncle who loved to make houses for bluebirds. He also made sure they had good food to eat. When he would return to his property after having been gone for a while, as he approached where he lived, he would see the bluebirds gathering and then flying along, accompanying him to his house. They wanted to be near him because they knew he took care of them.
Animals instinctively know who is taking care of them and they respond by coming near, sometimes making a nuisance of themselves.
I’ve always found it somewhat humorous the way in which the Apostle Paul approached the intellectuals at the Areopagus (they were always seeking some “new” knowledge). After looking at all of their memorials to their host of deities he pointed out that they had an altar dedicated to “THE UNKNOWN GOD.” He jumped at this opportunity to convince them concerning the Lord. He described how the Lord had actually ordered all things in such a way that He would be sought out:
“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”
Acts 17:26-28 NKJV
The Lord wants to make Himself known to us; but that can only happen when we respond to His invitation to come to Him. Sadly, many people don’t recognize that He is the One Who is our source. They pursue the created rather than the Creator.
In the Bible we see the Lord repeatedly mourning the fact that His people would not respond to Him; they would not seek for Him. Here is one of those many sad commentaries:
“The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.”
Isaiah 1:3 NKJV
In this scripture, the Lord is pointing out the tragic truth that although animals know who cares for them, coming when their keeper calls, His people would not come to Him.
In our portion from Psalms today we see David telling the Lord that he wants to seek Him; he wants to answer the Lord’s invitation to be known. The theme of David’s thirst and desire for the Lord can be found many times throughout the book of Psalms. Yes, he desired the Lord with a passion.
“O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.”
Psalms 63:1 NKJV
The Lord wants to have intimate fellowship with us. He desires to be the focus of our pursuits and the object of our passion. And, for those who do seek Him, He will respond by lavishing all that He has, and all that He is, on them.
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
Seek the Lord and He will make Himself known to you.
- araratchurch
- May 1, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 11, 2022
“Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, And the place where Your glory dwells.”
Psalms 26:8 NKJV
From the time I was six years old, until I was 22 years of age, I spent my life in the same house. It was a little house, still standing not far from downtown Atlanta. When I have the occasion to be in that area, I like to drive in front of it and pause for a moment looking at it. Now, there are a lot of houses around, and we may look at different ones for different reasons—curiosity, admiration, etc.—but what makes that humble little house special to me? What makes that house special to me is who lived there and what happened there. It was from that very house that my father and mother launched out with basically no money and three children in tow to start what would be called the Gospel Harvester Chapel. Additionally, so many other memories were written in that house that looking at it brings a tsunami of emotions sweeping over my soul. Yes, I loved that house, and still hold its memory dear, because of who was in there: my family.
When Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord, they were met there by two interesting people. One of those people was a very old woman who had lived for decades in the house of the Lord:
“Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.”
Luke 2:36-38 NLT
Here, we had a woman, a prophetess, who had lived in the Temple for probably about 60 years. We may marvel at that kind of devotion to the House of the Lord. But—the devotion to the House of the Lord is not about the building per se; it is about what the House contains: the Presence of the Lord. As a matter of fact, some very beautiful edifices, called by the Lord’s name, feel very cold, inhospitable, and empty, because His Presence is not there.
For most of us—our lives happen in the midst of a very noisy, chaotic world. And, whereas most of us will never pursue a “monastic” lifestyle, we still should and must pursue what makes the House of the Lord precious: His Presence.
Jesus Christ, God made flesh, was and is the Temple of God not built with human hands. He holds the Presence of God in a way that we can experience and never have to leave. He serves as an “adapter” Who makes the Presence of God approachable for us and sustainable in us.
So, although we may not be able to renounce all other endeavors to cloister ourselves inside an edifice, we can cloister ourselves in Jesus Christ, the true Temple of God. Additionally, consider what a privilege it is that—by way of the Holy Spirit—we are extensions of the Temple of God.
In our portion from Psalms today we see David talking of his love for the House of the Lord. Now, just as my childhood house is special because of what it represents to me, David loved the House of the Lord because of what it represented to him: the Lord’s Presence. Indeed, David extolled the greatness of the House of the Lord in many places. Here are a couple more of my favorites:
“One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.”
Psalms 27:4 NKJV
“Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple.”
Psalms 65:4 NKJV
I love to look at beautiful churches of all sorts, from the greatest Gothic cathedrals, to the humble clapboard churches once peppering the countryside. But, what makes them of interest to me, what makes me love them, is what they represent: the Presence of the Lord. After all, there is no better place to be than in the Lord’s Presence. Thank God—through Jesus Christ—we never have to leave His house. And—when this life is done—we will dwell in the House of the Lord forever!
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
There is no better place to be than the Lord’s House.