"Lover of My Soul"

         "Show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is

          Sweet, and your face is lovely. My lover is mine and I am his."

                                      Song of Songs 2:14,16

When I approach the Lord in prayer, I relate to Him in different ways. Occassionally I talk with Him as my elder Brother, which he is. If I'm under spiritual attack, I'll go to Him in prayer as the Captain of my soul. He is my friend when I want to pour out my heart. I even have single friend who look up to the Lord as their Husband, as it says in Isaiah 54.

         Lately I've enjoyed relating to my Savoir as the Lover of my soul. And when I want to tell the Lord how much I adore Him, I use the language of love in the Song of Songs. This beautiful book in the Bible is more than just a love poem; it's a picture of the love relationship between the Bridegroom and His bride.

         From your heart, tell Jesus that He is the fairest of ten thousand, praise Him for being altogether lovely. Let Him know that His love is better than wine. He is the Rose of sharon, the Lily of the Valley. and to top it off, sing to whim thus beautiful hymn inspired by the Song of songs

 

         Lord with everlasting love, led by grace that love to know; 

         Gracious Spirit from above, thou hast taught me it is so!

          O, this full and perfect peace! O, this transport all divine!

          In a 'ove which cannot cease, I am His, and He is mine

          Close me in your everlasting arms, Lord, and let my soul

          Find rest and peace as i lean on your breast. May doubts 

          And cares fly away. No one, nothing, shall ever part us. I 

          Am Yours. . . Praise You for being mine.

"Reading Existentially"

        So Abraham rose early in the mor,ing and saddled his donkey,

          and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; 

               and hr split the wood  for the burnt offering and arose 

                       And went to the place of God had told him

                                             Genesis 22 : 3

       One major corrective for the Bible's perceived irrelevance is to read and study it existentially. In many circles, particularly those of conservative Protestants, the word existential is frowed upon because of its association with the philosophical school of existentialism. But to read the Bible existentially is not to read it in accordance with the tenets of this philosophical moment. Rather, it is simply to read it as people who are personally, passionately, and intimately involved with its contents. We should never come to Bible while holding ourselves aloof fro' message. We must step into its pages and read it as if, in a sense, it was  written directly to us . As we learn to do this, the drama of the Bible will come alive, helping us bridge the cultural gap between the time the scriptures were written and our own day.

       Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher and theeologian, provides an example of this technique in his book fear and Trembling.

       After reading of Abraham's test of faith in Genesis 22, Kierkegaard began to reflect on the story particularly the seemingly insignificant detail, related in verse 3, that Abraham rose early in the morning. Why?, Kierkegaard asked himself, did he rise early? Was it because Abraham was so eager to carry out the duty God had given him? Perhaps. But as Kierkegaard began to personalize the passage, putting himself in Abraham's shoes, another possibility presented itself. Abraham was an old man who had waited years for a son. That son had finally come, according to God's promise, and Abraham loved him dearly. Kierkegaard realized that if he had been in Abraham's position, he would have risen early because the night following God's stunning command to sacrifice Isaac would have been spent in fitful, sleepless tossing and turning! Suddenly, Abraham was no longer a super saint, able to cheerfully carry out duties that would make others tremble. Rather, he was an old, sad, troubled man--a real man, with biblical texts. But we need to strive to feel what the character feel. We need to see the humanity of the people on the Bible's  pages and let their existence touch our own. They are not fictional but real, and  their lives are recorded to teach us very real lessons.

Take your vacation

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"God Power is at work"

     " Because your rage against Me and you tumult have come up to

        my ears, therefore I will put My hook in your nose and my bridle

         your lips, and I will turn you back by the way which you came"

                                            Isaiah 37 : 29

      The Lord responded to Hezekiah prayer through the voice of Isaiah and assured the king that He would save his people. Isaiah pronounced a declaration of judgment against Assyria for its boasting against God and its presumptuous belief that it could defy heaven itself by the power of its armies. As David wrote in Psalm 2, God thought little of Sennacherib's boasting: "why do the nation rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed. . . He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure."

      The Lord spoke to the king of Assyria and told him that he would not touch the city of His children, and that he had done a foolish thing to blaspheme the name of Jehivah. Sennacherib thought himself so powerful, but God was the one who made the city of Jerusalem: "Did you not hear long ago how I made it, from ancient times that I formed ut? Itis a foolish thing to think that one can tear down what God has created, for He has established His people and nothing can shake them when He stands with them.

      God's people will be under His continual protection because He has chosen them. It is as if He says to His enemies, "I have founded the church, and therefore the salvation of the church shall always be my care. I will not leave unfinished the work which I have begun, but will carry it forward to perfection." He reiterated this point in verse 35 when He said, "For I will defend this city, to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake." Because of the covenant He had made with His people, he would deluver them from their enemies.

       The Lord defends and preserve His work because it involves His honor abd our salvation.He is the Maker of the church, for we are His workmanship, created by His spirit. This work of sanctifying and glorifying His church is more excellent than the whole creation. God's love and care for His church never wanes. It was a foolish thing, therefore, for Sennacherib to think He could defy God Himself and destroy the city of Jerusalem, just as it is foolish for anyone today to think he can tear down the church of Jesus Christ.

        It is easy to allow worry to get the better of us when we conside the hostility toward the Gospel in today's world. We can attacks in the media, in the government, from almost everywhere. But while things may become more difficult, God will never desert His people. How can you demontrate your trust to sustain His Church?

"Free Steak Dinner"

                 "The Lord" brought me out into a spacious place;

                       He rescued me because he deligted in me.

                                           PSALM 18 : 19

When you read this psalm, you are struck by the fact that God moves heaven and earth to come to your aid when you cry to Him for help. At your heartfelt plea, your Lord thunder from heaven scatters your enemies. Verses sixteen, seventeen, and nineteen then add, "He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me  from my powerful enemy. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me."

          Don't ever think that when you pray for God's support, He remains uncaring or unfeeling about your plea. God is not off somewhere on a mountaintop at an arm's lenght from your cry. When you pray for help, He does not lean over the wall of His ivory tower to tell you to beg louder.

          God is attentive to your needs as a caring father is to his dearest son. When you send out a distress call to the Lord, He parts the heavens to come to your rescue. And if you need to be reminded read psalm entirely: No one who lets out a genuine cry of distress is thinking about manipulating God. Impossible! A heartfelt plea for help carries with it no desire to control the way the Lord deals with you. Rather, such a prayer implies that you've cast yourself on the Lord's mercy, with no hint of impure motive. When you pray like that God immediately recognize the sincerity of your heart and rushes to aid.

          Whenever I hear People say, "Oh, I'm doing pretty well under the circumstances," I always want to say, "what are you doing under the circumstances? Get put from under there"

          I want your life to be better than just okay. I want it to be awesome! I know everybody has hard days sometimes. But My point is that it will always get better. If you're starving, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich tastes good, but a steak dinner tastes even better. But if you stick with Me, I'll lift you high above the circumstances. I want to bless you.

                

         

        

                  

Song to remember

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"LET Me Cover YOU

          "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

               the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 

                              who comforts us in all our troubles.

                                          2 Corinthians 1:3-4

          Have you ever slept under a under a comforter? It's a plush blanket filled with downy softness that is warm and ultra-cozy. On a cold night, there's nothing like curling up under a warm comforter.

Think of Me that way. I am your comforter. Some people think of Me as a thin sheet or a hard mattress. "What a lie! Like that are meant to keep you from running to Me where you belong. Believe me, I'm just waiting to hold you and cover you. You can curl up in My arms and relax from your struggles. I long to hold you and protect you, My child. I long to comfort you. Run to me.

          What word best describes the way you feel when feel when you watch a dear friend in agony? What is the word you wrap around your feelings when you see pictures on television of starving refugees in africa, or earthquakes victims in Armenia? It probably is the word "compassion."

          We use that word frequently yet hardly give its true meaning much though. I looked up compassion in the dictionary and discovered that the first part of the word mean "with," which relates to the agony and suffering of Christ on the cross." Amazing what you find in some dictionaries!

          When you feel compassion, you experience what Christ feels. And when you say you have compassion for someone, you are standing with that person, agonizing with him, and suffering as though you were in his shoes. Just as Christ placed himself on the cross on our behalf, we are demonstrating compassion when we take on the cross that someone else is bearing. "Let Me Cover You" with my Love and compassion.

         God doesn't want you to merely about a person in heartbreaking circumstances. Aren't your  glad that Jesus did more than just "feel bad" about your sin? He went much further than Pitying our sad situation. He put himself in our place, and His love has given new meaning to the word "compassion."

        "Let us not love with words or tongue but with action and in truth ( 1John 3:18 ).

        Father of compassion, please use me today to reach out to 

        Someone In need. Help me not just feel hurt and pain for

         their situation,but use me to help lighten their load. Jesus 

         Carrued my cross so please grant me Your compassion so

         I may carry the cross of another who needs Your hope and 

         encouragement.