Thoughts for another day

April 22, 2013.

Today's verse: Ps. 71:20. Thou, which hast shown me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. (KJV)

(Pls. read the above before you read further.  Thanks)

In Your Word above is my faith in You my Lord, deeply embedded in my heart, by Your goodness unto me that I might be an instrument of great proclamation unto the peoples of the earth.  In Your mercy You have lifted me up from the troubles that plagued me and put me down on safe ground, and I shall go to the ends of the earth telling the peoples, ‘Look what the Lord has done.’  And they, stunned by the work You have done for me, will ask me, were you obedient to Him?  I shall say no; then they will say, ‘ah, maybe, you did something pleasing to Him’ and I will say, no!  Then they in bewilderment will tell me, ‘oh maybe, He has chosen to dwell on you for He must’ve chosen you to be His vessel on earth’ and I will say, ‘His vessel on earth I will be, but that He did this great thing because of it, no!’

And perplexed they will ask me, ‘Then why did He do such a great thing in your life’ and I will answer boldly saying, ‘Because He loves me…because His love entails that He do great things for me and because of the faith He has embedded in my heart.’  Then they will turn and ask me, ‘how do you know He loves you?’  I will tell them to look up at the Cross.  The most significant and important sign that God has given us by which we know that He loves us; for on the Cross we see His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, hanging helplessly, bludgeoned and brutally wounded for our sake.  He took the punishment that was due to me and bore it Himself.  He uttered not a Word, when His Father, thrust upon Him all the punishment that I was supposed to bear.’

Oh, my God, I know You are the One and only Living God and that Your eyes roam the whole earth to seek out that one who is devoted to You whole-heartedly.  But today, I know that the sincere cry of a lamenting heart is heard by Your Majesty, just as the cry of Bartimaeus, rang into Your ears even as You walked among the crowd on that hot afternoon toward Jerusalem with a cacophony of voices meant to drown poor Bartimaeus’ voice.  And so with confidence, I did approach Your throne and have now known the power of Your mercy, by which You have done this great work for me.  With bended knee I bow before you, grateful and glad that You are my God and it is You that I worship.  All my life, I dedicate to Your worship that men may know You everywhere and seek Your face.