Day 191: Psalms 135:1 - 139:23

I love Psalms 36 because of the obvious recurring theme throughout the chapter. There are many different translations and they each say it differently, but the message is very clear. God's love will never fail. Although that would seem like somewhat of a simple concept, it's really one that we may never be able to fully wrap our brains around. We live in a world full of failure. We live in a place where every single thing, even human love and affection will eventually die and disappear. Even if I tried, there is no possible way I could compare the love that God has for us with anything on this earth. The bottom line is, the Psalmist could repeat the same phrase over and over, write entire chapters trying to explain it, or even write an entire book simply repeating that phrase and there's still nothing that would be able to adequately describe the depth and beauty of the love that our Father has for His children.

- Lord, as much as a human could comprehend love, I realize that I will never fully grasp the love that you have for me. But I just want to thank You for loving me and I know that you don't require us to understand it in order to receive it. You will always love me no matter what happens. You don't simply offer us the gift of love, You are Love. -

Day 190: Psalms 122:3 - 134:3

For some reason, I can't help but look at God in the light of a Father when I read these verses. It seems like throughout the Psalms, we see God in so many lights - Father, Protector, Provider, Avenger, etc. It's sad that many people have such a distorted view of God as being their Father. It's no coincidence that more often than not, the father is the one who ends up walking out of the relationship leaving the mother and the children to fend for themselves. Satan knows that if he can ruin the idea of a "father," then people will have a much more difficult time understanding what it means for God to be our Heavenly Father. I've had the wonderful blessing of being raised by an awesome father who is still around today, and yet, even my personal experiences aren't enough to be compared to the type of Father that God is to us. The only way for us to understand it is to get in His Word and find out what He said to us and what He's done for us. I don't consider my dad a wonderful dad simply because of "who he is." He's been a wonderful dad because of the things he's said to me and the things that he's done for me. In order for us to truly know God as our father, we must throw aside any pre-conceived ideas or notions about what a father is and find out what the Bible says about the matter.

- Lord, thank You for being my Heavenly Father. And even though I may have a wonderful example here on earth as a reference, I know that nothing compares to the love that You have shown for me. Help me to understand more of Your deep love for me so that I might be able to truly love You. -

Day 189: Psalms 119:109 - 122:2

I really like Chapter 121 because it's short, simple and to the point. We need to remember that God is our only source of strength and if we will rely on Him, He will take care of us. It seems to be somewhat of a human condition to think that God wants to watch us squirm and it's all up to us to prove that we can handle whatever life throws at us. There are millions of people all over the world who seem to think that there's some sort of honor in suffering and barely making it through a terrible life, but there is so so much more honor in accepting the fact the we are weak and that our Heavenly Father is the only one who can carry us through everything that the world can throw at us. We need to make the decision to stop wallowing in the troubles of this world and stand up and let God work through us. Although we may be weak, our God is strong and faithful to carry us through anything.

- Lord, although I may be weak on my own, I know that I am strong in You and You are the one who will always be faithful to pick me up and shelter me from the enemy. You are faithful and just and I will always trust in You to carry me through the storms of this life. -

Day 188: Psalms 119:24 - 119:108

I just love the deep sense of reality that you get from reading this passage. There are alot of passages that discuss the all-time highs and the all time lows of the Christian walk, but it seems like this passage does a very good job of expressing the fact that although walking with God can definitely have it's speed-bumps, it will always beat the alternative. It's sad to see how many people are willing to turn to God and allow Him to take control of their lives only until things go wrong. I know most of the responsibility lies upon themselves for not having the resolve to hang on, but I think alot of the responsibility lies on believers who try to trick people into getting saved so that their lives will be more fun and easier. God never promised that life with Him would be a walk in the park. But He did promise us that He would always be there no matter how difficult that walk became. And that, my friends, is worth so much more than an easy walk straight off of a cliff.

- Lord, thank You for being with me in the good times and the bad times of life. It's easy to get the wrong idea and think that the Christian life is supposed to be full of gumdrops and lollypops, but the reality is that the Devil will come at us full force and You are the only one who can walk and fight right alongside us. -

Day 187: Psalms 115:1 - 119:23

It's sad to say, but there are so many believers out there who seem to have a very distorted picture of our God Who is so quick to bless us. Of course, at first glance, it would appear that there are two basic beliefs regarding God's desire to bless His children - some believe that we are called to a life of poverty and others believe that we are called to a life of abundance and prosperity. Of course, after reading through the Bible, it would be impossible to believe that God wants anything other than total success and blessings for His children, but there are many out there who think that the whole point of the Christian walk is so God can make me rich and give me stuff. The truth is, God wants us to prosper, but not so that we can have a bunch of stuff. God wants to bless us so that we can turn around and be a blessing to those around us who are in need. God wants to bless us so that we can stand before the world as a representative of Him and so that we can bring honor to His name, and not our own.

- Lord, help me to have the right motives when asking for Your blessings to fall. Of course I want to live an easier life and a more comfortable life, but more than anything, I want to live a life that is indicative of Your Word and one that will make the people of the world stop at nothing to find out what I've got and how they can get it. -

Day 186: Psalms 108:10 - 114:8

I love reading passages like this one that contain verses about God's blessings as well as His cursing. If there's one thing we can get from this passage is that God doesn't do anything half-way. When the Psalmist asks God to curse his enemies, I don't think he's asking for such extravagant curses because he wants God to go over the top with it. I think the words he uses and the extent to which he expects the curse to fall are because he knows that God doesn't "sort of" curse or bless anything. It's either a total curse or a total blessing. There are alot of things that we encounter in life that could somewhat go either way. There are alot of circumstances that we end up finding ourselves in that could be considered bad and good at the same time, but when God is the one making it happen, you know for sure. And since we're all given the option to choose between one or the other, I think I'll choose the blessing.

- Lord, we see in Your Word time and time again that we've been given an option between life and death, blessings and curses. I stand firm and choose the blessings that You freely offer to those who accept them. And even though the devil will no doubt try and slow me down or change my mind, I know that You will always shower Your blessings on me because You are and will always be faithful. -

Day 185: Psalms 106:16 - 108:9

I really like this group of Scripture because it very simply covers a basic principle of the Bible - if you follow God and keep your focus on Him, you'll be blessed; otherwise, you won't be blessed. There are so obviously millions of people out there today who very strongly disagree with that principle. It can sometimes be difficult to understand which way we should go when we see so many people in the world living completely against God's will and they seem to be living these beautiful, rich, blessed lives. The truth is, however, that unless God is at the center of their lives, the extent of their "blessed" way of life lies no deeper than the very thin surface that we can see with our  own eyes. True blessing only comes when we are willing to lay down everything that we would normally consider important and make Him the only important aspect of our lives. Without Him we are nothing.

- Lord, help me to remember to always be thankful for the immense blessings that You have promised me. I know that there can be a certain level of glamor and allure that comes with living according to the world's system, but that also brings worldly consequences that I don't want at all. I know that as long as You are my focus, my life will always be blessed. -