Tuesday’s Meditation

Psalm 77:1-3 I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

This may seem like an odd Psalm to meditate on – especially the first nine verses, but I hope you will stick with me throughout the week as we see the whole story of the Psalm. The Psalmist begins by describing his actions in the day of trouble. He says that he cries aloud to God, he seeks the Lord, he remembers God and he meditates. Now those all sound like the right thing for a Christian to do – right? But notice the responses when he does those things. His soul refuses to be comforted and his spirit faints. That is not what we would expect to read from God’s Word, but sometimes it is the reality. Sometimes when we are going through hard-challenging times, our soul does not feel any better when we begin to seek God. Isn’t that a cherry thought!?! Like the Psalmist, that is not reason to quit crying to the Lord, seeking the Lord, or meditating on God. We will see that as we progress through this Psalm this week. I would encourage you to meditate on verse one this morning. The Psalmist says he cries aloud to God and God will hear him. What a tremendous promise. Even when we are crying out to Him and we aren’t comforted, even when we seek Him and meditate on Him and feel no comfort, GOD IS THERE – HE IS HEARING our pain. As we continue to seek Him, meditate on Him, and cry out to Him, we will find comfort and peace. 

Monday’s Meditation
I hope you have a lot to think about today after yesterday’s services. I want to continue the thought from Sunday morning’s message with this verse. The last verse we looked at in Psalm 1 talked about the tree planted by the water, bringing forth fruit and staying alive. What a picture of vitality and life that the Psalmist gives to describe the person who delights and meditates on God’s Word.
Matthew 13:23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
This verse from Matthew is part of the parable Jesus taught about the seeds planted in different soils. This final seed He describes as being planted in good soil and being fruitful, comparing it to the person who hears the Word and understands it. This is the beginning of the journey of Christianity. Praise God today that He has given you understanding after hearing the Word!

We Made It Home

I thought I should share with you that we did in fact make it home. It was a long day of flying, but we made it. Sunday was a great day in Ecuador. At the church service Sunday Morning, Kevin preached about the body of Christ being many members, but one body working together. He used our week of work as an example. At the end of the service, some of the men who we had been working with and a few of the women who were helping with bringing food stood up and gave testimony of thanks to us and testimony of what they had learned. It was an emotional time for both them and us. It was so exciting for me to see that these young believers had grasped why we were there in Riobamba. We had gone down there with the goal of being an example of Christ's love working and serving to the believers in Riobamba. We had prayed as a church that we would be an example and by the testimony given, the Lord did in fact use us in this way. We praise God for using us men for His glory. I do invite any who would like to come here more of our trip to our services on Sunday. We would love for you to be there as we share of God's work in and through us during our trip to Ecuador. Thanks for praying.