Reign in My Heart

Psalm 146

Verse 2 "I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being."

I will praise God as long as I have the mental capacity to do so, whether convenient or faced with certain pain or death, whether in obedience or shame, weather satisfied or discontent. I will not allow my desire for the comfortable to overshadow my need to praise my Savior.

Verse 3-4 "Put not your trust...in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation."

In all teaching, I must come back to God's word to verify what is true. Furthermore, I must fight to keep my full trust and hope for satisfaction and salvation in Christ. I know myself and I like to look to people, especially men and those in authority, for validation and significance. I allow people, or even mere relationships, to usurp the throne of my heart if I am not vigilant. The consequences are wretched and painful, leaving me ashamed and angry at myself and cut off the relationship. I then find myself wondering how to get through such a situation and ask if reconciliation is possible, or even beneficial. Sometimes it is not. I must trust Christ alone!

Verse 5-9 "Blessed is he...whose hope is the LORD his God."

I want blessing and to be a blessing; I want my blind eyes to be made to see my Savior and see creation through His eyes. I want to be free; I want to be satisfied wholly in Him. I want to uphold His cause as He holds me.

Verse 10 "The LORD will reign forever... Praise the LORD!"

No mater the current state of the world, or even the current state of me, God reigns and will always reign. Praise the LORD indeed!

Reign in my heart today and draw me to yourself for satisfaction and contentment. Give me the strength to guard my heart and the wisdom to know when to share it. YOU are sovereign, amazing, GOD and I am awed by your love.

I will extol you, my God and King

As I sit at my desk, tucked away in a storage closet for graduate students, papers pile up on my desk and my task list grows alarmingly. Yet, I must be still these few minutes at the beginning of my day. I do not know what to write or how to respond. I cannot communicate my thoughts well, nor are my emotions convenient to verbalize. In this moment, I long for the beauty of David’s songs to flow through my mind to my fingers that I might proclaim the beauty of my Savior on this obscure blog. His love is utterly deep, unsearchably so. I long for nothing more than to be swallowed wholly as I seek to know it fully; may it envelope me and cover all I am!

I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
Psalm 145:1-7

Propitiation

My sin stirs God’s swift, complete, all-consuming, terrifying, and just wrath.

Yet, it is never poured out.

It is satisfied.

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for out sins.
I John 4:9-10

Coram Deo

I pray that my life would be marked with integrity such that this article describes:

Integrity is found where men and women live their lives in a pattern of consistency. It is a pattern that functions the same basic way in church and out of church. It is a life that is open before God. It is a life in which all that is done is done as to the Lord. It is a life lived by principle, not expediency; by humility before God, not defiance. It is a life lived under the tutelage of conscience that is held captive by the Word of God.

When I was a child...

In anticipation of my wedding and my subsequent "growing up," I've decided to get a slightly more sophisticated web log. My intentions are to share my heart, my joys, my struggles, my thoughts and opinions and reveal the glory of the Creator and Savior of my life in doing so. It seems a lofty goal for my limited faculties, but I am called to do this.

I hope to reveal a clear, though finite view of the Infinite Redeemer God.