How He Loves

The song How He Loves has been around for a while and it has ALWAYS touched me so powerfully at the core of my being. How amazing is God's love for us! This version is hot off the press. David Crowder just released it today! It's a great recording. When I have more time, I also listen to the Kim Walker version of it. Enjoy!

Chewing the Cud

I was reading Psalm 1 the other day and a part of verse 2 jumped out at me. It says, "...and on his law he meditates day and night." What do you think of when you hear the word "meditate"? Perhaps the first picture that comes to mind is a person sitting with their legs crossed and their hands in the air chanting some type of mantra. Or maybe you see a monk isolated deep within a cave somewhere pouring over ancient scrolls.

A closer look at this word paints a much different picture. The word "meditate" is best translated as the English word "muse" which means to "become absorbed in thought". Interestingly, its main synonym is the word "ruminate" which comes from a Latin word which means "to chew the cud".

For those of you not familiar with chewing the cud, this is the process by which cows and a few other animals (goats, sheep, antelope) regurgitate their food repeatedly and chew on it. Without getting too complicated, the animals do this because they lack some of the necessary enzymes that most other animals have for digestion.

Now, back to Psalm 1. Biblical meditation has a lot to do with calling up (or regurgitating) God's Word that is hidden in our hearts. How's that for a word picture? I must admit, I am sometimes guilty of grazing (since we are using cow terms!) on God's word. Instead of taking the time to let God's word ruminate, I feed on appetizers and desserts. Let's face it, there is always so much competing for my time with God!

So why meditate on God's Word? Read the rest of the Psalm and you will find that this practice leads to blessing and fruitfulness. Grazing, on the other hand, leads to malnourishment. So the next time you read God's Word, take a lesson from the cow and keep on chewing.
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Sources: Webster's Third New International Dictionary, OT Hebrew Lexicon, Wikipedia

By Your Side

Fear. It's completely irrational. I've known this for much of my life, but this truth has become more real to me over the years as I've dealt with my son Zachary. For those of you who know him, Zachary is not afraid of much. In fact, he's one of the boldest 8 year olds you may ever meet! Nonetheless, there is something that scares him to death: thunderstorms.

Zachary begins to cry and will not leave my side during a storm. There is nothing logical that I can say to him that calms him down. We pray, we talk, I explain statistics about lightning strikes...nothing works, except....for me to stay by his side.

Interestingly enough, someone (with a lot of spare time!) has compiled a list of 530 known phobias. I must admit, there are some crazy ones on the list! How about...amathaphobia: the fear of dust or homoliphobia: the fear of sermons (not touching that one with a 10-foot pole!)...or numerophobia: fear of numbers (I definitely have this one!!). Find the full list here.

While our fear may not be as outlandish as some of the ones on the phobia list, we all struggle with fear at times. We fear losing our job or getting a life-threatening disease. We fear financial ruin or losing a good friend. Satan uses fear to terrorize us and keep us from living in peace. Whatever your fears are, I want you to know that you can overcome them with God's help.

Through my experience with Zachary, I've learned that overcoming fear does not come once we arrive at some logical understanding to the reason behind it. Instead, we beat our fear when we come to the place where we realize that God is with us and we can trust him to protect us. This is exactly why Zachary calms down when he's by my side.

Are you struggling with fear today? Draw near to God. You will find that He's right there by your side and He holds your life in his hands. Here are some great scriptures about all this: 2 Tim. 1:7 and 1 Jn. 4:18.

Holy Headlock!

Ever wrestle with God? I have. Wrestling with God usually takes place in the middle of a trial: a job loss, an unexpected death, an unrealized dream, a prolonged sickness. Recently, I read the account of Jacob's wrestling match with the Angel of God in Gen. 32:24-32. Take note of a few of the amazing things that take place in the middle of our God-struggles.

First, it's important to realize that God's ultimate purpose was to strengthen Jacob and not to crush him. God wanted to bring him to a higher level in his spiritual walk. And so, in order for all of this to happen...

1. God initiated the struggle. Notice that it says that the angel wrestled with him (not him with the angel). God had to bring Jacob to a point of yieldedness. In fact, it took all night! Jacob had to come to the end of himself. We must be emptied before God can fill us.

2. God refined him. I think it's interesting that the angel asks Jacob for his name. Obviously, God knew his name! Most likely, God did this because of what Jacob's name meant: deceiver. God wanted Jacob to come to grips with the sin in his heart. Spiritual greatness is always preceded by humility and a repentant heart.

3. God left His mark. After a long night of struggle, the angel touches Jacob's hip and knocks it out of socket. Ouch!! Why? I think he wanted Jacob to remember that his striving was worthless and that He was still much more powerful than him.

4. God blessed Jacob. God changed Jacob's name to Israel which means: "You have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." God's blessings didn't come in the form of great riches or status. Instead, God changed Jacob on the inside. He went from a deceiver to one who overcomes. Wow! Now that's blessing!

Are you currently in a holy headlock? If so, know that His heart is for you to experience His greatest blessing. He loves you. Yield to Him. He has great things in store for you!