abandoned to Christ.

Depending on your relationship with God, today's Psalm will either be the aroma of life, or the stench of death to you (2 Cor 2:14-16). You will either read Psalm 49 and have your soul refreshed, comforted, and filled with joy and hope; or you will read this Psalm and it will expose your pride and illusions of self-sufficiency, which will cause your soul to become embittered, angry, and insulted. For those of us who repent of our sins and trust in Jesus for this life and the next, this Psalm is another beautiful and comforting reminder of God's love and faithfulness to us because of His Son. Because I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God who willingly disrobed Himself of His glory in Heaven where He was perfectly worshiped, honored, and obeyed; came to earth in sackcloth and ashes (skin and bones); to pay the high cost of the ransom for my soul drenched in sin, by suffering the punishment I justly deserve from God Almighty, and dying the second death (spiritual) ...

Rarely do we hear anyone saying that they rejoice because of God's judgments. Rarely do we hear anyone saying they enjoy and rejoice because of any kind of judgment...from anyone. It's not exactly the popular thing to rejoice and be glad about. Strangely enough, everyone wants justice for themselves or their loved ones, but they do not want others to get justice when they themselves are the perpetrator. This hypocrisy evinces the depravity of our hearts and minds without Christ. But thanks be to God our Father for giving us His Son. Thanks be to God for choosing to free us from this depraved and hypocritical state, so that we might delight in God's just judgments and rejoice when anyone receives justice; even when we are in the wrong. Thanks be to God for the freedom and strength to repent—to humble ourselves before the LORD Almighty and receive His loving discipline, or His merciful reprieve from our enemies. Today's Psalm exhorts us to rejoice in the n...

As you can see, I'm a bit late on posting my #PsalmSunday this week. But the saying, "Better late than never" is true...and especially in this case. It's always better to encourage one another's hearts to sing praises to our Lord Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords; late, rather than never. So what happened that this week's #PsalmSunday is so late? Life. That's what happened. Most days it's very difficult for me to simply get of out of bed, let alone live "normal" daily life. And lately, there's been quite a bit happening around here, good things in God's sight, that's left my frail body quite exhausted. Again, a good thing in God's sight, so no complaints here—just thanksgiving to our awesome God and Savior who allows me to participate in His holy and magnificent work of being able to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6). This week's psalm,...

#PsalmSunday: When the LORD God Almighty walled up the waves of the Red Sea to provide the Israelites safe passage, He never says that He also kept the Israelites from experiencing the sound of the rushing waters, and the power of the mighty winds that He used to restrain the sea (Ex 14:21-31). I imagine it might've been like the eye of a hurricane—the safest place to be in a hurricane, yet, not without the frightful sound, and hint of the great power of the winds and waters that swirl about. If the Israelites feared the winds and the waves more than they feared God, they would've never crossed over to the other side to safety. Just as the Israelites' fear of the LORD prevailed, we too, must trust the LORD's steadfast love and faithfulness regardless of the torrential times we live in; within our homes, communities, or anywhere in this world. Our fear and love for the LORD must prevail because the Father has lovingly walled us up, that is, hid us in His Son,...

I love this quote from Spurgeon. Every time I read it, I'm grateful for a wonderful time more than a decade ago, when the Lord Jesus stood before me and protected me, as I stood before someone else, to protect them. I was the Volunteer Coordinator/Trainer (and a volunteer myself) for nearly 100 volunteers at a mega-church (28,000 members at that time). I was in charge of training, coordinating, and managing the volunteers for tickets sales for a large, yearly, community event. One day, a woman who was purchasing tickets began yelling at one of my volunteers. I went to where they were so that I might shelter my volunteer from this irate woman. When I stepped in front of the volunteer to shield her from the woman that was yelling at her, I asked how I could help. The irate woman told me, "I want to purchase tickets, but I don't have the money to pay for it at the moment. I know the seats I want will go quickly, so I need you to make a transaction as ...

I've been posting #PsalmSunday on my Facebook Ministry Page since 2015 to encourage and exhort believers to spend the Sabbath worshipping the goodness of God our Savior in spirit and in truth. Through the Psalms we learn how to pray in anguish and in great pleasures. We learn how to rightly praise and adore our holy and gracious Father God. We learn how to exalt the name of Jesus and exult in His holy name. In January of 2016, I began sharing #PsalmSunday Scripture-pictures in chronological order rather than randomly sharing them as they came to mind. Today, I posted verse 6-7a from Psalm 45. Today, I also realized that I've never shared this encouragement with any of you, my readers. Therefore, I am publishing this #PsalmSunday to rectify that oversight for the past two years. Please join me every Sunday for a new #PsalmSunday Scripture-picture with a short devotional I write every week so that we may think more deeply about all that our awesome Father God has done ...

It matters not If I say "I believe in Jesus" Yet I bray It matters not If I attend Every church service Yet ,God I offend It matters not If I profess Christ as Savior Without holiness It matters not If I give to the poor And share what I have Yet live as I'm lord It matters not If I say I repent Yet live my life To my heart's content It matters not My standing in church If the desire of my heart Is to lurch It matters not What I proclaim If honoring Christ Is not my aim It matters not If others speak well For only Christ Can post bail If I'm not grateful And humbled by God My feign profession Matters not.

Since this week has been a particularly difficult week for me physically, yesterday's lovely day at the Byron Nelson with my darling Teeny Tiny (a.k.a. Michael, our eldest son) wore out my already frail body. But it was worth it! One of the numerous things that I've come to thank God for during these 13 years of constant physical pain and weakness, is the revelation that pain is not, and cannot be the determining factor of when and why and how I choose to live—only the Word of God determines that. Physical pain and weakness and suffering are not even close to being the worse thing I, nor anyone on this earth can experience. A life lived outside of God's good and perfect will, is the worse thing anyone (both rebellious believers and unbelievers) can experience. Because I'm so weak and in much pain today, my darling husband, once again, planned what we call "home church service". We always use a sermon from Parkside Church (www.parksidechurch.com...