Confide...

In recent days, I have been reading from Psalm 25 and the word confides jumps off the page when I read verse 14:  'The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them'. I couldn't remember ever having seen that word in the bible before. I have always related this word to such things as confidentiality, trustworthiness, and being a person of integrity. Verse 14 in The Message Bible translation reads: 'God-friendship is for God-worshipers; They are the ones he confides in.' I interpret this as 'God as a friend will confide in me and share His ways with me and others, who love Him and are obedient to His leading'.  As I think about it, I realize confide is something others do as an act of trust toward me and confidential is how I treat the shared confidence.


While searching the bible for occurrences of 'confide', only 2 hits resulted, first in Judges 16:15, where Delilah is trying to get Samson to confide the secret of his great strength to her and later in Psalm 25:14 as above. In The Message Bible, the word trust is substituted for confide. Delilah says 'how can you say "I love you", when you won't confide in me?' In a way, I am sort of amazed that something so important as confidential relationships isn't stressed more. Maybe I'm just getting hung up on words since other subjects such as integrity, honesty, love, etc. are dealt with abundantly. Quoting my pastor, 'It's all about relationship'. Jesus set the example for each of us as we interact with each other. He showed us  how to live lives of integrity, trust, love, self-sacrifice, and confiding.

All that to say, I have always considered being confidential as an extremely important part of who I am as a person. The only time when maintaining a confidence is inappropriate, would be if a person planned to take a life of another, or some other extreme behavior, which would be harmful to that person, or someone else. As a Christian, I would have to trust that God would guide my response in these situations.

LORD, HELP US TO ALWAYS BE PEOPLE OF INTEGRITY, PEOPLE WHO CAN BE TRUSTED, PEOPLE WHO CAN BE CONFIDANTS, PEOPLE WHO CAN LOVE AND BE LOVED...

Quiet Time, Prayer and Action...

During quiet time this morning, I also read Nicky Gumbel's narrative and caught myself thinking back some 39 years earlier in my life, when a former pastor of mine (PJ, short for pastor Jim) told me something I totally didn't expect. We had been praying for somebody and I thought that I could just leave that person in God's good hands. NOT!  Jim said 'Doug...from prayer comes action'. So much for trying to pass the baton to God. Today, the thing Nicky said was 'Prayer and action go hand in hand.' He went on to say 'the activity comes out of the relationship.'

Just to clarify, when we spend quiet time with God, we can think, pray, and share with God but most importantly, we must wait upon Him to lead us according to His will. Incidentally, the first 7 verses of today's Psalm 25 is an excellent Psalm to pray as you begin. Especially, verses 4 and 5, which read 'Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.' All of a sudden, Nicky's comment 'the activity comes out of the relationship' jumps off of the page!

And just when I think, I have little to offer to people who cross my path, it is good to remember 'Jesus can do a lot with a little' i.e. the feeding of the 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish! Even the smallest gesture of love toward others can be magnified in ways, we can't even imagine, when Jesus is at work through us!

As Nicky also commented, he couldn't think of starting the day without breakfast and likewise, we both value the quiet time spent consuming our spiritual food as well.

Dear Lord, please guide me in your truth and teach me...my hope is in you all day long.

The words of my mouth...

Emmanuel Bethel Church

Today's devotions include one of my most memorable Psalms: 'May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer', Psalm 19:14. This Psalm of David, was first sung and prayed by David, who sought to live  a life pleasing to God.

I think I may have heard that psalm prayed in the early 1970's for the first time by my then pastor, Rev. Walter H. Harrell of Emmanuel Bethel Church, who always began each sermon with those words before preaching. I am guessing that Reverend Harrell had no idea how his praying that Psalm impacted me at that time. Even though it would seem that as a pastor, he had a special need to pray that psalm before his sermon, every one of us has a constant need to be guided in our meditation, and then in our words and actions as we try to live out our calling each day.

In following Pastor Harrell's example, I have since tried to remember and pray this psalm at various times in my life when I sought God's leading. And now, some 40 years later, I still quietly pray this psalm during devotions and during busier times of life. As Christians, we often check ourselves with the question 'What would Jesus do?' We remember that Jesus' whole life and ministry was one of 'example'. Even today, Jesus' example serves as a reminder that our actions will also set the example for others, our children and all others whose path we cross.

Our unspoken prayer can be O LORD, PLEASE LET MY THOUGHTS, WORDS, AND ACTIONS THIS DAY BE ACCORDING TO YOUR WILL, AMEN.

This life is not the end...

This year, I have been using www.bibleinoneyear.org for my time of devotion. I have really enjoyed reading the narratives by Nicky Gumbel which he shares each day in addition to his selected scripture reading.

In his narratives  today entitled 'Lead Like Jesus' ...while talking about a leader's perspective, Nicky said that 'Job's insight foreshadows the New Testament hope of resurrection and eternal life.' He went on to say, 'A godly leader has an eternal perspective, which gives a totally different dimension to Christian leadership.'

I totally agree with Nicky and am reminded of my words in a recent blog that Job didn't have the advantage of knowing Jesus, His death, and resurrection along with His teachings. And yet Job nailed it when he said 'I know that my redeemer lives and in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God (19:25-26).'

DEAR LORD, PLEASE HELP ME TO ALWAYS VIEW MY LIFE FROM AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE AND TO BE GUIDED THIS DAY IN ALL THAT I THINK, SAY AND DO ACCORDING TO THY WILL.