God’s Word to You today is found in is Psalm 37
1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.
7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!
8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9 For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
10 In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
11 But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.
12 The wicked plots against the righteous
and gnashes his teeth at him,
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose way is upright;
15 their sword shall enter their own heart,
and their bows shall be broken.
16 Better is the little that the righteous has
than the abundance of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but the Lord upholds the righteous.
18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
and their heritage will remain forever;
19 they are not put to shame in evil times;
in the days of famine they have abundance.
20 But the wicked will perish;
the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;
they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.
21 The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
but the righteous is generous and gives;
22 for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land,
but those cursed by him shall be cut off.
23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
when he delights in his way;
24 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the Lord upholds his hand.
25 I have been young, and now am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children begging for bread.
26 He is ever lending generously,
and his children become a blessing.
27 Turn away from evil and do good;
so shall you dwell forever.
28 For the Lord loves justice;
he will not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 The righteous shall inherit the land
and dwell upon it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not slip.
32 The wicked watches for the righteous
and seeks to put him to death.
33 The Lord will not abandon him to his power
or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.
34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
you will look on when the wicked are cut off.
35 I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
spreading himself like a green laurel tree.
36 But he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
though I sought him, he could not be found.
37 Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace.
38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
A thought popped into my head this morning.
Taking care of the small picture takes care of the big picture.
Now this statement is a compilation of several ideas but think of it this way. If you have a 2000 piece puzzle how do you approach putting it together? Kinda like how do you eat a whole elephant, right? One piece at a time.
Yet in today’s society we have all these unhappy people who are growing up or have grown up with this idea that control is a right or need. We have people trying to, or worse, expecting to be God by fixing all the ills in this world, all the problems in this world, even sharing Jesus in this world like mass production puts out canned food, cars, and on and on.
Now I’m not saying thinking big is wrong. I’m not saying expecting big is wrong. I’m saying expecting big just because you think big is wrong. I can’t go to the gym and have a really huge workout and suddenly be totally fit. I can’t desire to be a doctor and take one class and be one. I can’t expect to be a dancer and take one lesson and have the world clamor to watch me.
And I can’t not be a racist and expect everyone else to not be just because I’m not and it’s not right. I can’t be honest and expect everyone else to be because I am and it’s not right. I can’t believe in Jesus and expect everyone else to because I do and because it is right.
Does this mean I am to walk hopelessly thru this world? Of course not.
Does this mean I am to walk without caring thru this world? Of course not.
So what am I to do? Walk in His ways, stay in His will, love on people and make disciples. And if at some point many others know me or respond to Him because of Him in me then praise Him.
The only thing that changes anyone from who they used to be is changing hearts. More often than not it has to happen one at a time. Don’t try to be good or great. Just be His.
me n’ God love ya
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I’d love to know how God is working in your lives and get to know you. Please feel encouraged to send any comments and thoughts.
Email me at Chuck.Acts420@gmail.com
in His service,
Chuck
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