November 11, 2022 -- Psalm 121 -- Working to See Jesus in every part of life

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
    From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
    who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is your keeper;
    the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will keep you from all evil;
    he will keep your life.
8 The LORD will keep
    your going out and your coming in
    from this time forth and forevermore.
Psalm 121 ESV

Today the character trait focus is working the program. The negative side of this is cheating the program. It doesn’t matter what your program is, for example fighting alcoholism, or gluttony, drug or sex addiction, the program for every Christian is journeying toward the New Jerusalem, anticipating the time when you will live in the presence of God with no barrier, nor sin to hinder such blessed fellowship. As Christians reading Psalm 121 you have a clear sense of the hardships that affect the believer on his journey toward God.

There will be all kinds of hardships in your Christian walk. The hills in the times of the Psalms were the places where false places of worship were set up. They’d woo the unprepared pilgrim from his goal of going to Jerusalem. Today billboards and internet ads on social media pages are new hills. They advertise cars and sex, things, and whip up greed which will cause the unprepared faithful believer to turn aside from working the program. There is the enticing suggestion one could sin in private ~ as if God could not see you! Do not be convinced by this lie!

Evil abounds. It is in the believer's own heart and in the plans of the devil to waylay the followers of Christ from their goal of suffering for Jesus. Such suffering for Jesus means putting to death lusts and desires, in favour of staying true to Him. The world is seductively inviting the Christian to return to the warm embrace of sin, even as it lies about the benefits of such sins and ignores the devastating consequences which inevitably follow.

But to deviate from the truth for the sake
of some prospect of hope of our own
can never be wise, however slight that
deviation may be.
It is not our judgment of the situation
which can show what is wise,
but only the truth of the Word of God.
Here alone lies the promise of God’s
faithfulness and help.
It will always be true that the wisest
course for the disciple is always to abide
solely by the Word of God in all simplicity.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Father in heaven, keep my feet from falling and my heart from wandering to the hills instead of going straight toward You. Father of every good gift, send Your Spirit so that my head and secret heart will be committed to going where Christ has gone in fullest obedience to You. By the Spirit’s revelation in the Word make me aware of my every sinful inclination so that I will urgently keep walking in Your rich love and constantly yearn for Your abundant mercy. Let the siren song of the world be to me as nails scratching on a chalkboard so that my ears will be tuned only to Your Spirit’s quiet promptings which flow from the Scripture’s page. Thank You, Faithful God, for Your abundant love which never ends and Your persistent goodness given in the Spirit Who will draw the believer back to Jesus, the King of Glory and the Only Mediator between God and man. Amen.

https://youtu.be/EqWYSyDZYIg

Song selection: “Look to Jesus” Phil Wickham

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