Shalom – The Guardian Sentinel

Part I

This past weekend there were several prayer requests for peace.  This got me thinking about the true peace of God and what it is and how we actually experience it.  This led me to Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, Philippians chapter four.  Paul starts out commanding the Body to stand firm, to persevere, to be consistent in the Lord.  Then he proceeds to instruct us as to how to do that very thing.  In verse six through nine he gives the famous verses, which contain four more commands:

“6 Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving; let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable-if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise – dwell on these things. 9 Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Don’t, Do, Dwell, and Do

Don’t Worry

The word for worry in the original language has the idea of an extreme uneasiness of mind or a state of depressing fear about some possibility.  It comes from a Greek word that literally means to distract, to divide, or to draw in different directions.  That is exactly what worry does to our joy.  It disturbs it, rips it apart, and then scatters it in every direction.  Even the word “worry” in English comes from an old German word, which means to strangle or to choke.  Webster defines worry as “to harass by tearing, biting, or snapping especially at the throat”, and “to afflict with mental distress or agitation”.  See why Paul uses such a commanding tone when he tells us not to worry?  Our natural tendency is to be harassed, afflicted, and distressed about circumstances and situations that tend to strangle and choke our joy by tearing at the very jugular of our lives and ripping us apart.  This affects our entire person; our minds, our emotions, and our wills – and once it has viciously shredded and mauled it turns to our bodies and our outward, physical responds to our inner, spiritual.  At times we can get very creative in our worrying.  Think of all the things we worry about: finances, family, work, school, others, etc.  But most of the time the worrying has to do with self inflicted burdens about some future possibility that, for the most part, we have no control over in the first place!  That health issue you can’t control, that spouse who just won’t do what they suppose to do.  That bank account, that family member that just doesn’t get it, how you are viewed, how others respond to you, the list goes on and on.

Do Invite God Into Your World

Then comes one of my favorite Pauline words – “but.”  Paul is quick to give the antidote to this vicious, thieving beast that would mangle your joy – “prayer and petition with thanksgiving.”  Paul says that in the midst of your distress; when worry lifts its hideous hands to clutch your throat, set your focus on God.  There are two words here: prayer and petition (supplication).  Prayer deals with the general discussions to God filled with adoration, devotion, and worship.  The first action to take is to get alone with God and let Him know how much you adore Him, focusing on who He is (His attributes that we have been talking about recently).  Worship Him for who He is, All-mighty, All-powerful, All-seeing, love, good, merciful, etc.  Not only does this please God, it also puts us in the right frame of mind, reminding ourselves that we serve The One and Only God, with Whom NOTHING is impossible.  Then Paul uses the word petition (supplication), which moves from a more general prayer to very specific requests.  The word used means to want or to beg and has a connotation of a sense of urgency.  After worshiping God the scriptures say move directly into strong, non-stop, never ending, relentless pleadings – and this ends ONLY when the evil is averted or the good is conveyed.  Paul commands us to bring these requests to God with a continual, habitual practice of doing so – while ensuring that the adoration, worship, and relentless pleadings are all wrapped up in thankfulness.  Thankfulness for who He is, for what He has done in the past, for what He is about to do now, and for what He will do in the future.

If we follow these directions of (1) not worrying, (2) offering adoration and worship, (3) relentlessly pleading for our requests, and (4) exhibiting thankfulness – then the PEACE of God will guard you.  I don’t know how many of you saw the movie “Thor,” but if you did, remember the character Heimdall.  Heimdall (played by some B-listed actor, I think his name is Idris Aba-ca-dabra, or something like that, lol) stands on the rainbow bridge Bifrost to watch for any attacks to the great city of Asgard, defending the city's gates from any intruders.  Heimdall stands at 7 foot 2 inches and weighs 575 lbs.  His powers include:

• Superhuman Strength
• Superhuman Speed
• Superhuman Stamina
• Superhumanly Dense Tissue
• Superhuman Durability
• Superhuman Agility
• Superhuman Reflexes
• Extended Longevity
• Regenerative Healing Factor
• Superhumanly Acute Senses
• Avatar Projection

Heimdall was one of the gods of Asgard; could lift over 50 tons; and wielded the Hofund: an uru sword enchanted by Odin into which he can command cosmic forces and wield blue flames from countless cosmic stars.  He also carried the Gjallerhorn, used to signal when he sees any impending attacks on Asgard.  He won the job as guardian of Asgard by seeing one day a pending attack on the city, from enemies who were still 8 days away.  He was known as the all-seeing, all-hearing guardian sentinel of Asgard.

I went through that long, pseudo-semi-nerdism all because of the word Paul uses in this passage – phroureo.  It means to be a watcher in advance, to mount guard as a sentinel.  The saints in Philippi were familiar with this word, for it referenced a Roman soldier with his weapon out preventing a hostile invasion or keeping the inhabitants of a besieged city from escaping. If we follow the instructions from the Scripture we will receive a guardian sentinel, infinitely more powerful than Heimall, to secure, guard, and protect our hearts and our minds from ominous anxiety and looming worry.  And this sentinel is The Peace of God.

The original word for peace (eirene) is where we get our word “serene” and “serenity” from.  It is derived from a word meaning to join, bind, or joining together what was broken or divided.  When things are broken and/or divided, there is lack of harmony, security, and comfort.  But when they are joined together there are both.  Peace is inner rest and well being.  It is clear and free of storms or objectionable change, stressing an unclouded and superior calmness.  This will be your sentinel guardian to guard your heart and mind – the real, inner you.  And since it is from God it is an eternal peace, an infinite peace, an everlasting peace, an all-powerful peace, a holy peace, and a supernatural peace, surpassing all comprehension – a “blow your mind” peace!

Isaiah 26:3 says,

“You will keep the mind that is dependent on You in perfect peace [Hebrew: Shalom], for it is trusting in you.”

Eirene (peace) is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Shalom.  Worry and anxiety attempt to divide us while choking the joy right out of our lives.  But the Scriptures dictates that if we don’t give in to worry, by offering prayers of worship and intense specific requests to God, with thanksgiving, He will give the Shalom of God to protect our hearts and minds and be our valiant and vigilant sentinel guardian.  So I commend you to take heed to the Word of the Lord today and not allow worry and anxiety to consume you.  It has no place in the Body of Christ for the Creator of the Universe has given us His peace.  And through the peace of The All Mighty God we can actively live in a tranquil state of clam assuredness, knowing that we are guarded, protected, and secured.

Part II – Shalom the Guardian Sentinel (Dwell and Do)

My God Will Blow Your Mind...

Last week during Bible study when Melissa got that text from Kay that she was going to the hospital we stopped everything and did what we were supposed to do – pray.  Not a “general-all-encompassing-standard-lingo” prayer, but a specific, urgent prayer engaging in all of the authority and boldness that God gave us to come before His Thrown of Grace.  Hebrews 4:16 says, 

“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

When we studied Ephesians chapter one we looked at definitions for both mercy and grace.  Mercy was defined as God’s kindness and goodness toward the distressed, the miserable, and the afflicted, and the original word also joins with that goodness a desire to relieve them (the miserable and afflicted).  Grace was defined as God’s goodness toward those who deserve only punishment.  The writer of Hebrews says that since we have this Great High Priest who knows everything and has experienced everything we do here on earth (without sin of course), since we have Him on our side we can approach His thrown with free, fearless confidence, and cheerful courage, knowing that His goodness and kindness are there for us.

But I digress...

The point I wanted to make was actually a confession.  See while we all bowed in earnest prayer for our dear sister, who was in fact in much worst condition than any of us really knew, my mind went to Acts 12.  There Herod had just killed the apostle James, the leader of the church (and the apostle John’s brother), then went and threw Peter in jail planning to murder him also after Passover.  But verse five is so powerful,

“…but prayer was being made earnestly to God for him by the church.”

Many of the saints (the church) had met at Mary’s house and were praying for God to miraculously deliver Peter.  This would've had to be an incredible miracle because James is dead, and Herod was on a killing spree in his quest to please the Jews.  Peter had 16 soldiers guarding him locked up in prison.  Everything was set for another funeral.  But the saints gathered at Mary’s house and prayed – earnestly.

If you aren’t familiar with the story, please read it.  God responded to their prayers and sent an angel that basically walked Peter right out of the chains, out of his cell, past the 16 soldiers, and right out of prison into the streets.  Upon being freed, he walked straight to Mary’s house where the saints were praying for God to deliver him.  He knocked on the door and a little girl named Rhoda heard Peter’s voice and ran and told the praying saints that Peter was actually at the door!  Their prayers were miraculously answered! God had showed up and showed out!  And what was their response?  Disbelief. They told little Rhoda that she had lost her mind.  I can see them now, shoo-wing her off to go back upstairs to play with her friends.  The very thing they prayed for, God did, and they didn’t believe.  It was as if they were praying, but were they really believing?

Back to me last week…

So as we were praying for Kay I thought of the church at Mary’s house praying for Peter.  And how we really needed God to show up and perform a healing in Kay’s life, right now; immediately!  My heart was heavy for Kay and I was thankful that we were together with the saints, all in one accord.  From what the texts were saying and after talking to Parilla I knew this was really bad.  But I knew that our all-powerful God knew the situation and was powerful enough to work.  After praying we went back and forth discussing driving out to the hospital, not driving out to the hospital, calling and texting Parilla all night.  About 4 am he texted that she was out of surgery and was going to go home in the morning.  My immediate reaction was, “what kind of cracked-out doctors are at this hospital???”  I mean this girl had been slowly dying since Thursday from internal bleeding and the doctor is talking about “she’s fine now and she’ll be home by breakfast”?  I just knew something was wrong with the hospital or something.  A second opinion, anything!  When I finally talked to Parilla Sunday morning he said they were about to release her and that the doctors were amazed at how bad she was prior to the surgery.  How that she should’ve been in much more dire pain, much less mobile and much less calm than she was due to what they found was going on inside of her.  But her she was now, on her way home after major, emergency surgery.

Then it hit me.  I was responding exactly like the saints at Mary’s house.  I prayed for an amazing miracle from a God that I knew was powerful enough to heal, and when He did the amazing miracle I was doubtful.  Not doubting God, but I guess knowing how detrimental and serious the situation was, I was expecting an equally detrimental and seriously long answer.  Not THAT quick, nor THAT final.  I then thought about my prayer life and what I “expect” from God when I pray.  Do I really believe, I mean REALLY believe that He WILL do what I ask Him in prayer?  I truly believe that He CAN, but do I believe that He WILL.  I asked for forgiveness for my subliminal doubt.  Not really doubt, but I guess not being “all-in” with both my belief and my expectation.

James says in chapter five verse 16 to,

"...pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful."

That word for powerful literally means that it is able to exert ones authority by means of power, to have strength to overcome, and is shown by the occurrence extraordinary deeds. I've known this verse since I was a kid.  I've seen God answer prayer time and time again. Car loans? Oh, He can do that.  HOA bills, promotions at work, passing certification exams?  Cake work.  Bringing His child back from the brink of death to health in a few hours?  Yeah, that ain't nothing to Him either.  When we pray we exert that authority that God has given us, through the work of the High Priest Christ Jesus.  God, help me to truly believe that with all my being.  And help me to make prayer, intense prayer, not something I do, but a defining characteristic in my life.

Praise God that Kay is fine and every time I see her she will be a testimony to me of how mind-blowingly powerful my God is, and how He doesn’t need time or multiple surgeries, or medicines to do what He do.  Thank you Kay and Parilla for allowing God to use you to show me, me.  Thank you God for being You…

Use What You've Got...

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." - Ephesians 1:3

We’ve been studying Ephesians in our Bible Study and while listening to a message today on the way to work this speaker used an example that I thought was cool.  I’ll share…

Poker is a game where the outcome of any particular hand significantly involves chance, the long-run expectations of the players are determined by what they do selected on the foundation of probability, psychology and game theory. This picture is a royal flush and is the highest-ranking standard poker hand.  If you are dealt these cards you can guarantee you’ll win this hand.  All other hands or combinations of cards fall dreadfully short in comparison.  As a matter of fact, the only way for you to not win with this hand is to fold. To fold is to throw away one's hand and give up all interest in the current amount of money up for grabs.  To fold with a royal flush in front of you is utterly, and stupidly ridiculous.

In Ephesians chapter one, Paul takes one of the longest sentences in the Bible to describe to the Body of Christ all that we have “in Christ.”  As a matter of fact he starts off saying we have “every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).  He then goes on to list that we are (1) chosen in Him before the creation of the world, (2) He predestined us to be adopted as children, (3) we are redeemed through His blood, (4) we have forgiveness of sins, (5) He lavished us with grace, (6) revealed to us the mystery of the church, (7) we have a spiritual inheritance, (8) we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, and (9) have been given a down payment, guaranteeing our inheritance.  This is the “hand” that we as the Body of Christ have been dealt.  It is ours.  We have it in our possession poised and position to win.

The only problem is that most in the Body of Christ live as though they are holding a defeated hand.  And when it’s their turn to respond they fold.  They throw down the hand they have and accept defeat rather than the immediate victory that is theirs to claim and act upon.

The Apostle Paul challenges us as the Body of Christ to play the gloriously rich hand we have been given by God our Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.  By doing so is guaranteed victory.  As the Body of Christ let us remember all that we have in Christ and live our lives accordingly.

Mary's Song (God with us) Luke 1:46-56

My favorite Christmas song has always been Amy Grant’s “Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song)” written by Chris Eaton and Amy.  I think what fascinates me most is listening to the coming of the Messiah from the perspective of his 13 year old earthly mother.  I know it was accustomed at that time for someone so young to be married, but the fact remains, she was barely a teenager.  Not only was she faced with the responsibility of convincing her parents, family, and engaged fiancé/husband that she wasn’t a promiscuous whoremonger; while functioning throughout her daily tasks being pregnant for nine months; but also carrying the long awaited, long anticipated, Messiah. 

13 years old.

Sometimes I find myself caught up in the images on Christmas cards, nativity scenes, or shown in popular cinema displaying this precious little, wide-eyed baby in the arms of this young, virgin girl. But my human mind, in all its mortal limitations, cannot fathom the immense enormity of Who she was actually holding.  Isaiah the prophet wrote some hundreds year before that a “virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Translated literally, El, short for Elohim, the Almighty, and Powerful Creator God, was the name in Genesis 1:1 by which the Creator is known during His acts of creation.  Elohim, who created time, space, and matter, exists outside the boundaries of time, space, and matter – each of which are subject to His beckoning commands. And as Hebrews 11:3 states, God created the universe ex nihilo, which is Latin for “creation out of nothing,” spinning out galaxies by only the Word of His breath.  Immanu signifies with or beside us.  Therefore, in her arms Mary held the Almighty Creator; exclusive in His being; existing beyond time, space, and matter; with all the Explosive Power of Creation at His beckoning call, the I Am that I Am; God, residing with us.

Paul describes the kenosis in Philippians 2:6 using the words huparcho and morphe, stating that the essence of the very nature of this little baby boy cradled in Mary’s arms was absolutely unalterable, unequivocally inalienable, and explicitly unchangeable.  And that this little boy’s nature held all of the essential attributes of the inner nature of God, amplifying the inner reality of Who He was, which, by definition, will never change.

John, through the power of the Holy Spirit, carefully chose the word logos in the first verse of the first chapter of his gospel to describe this little baby boy.  During that time, the Greeks used logos, which meant “the word” to represent the word still in the mind, or the reason.  Philosophers used this word to designate the divine reason or plan which coordinates the entire universe, or the rational principle that governs all things.  The monotheistic Jews thought this a great word to signify God, being that He was the rational mind (the reason) behind the creation and coordination of the universe.  Thus John used logos which was meaningful to both the Greeks and Jews at that time, and in John 1:14 stated that this logos, The Word, the Rational Mind, or Reason Who governs both the creation and coordination of the entire universe – became flesh and pitched His tent (tabernacled) with us.

I was thinking of the sun, the most powerful entity in our galaxy.  It stands 93 million miles away from us making up around 99.86% of the mass of the Solar System. The core of the sun is at a warm 24.5 million degrees Fahrenheit! It generates ridiculous amounts of energy through nuclear fusion.  If the earth would move closer to the sun, all life, and in fact the earth itself would be destroyed. Imagine if you would the sun, in all its power, heat, and energy not just coming closer to the earth, but actually coming in contact with the earth.  Just the mere thought of one thousand degrees, much less 24.5 million degrees is mind melting, (pun intended); pure, raw energy touching the surface of our “previously inhabited” home. This poor world wouldn’t stand a chance. Imagine a container able to harness this massive monstrosity of energy, enveloping the sun allowing it in all its dynamism to reside among us, yet with all its vigor swelling and swirling inside.

This is a poor attempt at a pathetic association to Who Mary held in her arms.  For the sun is smaller than a miniscule insignificant piece of nothing in comparison to Elohim.  Yet in all His awesome creation power, in all His essential attributes being the exact image and essence of God, and in all His governing and coordinating of all that has ever and will ever exist – there He lay.  Vulnerable, helpless, needy.  I remember holding my son in my arms for the first time. Standing in a wondrous stupor, with so many questions as to how I was going to fulfill my responsibility to raise from this defenseless bundle of joy; a man.  How to provide all he needed to survive, how to protect him from all the hurts, harms, and dangers of this cruel unforgiving world.  All this without the resounding angelic words that were penetrating Mary’s inner soul, that this baby is Jehovah’s salvation, the Son of God, the Messiah.

God with us.

Francesca Battistelli’s “You’re Here” is a modern day “Breath of Heaven” which again is a beautiful rendition of Mary speaking of the child she holds in her arms.  A portion of the lyrics say:

Look at your hands, they're still so small
Someday You're going to stretch them out and save us all
Noel, noel, God with us Emmanuel

As we celebrate this time of year let us not forget why He came.  God came to die.  And His perfect, holy death was for me and for you.  Thank you Almighty Elohim for residing with us, for dying for us, and for living again, for us.

God with us, Immanuel…

Amy Grant's "Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song)"

Francesca Battistelli's "You're Here"

The Christ-like Response to Lies, Persecution, and Character Attacks

1 Corinthians 4:12,13 - "...when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we entreat..."

It’s amazing how the Holy Spirit works.  In John 14:26, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will, “teach you all things and remind you of all the things I have said to you.”  Well, I was “reminded” this week in my daily devotions.  So, I’m going through 1 Corinthians, which of course deals with how the church (The Body of Christ) should behave.  When you get to chapter four, Paul is describing the life and attitude of an apostle, which he calls “God’s managers”, then he sums up the chapter by urging us to imitate him.  And the main topic of imitation is humility. Pride can manifest itself in a variety of ways.  One of which is how we typically respond when others mistreat us.

One thing I really, really hate is being lied on.  Now combine that with not being able to defend yourself, all the while knowing that someone is intentionally twisting and manipulating the facts in order to misrepresent you and your pure intentions to others (I’m getting heated just thinking about it, lol)!  But at the core of it is pride.  Pride in the sense of, “how dare you utter words against me out of your mouth, do you know who I am?”  “I’m Olu, and nobody gets away with speaking sideways about me!”  “Oh, you think you can talk jibber jabber and get away with it without any consequences?” (ok, let me calm down, lol) I mean, of course one shouldn’t be thrilled that their name is being falsely dragged through the mud, but our reaction to it should be an imitation of Christ’s humility (easier said than done...).

In 1 Corinthians 4:12-13, Paul gives three scenarios complete with proper, biblical “Body of Christ” reactions to each of them…

“…when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we entreat…”

This is undoubtedly the reaction of someone who has their pride in check, lol.  To understand what Paul was saying I did a word study of this passage.  To be “reviled” is to be subject to verbal abuse, and it has the idea of the use of severe, harsh condemnatory language.  The actual word Paul used is literally translated “being speared with words” (ouch)!  “Persecuted,” in the original language has the idea of eagerly running swiftly in a hostile manner in order to catch a person or a thing, giving all you have to harass, trouble, and/or molest them.  And finally, the word translated “slandered” is actually “being harm averred.”  So, after looking up what in the world “averred” meant (lol), I found that it meant to “allege or assert in pleading a cause.”  Now throw “harm” in front of it and you have someone alleging or asserting harm on you in a pleading fashion!  The English translation of the word Paul used is calumny (had to look up that one too), which is the act of uttering false charges or misrepresentations maliciously calculated to harm another’s reputation. Vicious!

So, putting it all together, when people are throwing severe, harsh spears of verbally abusive words, while eagerly chasing behind you in a hostile manner and with every thread of their being, in order to harass you, all the while screaming malicious, well-thought out lies, false charges, and blatant misrepresentations with the sole purpose of destroying your reputation (whew!) - when that happens to us, Paul gives us the proper, biblical response:

"...bless, ...endure, ...entreat"

(Now isn't that easy!)  Our, "Body of Christ" response is to bless them, that means I'm to "speak well of" or to "invoke a benediction of prosperity towards" them.  I'm to endure or tolerate or "bear with" the onslaught.  And finally, I'm to entreat.  Now, I was cool with this word until I looked it up.  It literally means, "to call beside."  Its the same word that means to intervene between two parties with a view of reconciling differences (oh joy, oh rapture). It also means to gain goodwill with pleasing acts of kindness.

This is our response.  Why?  Because of humility.  Paul says in Romans not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought (Romans 12:3), then in Philippians he tells us to have the same mindset as Christ (Philippians 2:5).  If they treated Christ Jesus, the God-Man Savior of the world this way, and he responded properly, who are we to respond any less?  Oh, and by the way, we have The Fullness of the Godhead in us, which give us access to the same power that raised Jesus from the dead - so not by my might, or by my power, but by your Spirit, dear Lord.  Paul said earlier in 1 Corinthians 4:9 that God displays us like dead men.  And guess what?  Dead men don't worry or stress or retaliate against people who revile, persecute, or slander them - because they are dead.  So being that we are dead to the flesh, we respond in life with Christlike imitation.  This is true Christianity.

My character, my reputation is very precious to me.  And when others attempt to destroy it with false accusations and clever omissions of the truth it really burns me up inside (before I read 1 Corinthians 4, ok maybe even a little bit after, lol).  But Paul says earlier in the chapter that what others think of me or portray me as is of little importance because how God views me is what really matters (1 Corinthians 4:3,4).  So go ahead, attack my character, paint a warped, false picture of my intentions and actions.  As long as I'm walking in the Spirit of humble obedience God says He will give me the strength to bless, endure, and entreat.

I love the fact that Paul doesn't say, "if" we are reviled, persecuted, or slandered, he says, "when."  If it hasn't happened to you, just you wait!  Oh, its not going to be easy, especially if we aren't operating with the full power of the Holy Spirit.  But with His help we can respond biblically in a way that is pleasing to our Lord. 

Father, help me.  Thank you for the power to respond like You.  Please work on my heart, mind, and soul that I may please you, even when others are acting against me.

Walk This Way...

Psalms 119:101 - “I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey Your Word.”

David points out that he has made a decision. “I have kept” is a phrase that denotes action. Forceful action demonstrated on oneself. If we don’t apply some “force” our feet will go any and every where. We have to make conscious decisions not allow our “feet” to go where they naturally want to go.

Notice the verse says “every evil path”. Even before we get to the actual evil, the Psalmist says that he avoids even the road (path) to the evil. A lot of times we think we know our “tipping point” – how far we can go without actually getting in trouble. I bet 90% of the time I’ve messed up has been because I flirted too close to the road to evil. We don’t really wake up in the morning and say, “you know what, I’m gonna get in some evil trouble today!” Nah, that’s not how it works. It starts by playing too close to, flirting with disaster.

The only way to live a life of obedience is to consciously, forcefully, and mightily keep our feet off of the path to evil. Think of all the things we could have avoided in life. Your particular “evil path” might be that girly you need to consciously, forcefully, and mightily stay away from. It may be your "homey(s)" or "friends" that don’t have your betterment in mind. It may be that neighborhood, that club, that movie theater, that bookstore or video store. It may be those thought patterns that lead your mind to places or times in your past that you don’t need to be reminiscing on. What ever it may be, let’s join David in this verse and avoid them at all costs.

Let's start now..

Good Judgment

Psalm 119:66 “Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe your commands.”

Good judgment…I must say that this has been, by far, the most complicated, complex, convoluted issue in my life – having good judgment. I would say that over 90% of the jacked up stuff that’s happened to me has been based on my own bad judgment. I wish, so often, that I could travel back in time and tell my self, “Olu, don’t do it that way, try to handle it this way.” It is difficult, and as men we are forced to make a lot of judgment calls. Be it at home, at work, church, in our own lives and in the lives of those close to us. Just think where you would be today if you used “good judgment” in all the decisions you’ve ever made! (A small tear just trickled down my face…LOL)

The Great Preacher Spurgeon compared our actions somewhat to that of birds that fall for a “bird call” by a hunter then ends up getting shot! Due to the bird’s lack of judgment, he is unable to distinguish between a call from an actual bird vs. a man-made call from a deadly hunter. Our own flesh, Satan, and this World System all serve as cunning hunters with their tricks and traps that appear harmless and at times beneficial. We need that “good judgment” from God to aid us in making correct decisions. And this good judgment only comes from the commands of God – His Word, The Bible.

Earlier in chapter 19, the scripture says the commandments of the Lord are pure, enlighten the eyes. God’s Word gives us clear understanding of things otherwise not understood. The muddy world is made clear through the Word of God. So as you memorize scriptures, know that applying God’s word to your hearts (memorizing) will help you have “good judgment” now and forever in your life!

God bless...