Jeremiah 2:17 says, “Have you not brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken  the Lord your God when He led you in the way?” As I read this verse, I wrote a question in my journal. ‘Lord, what have I brought upon myself because I forsook Your way?’ I no sooner wrote it when the Holy Spirit reminded me that nothing is in vain.

It is not wise to look back and wish that something had not happened in your life. Nothing is in vain because God redeems it all. We serve a merciful Lord. Psalm 136 has 26 verses. Each one ends with, “…for His mercy endures forever.”

Jeremiah said that God’s mercies are new every morning. New mercies means that every morning when we wake up, we step into a new day full of mercy. Last night was yesterday. It is now in your past. When you went to sleep, the past hours of that day were done.

Everything that ever happened in our lives is recorded in our brain. Every emotion, feeling, nuance of every event is on file. That is why unresolved issues surface when we least expect them. I like to think of my life in the hands of my Loving Potter.

He uses my adversities and hard trials to center me on Himself. After I fell into the ravine in 1977 my health went into a rapid decline. I didn’t remember the fall for 3 1/2 years so I had no reference to why things were cascading down.

It was through those bedridden years that the Lord wooed me to Himself. I had never read about anyone’s experience like I was going through. I had no previous understanding. He captured my heart. I did not know it at the time, but He was using our intimate communion as His preparation for a ministry that would take years in the making. His heart-words opened wounds that I thought I had hidden. He knows yours also. 

The multiple brain injuries are my assets. They taught me how to lean hard on His grace, and to seek Him for wisdom to navigate through their uncharted territory. They are an essential part of my life because through them He enables me to continually fulfill 2 Corinthians 1:4. Without them? I would have nothing to say.

You have the same opportunities. The verse says, “Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Your trials are unique to you. No one else has ever been through exactly what you have. Yet, there are countless who are hurting now just as you hurt. Hurt is universal and comes in myriad ways. 

He takes our emotional pain and redeems it for His purposes. He takes our ashes, and through His redemptive work, turns them into words spun with tender love that is a healing balm to another’s wounded heart. 

We have a responsibility before the Lord to implement the insights that He gives us. We need to be good stewards or we will be like those in Mark 4:19. Other things will creep in and choke the word so it does not bear fruit.

1 John 1:6 says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” Here is my paraphrase: if I ‘say’ that I have intimate communion with the Lord, and continue to walk in my flesh, then I am lying and not being a doer of His word. That brings it right up close and personal.

In 1967 the Lord spoke words into my heart that broke through a lot of emotional barriers. ‘You have not esteemed My word more than your necessary food.’ It was the reverse of Job 23:12 which says, “I have not departed from the commandments of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”

1 John 1:8, 10 say, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

The Holy Spirit brings conviction as we daily read God’s word. However, if we don’t confess what He has convicted us of, we are like the verse in James 1:23-24. We are hearing but not doing and therefore deceiving ourselves ~ forgetting our fleshly reactions are sin.

1 John 2:4, 6, and 9 all use the words, “He who says…” We have to ask ourselves: what am I saying that I am doing but I am not? That makes us double-minded and therefore unstable according to James 1:7-8. Here is our stability. 

Psalm 15:2-5 says: walk uprightly, speak truth in our heart, not backbiting, not doing evil to our neighbor, nor expressing disapproval against a friend, despising vileness, honoring those who fear the Lord, doing what we say we will do no matter what the consequences are, not charging interest, or taking bribes against those who are innocent. Verse 5 ends with, “…He who does these things shall never be moved.”

It all boils down to this: are we daily living out the gospel through our interactions? We came to Christ acknowledging that we are sinners and in need of His saving grace. Progressive sanctification is walking out our salvation in each situation.

Philippians 2:12-13 says, “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling: for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” The fear of the Lord means to revere and worship Him. 

What is praise? It is exultation, high honor, esteem, and reverence. It comes from a heart that dwells in His love moment by moment. We are created to glorify the only One who embodies love. 1 John 4:8 says that God is love. 

Jeremiah 2 is the Lord’s indictment against Israel. In verse 2 He says, “..I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.”

‘Kindness’ in the Hebrews conveyed the concept of covenant loyalty, love, and faithfulness. Betrothal was like a marriage vow. In verse 3 He called them, “…holiness to the Lord.” Israel was set apart by the Lord for Himself.

When they entered the land, they did not drive out all of the inhabitants. They learned their ways, and worshiped their gods. They decided to go their own way. They ceased to go after the Lord.

Hebrews 3:12-13 is a warning to us. It says, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God…lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

Jeremiah 2:13 described that departure. It says, “For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Anything that we do in our flesh is like a broken cistern that can hold no water. Verse 11 says, “Has a nation changed its gods, which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit.”

John 6:63 says that our flesh profits nothing. When we hear God’s word through our fleshly heart, we will do nothing about it. If our motives are flesh driven, we will error and fall short of God’s glory.

I have been really challenged as I am memorizing verses in Psalm 119. Verse 30 says, “I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgments I have laid before me.” Ask yourself: have I laid God’s word before me so that I will continually walk in His truth? Have I laid anything before me that will cause me to stumble?

Psalm 16:8 says, “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.” Psalm 86:11 says, “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.”

Have you ever wanted to complain or rail against some injustice in your life? Have you ever said, ‘I can’t take this anymore’ as you faced hardship? Maybe you rebelliously said, ‘I won’t’ when asked to do something? Before the words come out of your mouth, discipline your thoughts. Bring them captive to the obedience of Christ as instructed in 2 Corinthians 10:5. 

Hebrews 13:15 is our mandate. It says, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” The discipline of praise aligns us with God’s will as stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:18. “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Psalm 34:1 says, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Verbally saying, ‘I will’ is decisive action to align our will with God’s. Verse 2-3 says, “My soul shall makes its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”

The Hebrew word for continually means: constantly, always, evermore, and perpetually.  Therein lies our challenge. Our flesh would much rather complain, rail, or rebel at commands. Psalm 119:7 says, “I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments.” 

Righteousness, according to Hebrews 12:11 Amplified is, “…in conformity to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action…” How is wet clay conformed in wheel pottery? The blob of wet clay has to have steady pressure applied in order to center it. What an illustration of our will! The Lord uses hard circumstances to center us on Him.

When we praise Him through His centering process, our will easily conforms. All we think of is Him and how He is worthy of our praise. Psalm 119:16 says, “I will delight myself in Your statutes, I will not forget Your word.” In the Psalm that Asaph wrote, he was languishing. Psalm 77:10 says, “…This is my anguish; but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

In his time of trouble he began to complain and question God. Everything turned around for him when he was determined to praise the Lord. Verse 11-12 says, “I will remember the works of the Lord; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds.” Jeremiah did the same thing.

In Lamentations 3:1-20 he was complaining and languishing in his bitter dialogue. Yet he turned it all around through praise. Verse 21 says, “This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.” Where was his hope? In God alone. Verses 22-24 are his declaration. We have often eaten from the fruit of his lips praising the Lord.

They say, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in Him!” We can turn our thoughts from despair to triumph, from negativity to affirmation in a moment. Let us echo Psalm 146:2 which says, “While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.”

I want to look at a few verses in two of David’s Psalms. Psalm 22:3 says, “But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.” The Hebrew word for ‘enthroned’ means: to sit down, to remain, to settle, or marry.

Psalm 68:1-2 says, “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; let those also who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.”

Verse 7-8 says, “O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness, the earth shook; the heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.”

Think back to that scene. Exodus 19:18 says, “Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.” 

Verse 16 says that the children of Israel were terrified. Yet look at verse 20. It says, “…And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.” In 1997 we were in Costa Rica on a short term mission trip. Our team stood at the base of a mountain that was considered an active volcano. Though it had not erupted for years, it was rumbling. It was a defining moment for me.

The Lord demonstrated His holiness to the children of Israel. He told Moses to go down and warn the people in verse 21. Verse 24 says, “…do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them.” 

He is Sovereign over all. Yet, when we praise Him, He enthrones our praises. The enemy cannot enter that realm. Psalm 47:1-2 says, “Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth.”

What happened when the children of Israel shouted after they had marched around the walls of Jericho seven times? Joshua 6:20 says, “…And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat…”

No impossibility can stand in opposition to the Lord’s purposed pathway for His people. We see this played out in 2 Chronicles 20. King Jehoshaphat said in verse 12, “…For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

The Lord reminded them in verse 15 that the battle was His. Verse 17 says, “You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation  of the Lord…Do not fear or be dismayed…for the Lord is with you.”

God’s strategy through praise defeated their enemy. Verse 21-22 says, “…he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying, Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever. Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes…and they were defeated.”

The Lord is always present, yet He specifically ‘presents’ Himself when we praise Him. Psalm 146, 147, 148, 149, 150 all end the same. “…Praise the Lord!” Psalm 150:6 says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!”

I love to think about the word pictures in Psalm 149:6-9. It says, “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute on them the written judgment—this honor have all His saints. Praise the Lord!”

Our praise: executes vengeance, punishments, binds with chains those who stand against our God and His ways. Think of what is taking place in the nations right now in our time of history. Yet, Psalm 2:4 says, “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision.” 

I use this verse in spiritual warfare. I say something like: Lord, let those who oppose You and Your ways hear Your laughter of derision in heaven and cause them to shake in their boots in terror!

Psalm 119:7 says, “I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments.” We learn about the Lord as we daily read through His word. He declares Himself to those who love Him.

John 14:21 says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Manifest in the Greek means to cause to shine, to appear, come to view, reveal, exhibit, make visible, present oneself in the sight of another, be conspicuous. How does the Lord do this? Through His word.

Psalm 25:14 Amplified says, “The secret ( of the sweet, satisfying companionship) of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its (deep, inner) meaning.”

1 Corinthians 2:10 Amplified says, “Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through his Spirit, for the (Holy) Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God (the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s scrutiny).”

I don’t know about you, but I want to know the way the Lord works. Psalm 119:27 is the verse I’m memorizing right now. It says, “Make me understand the way of Your precepts; so shall I meditate on Your wonderful works.” Let us stand, and keep on standing, through wielding our mighty weapons of meditating and praise!

In 2016 the Lord would wake me up and give me what He wanted me to meditate on. It was often just a phrase from a verse. He gave me rich insights. When I got up in the morning I started typing the things that He had given me. As I typed He added verses and definitions.

In seven and one half months He gave me 35 short ebooks. From those ebooks, He had me compile seven ebooks into one paperback. That work all stopped abruptly with a severe brain injury 1/2/17. The work did not start up again until 2019.

Recently I have begun to memorize again. Before now it has been such a struggle. However, I am doing something that I have not done before. I am meditating as I am repeating each phrase of the verse. The repetition is seeding His word into my heart.

I’m not going for a long term word perfect. He is perfecting my thoughts as I am working at memorizing. The operative word for me is ‘working’ because it is a process. When I was young, memorizing was part of my life. I am actively taking back that ground.

All temptation to sin is spiritual warfare. Where does the warfare take place? In our thoughts. The battlefield is our mind. Our enemy lost at the cross. He was defeated. Colossians 2:15 says, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

Yet, our enemy uses myriad forms (wiles) in an effort to regain control through his fiery dart lies. Ephesians 6:11 is our instruction. It says, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” The Greek for these schemings is travesty. We might better understand it as deceptive measures.

James 1:14 says, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” That means that there was some hidden desire that was percolating through our thoughts.

How do we meditate? Through our thoughts. We can easily see why satan would war against our mind through lies. 2 Corinthians 10:3 reminds us that, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.”

Verse 4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.” Here is a verse that I just memorized that set these thoughts into motion.

Psalm 119:23 says, “Princes also sit and speak against me, but Your servant meditates on Your statutes.” Who are these princes? Ephesians 1:21 was in reference to the Lord Jesus who is seated, “…at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”

Here is another verse about them. Colossians 1:16 says, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”

Meditating on God’s word seeds it into our heart. It begins to spread out and take over real estate. It expands our capacity to hold truth, and squeezes out any negative thought patterns that have set themselves up against the knowledge of God. It is His hidden word that allows us to meditate anytime of the day or night, and in any and all circumstances.

What Guards Your Emotional Blocks?

In my first book, “Freedom! From Past Hurts” there is a chapter called Concealed Rage. We often use rage to guard our buried hurts. If a person get’s too close to what we have buried, we lash out as a warning to stay away.

The Bible has several verses about our spirit being wounded. Proverbs 15:13 says, “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.” 

Proverbs 18:14 says, “The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit?” Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” Here is a part of a new song about bones.

Rejoicing Bones

When I thought about my circumstances I became gloomy inside.  My heart was getting heavy and my peace destroyed. Then in Your Word You revealed the secret of health. My bones are affected when my heart is in despair.

You said renew your mind. Rejoice in Me. I change not. There’s no shadow in Me. No matter what happens I remain the same.

So I turned my gaze from what was dragging me down. I looked to You my victorious One. My heart began to rise like yeast in dough and my mouth opened in song.

What drags us down? Whatever we bury is still very active in our thought process. Proverbs 23:7 says that as we think in our heart, that is what we become. A broken spirit is a heart in despair.

Unresolved issues lead to dis-ease. They are a constant drain on our immune system. We become more susceptible to germs in our environment. Here is an interesting section of verses to consider.

Psalm 41:1 says, “Blessed is he who considers the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.” Verse 3 says, “The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed.”

When we serve another when they cannot serve themselves, it releases numerous neurotransmitters that enhance health. The reverse would be true if we withhold.  Proverbs 3:27 says, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.” 

James 1:27 says, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”

The world system is focused on getting. Proverbs 11:25 says, “The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.” Acts 20:34 says, “…It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

What makes a heart more merrier than to be able to freely give of yourself. It is time to confess and release our emotional blocks that suppress our spirit. Covetousness is sin, The Lord is the Giver of all things. 

In your greatest emotional need, if you will give out, you will find untold blessings. It will break any cycle of depression, anxiety, worry, or fear, and reverse the dis-ease that is destroying your spiritual, emotional, and physical health.

How do we process from emotional blocks to the freedom we are called to walk in? The key is to confess our covetousness as sin. The 10th commandment was ‘you shall not covet.’ However, it goes back to the first commandment that we are not to allow anything to usurp God’s place in our heart. 

That is exactly what an emotional block is. It is blocking the Lord’s work that is needed for true heart healing. We are not in control of any event in our lives. We will be sinned against because we live in a fallen world.

The first sin was coveting. Eve saw something that she was forbidden to eat. Yet, God’s words of warning were ignored because the serpent’s words were couched in deceit. He set a question in her mind. Have you ever noticed that when you are told not to do something, that there is this niggling opposition inside?

Romans 1:18 sets the record really straight for us. It says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

Suppress means to hold down. Every born again believer has the Holy Spirit within them. John 14:17 says, “The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

Psalm 15:2 says, “He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart.” This is our key every time we are tempted to suppress the truth. We must come in the opposite spirit and express it! It is the truth that is ours by experience that keeps us free.

Truth that is printed on a page is only that. It becomes a living truth when we believe it for ourselves, and work it into our thoughts process. Psalm 119:16 says, “I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.” The truths in God’s word need to line our heart’s walls like wallpaper.

When we are sinned against, the seed of covetousness is sown. The seed is designed to penetrate and sow discontent in our heart. Covetousness is one of satan’s strongest weapons. It is very invasive and destructive. 

God’s love is a redeeming love. He redeems all things. Nothing we have gone through has been in vain. He uses every experience to draw us to Himself. Jeremiah 31:3 says, “…Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” Amazing.

Something comes up unexpectedly that we don’t want to deal with. We often, though unconsciously, emotionally block it through coveting. Coveting takes away our focus from the emotional pain. We reach out for an alternative in our mind. It might be food, or social media. It will be anything other than what we are facing.

Stress seems to have been at an all time high with the worldwide pandemic. Many have allowed their minds to emotionally block the present by replacing it with something they deem not stressful. Yet, in reality we are going against God’s way. What does stress do? It overwhelms our central nervous system.

Psalm 61:1-2 says, “Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

Here is a new song about handling stress God’s way.

Song of the Altar

In the midst of adversity when trouble surrounds me. I come into Your presence and I build an altar. I remember how You met me time and time again and I bow in worship.

Nothing can overtake me when I hide in You. Nothing can overwhelm me when I look to You. I set my eyes on You and I gaze into Your face. I bask in the love of Your eyes full of grace.

No one can comfort me like You O Lord. I will make Your presence my abiding place as I hide in You from the tempest of this storm. Yes I’ll hide in You as I bow and worship at Your feet.

Many of David’s Psalms were written at a time of stress in his life. What does Psalm 23:1 say? “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” It is when we want and don’t get that covetousness can sneak in.

Myriad times Scripture recorded Paul in want. Yet he learned how to be content in the midst of those wants. Philippians 4:11 says, “…I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.” Content means to be satisfied. There is only One Satisfier. 

Jeremiah 31:14 says, “I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.” The next time you long for something, I encourage you to memorize Psalm 107:9 so it is in your heart reservoir. Quote it and immediately your heart will refocus on the Lord. It says, “He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.” 

Twice goodness is mentioned as relating to filling a heart need. Psalm 34:8 says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him.” Trust carries over into expectation. 

Psalm 62:5 says, “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.” When we block our emotional pain through covetousness, our expectation is towards some ‘thing’ that we don’t have.

The crux of coveting is not being content with what we have, so we want what we don’t have. It is all a setup that started in the garden. We have an enemy that dangles his hook, seeking to catch us off guard. His bait is lust that lures our flesh out of hiding.