Psalm 27
[A Psalm] of David. 1THE LORD is my Light and my
Salvation--whom shall I fear or dread? The Lord is the Refuge and Stronghold of
my life--of whom shall I be afraid?
2When the wicked,
even my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and
fell.
3Though a host encamp against me, my heart shall
not fear; though war arise against me, [even then] in this will I be confident.
4One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek,
inquire for, and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the
Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and
gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of
the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple.(A)
5For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His
shelter; in the secret place of His tent will He hide me; He will set me high
upon a rock.
6And now shall my head be lifted up above my
enemies round about me; in His tent I will offer sacrifices and shouting of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
7Hear,
O Lord, when I cry aloud; have mercy and be gracious to me and answer me!
8You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for, and require
[of necessity and on the authority of Your Word].
9Hide not Your face from me; turn not Your servant away in anger, You Who have been my help! Cast me not off, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation!
10Although my father and my mother have forsaken me, yet
the Lord will take me up [adopt me as His child].(B)
11Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain and
even path because of my enemies [those who lie in wait for me].
12Give me not up to the will of my adversaries, for false
witnesses have risen up against me; they breathe out cruelty and violence.
13[What, what would have become of me] had I not believed
that I would see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living!
14Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of
good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for
and hope for and expect the Lord.

I added my own emphasis to some of these verses: This is from the amplified bible and the brackets show the meaning of words and phrases. A lady at Grace Life shared this and I thought it was so neat. This whole Psalm is a good one to pray through.

One way, as I read in "Lifetime Guarantee" by Bill Gilham to live by the truth and the reality of being in Christ is to fix your mind on things above. What are things above? Above would be heaven! We can imagine that it starts about an inch above the ground we walk on, and set our mind on the fact that now our spirit which is in Christ is resting at the right hand of the father right now. Are there problems there? Is there anxiety? Confusion? Depression? NO! The reality of who you are is that you are seated with Him. Yes we are on this earth but if your question today is "what is reality" the answer to this questions like most others is Jesus. Take the circumstances of your life today. Now, "See yourself seated in Christ, resting while in this circumstance. See yourself loved, totally accepted, godly, and holy. This is your life, 'for..your life is hidden with Christ in God' Col 3:3...God didn't give you an option of setting your mind or not as you choose. He has commanded you to do it. And when you do it you're walking in reality." Fixing your mind on other things? That leads to deceptions. He is worthy of all our mind and heart's attention. When you have that spare second, remind yourself of who/where you are! Turn off the music for once and soak in His presence! Take this psalmist as his word when he says God's presense is his vital need.
"Yes, wait for and hope for and EXPECT the Lord." He is there. He is everywhere if you will just seek his face/fix your eyes on the author and perfecter of your faith/believe HE is reality.

I really feel like the Lord has me here to learn more about hearing from Him. I often hear from others, from the pulpit, from the Word, which are all honorable things, but how much more valuable is HE!? I believe you can turn all the above mentioned things into your source, how you cope in your own strength when he says that HE is the vine and we are the branches. His spirit is in each of us if we believe in Him and He is communicating with us every minute whether it's good morning, or, that breakfast looks good, or get out of the sun you're getting burned, i love you so much, you are my precious darling, . . .

God speaks! Do we listen?

As much as I love loud praise and worship there is so much to be said for a time of worship and hearing of the word in a more quiet setting. I may even go to those "rock and roll ones" so I can shout my praises at God so that I wont have to hear what he's telling or asking of me! Hmm. I remember the night at the Passion conference where they had us be silent for a while before entering worship and I heard from him in such a deep personal way like never before. Never!! So in light of hearing from Him comes the Disclaimer:

These are my raw thoughts. The reason why I called this disclaimer is because I don't what you to take anything I say as truth just yet. Hold it before the Lord. Look at the intimacy that is waiting and the depth in His truth when you take it and offer it up to Him, asking Father what does this have to do with me? How can I know you better in light of this truth? THAT is a personal relationship. He is YOUR Jesus just as much as mine, but you and I are two different people that think differently and act differently. Your Christian walk may not look exactly as mine because God makes us to be different parts of the body. So the next time someone tells you to be a missionary, to serve the homeless, to be this or be that, offer it up to the Lord.

He want want you speak to you FIRST, beloved!