“…shall I be afraid?”
Psalm 27 begins: “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?” These words have been words of encouragement to people for centuries and remind us that our God is in the middle of whatever we may go through.
Interestingly, as this Psalm progresses, it seems that David says brave words – but seems very strongly aware and fixed on the danger of his enemies. His thoughts seem to toggle back and forth between good reasons to be afraid and his confidence in the Lord.
What comes to your mind when you read David’s words about his enemies and the danger he is in? Our minds think of our situations and conjour up thoughts, worries, reminders of tense relationships, and even inner struggles. For David the enemies and the dangers were real, honest-to-goodness war-time physical danger! Our enemies may or may not be less real albeit that they often do not pose the physical danger of death.
You know what? Maybe David is sharing an honest human moment with us: while his words say he isn’t scared – maybe his emotions say that he is terrified. Maybe he is doing what we should do more often: speak from our faith, not our circumstances or emotion. David is not IGNORING his problem – he seems to be keenly aware. He is not in denial about his situation…but past all the “feelings” of fear he voices a trust and confidence that God has his back… and not just “someday” out there – but before his death.
See these closing words: “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lordin the land of the living. Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
Be honest with God about your fears, your enemies, the things that endanger what is best for you – and trust confidently that He has your best at heart.
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a choice…
A single moment in time can change the course of one’s future. That statement sounds kind of ominous – and a bit cliché. It is, however, one of life’s true-isms! You know that we believe this because we warn our children of the pending doom of this decision or that – out of love – and wanting to protect them from consequences that will impact the rest of their lives. We also view this in the positive in regards to investing for retirement, decisions for education and, of course, as it applies to accepting the salvation offered by Jesus Christ.
In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul shows us such a fork in the road. In chapter 1 he gives us what author Buddy Owens calls a “frightening picture” of the consequences of making the wrong choice when we arrive at this fork. The hinge-point is the word “Therefore” in Romans 1:24. Following this word is a long list of consequence and out comes that is truly eye opening. I encourage you to read all the way to verse 32 and observe the things that lie side by side in this list.
So what is BEFORE the word “therefore”? in verse 21 Paul says, “For although they [mankind] knew God…” The case had been made earlier that God had been revealed and made plain to mankind. But even though He was known – “they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.” When we “choose” to be too busy – to NOT acknowledge Him our thinking becomes futile and our hearts are darkened (v.21). We have taken the wrong path – leading to a litany of problems.
You see, the fork in the road was the CHOICE to honor God by thanking and glorifying Him. We often view “worship” as the activity in the sanctuary on Sunday morning – and that is a PART. But since we know him – the choice to glorify Him and thank Him is given to us as individuals each and every day.
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Welcome to FirstNaz.net
Welcome to FirstNaz.net – the official website of First Church of the Nazarene, Mount Vernon, Ohio.
We have worked hard to design and develop this site to give you the most complete and user friendly information that you will need to attend services and classes, to find out about this church and how we can minister to your family, and to get involved through your unique gifts and talents.
As you return to this site, from time to time, you will find commentary here from the Pastoral Staff that will vary from inspirational thoughts to help you grow in your relationship with God – to informational material about important events at First Naz.
We invite you to look around the site, to see why we are excited about what God is doing at First Naz, and to become a regular part of this community as we grow in Christ together.
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