Psalm 115
NKJV
A week of Devotions
Presented by your host
Beth McLendon
Monday
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy,
Because of Your truth.
The Bible tells us to live in a way that will
Give
God
Glory.
I endure all things for the cause of Christ.
I live in a way
so that glory is given to Christ.
2 Why should the Gentiles say,
“So where is their God?”
This verse can refer to times
when the life of a believer
shows
hardship and lack of miracles, etc.
Unbelievers sometimes taunt Christians
because of the
difficult circumstances and situations in their life.
Note that
the Bible tells us
that
Believers WILL face hard times.
So Again...
Where is God?
Verse 3 tells us that God is in heaven.
Yet
we also know that
when we give our life to Jesus Christ,
God is also IN us.
Galatians 2:20
speaks of believers as it says...
“I am crucified with Christ;
and it is no longer I who live,
but it is Christ who lives in me;
and the life which I now live in the flesh
I live in faith,
the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself up for me.”
Also see:
Ephesians 3:17, Romans 8:10, Colossians 1:27,
2 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Corinthians 4:6-7
If you want to understand the Trinity better, click here
So when
Believers are talking among themselves,
the question becomes...
Where is God?
The Answer becomes -
In me...
And others see God reflected in me as I obey him.
For Christians -
God wants our reactions to life to reflect
that
God is on the throne of our life.
Video Below:
Where is God?
Close your eyes for the first minute or so...
the video visuals are not in sync.
The video opens up the idea of
Self-Awareness ...
A Self-Awareness question:
Am I showing forth God in my life?
The video says.....
Am I reflecting the image of Almighty God?
That is a question to ask ourselves.
Note that:
In order to answer that question,
we must honestly look at ourself.
Most people denigrate the good things in themselves
- - - and - - -
they hide from looking at their weaknesses and sins.
In order to grow spiritually, we must develop
more
Self-Awareness.
In order to Grow Spiritually
we need...
Self-Awareness
about our good traits and behaviors.
Self-Awareness
about our weaknesses and sins.
Tuesday
3 But our God is in heaven;
He does whatever He pleases.
Our God is unrestricted.
God is Sovereign. God knows Everything. God is all Powerful.
God does whatever he pleases.
God is outside of time.
God can handle...
A N Y T H I N G!
In verses 4-8,
the Psalmist
speaks about
the idol statues that the
Gentiles were worshipping.
Yes,
we need to realize that
worshipping statues and
even just bowing before them
is a sin.
We read about this
in the Ten Commandments of
Exodus 20:4-5
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—
any likeness
of anything
that is
in heaven above, or that is in the
earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.
Mary and other dead Christians would be in this category.
But
we also need to realize that we can make
anything
an idol and put that idol on the throne of our heart.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
5 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
6 They have ears, but they do not hear;
Noses they have, but they do not smell;
7 They have hands, but they do not handle;
Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
8 Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.
As verse 8 says:
We become like what we worship.
Psalm 115
talks about
The Futility of Idols
and the
Trustworthiness of God
Idols can be
money, sports idols,
movie idols,
food,
addictions, cars, family members,
etc.
What are you going to worship.... Today?
Wednesday
Trust in the Lord
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
Where
have you placed your trust?
It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in man.
Psalm 118:8 NKJV
Understanding The Fear of the Lord
12 The Lord has been mindful of us;
He will bless us;
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear the Lord,
Both small and great.
A large part of
Fearing the Lord
is
Respecting the Lord.
He will bless the house of Beth because she fears Him.
He will bless the house of __________ because you
fear Him. (Fill in your name)
The Fear of the Lord
is important to understand.
God blesses those who fear him.
What does that mean?
The section below
is taken from our page about
The
Fear of the Lord.
Please consider visiting that page: Here
Fear of the Lord
is a phrase
that
stands for
a way of looking at God
and
interacting with God.
It includes
a way of
living our life
with the awareness
of the
seriousness
of the Words
that God puts in the Bible -
both the enjoyable words
and
the
judgment words that are linked to sin.
Many Bible verses
give us
warnings
and if we have a
healthy
Fear of the Lord,
we will heed the warnings.
The Fear of the Lord
is not
about being afraid
that God is a monster who is unpredictable
and unnecessarily harsh.
Because...
As we get to know God,
we realize
that
God is loving and just.
God wants to have
a close,
warm relationship with us.
He wants to be a
loving Father and a helpful Coach to us.
He wants
to be
our best friend!
We all need to learn more about
the definition
of the phrase...
because God's Word emphasizes this trait.
Thursday
14 May the Lord give you increase more and more,
you and your children.
~ ~ ~
Psalm 115:14 is the heart of God.
God wants to bless us.
~
God gives good gifts to all of us.
Yet,
the Bible does tell us that
we can make choices that will
increase or decrease the blessings of God.
For example,
Isaiah 1:19 NKJV says
If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
Let's follow God
so that
we are in a position to get
all of the blessings God has for us.
And let's not forget that Jesus told us that...
If you love me, you will obey me.
John 14:15
~ ~ ~
The Blessings of God
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s;
But the earth He has given to the children of men.
17 The dead do not praise the Lord,
Nor any who go down into silence.
18 But we will bless the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore.
Praise the Lord!
The God of the Heavens and earth has given us his Scriptures in order that we would be blessed in all things including with intimacy with him.
Friday - Sunday
Gaining Insights into
Self - Awareness
is the best thing you can do
to increase your spiritual growth.
So I have given several videos to increase your
awareness and focus your attention
on your
self - awareness and that of your
teens and children.
Self - Awareness
is a topic that has been introduced on this page.
I will continue
in this section
to give more insights into
Self - Awareness
for you
and for you to share with
your children and grandchildren.
Note that:
I am only recommending these videos and not any other videos associated with these videos.
Let's Talk about Self - Awareness
More thoughts
A pastor who teaches about
the importance of
Self-Awareness.
The pastor above
did a video "short" about how he began
to get self - awareness
in HIS life.
It is only a couple of minutes and
I URGE you to listen to it.
Here is the link. Copy and put it in your address bar.
https://youtube.com/shorts/X6QeNmP6_Rs?feature=share
The video link above:
The pastor above had a video "short" that said -
My wife and I were having a huge fight
and she was in the bathroom crying
and I was outside the door saying,
"Why is it that the whole world thinks that
I'm AMAZING except you?'
A voice whimpered,
"Because no one knows the real you like I do."
The pastor said
that was
the beginning of
his
Self Awareness.
God wants to do some work on us.
We have to let him.
We have to yield to him.
You cannot
Beware of something that you are not Aware of.
Dr. Robert Rohm
-
We all need more
Self - Awareness
Below:
Ideas to help children
gain
Self - Awareness and Self - Control.
I especially like the
Bubble activity for increasing Self - Control.
More
Insights into the topic of
Self - Awareness and Self - Control.
In the video below,
we learn that
Awareness determines perception
and
perception determines solutions.
Awareness > Perception > Solutions
Please consider
watching this video and helping your
children and teens
in this area.
This video helps us think through coping skills.
Help yourself and others as you learn
more about
Self - Awareness, Spiritual Growth
and also
Coping Skills for Life's Difficulties.
For other Psalm pages - click here
Jump to the top of Psalm 115
Psalm 115 posted April 2022
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