Wednesday Reflection, July 1, 2020

Come out of Hiding

Brothers and sisters, I greet you well. As I reflected on today’s verse, I was reminded of Adam and Eve and how, after they ate the fruit, realization dawned on them and they, recognizing for the first time during their existence that they were naked, sought to hide from God.

When the Lord called out to them asking, “where are you?” It wasn’t a question about their physical location but about their spiritual health and position; for who among men can flee from the presence or knowledge of the Lord?

Culture and socialization has taught many of us to be secretive and to hide our feelings, habits, thoughts and whatever else we may possess. Sin also keeps us from going to God. It fills us with a foolish sort of pride that deceives us into thinking that we can make it on our own. Without leaning on or seeking God.

In today’s watchword from Jeremiah 23:24 the Lord puts it perfectly, “who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? Says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? Says the Lord.”

My friends, there is nothing too hard for God. There may be some situations and circumstances that you may think incomprehensible; you may have been tempted like Adam & Eve to partake of and experience that which would change your life and changed it has but instead of bringing you closer to God it has somehow made you feel distant and placed you into a worse situation.

Be not dismayed, seek the Lord earnestly, He is concerned about the condition of your soul and doesn’t care that sin has made you naked. Come out of hiding, recommit to God and allow His peace to fill you.

Until next week be encouraged, be reminded, rest assured because, “Anyone who loves God is known by him.” 1 Corinthians 8:3

Amen

Kerone Lamoth

Tuesday Reflection – June 30, 2020
Responding From The Heart

Today’s Watchword comes to us from Psalm 27: 8. When you said, “Seek my face,” my heart said to you, “Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.” Psalm 27 was written by David before his coronation. It is most likely that at the time it was written, David was being hunted by King Saul and his army, explaining the danger David was in. In the Psalms we find many pleas for God to deliver the writer from danger. Many were written by David based on the horrible experiences he endured and his undying faith in God to rescue or deliver him from these persecutions and trials. David’s cry is the cry of every child of God who faces danger and persecution on a daily basis. ‘If God is my light and my salvation, who or what shall I fear?’ This is reflected in Paul’s ‘if God is for us, who can be against us?’ of Romans 8. David’s response also set’s the example for each of us as we respond to God’s care. God’s instruction to David is to seek God’s face, that is, to bring it to God, or talk to God. In the New Living Translation, the prompting to seek God is heard in the heart of David and his response is from the heart. This friends, is an example of the response that God seeks from each of us on a daily basis. He speaks to our hearts and we should respond from the heart.

In a paper published by Saybrook University, we learn that Aristotle taught that the heart was the center of the human body, the seat of the soul and the emotions, a primary sensory organ of the body. For this reason he described anger as a seething heat in the region of the heart. Known as the cardiocentric theory, this belief was widespread in the ancient world and saw the heart as the center of mental processes including thinking and memory. This helps us to understand David’s reasoning within his heart about God. His heart guided him during his dilemma to seek God, to put his case before God and his heart also helped him in deciding to do what needed to be done. ‘Your face Lord I will seek’. What this seeking from the heart did for David, was to remove his fear, or rather replace his fear of the enemy coming at him with faith in the God who was able to protect him, who was able to keep him in the time of trouble, who was able to hide him, that is, to shelter and protect him from the danger that was coming towards him. Friends how do you react to trouble, to danger? Do you get lost in the danger, the fright of what is coming towards you, or do you relax in confidence because of the presence of the one who surrounds you? The text reminds us to respond from the heart, that is, with all our emotion and intellect. Responding from our hearts will always give us confidence in God’s ability to protect, to save us. We are constantly reminded that he that is for us is far greater than those against us, that Christ who is in us is far greater than satan and his fallen angels who are in the world. Responding from the heart reminds us to depend on God and not on self or systems. As we reflect today then, let us face the enemy with great confidence even as David did knowing that God was with Him.

A final caution. Seeking God’s face suggests a seeking of God’s favor. It’s ok to worship and be in oneness with the saints and with God. Imagine however being in a crisis and seeking God’s face. What is desperately needed in a time like this, is the assurance of God’s face turned towards you the seeker of help. In the priestly blessing of Numbers 6: 22 – 27, the assurance of God’s blessing and favor was the turning of God’s face towards the seeker: “the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ God’s face towards us is the assurance of divine favor. When God is displeased with us, God’s face is turned away from us. Psalm 143: 7 Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. When this happens, we ought to seek God with all our hearts and confess our sins. Responding to God from the heart assures us of God’s forgiveness and promises God’s favor in our lives. Amen.

Bevon White